Our View: Teachers, Modesto City Schools – figure out a deal
Steven Grenbeaux, a former teacher and president of the Modesto City Schools board, stepped before a crowd of nearly 500 people Tuesday night and apologized.
He needed to.
Grenbeaux’s insensitive, childish and demeaning response to a man addressing the board at its Jan. 19 meeting had become a flashpoint, rallying cry and fashion statement. Hundreds of teachers attended Tuesday’s meeting in Salida dressed in lime-green T-shirts with the message “Notice: Bullying is against district policy” plastered across the front. But their anger wasn’t just aimed at Grenbeaux.
Many Modesto teachers believe the school board and administration have bullied them during protracted contract negotiations that reached an impasse months ago but resume Friday in a last-ditch, mediated effort to reach a settlement.
We’re neutral on the negotiations. But we’re not neutral about the debilitating effects of a strike. It is a real possibility, and serves no one. Fortunately, there’s space for both sides to negotiate – if they’ll just find it.
For instance, the district points out that Modesto teachers are among the best paid in Stanislaus County and stresses the need to address $1 billion in deferred maintenance detailed in a board-commissioned study. But the district fails to note that MCS teachers pay a higher portion of their own health insurance costs than teachers elsewhere, often double what teachers in other districts pay. That saves the district money.
As for the deferred maintenance, teachers call that a $1 billion “red herring” used to justify low-balling them. For a district with a history of letting older facilities fall into disrepair, we don’t doubt the needs are great; but we’re skeptical of the $1 billion figure.
While it’s true teachers came up with the idea to carry more of their own insurance costs years ago, it’s also true the MCS board has put a priority on new schools, not maintaining old ones.
Beyond that, the other arguments sound like bickering: Teachers must spend hundreds of dollars from their own pockets to outfit classrooms and equip kids to learn; districts must balance teacher pay with the need to save for the future; classrooms are too crowded; administrators try to intimidate teachers; some teachers abuse their sick days, complain about their workload and fight the introduction of technology our children desperately need to learn.
Money is the real issue. The district’s final offer of a 4 percent raise seems low compared with other districts. Teachers in Stanislaus Union settled for 3.5 percent, but districts across the state have provided far higher raises. Last year, Los Angeles teachers got 10 percent, Palm Springs 10.5, and Manteca’s teachers got 9 percent. This year, West Contra Costa teachers got 12 percent and San Lorenzo settled just this month for 7 percent – roughly what Modesto teachers are demanding.
Undoubtedly, some board actions have been needlessly antagonistic. That showed Tuesday when 29 teachers and community members spoke. One teacher punctuated her remarks by thrusting a fist into the air; prompting at least 350 angry teachers to leap from their chairs into a raucous standing ovation.
A strike hurts everyone, especially students. If teachers, Grenbeaux and the other board members can’t find a way to move past the impasse and the anger, they’ll all be making an apology – to the community.
This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Our View: Teachers, Modesto City Schools – figure out a deal."