Chanting "Do the right thing!" while clapping in unison, about 400 educators and their supporters rallied Wednesday at Capistrano Unified School District headquarters to protest a 10.1 percent pay cut that the school board is imposing on all teachers.They may know about teaching but they know nothing about protest signs. I was driving by a local high school and some of the teachers were out marching around with their signs and unless you're standing right next to them they're unreadable (you can see a photo at the link). They have big bold red borders, but the print is too small to be read from more than a few feet away.
Many held up signs demanding that Capistrano's school board "respect our teachers" by returning to the negotiating table to try to work out a compromise with the district's 2,300-member teachers union.
The board room in San Juan Capistrano was packed to capacity with about 300 teachers and their supporters, while about 100 more demonstrated outside.
"All the other districts have the same problems we do, but they are asking so much more of us than other districts," said demonstrator Julia Ferguson, a fourth-grade teacher at San Juan Capistrano's Kinoshita Elementary School and a 20-year educator. "It just doesn't seem fair."
The 10.1 percent pay cut, formally enacted at Wednesday's school board meeting, will end months of bitter negotiations over how to achieve pay concessions intended to help the district close its gaping $34 million budget deficit.
The pay cut was approved in a 6-1 school board vote, with trustee Jack Brick dissenting.
"There is not one single person who rejoices in what we may do tonight," school board President Anna Bryson said just before the vote. "We understand it is painful. It is not a process we have enjoyed, and it has been extremely difficult for every one of us."
As the meeting concluded, demonstrators in the audience shouted, "Strike! Strike! Strike!" in unison.
It's pretty hard to sell your cause if nobody can figure out why you're protesting.
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2 comments:
Was the cut for the teachers only, or for administrators and other staff also?
I agree that the cuts out to start with the administrators, at about 3,000 percent.
But as regards the sign--it is symbolism, since as teachers they know that people can't be expected to read for them selves, so the red....errrr...Red border identifies the origin or type of message, the letters indicate that the sign says something, what ever the protester says it says.
I notice the OC server seems pretty dead--is that normal?
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