Contact: Mike Myslinski at 650-552-5324
HAYWARD – Several hours of talks today, initiated by the Hayward Education Association, failed to resolve the salary issues that sparked the Hayward Unified School District strike by educators fed up with being among the lowest-paid in the East Bay.
Talks with a state mediator ended about 3:30 p.m. and no new talks are scheduled. Teachers on spring break this week plan to be on picket lines for a third day when classes resume Monday.
“It is inconceivable to me that this district is choosing the chaos of a strike over labor peace and making the kind of investment in our teachers that will keep them in Hayward classrooms for years to come,” said Kathleen Crummey, president of the nearly 1,300-member Hayward Education Association. “Teachers were cautiously optimistic earlier today, but our optimism was shattered once again.”
The district has millions in reserves for salaries. It still won’t agree to adequately invest in educators, but had no problem with giving a 16.84 percent raise for this school year to the district’s associate superintendent and to the assistant superintendents for business and human resources, whose salaries now range from $173,451 to $181,451. Superintendent Dale Vigil is paid $229,500, making his salary the fourth-highest among all Bay Area superintendents.
Unlike the case with most California school districts where health benefits are paid by the employer, Hayward teachers must pay for all of their own health care coverage out of their own salaries. Many pay more than $10,000 a year for coverage. Beginning Hayward teachers earn about $47,000, and top pay, after 18 years of service, is $79,000.
More background is on the Hayward teachers’ union website: www.heaonline.org.