By Daniel Rivera
Long Beach Unified School District announced on March 24 that it is at an impasse after months of negotiations with the Teachers Association of Long Beach and is calling in a state mediator to conduct a fact-finding report to see who has the stronger case. This process will take weeks to finalize, and if there is no compromise, the association can vote on whether to strike.
The district has proposed adding four paid pupil-free days. According to the widely-used School Services of California comparative budget and salary data, the average length of service year for teachers statewide is 185 days, including pupil-free days. The current work year for LBUSD teachers is 182 days. The district is proposing to phase in the paid days in the beginning of the 2024 to 25 school year to support the adults in helping students to achieve.
According to the district, the added compensation for the fully implemented pupil-free days would be equivalent to a 2.2% increase on the salary schedule. The 2.2% salary schedule increase for the additional days was not a factor in determining the overall compensation offer.
The district recently increased its salary offer from 8% ongoing and 2% one-time raises, to 8% ongoing and 3% one-time raises. The 8% raise would be retroactive to July 1, 2022, and the 3% one-time raise would be based on earnings from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
The teachers’ association particularly balked at the professional days, arguing that they were never asked for their input, contradicting the district’s assertion that to date, more than 13,000 thoughts have been gathered from students, staff, parents and community partners.
“Teachers were never asked to provide input as to what type of training we would like or need,” Grace Castro, a Robinson Middle School teacher said during a board meeting on March 15.
Many other teachers at TALB share the sentiment, saying that the days are not for students and they won’t be compensated adequately for the extra days. Among many of the various issues cited during the bargaining meeting, the recurring theme amongst the teachers is that they see it a waste of time, time that they believe would be better spent on student needs.
The District said it was in the process of designing graduate, adult, and “system portraits.” The system portrait is a critical component that reviews how the system will need to change to help adults to support students. The district said it proposed the additional free days based on thousands of feedback points made by stakeholders, including teachers. According to the district, the pupil-free days would provide staff the opportunity for collaboration, review of student data and/or site-based training.
These days were originally planned for about the middle of the school year and now the district has agreed to move them. They might be placed near the beginning or the end of the year, where it would be easier for teachers to integrate with the schedules.
TALB and LBUSD negotiations also hit an impasse in October 2021 with both sides agreeing to have a mediator conduct a fact-finding report regarding wage increases.