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Teachers at Riverside school for deaf demonstrate for higher salaries | Inland News | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California
Teachers at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside Thursday protested the state's budget compromise for failing to raise their pay and dragging out negotiations.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell acknowledged their concerns, although he said he was not aware of their protest plans.
"The salaries are below where they should be," he said in a phone interview before the demonstration. "This state budget is not going to help."
In staggered lunch-hour shifts at the corner of Horace Street and Arlington Avenue in front of the school, most of the campus's 117 teachers carried signs that said "Value Us." The peaceful 2½-hour demonstration was in conjunction with several hundred teachers of the blind and deaf at state schools in Fremont.
Educators of special-needs children say they earn less than school district teachers, as much as $6,000 a year less for starting salaries and $20,000 a year less at the top of both pay scales.
In the compromise budget, the governor not only ignored the 350 teachers of the blind and deaf, but he allocated $44 million to raise the salaries of 1,500 teachers of prisoners, said Jim Zamora, a state union spokesman in Sacramento.
So while the yearly salary of a special-needs teacher tops out at $74,000 ($406.96 a day), that of a teacher with the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation peaks at $109,215 ($496.43 a day), he said.
An extra $5 million from the state would be adequate to raise teachers' salaries at the three state schools and at three diagnostic centers in Fremont, Los Angeles and Fresno, Zamora said.
"We understand there's a budget problem," he said of the $15.2 billion deficit, "but there's no reason to leave us out."
At Thursday's protest, Doug Beatty, a behavior intervention case manager at CSDR, said the pay inequities "cause us to lose our best talent. Some go to deaf programs in the school district where they pay much more."
Teresa McDonald-Fishler said that, despite the lack of adequate compensation, her love of the children has anchored her at the school for almost 29 years.
"I'm very attached," she said. "It's like a family here."
Through an interpreter, Becca Gleicher, said she took a pay cut to join CSDR a year ago after working 18 years in deaf education. The middle-school reading teacher said she's making $2,000 less than when she worked for San Bernardino County in Upland.
"But I have no plans to leave," she signed. "I love it here."
Mike Anderson, who also is deaf, said he traveled to Sacramento in June to speak on behalf of special-needs coaches. An automotive teacher, he has coached four sports.
"Coaches' salaries are at an 1980's salary level," he said at Thursday's protest through an interpreter. "It's time for a raise."
Teachers at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside Thursday protested the state's budget compromise for failing to raise their pay and dragging out negotiations.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell acknowledged their concerns, although he said he was not aware of their protest plans.
"The salaries are below where they should be," he said in a phone interview before the demonstration. "This state budget is not going to help."
In staggered lunch-hour shifts at the corner of Horace Street and Arlington Avenue in front of the school, most of the campus's 117 teachers carried signs that said "Value Us." The peaceful 2½-hour demonstration was in conjunction with several hundred teachers of the blind and deaf at state schools in Fremont.
Educators of special-needs children say they earn less than school district teachers, as much as $6,000 a year less for starting salaries and $20,000 a year less at the top of both pay scales.
In the compromise budget, the governor not only ignored the 350 teachers of the blind and deaf, but he allocated $44 million to raise the salaries of 1,500 teachers of prisoners, said Jim Zamora, a state union spokesman in Sacramento.
So while the yearly salary of a special-needs teacher tops out at $74,000 ($406.96 a day), that of a teacher with the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation peaks at $109,215 ($496.43 a day), he said.
An extra $5 million from the state would be adequate to raise teachers' salaries at the three state schools and at three diagnostic centers in Fremont, Los Angeles and Fresno, Zamora said.
"We understand there's a budget problem," he said of the $15.2 billion deficit, "but there's no reason to leave us out."
At Thursday's protest, Doug Beatty, a behavior intervention case manager at CSDR, said the pay inequities "cause us to lose our best talent. Some go to deaf programs in the school district where they pay much more."
Teresa McDonald-Fishler said that, despite the lack of adequate compensation, her love of the children has anchored her at the school for almost 29 years.
"I'm very attached," she said. "It's like a family here."
Through an interpreter, Becca Gleicher, said she took a pay cut to join CSDR a year ago after working 18 years in deaf education. The middle-school reading teacher said she's making $2,000 less than when she worked for San Bernardino County in Upland.
"But I have no plans to leave," she signed. "I love it here."
Mike Anderson, who also is deaf, said he traveled to Sacramento in June to speak on behalf of special-needs coaches. An automotive teacher, he has coached four sports.
"Coaches' salaries are at an 1980's salary level," he said at Thursday's protest through an interpreter. "It's time for a raise."