Welcome back from Spring Break!
 
This year our Spring Break is a mark of the anniversary of launching our public campaign for ACE.
 
This is an amazing milestone for us, especially when we look back at all we have accomplished. We realize making change takes time, and we are committed to continue to push for changes that will allow educators to have a real, independent union to lift up our voices and give us a say in the decisions that impact our profession and the students we serve. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What the district is saying about their budget:
We know that the district has carefully crafted their message about the budget and reserves. It makes us wonder what the facts are and why they need to communicate it with us in this way. 
 
We have done our homework so that we can understand it for ourselves, and what we’ve learned has caused us to be concerned that the district is not being entirely transparent in their communications.

 
 
Salary & Benefits
 
The 2022 ACE Issue Survey identified wages and benefits as high priority issues among Clovis educators.
Anyone will tell you that we don’t need to be paid the most - but we know that there are resources available now that could have been used to lift our compensation to be more competitive. 
 
Despite the district’s claims that they receive less funding than other districts, there are actually many districts throughout the state that receive funding at the same level and even lower than Clovis; and that many of those districts are able to pay more competitive compensation – even when including benefits.

So, what is the difference between our district and those others? 
 
In Clovis, we, the educators, aren’t included in the decisions.
The district makes the decisions through groups that aren't independent from the district and that don’t have a full picture of the information they’re deciding about. 
 
For example, we recently saw changes to our healthcare plan, but it was difficult to know what the changes were, how they would impact us, and if the changes were worth it. 
 
Now educators are getting surprise out-of-network co-pays and discovering that their existing providers aren’t covered. 
Did you also know that most other employee categories in Clovis (including admin) get a longevity increase at 20 and 25 years, but teachers don’t? 
 
That’s an extra $2,178 per year after 20 years and $6,389 after 25 years for administrative management and some other categories – but teachers lost this increase years ago.
 
 
These were decisions made for us - instead of bargained.
That’s why we’re building a strong and independent union where educators will be able to bargain over these decisions – with all the information – before the changes go into effect.

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Reserves
We’ve shared two videos (see below) that explain that Clovis has prioritized putting district budget money into the reserve rather than spending more of each year’s revenue on ongoing priorities.
The district has responded to this by stating that reserves are important for the district’s financial stability and also announcing that they are intending to spend down reserves. 
 
We’re glad to hear this, and agree that having appropriate reserves is vital. We’re still not clear on how those reserves will be used and the latest budget doesn’t say.
 
We – all educators – need to have a real voice in those decisions – because we are the passionate and dedicated professional educators who do the work. 
 
We are sharing what we’ve learned about the district’s budgets in our regular site meetings and in future communications. If you have questions, please talk to one of us or email us at ace@cloviseducators.org.

 

Psychologist/MHSP Update
 
Wondering how ACE psychologists and MHSPs will benefit from the coordination and mutual support being in such a union provides?
 

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Our weekly “Did You Know?” series highlights the benefits of joining ACE/CTA/NEA.
 
Hint: there are a lot more than you might think!
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