Cupertino
Courier
June 9, 1999 Cupertino, California Since 1947
CUSD Employee Exodus
Officials say it's retirement and class-size reduction. Some teachers
and parents say it's internal strife. What's really going on?
By Michelle Ku and Pam Marino
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For years, Cupertino schools have been touted as among the best in
the county and in the state. The Cupertino Union School District's
reputation has even crossed international borders--its schools have
been written up in the foreign press as among the country's most outstanding.
And Cupertino's kids consistently score in the top tiers of standardized
tests.
The district's excellent reputation is often used
as a selling point in real estate ads, and most agents agree that
the area's schools have been a key factor in driving Cupertino's housing
prices to near the top in the Bay Area.
But the stability that has long characterized the district is lessening.
In this first installment of a two-part series, The Courier explores
this change: the reasons behind it and the impact it will have on
the district in the future.
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In the waning moments of a typical Cupertino Union
School District board meeting in April, Jan Newman approached the
podium. As a parent active in the district for 12 years, Newman had
addressed the board before and was, as usual, nervous. But this was
not a usual presentation. Afraid there is a serious problem in the
district, she decided to make her fears public. Her hands shook slightly
as she tightly gripped the paper holding her prepared statement and
began speaking:
"Where is everyone going?" she asked, listing
the names of a dozen CUSD administrators, including assistant superintendent
John Erkman. "Every one of these people has left the district
within the last two years. And they represent only the exodus from
district office and administrative positions. Dozens of teachers are
departing as well. Granted, a few are retirees. But what about the
rest of them? Where are they going, and more importantly, why?"
There are 10 first- and second-year principals, she
continued. In a district of 24 schools, 40 percent of the principals
have left within the last two years.
A visibly shocked Ben Liao responded in disbelief,
"If this is a trend, maybe we need to find out where the trend
is going."
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Facts and Figures: Statistics for CUSD's turnover rates and
salaries.
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Since August 1998, 116 employees have left the district.
Compared to the 61 who left during the 1995-96 academic year, personnel
leaving the district has nearly doubled.
Of those who left this year, 29 retired and 87 resigned
their positions. Among those resigning were 44 teachers, six administrators,
a principal and an assistant principal. Retirees included 26 teachers
and an administrator.
Since 1997, the district has replaced its superintendent
and all of its assistant superintendents. The reasons cited include
retirement and other employment opportunities.
According to an official of a statewide administrators'
association, some of what's befallen the district is happening around
the state. Cupertino and other districts are in a tailspin as they
scramble to deal with the teaching void left by class-size reduction
and other state mandates.
"It's a hard time to be in the profession right
now," said Bob Wells, executive director of the Association of
California School Administrators. "We're being asked to do a
whole lot all at once."
Class-size reduction has created a teachers market,
district officials say, making it easier for teachers to pick and
choose districts. The same holds true for administrative positions,
they said.
Although what's happening in CUSD reflects a problem
many districts in the state are confronting, there are those in Cupertino
who say the district has significant internal problems that have helped
fuel the exodus of staff members.
In fact, for some employees, morale has decreased
to the point that a joke was making the rounds at the annual CUSD
barbecue last month.
Question: What's the difference between the Cupertino
Union School District and the Titanic?
Answer: Music was playing when the Titanic went down.
A group of employees even created a display for the
barbecue: a model of the Titanic with "CUSD" printed on
the side of the ship.
"I think the feeling [of problems in the district]
is widespread and I think often people can't put their finger on it,
but it's kind of a feeling of discontent, a feeling of floundering,
of being rudderless," said Steve Trinwith, president of the Cupertino
Education Association, the teachers' union. "The culture is definitely
shifting, changing. Something is happening."
Members of the school board, superintendent William
Bragg and other administrators disagree that problems are this severe.
In recent interviews they were closelipped regarding internal conflicts,
and instead focused on external factors--like class-size reduction--as
possible causes for higher turnover rates.
"We are in a period of transition," Bragg
said. "There are a number of new initiatives the district has
been faced with that we are trying to deal with beyond just facilities.
We have considered the move to middle schools. There are a lot of
things that are going on that certainly have resulted in the sense
that we need to find specifically the direction we need to go or not
to go. There is a dialogue that's going on, and part of what's happening
is with this dialogue we'll be able to find the next steps."
Contracting Conflicts
Teachers and other CUSD staff point to several conflicts
that have given rise to employee dissatisfaction. This year, three
employee groups--the teachers' union, the clerical union (which includes
instructional aides) and the skilled trade workers' union--came to
an impasse with the district over the proposed increase in the salary
schedule.
The district has traditionally enjoyed good labor
relations, but this year's negotiations had a decidedly unfriendly
tone, said members of the union bargaining teams.
"It's never been like this before," Trinwith
said. "There's a lack of goodwill [outside of the bargaining
teams]. We don't trust the district. We trust the district's attorney
more than we trust the district."
