SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Last summer, Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, hinted at possible labor trouble in a number of California school districts.
He noted that his union’s collective bargaining agreement expires in 2017, and there are plans to create a “state crisis” to help UTLA, as well as unions in other school districts, secure new contracts with favorable terms.
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“The next year-and-a-half must be founded upon building our capacity to strike, and our capacity to create a state crisis, in early 2018,” Caputo-Pearl was quoted as saying by LASchoolReport.com. “There simply may be no other way to protect our health benefits and to shock the system into investing in the civic institution of public education.
“All of the unions representing LAUSD workers and the teachers unions in San Diego, San Bernardino, Oakland and San Francisco share our June 2017 contract expiration date. We have an historic opportunity to lead a coordinated bargaining effort across the state.”
Wait a minute. Did he include San Bernardino in that group?
We’re not sure what salaries and benefits add up to in Los Angeles or the other school districts that Caputo-Pearl mentioned, but we know a lot of San Bernardino teachers already make really, really good money.
A total of 182 out of 2,807 San Bernardino teachers made over $100,000 in base salary in 2015-16. Another 854 made between $90,000 and $100,000 in base salary, plus benefits that pushed them easily into six-figure compensation.
In 2015-16, teacher Michael Adams made a base salary of $100,028, received “health and welfare” benefits worth $16,336, and the district made a pension contribution of $10,732 on his behalf.
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That brought his compensation package to at least $127,096.
San Bernardino teachers work 184 days per year, and it’s safe to assume they are required to work a maximum of eight hours per day. Based on that schedule, Adams’ total compensation breaks down to about $690 per day and about $86 per hour.
Teacher Raja Ali made a base salary of $118,229 in 2015-16, received health and welfare benefits totaling $15,656, and the district made a $12,686 pension contribution on his behalf. That totals $146,571 and breaks down to about $796 per day and about $99 per hour.
One lesser-paid teacher, Dawn Allen, made a base salary of $84,901, received health and welfare benefits totaling $15,534, and the district made a pension contribution of $9,109 on her behalf. That totals $109,544 and breaks down to about $595 per day and about $74 per hour.
Can you imagine any of those teachers picketing for higher wages and better benefits?
Just to be fair, we should mention district superintendent Dale Marsden, who made a base salary of $308,702, received $61,454 in health and welfare benefits, a $29,138 contribution to a tax-sheltered annuity account, $6,862 worth of life insurance, and a car allowance of $9,120.
The district also made a $31,579 pension contribution on his behalf.
Overall, Marsden’s 2015-16 employment package cost the district $446,855.


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