BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — On Tuesday, January 24, members with the Bakersfield Elementary Teachers Association came out in numbers to ask for an increase in wages and better working conditions. The teachers chanted and held up signs reading "Fair pay = Teachers stay," and "Will you pay me a living wage or will I have to go to another district?"
When they brought their protest to the Bakersfield City School District Board meeting, that energy continued during the board's public comment time. Many of the teachers, like 6th grade teacher Kayla Ferguson, spoke out.
"When you compare us across the board with similarly educated professionals, we are paid at the bottom of that tier, and the last thing that people who love that district want is to be paid at the bottom," Ferguson told the board.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Bakersfield area, kindergarten and elementary school teachers, excluding special education, make on average 82 and 88 thousand dollars a year.
Now online reports looking at specifically the 2021-2022 Bakersfield City School District, break down the salary based on degree and frequency of teaching. These range from a base pay of 52 thousand with just a bachelors degree to 104 thousand with a masters teaching 24 semesters.
The average pay for elementary school teachers across California, excluding special education teachers, is $86,000. This is around the average reported for the Bakersfield area.
Many of the teachers present at the BCSD board meeting pointed to the district having an increase in their budget, hoping to see some of that reflected in their pay.
The union members dressed in red, showing their solidarity. The number who showed up was so overwhelming, many had to wait in the overflow room for their time to speak. Union president Steve Comstock says they are in the process of negotiating a new contract, and have a unique opportunity this year to advocate for more than higher pay.
"This is a full contract, so a lot of times we have just one or two issues. Our entire contract is open this year, so there is a lot of language we are trying to change, like working conditions, safety," said Comstock, adding that although it may seem adversarial, this display of power in numbers is just part of their negotiating process.
Some of the board members, including Lilian Tafoya, saw this as well.
"There is always something we can improve on, and I understand that, so I want to thank you for sharing your feelings this evening," Tafoya said to the teachers. "I want to thank you for being so respectful."
Board member Shannon Zimmerman also expressed gratitude for the teachers' presence at the meeting.
"I do hope we can work together and come together without great expense to our students, because we do have to find a balance," said Zimmerman. "So I do appreciate everything you all do."
The contracts themselves are discussed in private, so we won't know too many details about them. There was no entry on the board's meeting agenda about contract negotiations.
The Bakersfield City School District employs approximately 3,000 people across 44 schools of all grade levels serving a total of 27,116 enrolled students.
Editor's Note: A previous report from Teacher.orgincluded in the article showed Bakersfield and Delano area, kindergarten teachers at BCSD schools make an average annual salary of $66,000, and elementary school teachers make an average of $63,000.
