Purple shirts, buttons with “No!” being worn by various staff members, and posters with “I voted yes” printed across them all stood out as students, families, and teachers from the New Haven school district gathered together at yet another board meeting to voice their opinions of the 0% offer and give insight on what they plan to do next.
After contract negotiation soured between the New Haven Unified School District and the New Haven Teachers Association, students, staff, and families of the New Haven community voiced their opinions on what they called an “unfair offer” at a board meeting on Tuesday, April 16th.
Teachers were requesting a 10% raise in salary and the NHUSD Board countered their offer with 0%, which many in Union City and the New Haven community view as disrespectful and disheartening.
Not only were teachers vocally voicing their opinions at the meeting, but they also voted on whether or not to move forward with going on strike. The strike authorization vote was approved with 95.2 percent of the membership voting “yes” to strike.
With 70 speakers, the board gave only 90 seconds to each to share their opinions. Those speakers that went over time were admonished to finish up, and some speakers even had their microphone turned off.
Superintendent Arlando Smith spoke before all the community speakers and said that he has a dream to, “…build the coalition, work together rather than against each other.”
However, many didn’t see his speech about coming together at all appropriate considering Smith took a built-in raise last year but stands by a 0% offer to teachers this year. Logan Junior Roland Buensuceso-Villena was one who was incensed and spoke in support of one of his teachers.
“The current situation of declining enrollment will only be exacerbated if Mr. Kurup is let go because there are students who go specifically to Logan to be apart of the Forensics program. I am exactly one of them,” Buensuceso-Villena said.
ICL and Puente English teacher Mollie Wright spoke about the lack of effective communication and transparency between the board.
“An aspect of bargaining that has alarmed me is our inability to work together as a team or even to agree on the same set of facts about what is going on in our situation,” Wright said. She called for the board to, “…be open to the overflowing room of suggestions and your overflowing inboxes.”
Transparency was a common theme in many of the parents’ speeches. An increase in class size was the most notable complaint by parents, with many wondering why this was a suggestion by the district that appeared to be supported by the school board.
Logan Senior Class President Johan Casal spoke specifically to the school board, a five-person body elected for four years.
“On behalf of the class of 2019 and many other students here we are disappointed in the lack of action you six [board members] have been taking to ensure that our teachers are given a fair and reasonable rate. By refusing to pay our teachers what they need you are consciously making the clear decision to hurt the quality of education for me, your own students, children, and the 12,000 other students here in this district,” Casal said.
Shane Henderson, a 15-year Logan teacher and member of the NHTA bargaining committee, expressed disappointment with the lack of progress in negotiations.
“For the last two years, my focus has been on this process of negotiations rather than being able to hone my craft,” Henderson said.
Mr. Henderson reiterated how serious teachers are about a strike by asking the board, “Do you think we are not gonna go on strike? It’s gonna happen. We’re all here.”
As the evening continued, the speakers and the speeches became increasingly frustrated and contentious.
“I am absolutely repulsed with the situation here today. I think it’s disgusting how teachers have to come stand here basically begging you for the pay that they already deserve,” Junior Soha Manzoor said.
The large crowd, which spilled over into an overflow room and even outside, thinned out as the evening progressed, but it became clear that parents and other community members, including Union City police and local Teamsters, wanted action.
SDC Teacher Gavin Smith spoke for a new teacher who felt too uncomfortable to speak in a public forum by reading a statement that summed up the sentiment expressed time and again in the public comments and at the rally before.
“Every year we settle for less for the sake of the students. I will back the Union in whatever action they decide to take. We are not worth zero, we are worth more,” Smith said.
