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Lucia Mar teachers could strike next month

March 25, 2015

grocerystrikeLucia Mar district officials and representatives of its teachers’ union will gather Wednesday for a mediation hearing in an attempt to stave off a strike that could occur in less than a month.

District officials and the Lucia Mar Teachers Association have been deadlocked for months in a contract dispute that could result in a strike taking place as soon as mid-April. The district has offered teachers a two percent raise, but the union is threatening to launch a strike if its members do not receive 10 percent pay increases.

Mediation efforts have thus far failed to produce a tentative agreement. If Thursday’s mediation hearing fails to do so, the union will vote Thursday on whether to authorize a strike.

Due to legal requirements, the earliest date Lucia Mar teachers could begin striking would fall during the district’s spring break. April 13 is the day that follows spring and the most likely date for the work stoppage to begin, it the teachers do decide to strike.

For that to occur, a majority of the teachers’ union members must vote in favor of a strike. Then the union must make one last negotiation attempt, and if that fails, the strike can begin.

The district has already begun preparations for a strike, and it has hired a consultant who is tasked with providing advice on staffing and security issues. Recruitment of substitute teachers is also underway.

Full-time Lucia Mar teachers currently make an average of about $500 a day, while substitutes receive approximately $100. The district plans to pay replacement teachers $300 a day if a strike occurs.

Teacher strikes typically last about three to four days. During strikes, only about half of the students tend to show up to school.

The average Lucia Mar teacher currently receives an annual salary of about $61,000. Lucia Mar teachers received a 2 percent raise in 2012-2013 and a 4.3 percent bump in pay in 2013-2014.

If they receive just a 2 percent salary increase in the current round of negotiations, their pay will have jumped by more than 8 percent over the last three years. A 10 percent increase would cause teacher pay to rise 16 percent over three years.

The teachers have staged several rallies and marches, which have drawn hundreds of supporters, many of whom are students and parents. The latest march took place prior to Tuesday evening’s school board meeting,

Over the weekend, teachers stood outside local grocery stores and handed out fliers that included personal phone numbers for members of the school board.

Another teacher rally is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. today at the district offices. The mediation hearing begins today at 9 a.m.

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Once again, CCN misrepresents an issue to feed some red meat to its conservative readers: “The district has offered teachers a two percent raise, but the union is threatening to launch a strike if its members do not receive 10 percent pay increases.” Get your facts, straight, please. Ten percent was where the teachers STARTED the negotiations way back in September. The district countered with 2%, then refused to negotiate any further, stating that 2% was their “best, last, and final” offer. TOTAL BULLSHOY. The district is sitting on well over 10 million dollars in reserve, the majority of which is COLA, which is supposed to go to teachers so they can keep pace with inflation. Instead, Hoogeboom has misallocated a disproportionate chunk of state funding for his pet projects (New Tech High), unnecessary district administrators, and TOSAs (Teachers On Special Assignment). The teachers’ union would be OVERJOYED to settle this, but it is going to require Hogeboom to come back with an offer that is NOT INSULTING. This is not about how hard teachers work. Everybody works hard at his or her respective job. It’s about the teachers receiving their FAIR SHARE of the funding that the district has received from the state for THIS YEAR. They have not received their fair share this year, but Jim sure has. Are you good people really going to side with a guy who makes just shy of a quarter of a million dollars a year, which is $50,000 more than every other supt in the county? Really? This is a guy who bought his current home from a couple in their 80’s then promptly sued them into bankruptcy because some aspects of the house didn’t meet his expectations. Classy guy. He’s a big hugger and back slapper when he needs his teachers to sacrifice during economic slumps, but when the money started flowing in, he began stabbing those same teachers in the back. Trust me, folks–I have an insider’s perspective on this guy, and he is not to be trusted or respected. It is entirely HIS FAULT that the district is teetering on the precipice. Only he has the power to restructure things more equitably; the teachers are NOT in control of staffing or funding whatsoever. Jim thought he could low-ball the teachers and then bluff them into accepting a pittance of what they deserve. He was wrong then, is wrong now, and will be proved wrong again when this is all over. Whatever happens from this point forward, his days of being a respected leader in this district are over. Throw the Hogebum out, along with the entire school board. Bring in replacements who never forget who actually teaches the kids, mentors the kids, and coaches the kids.


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Wow!

Do not stroke out

This sounds very personal.

Do your research….

The teachers will lose if there is a strike.

They will be a broken bunch of infighting cats ready to accept low wages for the right to return to work.

Get off your personal wa wa train .