Representatives of the classified employees' and skilled
trade workers' unions thought negotiations were straining good relations
and employee morale was suffering.
Before negotiations ended, Erica Zweig, labor relations
representative for the California School Employees Association, the
unit representing the classified workers, warned: "The message
they are sending to the employees is they are not valued and they
will have a hard time bringing the morale up when this is over. They
will lose employees because of this in all the bargaining units, and
I think they should be worried about that."
In previous years, the district earned a reputation
for working amiably with the unions to reach beneficial agreements.
For several years, the district has deferred the replacement of buses
and other equipment to provide employees with raises. The district
has traditionally provided raises higher than those defined by the
state's Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).
"Many districts did not give a 5 percent [raise]
last year when [the state issued] a 2.7 percent COLA, but we gave
a 5 percent raise," said Pat DeMarlo, assistant superintendent
of human resources.
But this year, the district balked at giving employees
raises larger than 3.55 percent, the state COLA. Members of all three
unions believed the district was capable of providing higher increases.
The 3.55 percent was the lowest offer a district in
the county made to the clerical or skilled trade workers' unions,
Zweig said. "Even for districts who have less funds or funds
close to Cupertino, five-plus is the standard," Zweig added.
Still, DeMarlo said she doesn't see major issues with
employees. "If there was so much mistrust and low morale, why
did they agree to a three-year contract?" she asked.
The teachers approved the contract because it gives
the union a break from negotiations next year, Trinwith said, adding
that the teachers have always had three-year contracts.
"We wanted a break from the negotiation grind,"
Trinwith said. "We understood the district wanted this, and we
were able to agree to it."
Scheduling Squeeze
"I just am totally frustrated by the lack of
communication," said Jan Newman. "They seem to think that
keeping us in the dark and not telling us things is the best way to
operate, and it's outrageous because it makes for so much misinformation
and misunderstanding and then mistakes can be made."
Less than six months ago, a group of parents were
outraged that the district was seeking to reduce instructional minutes
at junior high schools. The district was bound by a state mandate
to ensure all of its junior high students were being taught for the
same number of minutes. Although parents and teachers understood the
district officials had no choice but to adjust the schedules, many
said the district handled the situation poorly.
For instance, Bragg did not address the junior high
scheduling issue once during the District Advisory Council meetings,
according to Newman, who sits on the council. This group, which Bragg
said he created to increase communication, is made up of principals
and school site council representatives and meets with the superintendent
on a regular basis.
Bragg remembered the situation differently. "I
don't recall ever not mentioning that we had a committee that was
working on that," Bragg said. "We talk about this process
and every other process at DAC. I know we shared the process with
every committee."
Board president Barry Chang acknowledged parents'
frustrations. "There's been a communication breakdown between
the district and parents," Chang said. "How else do you
get 500 angry parents for the junior high scheduling issue and another
200 to 300 angry parents over middle school? There is a definite need
for improvement."
From one district official's perspective, the junior
high scheduling issue should not have had parental involvement because
it was a contractual issue between teachers and the district regarding
the teacher work day, said John Erkman, former assistant superintendent
for instruction.
Although teachers participated in developing schedules,
they said the fact that the district asked that the new schedules
reduce class sizes--along with the already difficult task of equalizing
minutes--made their job nearly impossible.
Within the ranks at the schools, the issue turned
heated and pitted teacher against teacher. Small class sizes meant
eliminating an elective class, leaving elective teachers to fight
for their jobs.
"In 27 years in the district, I have never seen
the divisiveness that we have now," said Jim Grayson, a Kennedy
teacher on the scheduling committee. "School pitted against school.
Finger-pointing. All of this derision over class size and minutes.
We have to stop this finger-pointing. We have to heal."
Finally, the school board loosened the class-size
parameter and teachers created a compromise schedule.
Chuck and Carol Buffum, parents in the district, conducted
a survey to determine how the scheduling issue affected teachers at
Hyde and Miller. Teachers overwhelmingly stated the issue decreased
their morale.
Of the 30 respondents from Miller, 25 said their morale
has been negatively affected by the scheduling issue. Twenty-six of
the 30 Hyde respondents had the same reply. Only four of the 60 teachers
believed their morale had improved from the previous year.
Management Shift
Some parents and teachers say they started to notice
problems after 1997, when Superintendent Patricia Lamson retired and
a new board was elected.
A few of the teachers and a former administrator interviewed
said they believe Bragg is one reason for many of the district's problems
in the last two years. The administrator, who asked not to be identified,
said, "There is no direction from my own experience" under
Bragg.
The Courier attempted to contact all of the administrators
and principals who have left in the last two years. Some we could
not find. Most did not return calls. The majority refused to comment
on any conflicts.
The board and others defend Bragg's leadership, saying
that it's not unusual for some employees to feel loyalty to a former
boss and be unhappy with a change in management.
