Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD) teachers will likely move forward with extreme measures after rejecting the district’s final offer to address educators’ grievances on May 11, effectively ending five months of negotiations between the district and its Faculty Association.
Faculty Association President Mark Goodman said those extreme measures could include a strike, and at this point it would probably take an overhaul of administrators to satisfy the association’s demands for change.
“It’s kind of like a bad marriage,” Goodman said of the relationship between the district and its teachers. “They’ve made it very personal against teachers who voice any kind of concern, no matter how big or small.”
The association’s grievances include pay, but Goodman said the root of the problem has less to do with numbers than it does with culture.
“Part of the story is an unwillingness to recognize the employees for the value that they are and make a culture that’s more conducive to the teaching staff,” he said. “You can’t function like that. You can’t function when everything’s being attacked and all your agreements are being broken willy-nilly.”
When asked what the district would have to do at this point to settle its issues with the association, Goodman brought up Lucia Mar Unified School District (LMUSD) in Arroyo Grande. When LMUSD educators came dangerously close to striking, Goodman said, the district replaced its superintendent.
“The first thing the new superintendent did when she became superintendent was meet with the teachers and respond to them in a friendly and cordial manner,” Goodman said. “We’re trying to get personnel in the district that really look at people as people.”
Goodman clarified that the association wouldn’t formally demand a new superintendent, but he didn’t see how the two parties would achieve peace without an administration turnover.
The last phase of negotiations between the district and association was fact-finding, in which a neutral judge heard from both parties. The judge will next release a fact-finding report, which should theoretically present an objective, third-party view on the situation and potentially request both parties to return to the drawing board.
In an emailed statement, SMJUHSD Public Information Officer Kenny Klein said, “We are looking forward to reviewing the fact-finding report and continuing to work toward a fair settlement.”
This article appears in May 19-26, 2016.