By Frank Wells
Entering their third consecutive year without a salary increase, more than 300 Santa Barbara Teachers Association members braved a fierce afternoon downpour to hold an Oct. 26 rally in support of their bargaining team.
Holding signs that said "1% Is Not Enough" and "No Teacher Left Behind," SBTA members lined both sides of busy Santa Barbara Street in front of district headquarters just prior to a school board meeting where negotiations were scheduled to be discussed in closed session.
SBTA President Ken Stevens and 15 other teachers addressed the board, many of them stressing the alarming turnover rate among teachers, because of the city's failure to pay competitive salaries.
"Our proposal is what it is because it's right, and it's reflected in the support of all the teachers you see here tonight," Stevens told the board of education. "It's a real shame that many of these people won't be working here in a few years."
In November, the teachers declared impasse.
While school district officials have said they want to pay teachers more, they claim budgeting concerns preclude them from meeting the teachers' demands.
SBTA members see it as a matter of priorities.
"They put their program budget together, and then they say there is nothing left for teachers," says Stevens. "They need to face the reality that teachers should be a priority and that they are losing good teachers who simply can't afford to teach here, much less live here."
Attrition is a real issue in affluent Santa Barbara, where housing costs are among the highest in the state and where surrounding districts pay teachers significantly more than Santa Barbara high school and elementary districts. Since February, more than 100 teachers have left the 900-teacher district, and only a small portion of those are due to retirement.
"The community is supportive," says Stevens. "Parents get frustrated when they see a good teacher leave their neighborhood school for greener pastures."