To help find funding, our volunteers reviewed the budget and found potential funding sources or a Cost of Living Adjustment. We found that the school district is consistently over-budgeting for materials and supplies. Based on the averages over the last few years, the school district may have an estimated $55 million that could be used for salaries. Our latest proposal only needs $15.1 million to fund. We found the funding source, and now it’s time for the school district to act appropriately. Our educators deserve a cost of living adjustment.

Current OCEA Proposal Current SDOC Proposal
$2,000 One-Time Supplement $1,000 One-Time Supplement
6.5% Cost of living adjustment No Raise

Overall added cost to salaries:

$15.1 Million

Where can this money come from?

Consistent over-budgeting of materials and supplies

Year Budgeted Actually Spent Amount that could be moved to Salaries
2018-2019 $49.7 million $9.7 million $38 million
2019-2020 $43.4 million $7.4 million $33.2 million
2020-2021 $47.1 million $5.6 million $36.9 million
2021-2022 $39.9 million $4.1 million $23.7 million
2022-2023 $71.1 million TBD ($6.7 million average) Estimated: $55 million

Bargaining History

Last October, we started a campaign to increase teachers’ wages by 8.7%. In November, we included our Education Support Professionals in the same campaign. Over the past few months, we’ve gathered support for our efforts through email writing campaigns and an online petition. Local news stations have taken notice of our efforts and have covered our efforts at the school board meetings. However, the school district is unwilling to offer more than $1,000 one-time payment at the bargaining table.