"With the changing of the CEO, you will have
some change in the organization personnel-wise, which, in my opinion,
is normal because the leadership style is different than the previous
one," said Chang, board president. "Of course, some people
can adjust and some people cannot adjust. This is a free country,
and if some people cannot adjust, then they can go somewhere else,
which is exactly what they did."
Board member Roberta Pabst said some departures would
be expected, and the number of departures was small compared to the
total employee force of 1,400.
In response to one criticism that he was not accessible,
Bragg insisted he has an open-door policy "for anyone."
DeMarlo concurred. Pabst and Fielden, in a joint interview, also called
Bragg "very accessible." Bragg said he meets regularly with
senior staff members, and he said he meets with principals and the
District Advisory Committee monthly, as well as visiting all the schools
throughout the year.
A 'Very Green' Board
But Bragg was not the only target of some critics
of the district. Others said the school board itself has not brought
the kind of leadership needed during the last two years of significant
change in the district.
"What I see from afar--because I don't sit on
that board anymore--is a lack of unified direction," said Sandra
James, former board member and current Cupertino councilwoman. She
said since the board election in November 1997, when Ben Liao and
Barbara Fielden were elected and Debbie Byron was re-elected, the
board has been "struggling" with finding a similar vision
or direction.
"It's still a strong school district, it just
has a lot of growing pains right now," James said.
Pabst and Fielden acknowledged that the board is "very
green" and that it takes time for a board of five to come together.
Of the new board, Fielden commented, "It was a new marriage of
six people." And as in any new marriage, she said, there may
be some issues to work out at the beginning.
As an added strain, Bragg started that same year:
"It's a new thing for the district to have a fairly green board
and a new superintendent at the same time," Pabst said.
CUSD Mirrors Statewide Trends
Bragg, DeMarlo and board members said they believe
much of what is happening in Cupertino is not really a matter of a
lack of leadership or communication, but an onslaught of changes that
are out of their control and are happening to districts statewide.
Two years ago California school districts found themselves
saddled with a blessing and a curse: class-size reduction. While generally
praised as being beneficial to students because of the lower 20-to-1
student-to-teacher ratio, the program has brought a new source of
problems to education. It has created a huge demand for teachers,
and it has created a "teachers market," allowing teachers
to leave for higher pay and a lower cost of living in other districts.
Silicon Valley's high cost of living, especially the high cost of
housing, puts Cupertino at a disadvantage.
The movement of teachers and administrators out of
Cupertino is not confined to just this district. The Sunnyvale Elementary
School District, a neighboring elementary and middle school district,
has also experienced a loss of personnel. Sunnyvale's turnover rate
in its certificated staff has increased from 8.3 percent in 1995-96
to 11.5 percent this year. The percentage of classified staff leaving
the district has dipped from 18.6 percent in 1995-96 to 16 percent.
This year, Sunnyvale lost 85 employees, compared to
73 in 1995-96. While most school districts, the Santa Clara County
Office of Education and the California Department of Education do
not keep statistics on personnel turnover, Sunnyvale's turnover rates
mirror what's happening in Cupertino and what Bob Wells from the Association
of California School Administrators says is happening throughout the
state.
Also, there's a pattern, CUSD administrators say,
of young teachers being hired while single or newly married. After
a few years they start having children and want to buy a home. "Then
they run into housing prices and there they go," DeMarlo said.
Most Cupertino teachers come into the district making
$35,000 a year, the third-highest starting salary for teachers in
the valley. That salary is frozen for the first three years. If a
teacher stays with the district for 27 years, the top salary he or
she can earn is $65,000.
According to DeMarlo, CUSD is working with surrounding
districts, the city, and organizations like the Silicon Valley Manufacturing
Group on the issue of affordable housing.
"This is an issue the Cupertino school district
cannot solve; this is a Silicon Valley issue," DeMarlo said.
Another major trend in California education that is
causing the loss of both teachers and administrators is the retirement
of long-term employees. A recent change in state retirement rules
has made early retirement, at age 57, more attractive to teachers
and administrators who have been working for 30 years or more.
"You have to remember, we hired a lot of people
in the '60s," DeMarlo said. The children of Baby Boomers flowed
into the school system at that time, creating a hiring boom all over
the state.
DeMarlo herself is retiring in August, after 38 years
with the district.
Wells said his organization wants to see salaries
of teachers and principals increased. Everyone wants that, CUSD officials
said, but in their case they are hamstrung by a funding formula that
was frozen after Proposition 13 passed in 1979. While Cupertino and
Sunnyvale residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the
county, the school district lags behind other local districts in how
much money it gets from the state because of the 20-year-old formula.
"The disparity among districts is truly amazing,"
Pabst said. For example, she said that if CUSD were funded at the
average level of funding in the state, the district would receive
$2 million more than it does now.
Board members said they are proud that the district,
despite having to make hard choices between "good things,"
as one member said, is able to deliver a quality education with the
funding it receives.
"I'm surprised we do as good as we do and the
reputation is as good as it is. It is a very successful district,"
Fielden said.
