Arcata High Students ‘Walking Out of Classes to Stand in Solidarity With Their Teachers’ on Wednesday
This is a press release from AHS For Educators:
Photo from the Arcata High School Facebook page
On Wednesday, October 2nd students of the Arcata High campus will be walking out of classes to stand in solidarity with their teachers. The walkout will occur at noon and convene at the plaza where speakers will present at 12:30 on various positive impacts staff have on students and the school’s community. The students will also be wearing black, supporting their teachers in their battle for fair pay and benefits. For more information, organizers can be contacted by email, [email protected], or Instagram @westandwitheducators. To learn more about the teacher’s situation check out Arcata High’s newspaper, The Pepperbox, at thepepperbox.com.
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Well, that’s very counter-constructive, and a good way for the kids to invest in their futures…
Learn to protest today! You ARE from Humboldt after all…
Lets get the kids out of class and use them for pawns as we get out of work and they pay us to protest! Says the teachers.
None of the teachers walked out and it was 100% student organized. We just love our teachers and don’t want them to have to live with leas than they are worth.
Source: I organized this entire event.
I wonder if there is any cause so shaky that students will not force themselves to avoid school. Nor any lobby group unwilling to use them.
“The average secondary school teacher salary in Arcata, California is $62,726 or an equivalent hourly rate of $30. This is 2% higher (+$1,257) than the average secondary school teacher salary in the United States. In addition, they earn an average bonus of $1,549. Salary estimates based on salary survey data collected directly from employers and anonymous employees in Arcata, California” https://www.salaryexpert.com/salary/job/secondary-school-teacher/united-states/california/arcata
Take a look at the actual salary’s: “https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2017/school-districts/humboldt/northern-humboldt-union-high/?page=9&s=base”. This fight isn’t for the teachers making $90k, this is for the teachers making $30k.
And any attempt to convert a salary into an hourly wage when it comes to teacher is ludicrous. They spend tons of time spend outside contracted hours doing their job.
Thanks
2 % higher!!!! Wow, they average $1257 a year more than teachers in the rest of the country! Oh my gosh, the wealth, the opulence, the sheer overindulgence.
Wait, oh, I just realized, they live in a city where the cost of living is 8.5 % higher than the US average and the cost of a home is 40% higher.
Silly me. I sometimes ignore data that contradicts my belief system.
Was wondering how much it cost for the teachers medical and retirement package. It probably cost the state closer to 50 k a year for these teachers I would guess? Maybe more…….
Most teachers shop at Costco or Target in Eureka, same as anywhere else and live outside the city limits of Arcata, just like most everyone else.
Except there aren’t any regular, full time teachers earning under $60,000. Some are working under contract for more than one school, some getting additional pay. Some are working part time. But most regular teachers in high schools earn more like $70,000 to $80,000 for essentially 80% of the hours other people considered full time work.
“Pay varied by state, with top mean salaries in New York, $74,130; Rhode Island, $69,780; New Jersey, $69,640; California, $69,330; and Alaska, $67,990. Mean salaries were between $31,090 and $46,850 in 12 states, including Kansas, North Dakota, Missouri and Iowa.” https://careertrend.com/average-teachers-salary-plus-benefits-30171.html
“As to hours of work – “Japan and the U.S. are the only countries where teachers self-report their time in the classroom. The problem, according to Abrams, is that American teachers significantly overestimate the time they spend teaching, probably because they round up to the closest hour on a daily instead of weekly basis.” “https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/02/teaching-time-a-new-study-finds-that-american-teachers-don-t-actually-work-much-longer-hours-than-their-international-peers.html
“Also negotiated is a calendar work year that limits teachers to 181 work days. Most Americans work 245 days per year meaning teachers get nearly 13 weeks more vacation time than the typical US worker. The days teachers do work the day starts at 8 and ends at 2:30 during that time period there are mandated breaks, non-teaching period and lunch. Schools are prohibited from demanding that teachers work more than those hours. That’s only 6.5 hours per day so if teachers are voluntarily working longer that would be moving them closer to the typical 8 hour work day.”
http://www.michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=357
Some teachers do put in substantial extra work during the parts of the year they are not on vacation but a whole lot do not. Some come in to set up class rooms early or may choose to do it on a weekend rather than come in early or stay late but not a rate that makes up for the official time off.
And there are parts of the country where teachers are horribly underpaid. But that is not in California public schools where the earnings are good, the hours of work not long, the benefits substantial and the pensions some of the best in the country. It’s a small, closed world that buys into its own myth of being grossly underpaid and overworked. Teaching is hard work, has a lot of frustrations but so do a lot of other jobs with less pay and benefits. They do have a wonderful union that would be great for non government employees if it could be managed.
Having been a teacher who watched parents complain about how easy teachers have it while nearly simultaneously complaining about barely surviving a three kid slumber party where all they had to do was babysit not actually teach anything…I think you and most others vastly underestimate the amount of time a teacher spends. Just think about correcting papers. If you assign an essay for a 30 person class that is a minimum of 300 minutes of grading and probably another 20 or so entering the grades…almost all of which happen at home. If you teach writing, then you are assigning an essay at least once per week. Then you correct math papers, history assignments, write syllabus’, write exams, etc. Parent teacher meetings, fundraisers, recess watching, detentions, staff meetings, etc. can all add to the time beyond the class room. Most teachers I know used summers and weekends to prepare for class, etc.
