”It really is about TIME” – Teachers in SCV hardly compensated for their efforts.

Teachers are the adults who equip the next generation with skills needed to propel the world forward. Without them, children all over the world would not have access to education. Despite the value of their job, teachers have fought the issue of unfair compensation. For decades, teachers have been underpaid for their time, as the majority spend time outside of their defined work time, bettering the educational experience for their students. Over more recent years, several movements have occurred, in hopes to better teacher pay, but little to no change has taken place. Recently, in my home high school district, William S. Hart Union High School District teachers have taken part in the Work to Rule movement and voiced their opinions on how the school district should compensate teachers fairly.

The teacher’s labor union of the William S. Hart Union High School District is called Hart District Teachers Association (HDTA). Over the past few months, HDTA has been working towards fairly compensating teachers by asking the district for a fair Cost of Living Increase (COLA).

HDTA President, John Minkus, provided context on what Work to Rule means and how valuable teachers are. He said, “our main goal is to educate the public on the importance of our well-qualified workforce to our students’ education.  We have tried to highlight all the ‘extras’ HDTA members provide to the district, but most importantly the students.”

Teachers take the time to meet and work with students on their own time, sometimes on their lunch breaks just for students to enhance their learning. From the viewpoint of HDTA, the district takes their time for granted and the moment has come to change this by showing how valuable teachers are.

Academy of the Canyons teacher, Jeremy Sparage, spoke about the desired outcome. He said, “we asked for 8% raise at the beginning of this movement, but the district is continuously giving 0%.”

With the Work to Rule movement, where teachers have shown their value to the student learning outcome, the district made a slight negotiation to a 2% raise. Another source came forward and shared that instead of giving reasonable Cost of Living Increase, the school district began to give out Reduction in Force Notices to some teachers. The William S. Hart School District has not taken any steps towards fair negotiation and simply ignoring the issue of underpaid teachers.

In the coming months, teachers in the Santa Clarita Valley seek to gain fair compensation for their time and efforts, relying on the support of the public and union. United, HDTA believes that they are on the right track to progress and hope to see the District change to better the lives and working conditions of teachers.