Why Teachers Will Go on Strike

Teachers in Santa Barbara, and in many other places throughout California, will go on strike. It is not a matter of if, but when. You may ask why. Are we being influenced by the fact that workers everywhere have had enough and are striking — autoworkers, health-care personnel?

Maybe, but this is not the real reason. The discontent has been simmering for a long time, and it is bubbling up. We have felt underpaid and unappreciated for forever, but even this was not enough for us to take action. We do our jobs for the children. We do it for love, not money.

However, there has been a tipping point. A few years ago it was okay just to get by, but now we can’t even do that on the salaries we are being paid. I had my “Come to Jesus” moment when I saw an ad outside Panda Express. The restaurant was looking for a new manager, the yearly salary at close to $90,000 was a lot more than many teacher salaries. I am not saying that the manager is overpaid, just that we deserve more than what we are getting.

While Santa Barbara Unified teachers received a 2 percent increase a couple of months ago, in addition to an already agreed upon 2 percent, teachers in Los Angeles Unified received a lot more. After going on strike last year, they received a 21 percent wage increase over a three-year period. According to the Los Angeles Times, “this increase would raise the average teacher salary to $106,000.” On a recent pay scale for Santa Barbara Unified teachers the median salary is listed as close to $76,000.

In addition to gaining a raise, the teachers in Los Angeles Unified also received other compensation. The LA Times article stated, “Teachers who take on extra work responsibilities could earn more, a boost aimed at addressing the high stress and high cost of living that many teachers say they are struggling with, especially since the pandemic.”

The fact that our jobs have become more challenging is something that any teacher will attest to. We all know that children suffered learning loss during COVID lockdowns, but they also missed out on critical times in their socialization. One first grade teacher described the students when they first came back after COVID as “feral.” She was right, and we are still seeing the effects of students being isolated for so long.

Teachers Are Considered Low Income — That Is No Surprise

A recent article in the Santa Barbara Independent laid out the situation for local teachers. The article stated that the California Department of Housing and Community Development said the Area Median Income (AMI) had jumped from $101,000 to $107,300 for a four-person household. According to this criteria, “Those earning up to $51,800 a year, around the starting salary of a schoolteacher, would be ‘very low income,’ and anybody making less than $82,650 a year could qualify as a low-income renter.”

Many colleagues at my school are feeling the pressure. When we started discussing a possible strike, a colleague shared, “I pay $3,200 for my monthly rent. If the owner decides to raise the rent, even a little, I won’t be able to stay.” Another coworker said she had found a cheap rental nearby. It was $5,000. I almost died. She explained that many rentals near our school go for $10,000 a month.

With the median house price in Santa Barbara at $1.7 million, young teachers have had to move to another city or state to find a place in which they can buy a house and raise a family. We lost two great teachers from our school for this reason. It happens all the time.

Kim Baron, a Santa Barbara Unified teacher who spoke at a recent board meeting, did the math and figured out that teachers would need to be paid an additional 25 percent, over a three-year period, to match inflation. This salary increase would not include a raise. She said, “Teachers would need a 10 percent cost of living increase, immediately, in order to have the same purchasing we had three years ago.”

And the great perks, like free health care, that made teaching a good gig many years ago — gone. Most teachers pay $10,000-$16,000 a year for health, dental, and optical care.

The Grass Is Greener

In another mind-blowing twist, teachers in other districts get paid more. They do the same job, but they are paid thousands, sometimes ten-thousand dollars, more. Can I tell you why? No idea!

Why don’t we all just move to those better paying districts? The answer is seniority. If you have been in Santa Barbara for a while, you will have to really weigh the pros and cons. You can lose your position on the pay scale, since there are often only a certain number of years “you can take with you.” If, for example, you have worked for 15 years, you might only get credit for seven. You might be at a better paying district, but you could be making less money than you were before.

In addition, our salary doesn’t only affect us in the present, it also affects us until we die. Our retirement is calculated using our three highest years of pay. This is infuriating! If there are teachers in other districts making $30,000 more, for the same number of years of service, this teacher will get a substantially larger monthly pension.

What Happens Next

So, what will teachers do? For now, the Santa Barbara Teachers Association (SBTA) has encouraged teachers to engage in a “slowdown,” which will start in November. This means that teachers won’t do anything above and beyond the duties listed in our contract:
•  this includes keeping our doors closed until school starts
•  not volunteering for extra duties, such as attending meetings after school
•  conducting parent-teacher conferences only during our contract hours.

This action is in response to the Santa Barbara School District’s refusal to discuss financial issues with the teacher’s union until mid-January.

There are many, many teachers who feel that they have had enough. They aren’t willing to continue with the status quo, and they want something to change. As Ms. Baron said when addressing the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board, “Please don’t force us to go on strike. None of you sitting there, and at the top of the district office hierarchy are low income. Why should we be?”