Done it. High school. I started all starry eyed but soon was disillusioned. The bell rang at 3:30 pm. Stampede of exiting students 3:35pm. Stampede of exiting teachers 3:37pm. By 3:40pm lights off, echoing halls, empty parking lot. Only Admin staff and maintenance left. I also graded papers and enter grades for a teacher in my misspent youth in college. So been there done that too.
But I never said it was easy. What I said was that many other jobs are hard too, not one of which got anywhere near as much vacation time, benefits or security. It takes a lot of daily overtime to use up that extra 500 hours of just vacation time that other people don’t get, especially with the prep period every day. The in service days on Fridays. Do they get personal says off too here? And frankly I’ve seen teachers grading papers at night with a glass of wine on one side, the TV on and the papers being read at the speed of light. The commitment varies. Oh- and the jobs I’ve worked didn’t include a paid lunch- 8 hours meant 8 hours of work with two statutory breaks maybe. Lunch was on my time.
Again it’s not easy but California teachers have a substantial benefit package that include the best retirement return I’ve ever seen, the seconds highest pay and liberal benefits. That is something that is never mentioned. In fact is hard to even find out unless you have personal experience with it. Using kids as leverage in contract negotiations is rather embarassing in that case.
To the commenters talking about students not attending class. Please notice this occurs at Noon just before lunch, they’re skipping out on 10 minutes of class time, just enough to call this a walk out.
The point I was making is, that unless times have drastically changed, When a student is in high school about the last thing on their mind is how much the teachers are making and what the benefit package is. If they were to hold the protest on Saturday I somehow think not many students would show up. The teachers are using the students to further their agenda, not the students.
It isnt a protest. Its a strike. If the students stay out of class for a week or two, the district will lose a lot of revenue because it is paid by the day by the student. Ergo, the strike will end more quickly.
Btw, if the teachers are on strike, might not make a lot of sense for kiss to be in school.
Pay teachers what they’re worth please. Our future depends on it.
~no matter what anyone chooses to label this or the next group-gathering distraction, you can bet it’s always funded by Soros. Including the “mass migration” a few months ago. Occupy too. Moooo.
Get to the point.
No one goes on strike who is not employed. So students can not really go on strike. They protest in support of teachers and that’s all their walk out is.
We had almost 40 students at a school board meeting that wasn’t even advertised besides on the website. Us students are passionate about our teachers, we love em.
Source: organized this whole thing
Teachers work 75% of the work year. Summers off, 2 weeks at Christmas, a week at Thanksgiving, a week at Easter and a week for what used to be Presidents Day. Excellent benefits that covers dependents too. Don’t forget a pension that pays the teachers for life after retirement. Did you not research your pay and benefits before going towards a teaching career? Give me a break…
So no teacher ever deserves a pay raise?
I think reading your comment just made us all a tiny bit dumber.
I am not paying for my student to go to school to be used in helping those entrusted with their education reach their own personal or political goals. Teachers or their union can contact me directly if they would like assistance or support in their salary negotiations, don’t use the children.
We organized this ourselves without any help from teachers . They aren’t using us, we just care.
For some of us, that would be impossible. AHS Alumni is right. A raise- negotiate it. Using students as a lever is way overkill.
Participation or lack thereof will not be reflected in students’ GPAs, of course, but it will be remembered.
Why are they protesting the general public, aka turnips, instead of the Sacramento money distributors of tax payer funds?
Petition the ‘authorities’, not the turnips!
Who’s on first?
Good job, students.
Show these old farts what’s up.
Teachers are sadly underpaid everywhere in California, even if they do have PERS retirement.
After a long career in an ancillary healthcare profession, I am totally pro-getting whatever you can out of your employment. Bringing in Unions, however, is not the answer!
Unions seem to be favored, in Northern CA, but Unions just add another layer of bureaucracy, and slow down the negotiations. Look at Kaiser, the 80,000 rank and file were set to strike, with much trumpeting, but in the end the employees got a lollypop and $1.00/hr, and they became docile again…
Good luck teachers, vote against Unions and do what you got to do!
They have STRS, not PERS. And are not at all underpaid considering the time off, benefits, security and pension involved in working for a public school. Private school or charter school are something else but public school teachers do ok.
https://www.technocracy.news/global-climate-strike-heavily-backed-by-george-soros/
September 29th
As an Arcata High parent I am encouraging my son to participate in this Walk Out. Although I am admittedly clueless about the teachers demands if he can convince College admissions of his false LGBT back round, minority – rural situation and social justice warrior status we could be looking at Ivy League schools!
~i’m confused. If this is a lunchtime tadoo, except for 10 mins., it’s not a protest. I’ve seen better organizing at the DMV. Doubtful any one of them could give a logical, fact-filled, words-defined, explanation of what its all about.
“Climate Change” and “Global Warming”, Notwithstanding.
The organized one is Wednesday. When you’re in a ‘union’, you are forced to do what the ‘union’ organizes you to do.
Sad way to live.
Forgot to include the link to the ‘organized’ one. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/09/25/redfored-teachers-unions-all-in-for-impeachment/
~it must show that i don’t always read the articles. Why? When the commenters are three steps ahead of the game.
Thx for the clue-in.
That’s okay, I failed to reread my post before posting. I meant ‘Tuesday’ for the orchestrated one.
~i clicked on the link you provided – and this whole thing is about the Prez. of the U.S. Inc?
Why would anybody believe an Article regarding impeachment in the Federal Constitution applies to a corporation? Funny how those who know zip about land jurisdiction, don’t acknowledge it, don’t apply it – Then ..dun-ta-da-dun!..oh, yes, “impeachment” it says right here.
What a sham.