By Ashley Cohen and Sara Feld
Staff Writiers
Many seniors took action in response to teachers refusing to write letter of recommendation by wearing white shirts on Sept. 5 to show the teachers that they don’t want to be used as a bargaining tool to negotiate with the district administrators.
About 200 seniors wore white shirts to convey their strong disapproval towards the teachers’ refusals to write letter of recommendation. Many seniors believed that this event brought the students together to voice their opinions towards this issue.
“I’m glad this situation brought the senior class together,” said senior Ben Sands. “It was a great way to see how much we cared about each other and our school.”
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District and district administrators have been at an impasse regarding spending money on technology instead of raising teacher salaries. They have been refusing to do anything extra for their students, including writing letters of recommendation, to show the school board that they usually go beyond what is required of them and that they deserve a raise.
“I’m just frustrated,” senior Gabby Kula said. “I understand both the teachers’ side and the district’s side of the issue, but it just doesn’t seem fair that we seniors are being used like pieces in a game to benefit them. The school board will write letters of recommendation if need be but of course it won’t be the same and it won’t be as meaningful as a teacher’s letter of recommendation.”
In the previous years, getting help from teachers was available before school, snack, lunch, outside of school and depending on the teacher, after school.
“I am used to being able to get help from my teachers,” freshman Tatum Schlossberg said. “Now, getting help will be much more difficult.”
In addition, some students are worried that the lack of extra help might make an impact on their semester grades.
“I think it’s really unfair that the teachers are taking away after school help because my grades might suffer in the long run,” junior Sara Lensing said. “I understand that they want higher salaries, but it isn’t fair to take it out on the students.”
Some students do support the Mira Costa teachers in their fight for higher salaries. However, most of those students think that the actions the teachers are taking are making the students suffer.
“I strongly support the teachers in their fight for a raise,” sophomore Ryan Patel said. “However, the method in which they proceed is unnecessarily adding stress to the already complicated lives of Mira Costa students.”
Even though many students find the consequences of the negotiations to be unfair, some students have realized that both the Teachers Union and the district have justified reasons for what they are fighting for.
“I believe that we, as students, can be a part of the solution, since we are also affected by the negotiations,” sophomore Sean Okita said. “I don’t believe the teachers should have to endure their budget cuts, but I also believe we should understand the board’s side so we can form unbiased opinions and functional solutions.”
On Sept. 6, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District came to a tentative agreement with the MBUSD teachers. The teachers agreed to stop taking all actions against the students and, in return, will receive a 3% salary increase and an increase of 19.4% pay for extra duties.
“I’m just happy that they’ve finally reached some kind of consensus,” sophomore Tiffany J Ford said. “The teachers deserve an increase in salary so I’m really glad that they finally get better pay, especially because of their amazing test scores.”
The parties plan to reopen negotiations for the2013-14 year on the subject of health and welfare benefits, salary, elementary preparation time, school calendar for 2014-15, and one additional item by each party.
“I think the teachers of our district more than deserved the raise they got,” senior ASB president Dillon Shambaugh said. “After all, they are a huge factor as to why Costa is such an academically successful school.”
As a result, teachers will continue to write letters of recommendation, host clubs during lunch in their rooms, and give extra help to students outside of their contractual mandatory time.
“Overall, I’m just so happy the school environment can go back to its normal state where students and teachers have great relationships and we, the students, are able to get the letters of recommendation we feel we deserve and worked hard for from the teachers we respect,” Kula said.
Many students on campus are relieved that the teachers and the district have finally come to a temporary agreement. Although the negotiations will be reopened in the future, Costa students believe that their school lives will go back to normal for the time being.
“I think it’s great that the district and the teacher’s union were finally able to make an agreement. I’m glad that the teachers were able to get a raise, but most of all, I’m glad that Costa’s seniors will now have letters of recommendation again,” senior Michael Winfrey said. “I know a lot of seniors were scared and angry about the situation and it’s a real relief that it has been settled with a reasonable agreement.”
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