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I think you’ve swallowed a bit too much salt water, dude. Between the two of us, only one knows what she is talking about with regard to Jim Hogeboom and this fiasco in the making. Do YOUR research. Most teacher strikes last just 4 days. Losing 4 days of wages to gain say, 4% instead of just 2% makes a lot of financial sense for non-water logged brains. Furthermore, the teachers will not be “a broken bunch of infighting cats”; they will be unified in their purpose and their message: give us our FAIR SHARE of the revenue that the district received from the state for this year’s operating budget. Lastly, there is no way that this situation cannot be “personal” to those of us who have friends and/or loved ones who teach in Lucia Mar. Hogeboom’s offer is a “personal” insult to all the teachers in that district, as they deserve a far bigger piece of the pie than Jim is willing to slice off for them; meanwhile, his swelling cadre of district administrators negotiate their own raises for themselves, independent of the teachers’ negotiations. By the way, when did any group of workers EVER get what they deserve without complaining and being willing to take ACTION until they receive it? Riddle me that, dude.


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Ana, sounds like you’d be happier working elsewhere.


See where you can get anything close to the gig you’ve got now.


Wishing you luck.


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I don’t work there but I have many friends who do. By the way, the reason that veteran teachers almost never switch to other districts is that most districts will only give a teacher 5 to 7 years of credit on their payscale. In other words, a teacher with 20 years of experience would have to be willing to lose 13 to 15 years on the step and column to switch to another district. That is one reason why veteran teachers are almost always the ones leading the charge to change things in their own district. FYI, teachers don’t think of their profession as a “gig” any more than doctors or lawyers or other professionals think of their professions as a “gig.” A gig is something you and your garage band play at a friend’s party in exchange for free beer. Tenured teachers earn their positions through a lengthy process that requires an investment of at least 7 years: 4 (more like 5 these days) to earn a BA/BS, 1 to earn a credential/complete student teaching, and 2 (sometimes more) to earn tenure. A majority of teachers also hold a master’s degree, usually in education, which is nothing to brag about, but it still requires a considerable investment of time and energy. I’ve taken time to mention these facts because many people who post on sites like CCN are under the impression that any Tom, Dick, or Harry could walk off the street and do as good a job as the professionals who have dedicated their entire adult lives to honing their teaching craft. Sure, just about any intelligent person with people skills could manage fairly well, at least if it’s a short “gig,” but it’s quite another thing to commit yourself to teaching those 150-175 kids your subject between late August and mid-June, year in and year out, with all the pressures that come from administrators, parents, and the students themselves. That’s why half of all new teachers leave the profession within 5 years. Name another profession with a similar rate of attrition. Acrimonious negotiations and a lack of public support for teachers don’t help the situation. Why do conservatives ALWAYS side with the fat cat making the most money, in this case, Jim Hogeboom? Amazing.


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Whats with all of the threats to strike? Go ahead and strike already.


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The teachers say they do not want to strike. Lets hope this is true. A strike would not be good for anyone, especially the teachers.

As a kid I loved it when the teachers striked, we got ice cream and a movie!


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The teachers need to take a good look around…no one is doing all that well these days. Small business self employed folks haven’t had a pay raise in seven years at least. Health care insurance costs are going up. Businesses are still closing at too high of a rate.


In better economic times we (the tax payers) can reward teachers and other public servants at a higher level but sorry! the economy stills sucks!


Our nation as well as our state has not recovered economically no matter what Mr. Brown and Mr. Obama tells us. So I would like to ask the teachers to put on your big boy pants and suffer through the next two years along with the rest of us.


Then maybe we can get leaders in place that understand how to get out of the way and let the economic engines of America work. Then we can go back to higher pay for teachers and better pensions as well.


Comprende?


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I don’t think there was a week that went by that my kids didn’t watch at least a couple movies…Disney movies. WTH? Disney movies in high school?

We bit our tongues, and bided our time.


A few teachers are outstanding.

Many are good.

Many more are warming the seat.

More than a few should be fired based on performance, or lack thereof.


No different than most other businesses.

Base raises on performance, weed out the slackers.


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Your kids obviously did not attend Lucia Mar schools.


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They absolutely did!


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Then you should have filed a complaint on their behalf, instead of just complaining about it years later. See, that’s what the Lucia Mar teachers are prepared to do: take action when it counts, not back down then whine about it later. Learn from the teachers.


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I think that stroke you had has compromised your thought process.

If, and I do not think there will be, there is a strike, the strikers will not only lose their pay, but they will lose all their power.

The union knows this and much more but isn’t sharing this with you Ana.

They will settle for 2% and thank you for the wild raucous you have created.

You must work very close to Jim to speak of him so personally.

Get back to work or look elsewhere. Good luck!


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A couple of days ago I saw a FB post from a teacher, outlining how teachers are counselors, they give up their lunch for a hungry child, act as a confidant, and a whole host of other wonderful things that I am sure teachers do EVERY day.


But…this is also exactly what good managers in any business do each and every day as well


Good managers manage those in their charge. Some manage children, others adults.

It is no less important to counsel an employee going through a divorce, losing a parent, suffering with an illness, etc.


I have great respect for the few great teachers our children had.

I also appreciate the good caring qualities these folks possess when they are exhibited by anyone else.


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Just returned from having lunch.

As so often happens, struck up a conversation with the couple at the table next to ours–topic: kids.

