Salaries in limbo Salaries in limbo (March 26, 2004)

For now, no raises for MV-W teachers

By Julie O'Shea

Budget projections for the Mountain View-Whisman School District for the next two years show steady growth, with its bank account expected to top $32 million by 2005-2006. However, there is currently no money budgeted to give teachers salary increases.

Despite voters approving a $1.6 million parcel tax earlier this month, none of those funds are earmarked for pay raises. So unless the school board votes to do without other items from next year's budget, teachers may have to go without more money.

"I'm sure the unions would like us to look at a number other than zero," finance chief Rebecca Wright said. "I don't currently have money in the budget for a salary increase."

But Sally Topete, president of the Mountain View Teachers Association, is more hopeful. "She may not have the money now," Topete said, "but she could find it - maybe."

The teachers union begins its contract negotiations with the school district next month. The union's contact expires in June. This will be the first new contract the teachers will have since 2000, when the Mountain View and Whiman School Districts merged, Topete said.

The state offers the district a cost of living adjustment, known as COLA, each year, but salary raises aren't always contingent on these extra funds from the state.

"Anything we can get above the COLA is amazing," Topete said.

The school district must present a balanced budget to the Santa Clara County Office of Education by July 1, even though there is no guarantee that the state Legislature will approve its budget by then. Because of this, Topete anticipates that contract negotiations will go until November. There are roughly 440 members in the teachers union.

"We aren't just worried about money," Topete said. "Protecting benefits is just as important as a salary increase."

Health and welfare premiums are expected to increase in the coming years, according to yearly projections from the finance department.

Teachers didn't ask for any money last year, Topete added, because they knew there wasn't any money. Voters narrowly rejected a $2.5 million parcel tax in a June special election. As a result, the 4,300-pupil district had to slim down to a $30.9 million operating budget. Without the fund-raising efforts of the Mountain View Educational Foundation, the school district would have had to do without many of its standard programs and services.

Some good news came in January, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a $76.1-billion budget that left K-12 education virtually untouched. But things could change in May, when the governor presents a revised budget proposal.

"No, I don't have all the cards, (but) ... I do have some information," Wright said. "I'm hoping the governor's budget doesn't change dramatically."

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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