Teachers in the Shoreline Unified School District are seeking an unprecedented $20,000 pay raise next year for each of the district’s 51 teachers, citing sky-high housing costs. The union says the substantial increase is needed to hire and retain quality staff.
“With a starting salary of $64,000, our new and less experienced teachers can’t afford to live within an hour of our schools. They can’t afford to live on their own,” said Dee Lynn Armstrong, a teacher at Inverness School and chair of the Shoreline Education Association’s bargaining committee.
In April, the teachers and the district began negotiating a new three-year contract that would take effect on July 1 and run through the 2026-2027 school year. The parties are scheduled to resume negotiations on May 23.
Besides the $20,000 one-time increase, the teachers are seeking a 5 percent increase in each of the following years.
Ms. Armstrong said Shoreline has offered a $3,000 across-the-board increase plus a 2.5 percent increase for next year, and a 3 percent increase in each of the following two years.
The union has never asked for a flat rate increase before, but Ms. Armstrong said inflation coupled with the relentless rise in housing costs has left them no choice. “It has a huge impact on our applicant pool,” she said. “People don’t even want to apply because they know they can’t afford it.”
The union says Shoreline’s starting salaries are the fourth lowest in the county, ranking 14th out of Marin’s 17 school districts. Meanwhile, the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Marin is roughly $2,800 a month, according to online listing services. That’s nearly half a starting teacher’s salary.
But Shoreline’s superintendent, Adam Jennings, said the district’s low ranking does not account for generous health benefits packages. “We are committed to working with our teachers to provide as much compensation as we can responsibly afford while sustaining important student services and meeting our other fiscal obligations,” he said.
Shoreline has been trying to cut expenses, citing a loss of one-time Covid-related funding. But the teachers argue that the district’s existing cash reserves are sufficient to cover the pay boost.
Although their positions remain far apart, Ms. Armstrong is hopeful they can resolve their differences before school ends on June 6. “We’re hoping we can come to some middle ground,” she said.
The one-time jump sought by teachers would amount to 31 percent raise at the bottom of the pay scale, which begins at $64,000 a year. For teachers at the top of the scale, whose pay maxes out at $122,000, it would provide a 16 percent boost.
The district’s pre-K teachers start at a salary of $34,447. The union is seeking a 45 percent increase for them, bringing their starting pay to $50,000 a year. At the outset of negotiations, the union had asked to set their minimum pay at $70,000, but Shoreline rebuffed that request.
Tina Righetti, a Tomales High School teacher and member of the union negotiating committee, said Shoreline’s reserves are sufficient to cover the raises. “We have a budget of about $26 million to serve 500 students,” she said. “I believe we can give these kids an outstanding education, and I believe we can do it by providing livable salaries.”
The lack of affordable housing in Marin means long commutes for many teachers.
“Many educators can’t afford to live near the school we love and must commute sometimes from more than an hour away,” said Ms. Righetti, who graduated from Tomales High in 1983 and has taught in the district for 37 years. “Our newest educators are struggling to make ends meet.”
The Marin County Office of Education recommends that community-funded districts like Shoreline, which rely primarily on property taxes, keep at least 17 percent of their operating budget in reserve for handling unexpected expenses or revenue shortfalls.
Shoreline’s policy requires maintaining cash reserves of 17 to 25 percent of its operating budget. Its current reserves represent about 26 percent of operating expenses, or $6.9 million. The one-time increase sought by the union would cost the district about $1.5 million a year, according to the union.
“That’s a significant hit to the budget, but they can afford it,” Ms. Armstrong said. “They’ve got a big reserve. Our goal is not to bankrupt the district, but to have a living wage for our newest teachers.”
The teachers’ union didn’t finish negotiating its last three-year contract until the end of the first year that it covered, forcing Shoreline to pay salary increases retroactively. That agreement provided increases of 3.5 percent in the first two years and 3 percent in the final year.
“With gas prices, wear and tear on our cars, housing and inflation, many new teachers cannot afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment,” said Courtney Raffaelli, a bargaining team member who teaches at Bodega Bay School and pays $2,400 a month in rent. “How can I afford to stay?”