Santa Barbara Unified Students Walk Out to Raise Teacher Wages

Bitter Salary Dispute Leads to a Soft Strike and Student Protests

Amelia Kelly, a student at San Marcos High School, told the board on December 13 that teachers are "the most important thing" when it comes to addressing student mental health issues. | Credit: Courtesy

In the last two weeks, over 2,000 students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District walked out to back their teachers amid the bitter salary dispute between the district and the Santa Barbara Teachers Association (SBTA).

Educators and students say there is a lack of support for the people in the classroom. While inflation and housing costs surged in the past few years, teacher wages have stayed relatively flat. Early contract talks this year gave way to a recent “soft strike” by hundreds of teachers.

Teachers have halted all unpaid, voluntary duties not required by their contracts — lunchtime tutoring, hosting club meetings in their classrooms, writing letters of recommendation — prompting student-led walkouts at multiple schools. Dos Pueblos High School initiated the walkouts on December 1, which spread to San Marcos High School, Santa Barbara High School, and La Colina Junior High last week. Participating students received excused absences.

Eighth-grader Dylan Cotich told the Indy that his aunt, a teacher in the district, spends much of her free time grading assignments. “Not getting paid for the time she spends working is clearly unfair,” he said, adding that students are shut out of classrooms and teachers have slowed grading due to “unfair pay.”

At San Marcos, senior Kavya Suresh, the school board’s former student boardmember, led roughly 700 students to the nearby Tucker’s Grove Park. “If you want your students to stay in class, give your teachers what they ask,” she chanted.

As it stands, the SBTA seeks a 15 percent raise next year and 8 percent the following year. The district proposed 9 percent and 4 percent, respectively, in the parties’ third negotiation session on Tuesday, December 12.

While the parties did reach tentative agreements on both reduced class sizes and the district’s 75 percent contribution to medical benefits, the heated issue of salary remains unresolved. School board meetings have been consistently flooded by angry teachers who say they are underpaid and overworked.

Following the student walkouts, students joined their teachers in the boardroom on December 13, holding signs and criticizing the school board and district administration.

Student Amelia Kelly emphasized the crucial role of supportive teachers in addressing students’ mental-health struggles.“The good teachers are the ones who saved my life,” Kelly shared. “I had a math teacher who is the reason I am still here today.”

She was just one of many who blamed the boardmembers for unmet classroom needs, warning them of the “ghosts of teachers past, present, and future” coming back to haunt them. “Pay teachers better if you care about the students,” she chided.

The district said the recent student demonstrations “reflect the spirit of critical thinking encouraged at schools,” and that it “stands behind the rights of students to express themselves in a peaceful and responsible manner.” Teachers are grateful for the students’ support this month, even though many have said they’d prefer students stay in school.

SBTA President Hozby Galindo brought up that teachers “push themselves to exhaustion” to meet student needs, including by working long hours and teaching extra classes outside of their subject areas.

“Teachers will burn out, leaving even more positions to be filled,” he said, referring to some 200 new teachers that have been hired over the past two years to try to reconcile high turnover.

SBTA President Hozby Galindo spoke at the December 13 board meeting, reiterating that teachers are underappreciated and overworked in the district. | Credit: Courtesy

Educators, feeling “undervalued” and “taken advantage of,” have also criticized the district for just barely meeting the state-mandated minimum for teacher compensation in recent years. The district, which fell $6.7 million below the minimum last year, attributed it to one-time COVID-19 funds skewing the ratio of district spending.

Veteran teacher Jose Caballero called the district’s recent proposal “no joke,” saying he sees tangible benefits in the salary increase and insurance help. But he questions the district’s priorities, saying, “Teachers are disgruntled, suspicious, resentful, and hurt … the district has been so callous over the last few years, that it’s hard to be excited about this proposal.”

Talks around teacher compensation extend beyond Santa Barbara Unified, with Hope Elementary School District teachers seeking a 30 percent increase in compensation this school year, as well as Ventura Unified educators proposing a 6 percent raise alongside full benefits coverage for eligible union members.

For Santa Barbara Unified, the next negotiation sessions are scheduled for after the winter break. The district said it will “continue to work collaboratively with SBTA to find common ground at the negotiations table to craft agreements that benefit our students, families, and staff.”

Meanwhile, the school board unanimously approved an appointment process to replace former boardmember Virginia Alvarez, following her sudden resignation last month. Applications opened on December 15, 2023, and will close on January 3, 2024, at 5 p.m. Applicants must reside in attendance boundaries of the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

The provisional appointee will complete the remainder of Alvarez’s at-large term, ending in November 2024 when the seat will be up for reelection.