We were discussing the Paulding gym with the low ceilings, the disgraceful condition of the track at AGHS, how dual track meets are held at the opposing school because other schools don’t want to compete on the one here, etc…you get the drift.

Suddenly the topic switched to the teachers and the 10% raise they are currently demanding.

‘Who get’s a 10% raise these days?’, the other gentleman asked. ‘Who’s gotten a 16% raise in the last few years?’, asked his wife.


Not everyone is supporting the teachers–we all agreed, let them strike.

I would suggest they contact someone from the retail clerks union that went on strike a few years ago. That did not end well for the union, and many predict the same outcome for the teachers if they do decide to strike.


There are plenty of people who would gladly take those jobs!


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Cal Poly is cranking them out every year.!

And they all want to stay here…..


Everyone is replaceable

I bet that District is having NO trouble recruiting subs.


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What do you expect when 92% of your budget is already spent on salaries, benefits and pensions, that only leaves 8% for supplies, maintenance, and improvements.


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Apparently there aren’t many math teachers in the group.


Money only goes so far, these teachers are better paid than many in the community.


Many in the private sector would be grateful for their salary and benefits.


I want the district to stand firm, replace these teachers if they refuse to settle.


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The district CANNOT fire tenured teachers for striking, so long as the teacher’s union has exhausted all avenues to reach an agreement. That’s exactly what they’re doing at the moment. If no settlement is reached, the teachers will have until 6 pm tomorrow to cast their vote on whether to strike or not. Attention, Jim: they will.


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“The district CANNOT fire tenured teachers for striking…”, therein lies part of the problem. Who else can abandon their job and not be fired?


If these “teachers” are so dedicated to their students, how could they leave “little junior” in the hands of a substitute while they strike?


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If teachers had no legal recourse to strike, districts would NEVER willingly pay them their fair share. NEVER. Those who hold the purse stings are always stingiest when doling out the money to those who deserve it most: the people who do the actual teaching of children. Jim Hogeboom has forgotten that fundamental fact, and he will pay the price for it, and the price may be his job. We’ll see.


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I can’t believe the District hasn’t said good-bye to these folks already.


I know of no one who has received even a 5% raise over the course of the past 2 years that didn’t receive a promotion of some sort that warranted an increase, and yet the teachers still aren’t happy?.


I get the “we are underpaid routine”, but so is everyone else for that matter. Until I don’t have to send my kid to school on the first day with a $100 worth of supplies that used to be provided by the District, quit your whining.


Otherwise pack your crap and hit the road – you were looking for a job when you found this one.


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Look at that!!!

They want 16% over 3 years.

What planet do they live on?


Those teachers need to join the “real world” where you get a raise when you are promoted or your job responsibilities change.


Go to work, shut up, and take the 2%.

That is more than many of the “real world employees” have received.


Oops! And be sure to enjoy the 12 weeks of vacation!


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Don’t forget to “Indoctrinate” your students (like good little Union followers) before you leave.

I would have to think long and hard about when the last time I saw an election ballot where the school district was not begging for more money.


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Even though our kids have graduated from the Lucia Mar school system, I am sad to see it has come to this point. Hopefully it can be resolved in short order.


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Strikes are all about leverage. Be careful you have the leverage that you think you have.


Plenty of recent college grads living in their parents basements are likely ready to jump at those jobs if given the chance. Talk about a cost savings measure.


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If the teachers strike, they will beg to go back to work.

Google it up.

The teachers never get what they want.

Look at the grocery stores… The clerks did not win.

The teachers will lose income, respect and time on their future retirement.

Their teacher relationships will and are strained , I’m sure.

Their union will lose all its power.


The teachers need to negotiate a solution to this now and stop asking for the strike their leadership seems to desire so badly


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Retail clerks union took a beating during their last strike.

They are still a wounded, weakened animal, ten years later.


Teachers take note, EVERYONE is replaceable. It is a fact.

Strike and you WILL be replaced.

Life goes on.


Be smart, settle.


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of course they did. a trained monkey can do their jobs, or no clerk at all.


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“Strike and you WILL be replaced.” WRONG. Educate yourself. Jim Hogeboom cannot simply fire all the striking teachers like Reagan did to the air traffic controllers. Teachers are not federal employees. In fact, teachers have a legal right to strike if all other options have been exhausted. I’m so glad that my union predecessors from the early 20th century were smarter and more determined than you are, agag1, and didn’t settle for horrible working conditions, low pay, no benefits, and virtually no time off. Settling for less than you think you are worth–without even attempting to fight for it–is far worse than winding up a “wounded, wounded animal.” It is cowardly.


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The math doesn’t quite work out. If an average teacher salary is $61,000, and an average school year is around 180 teaching days, then the average teacher is earning less than $340/day, not $500/day. I have no association with the district and don’t know the details of the current contract, so the number of days is a guesstimate.


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183 days

Some teachers, in fact about half are at the top of the pay scale. ($80,000)


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Let’s not forget about their generous retirement and healthcare benefits.


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