Break It Down

There are lots of teachers reading this, so I really didn't break down the details and demands related to the Hayward Teachers strike. But now that a wider net is being cast, I want to lay it down for ya. Hayward Teachers are striking because we deserve a better raise than what the district has offered. Here are the FACTS:

**Hayward Teachers are the 2nd lowest paid teachers out of 8 surrounding districts.

**The Hayward Unified School District Superintendent of Schools is the highest paid out of the same 8 surrounding districts.

**2002-2003 school year: Increase from State was 2%, our salary increase was 0%.

**2003-2004: Increase from State was -1.2%, our salary increase was 0%.

**2004-2005: Increase from State was 4%, our salary increase was 2.87%

**2005-2006: Increase from State was 5.5%, our salary increase was 0.83% (with 0.41% not fully retroactive for the year).

**2006-2007: Increase from State was 8.08%, our salary increase is what we're fighting for.

**During a few of the little to no increase years, the district was financially in the red. So in order to help the district get back into the black, teachers agreed to not take a raise.

**July 2006: Top administrators are given a 16.84% raise. This was recommended by the superintendent and approved by the board of education. The justification? It was necessary to provide comparable salaries for them in order to ensure their
retention.

**July 2006: Teacher salary is up for negotiation. Since the school board took the lead and approved a 16.84% raise for administrators, teachers are happy to have the same, under the same justification. If we want to improve our district (as the superintendent claims) then we should have salaries comparable to other districts with the intention of retaining the best!

**Oct/Nov 2006: The district offers teachers a 3% salary increase.

**Even WITH the 3% salary increase, Hayward Teachers would still be the 2nd lowest paid teachers out of 8 surrounding districts. Unless you compare the maximum earning potential for teachers, because then a teacher in Hayward would be the LOWEST paid out of those 8 surrounding districts.

**August '06 through April '07: The union tries to negotiate for more, but the district stays at 3%.

**April 5, 2007: 98% of the district's 1,200 Teachers go on strike. In the meantime, the district doubles the pay for substitute teachers from $150/day to $300/day to attract more scabs during the strike.

As of this posting, we have been striking for 7 days. That's 7 days from 7am-3pm walking the lines in the wind, rain, and sun. That's 7 days without pay. That's 7 days of driving to Carl's Jr. to use the bathroom. That's 7 days of waiting. That's 7 days of democracy in action!