Teachers rally to seek better contract deal

Teachers in the Miller Creek School District came out in force this week to demand better contract terms as they continue talks with the district.

Several dozen teachers carrying signs and wearing red T-shirts demonstrated outside the district office Tuesday before the board of trustees meeting. After the meeting started, about 50 teachers and allies came inside to speak to the board during public comment.

“I'm using my time to talk about the fact that our district is in crisis,” Mary Krause, lead negotiator for the 104-member Miller Creek Education Association, told the trustees.

“We have lost educators to neighboring school districts,” she said. “We have classrooms with no instructional assistant support for our students. We have educators with no prep time.”

Other union members said the salary paid to district teachers is far behind the rise in the local consumer price index and is not competitive with salaries paid in other comparable districts.

Becky Rosales, the district superintendent, said she was hopeful a state mediation session scheduled for Wednesday would help break the deadlock.

“The district is committed to remaining engaged in the negotiations process,” she said. “We value our staff tremendously and want to continue to find ways to attract and retain exemplary teachers on behalf of students.”

The district had no information on the results of the mediation session late Wednesday afternoon.

The district is offering a pay increase of 11% over two years, Rosales said. That includes 8% raises for the current school year and 3% for 2023-24. Teachers are asking for the same 8% rise this year, but they want 6% for 2023-24, according to Rosales.

“The district's proposal exceeds the percentage increase of state funding to the district in 2022-2023,” Rosales said. “It is 2% higher than the highest reported raise negotiated to date by any district in Marin County for 2022-23 and would make our salary schedule competitive compared to other Marin districts.”

Krause declined to offer specific numbers on Tuesday.

According to union research, the local consumer price index has risen 26.9% over the last eight years but district teachers salaries have increased 14.7% over the same time, a union member said Tuesday. That has led the district to lose teachers, or prospective teachers, when they find better paying jobs.

“I've been shamed and mocked by people I respect,”

Miller Creek Middle School teacher Monica Burrowes said, referring to the reaction of friends when she invited them to apply for openings at the district. “Please put our students first.”

Rosales acknowledged that several longtime teachers have left in the past year or so after finding betterpaying jobs in other districts that were closer to their homes. Two of those teachers logged in online Tuesday night to offer support for their former colleagues.

“Miller Creek School District had a few teachers leave for a variety of reasons,” Rosales said. “Some of the reasons included commute, retirement and moving to higher paying high school districts.”

The district negotiators have “agreed to many of MCEA's proposals on the other two items subject to negotiations,” Rosales said.

“MCEA has not indicated what remaining parts of their proposals are unresolved,” she said.

In addition staff losses, teacher Liz Naughton told trustees, she is “tired of losing students” to private schools. She said some of the departures appeared to be because of larger class sizes.

“We can't afford to lose more families,” she said.

Anthony Shafer, a district parent, said he supports teachers in their demands. He said it is “embarrassing” that the district is not competitive with smaller, rural school districts.

“We need to do what's right,” he told trustees. “As parents, we expect nothing less.”

Per the standard protocol at board meetings, trustees did not respond to the statements made during public comment.

The Miller Creek School District serves students in three elementary schools — Vallecito, Mary Silveira and Lucas Valley — and Miller Creek Middle School.