Ever wonder why several teachers, counselors, librarians, faculty, parents, and students protest every Thursday in front of school and on Genesee Avenue? They are making aware of the absence of a fair contract between UCSD and Preuss teachers, counselors, and librarians.
July 31, 2024 marked the day in which the Preuss teachers’, counselors’, and librarians’ union contract expired. Negotiations for a new contract began in February of 2024, and now, over one year later, UCSD and Preuss teachers, counselors, and librarians have not reached an agreement on their new contract which would cover three to four years, or can even be changed depended on what is agreed on.
The Preuss School teachers, counselors, and librarians are part of the University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT), which represents librarians and faculty throughout the University of California system. Preuss belongs to a smaller unit called the Preuss School Unit. The union was fully established and functioning in 2017, according to Dr. Weber, the chief negotiator for the Preuss School Unit.
The contract can include material that is expected of teachers and administration that establish good working conditions to make Preuss “an attractive place” to work, according to Dr. Weber. However, out of all the outstanding articles in the contract each side has not reached agreement on, salary has proved to be the hardest one to compromise on and one of the factors why the contract has not yet been agreed upon.
Here’s why: San Diego Unified teachers, counselors, and librarians receive approximately twenty percent more than Preuss teachers, counselors, and librarians. Every year, teachers counselors, and librarians in San Diego Unified negotiate and receive small raises, while Preuss teachers counselors, and librarians remain earning the same salary they negotiated in their previous contract, making them fall very behind what other teachers make in San Diego. Not only do the Preuss teachers, counselors, and librarians not receive the same salary as San Diego Unified teachers, counselors, and librarians, when you add up the salary for the longer school hours and year given to Preuss teachers, counselors, and librarians the salary is still lower than San Diego Unified.
But why are Preuss teachers, counselors, and librarians not receiving the same salary as other teachers if the school is located in San Diego? That’s because Preuss is a charter school which is more independent than the public schools overseen by San Diego County. Instead, UCSD oversees Preuss in regards to almost everything, including their salaries.
The negotiation team representing the Preuss union at negotiation meetings with UCSD is made up of seven union members. Dr. Weber, as said, serves as the team’s chief negotiator during negotiation meetings, which means that he is the spokesperson in the meetings.
The union would like to reach a contract with UCSD that gives them the same salary as San Diego Unified teachers and also be prorated for the longer schools which should be given, but for many reasons UCSD and the union have not come to a full agreement regarding the salary for teachers, counselors, and librarians.
Dr. Weber says, “There’s many districts in San Diego, and other schools, and if Preuss is going to be successful, it has to attract and retain the best teachers in the county, and the only way to do that is to have a salary schedule or a salary scale and working conditions that are at least as good as everybody else if not better.”
During school, teachers, counselors, librarians, and special education teachers are the ones who help students be able to succeed. According to Rand Education and Labor, teachers are among the top school related resources that directly tie into student achievement, meaning that students need teachers in the classroom in order to thrive. The article titled “Teachers’ Broad Impact: Understanding How Teachers Influence Students They Do Not Teach” states “Teachers can affect hundreds of students over the course of their careers, and their students in turn can pass these effects on to other people in their lives.”
Additionally, the influence of teachers on students can be carried on into their personal lives and their future. According to The Ohio State University blog titled “Teachers are the Foundation of the Future and Education,” teachers are the “building blocks” of a person’s future. The blog also emphasizes that teachers are also the same people who help bring curiosity to learn of a child from a very young age.
Several teachers have left Preuss during this school year, which is very concerning due to students being taught by substitute teachers. Not only do the teachers, counselors, librarians, suffer the consequences of an unfair contract, students suffer too. Classrooms without a permanent teacher lack engagement within the classroom and students will most likely not be taught properly by the substitute teachers. It also reflects badly on the school, making it a place other teachers and students would not like to attend. Many parents would not view a school ideal if there are substitutes teaching their children instead of actual teachers.
Students, I believe we should try to help advocate for our teachers, counselors, librarians, and special education teachers and to make sure we support the union!
“As kids, you have power. and if a few of you talk, you can probably figure out how you can best express the issues that you’re seeing,” states Dr. Weber.
It is UCSD’s responsibility to make sure that the Preuss Community is getting fair treatment and are given what they deserve. I urge UCSD to fulfill their responsibilities and treat the Preuss Community better by giving a fair contract and salary to teachers, counselors, and librarians.
