Facts and Myths
- Chapter 2
Due to the
overwhelming
interest in our original
Facts and Myths web page, LCTA
wanted to give the La Canada Unified School District a chance to
comment in their own published words.
Statement:
"Our teachers are paid over $400 a day." - Board President Ron Dietel
in the Foothill Leader, May 12, 2005.
Fact or Myth? MYTH! Using the figures
presented in the district's own web page
(as of
5-23-2005), even if all benefits are included, teachers make far
less than this. Even using their quoted average salary of
$63,585, teachers are paid less than $250 a day. In fact, the
actual
take-home pay is far less after taxes.
Statement: La Canada has among
the highest-paid teachers in the county when benefits are coupled with
pay. - Board
President Ron Dietel in the Foothill Leader, May 12, 2005.
Fact or Myth? MYTH!
A comparison of La
Canada to the various districts in the county shows that, even
inclusive of benefits, the compensation for La Canada teachers is - at best - mediocre. Please note that the
numbers used in this comparison are those reported by the district to the California
Department of Education, rather than numbers with
no direct references.
Statement: According to
the LCUSD
web site (as of 5-23-2005), La Canada
teachers are in the top
quartile of representative salary categories.
Fact or Myth? MYTH!
According to the LA
County
Office of Education’s Survey of salaries and benefits, compensation
for La Canada teachers is average to below average, as discussed by
LCTA Association President Mandy Redfern at the 5/10/05 LCUSD Board
meeting. In addition, LCTA asked the district to correct these
numbers on the La Canada Unified School District web site and are still waiting for the numbers to be
updated.
Statement: "We have fewer and
fewer students." - John Kramar, LCUSD's Chief Business Officer,
La Canada Valley Sun, 2-24-2005.
Fact
or Myth? MYTH! The
number of students from '99-'00 to '04-'05 has
remained constant at
4230
(margin of error: 28 students). In the meantime, the number of
teachers has decreased by
2.3% per year, from 220 teachers in '99-'00 to only 196 teachers in
'04-'05. This means that individual teachers are each working
harder to serve increasing numbers of students.
Statement: Board President Ron
Dietel disputed a parent's claim that La Canada's teachers are paid
less than auto mechanics, in the Foothill Leader, May 12, 2005.
Fact or Myth? Hard to say.
The median
salary of an auto mechanic in the La Canada area with 4 year's
experience but without a college degree is expected to be roughly
$53,000. If you compare this to a new La Canada teacher, with no
experience but a 4 year degree (not to mention additional education for
his or her certificate), the mechanic's income is greater by over
$14,000 per year.
Statement: "Our teachers do an
excellent job of covering [the state] standards," Deputy Supt.
Jim Stratton. ""The whole idea of having standards and teaching
and measuring them is all very comfortable and familiar to our
teachers." - Glendale News Press, 3-17-2005.
Fact or Myth? FACT.
The LCUSD ranked second in the
state overall in API scores, a testimony to the incredibly hard work
put in by the students and teachers of the La Canada Unified School
District.
Fair Settlement Now - with real facts and
figures!
Return to LCTA homepage