Palo Alto Educators Association teachers and staff held a rally on Tuesday at the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education meeting in response to an impasse blocking funding for teachers.

According to a PAEA Negotiations Update released on March 18, PAUSD has $135 million in reserves. Prior to the meeting, PAEA staff members assembled outside the District Office on Churchill Avenue to protest for a 5.5% increase in teacher salaries, using these reserves. 

In an open forum held at the meeting, PAEA President Teri Baldwin said PAUSD has not been paying teachers and staff enough to meet the cost of living in the Bay Area. 

“Educators cannot afford to live here, and they have long commutes. It takes a toll,” Baldwin said. “We don’t want to lose them to districts that pay higher. We want to attract and retain the best educators for our students.”

Gunn math teacher Kathy Hawes, who has worked at PAUSD for 33 years, said in an open forum the amount of money that competing school districts offer is significantly higher than what PAUSD provides.

“If I was (at Mountain View Los Altos Unified School District), I’d be making $37,000 more a year,” Hawes said. “I love my department. I love my collaboration. I love the people I work with. But at some point I have to think about what would that $37,000 do for my retirement? What would that do for my cost of living? Can I afford to keep working in Palo Alto?”

Hawes also said that by losing experienced teachers, PAUSD will lose important staff connections, harming student education.

“When I came to this district, the experienced teachers taught me how to be a great teacher,” Hawes said. “Now, I’m at that time in my career where I’m mentoring others. I know several of our new teachers have been very grateful for me, and this is how they’re learning the Gunn way. If we lose our experienced staff, how are we going to keep our traditions, culture and history?”

In addition to the direct impact on the district, math teacher and PAEA representative Daniel Nguyen said the purpose of the protests is to also highlight how the loss of teachers is a communal issue.

“What we’re doing out here is making sure that not only the district knows how teachers feel, but the community understands that the district is going to lose good teachers,” Nguyen said. “And that affects students because they won’t be getting the best teachers possible.”

To maintain the high quality of education for PAUSD students, Nguyen said the district should spend the reserves the district has built up.

“The district is in a position where we can recruit better teachers, and unfortunately, instead they’re storing and building up their profits from year to year,” Nguyen said. “We’d like to sell to the community that there’s no reason to do that. That’s hurting our students.”

In the forum, history teacher Eric Bloom, who is in his 26th year of teaching at Paly, said not raising teacher salaries is hurting the advancement of PAUSD’s education. 

“The classroom teacher is your most valuable asset,” Bloom said. “We are the innovators. We are the agents that allow students to flourish and learn –– $135 million reserves shows this district does not value innovation and investing in building up a teacher corps. Please focus your priorities on investing in teachers and building up a robust support system that encourages innovation.”

PAUSD Board of Education Vice President Shana Segal and Board Member Todd Collins declined an interview request for this story. PAUSD Deputy Superintendent Trent Bahadursingh and PAUSD Board Members Shounak Dharap and Jennifer DiBrienza did not respond to interview requests.