Teachers, supporters continue protest over salary dispute

Teachers in the Menifee Union School District hold signs of protest before Tuesday's school board meeting. Menifee 24/7 photos: Kristen Spoon

Story has been updated to clarify information regarding salary figures.

Teachers and parents of students in the Menifee Union School District continued their united front Tuesday in a growing effort to raise awareness of a salary dispute between the Menifee Teachers Association and the district.

Close to 100 people stood on the street outside Southshore Elementary School, site of the MUSD board meeting, holding signs in support of teachers in the district. Once the meeting began, a crowd of about 250 gathered to show their support for the teachers and cheered those who spoke in support of the teachers during the public comments period of the meeting.

There has been little or no movement in negotiations over a contract with the teachers for the 2015-16 school year -- an agreement most districts reached a year ago. Discussions haven't even begun on a contract for the current school year.

The district is offering a raise of 2 percent. Riverside County records show that teacher salaries in the Menifee district are the lowest in the county. According to the MUSD website, salaries range from a low of $47,192 at the Class I level to a high of $92,597 in Class VII, which requires a Masters degree.

The frustration of teachers and parents was evident by the increase in protestors and comments made by several of them, all wearing stickers that read "Wild Little Bores" over a photo of a wild boar. This was in reference to a comment made by board member Randall Freeman (right) on his personal Facebook page -- a remark that has become somewhat of a flashpoint for the teachers and their supporters.

News spread quickly of Freeman's comment, which was made Oct. 13 in response to a photo a friend posted of a wild boar seen while on vacation. Freeman's comment was, "We had wild little bores at the school board meeting last night."

Before Tuesday's meeting, acting chair Reg Bennett read a statement saying that while the Board supported Freeman's right of free speech, his comment didn't speak for the other board members. Freeman did not issue an apology. One parent called for his resignation.

Freeman, a teacher in another school district, previously wrote a column for Menifee 24/7. That column was discontinued early this school year over the editor's concerns that it would pose a conflict of interest because of his role in the salary negotiations. Menifee 24/7 asked Freeman for a comment on the situation after the Facebook posting but he did not respond to the message.

Some parents and teachers also were upset that the board recently announced a policy limiting speakers on any one subject to a total of 20 minutes. This was an apparent response to the Sept. 13 board meeting, in which 20 people spoke for more than 90 minutes on this subject.

A large crowd listens to a speaker regarding the salary dispute between the school district and Menifee Teachers Association

The teachers came to this meeting with a strategy that maximized their allotted time, however. Given 10 minutes on the agenda to provide an information update from the MTA,  President Brenda Myers turned the time over to two representatives from other school districts.

Jeff Kingsberg, president of the Temecula Valley Educators Association, expressed his disbelief over what he called "stall tactics" by MUSD and spoke about how both sides in his own district had already come to an agreement on the 2016-17 contract.

"While there were inherent differences between our association and the district, we worked through them," Kingsberg said. "It shouldn't be that difficult. I find such stall and delay tactics troubling and arguably unethical actions by those who are hired to oversee more than $90 million in taxpayer funds."

Billy Valenzuela, president of the Hemet Teachers Association, spoke about similar negotiations in his district that he wished had never happened.

"The negotiation troubles we had with the district in recent years really affected the morale of the educators," Valenzuela said. "It alerted the members that the kind of lip service heard at these meetings, that "teachers matter", is simply that -- lip service.

"You can't just offer a teacher a $20 bonus if a student does well; it doesn't work that way. Motivation is not simply a carrot on a stick approach. These teachers deserve respect, and they need you to offer respect in your offer to them."