Amid contract negotiations between the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) and the Teacher’s Association of Long Beach (TALB), the district’s proposal to add four days of personal development to the school year has not gone over well with most teachers.
“Currently, the offer we are pressured to accept is disingenuously presented by the district as a raise,” Woodrow Wilson High School teacher Keri Mcbride said during public comment at the board’s Feb. 15 meeting.
According to the district’s website, “because teachers would be paid at their regular rate for these additional days, the added compensation is equivalent to an additional 2.2% salary increase.”
“Getting paid more because you’re working more is not a raise,” Los Cerritos Elementary fifth-grade teacher Mimi Kao said.
Kao said the proposal felt like “an ambush and a blindside,” given that bargaining proposals started in September of 2022, and the proposal was introduced in December.
LBUSD math teacher Ron Harmon said the district is not listening to teachers and the community. He argued teachers already sacrifice a significant amount of time for students even when school is not in session.
“The district is not listening. You’ve now been informed; in order to listen effectively, you must be silent,” said Harmon, who spent the remainder of his allocated three minutes for public comment in silence, as the chants from protestors outside the building filled the chambers.
Maegan Moo, a Stanford Elementary teacher, said she is against the proposed additional four days due to the struggle of having to find childcare. Her children will soon be LBUSD students and will be off from school during the allotted days.
“Many of my colleagues have children who are students in the district and finding daycare for all of them is going to be an added stress and financial burden,” Moo said.
Moo also pointed out that the added days would take away from her summer vacation, which is time she dedicates to spending time with her family.
According to results from a survey conducted by the association and sent to over 1,500 members, 66.7% of TALB members voted against the district’s proposal.
Some educators also felt like the personal development days would not be effective; 45.5% of survey-takers said the personal development days are “less than valuable” and 22.4% said it’s“not valuable at all.”
“For the last few years, educators in Long Beach have consistently said that the professional development offered by the district has mostly been disappointing. It’s been out of touch and not a productive use of time,” said Peder Larsen, TALB vice president.
“It isn’t that teachers don’t want to work,” said Jennifer Larsen, Mark Twain Elementary School teacher. “It’s just that teachers don’t want to waste their time doing something that doesn’t make an impact on student achievement.”
The association is advocating for more input from members and teachers and for the district to engage in further conversations with them.
“Let’s get true input, let’s have a discussion, let’s figure out how we can work together,” said Susan Garcia, Powell Elementary teacher and secondary area director for TALB.
Since public comments were on non-agenda items, the board said it could not respond to or discuss the matter. However, Deputy Superintendent Tiffany Brown provided a brief comment on the district’s behalf.
“I’d like to say that we’ve listened to the comments made by TALB this evening and we have provided clarifying comments to what has been shared in a bargaining update that’s dated today,” Brown said.
The next negotiation date is scheduled for Feb. 24.
When will TALB focus on kids education vs union concern for teachers? My granddaughter is 10 yrs old and she needs tutoring to read! I also wonder why school districts want to lower standards for graduation and colleges lowering their expectations. It’s just dumbing down our kids and the future.