Will Bay Area Teachers Soon Join Los Angeles Teachers With a Strike of Their Own?

17Jan
by Daniela Felix

The Los Angeles teacher strike is set to pave the way for the future of teaching and education across California. From Sacramento to San Diego, thousands of teachers work tirelessly to create effective change in the lives of the students they teach. Teachers are expected to be effective instructors providing differentiation, rigor, and creativity to the lessons we engage in every day. While California is among the top states for starting teacher salaries, a high cost of living also comes with this. This can be challenging to do all the while working multiple jobs in order to make ends meet, and then many worry about having leftover funds for the school supplies we purchase out of pocket.  

Various teacher unions in the Bay Area may soon join the Los Angeles teachers with a strike of their own, asking for smaller class sizes and a “livable, competitive wage.” KTVU recently conducted an analysis on teacher salaries across California and presented the starting, average and ending salaries for teachers across various school districts within the Bay Area. The KTVU study reported, “This list was provided by the California Teachers Association and is drawn from numbers pulled by the National Education Association and the Oakland Education Association, as they negotiate a contract with the district. The lowest starting salary is about $46,000 and the highest ending salary is $117,000, according to the union data.” These statistics represent the huge wage gap between teachers and school district administrators. Between teachers and superintendents, the starting salaries differ by about $166,000, with a difference of about $78,000 between principals and teachers.

Some Oakland teachers have planned to call in sick this Friday with the hope of aiding the labor dispute between the district and the teacher’s union. This “sick-out” is not sanctioned by the teacher’s union, The East Bay Times reports. Oakland teachers held a similar action last month to demonstrate that they are “ready to strike,” the report further states. The union is demanding a 12% raise and was met with a 5% counteroffer from the district. My hope is that the union and district will collaborate in the collective bargaining process, student learning is at stake. The loss of learning minutes will have a significant impact on the learning process. Let student learning be our priority as the debate on teacher working conditions and wages continues in California.

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Daniela Felix

Daniela is a first generation college student who is heavily involved in education in her home district, West Contra Costa Unified. After becoming a mother at a young age, Daniela’s passion for education justice only intensified and she began to fight for an equitable education for all children, regardless of background or zip code. Daniela played a key role in organizing parents with the California Charter Schools Association and is a firm believer in school choice for all families. She is currently a Lead Organizer with Students for Education Reform, organizing college students around education justice issues in her home district. She was recently accepted into Teach for America and plans to continue impacting the lives of children in her hometown of Richmond, CA as a high school social studies teacher. Daniela is a UC Berkeley senior pursuing her B.A. in Legal Studies and Education along with her 4 year old daughter and husband. Daniela is a firm believer in that every single child is capable of meeting high expectations if given the correct support. Daniela hopes to be a provider of that support.

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