High Tech High Charter Teachers Go Public With Paycheck Issues
Dozens of teachers at High Tech High, one of San Diego’s premier charter systems, are having trouble getting paid, according to a letter sent by their union.
The High Tech Education Collective (HTEC), representing 400 educators in the 16 schools of the charter school network, was organized last spring and was recognized as a bargaining agent by management at the end of August. They are affiliated with the California Teachers Association.
As San Diego County deals with a teacher shortage, High Tech High has failed to pay several members of its teaching staff on time, withheld benefits, and in several cases, not paid teaching staff at the rate for their current position. In some cases, new and veteran teachers went three pay periods without being paid. To date, at least 35 staff members have come forward to indicate that they have missed paychecks, benefits, or had other pay related issues.
This has caused substantial financial hardship and mental distress to the affected teaching staff. Teachers who are serving in credentialed positions are being paid at a substitute hourly rate. As other local districts double substitute teacher pay to fill in staffing gaps, absences at HTH are being covered by distressed teachers and overwhelmed administrators.
According to the union, the HTH system has already lost staff over these issues. Administrators, education specialists and support staff are being placed in classrooms acting as substitute teachers. Regular teachers are also being required to work as substitutes during what should be preparation periods.
While management at HTH has acknowledged the issues, and in many cases has issued remittance of some sort. What they haven’t done is pay penalties accrued under the California Labor Code.
In the words of one HTH teacher: “I have been without a contract, steady income, and benefits since starting at HTH in August. These unknowns have caused an extreme amount of stress and anxiety and severely impacted my mental health and well-being. I'm paying for Cobra health insurance out of pocket, I never know when my next paycheck is coming or for how much it will be... It has been extremely difficult to focus on teaching and planning and being the best teacher I can be to support my students when this is going on.”
Other teachers have reported not being able to pay rent on time, being threatened with eviction, missing a wedding due to uncertain funds, not being able to pay for daycare, overdrawing bank accounts, not being able to schedule doctor’s appointments, and more - all on top of the challenges of educating during an ongoing pandemic.
California law says if there is no valid reason for a delayed payment, then it will be assessed a penalty of $100 for the first violation. Each additional violation results in a $200 penalty.
While teachers were hailed as heroes when the pandemic started, the mood has shifted, making what has always been a tough job --regardless of what certain politicians say-- even tougher.
David Jeck, superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools in Virginia, put it succinctly in an op-ed picked by the Washington Post:
I was able to speak with the current state secretary of education earlier this summer. We talked about teacher shortages, and he was kind enough to ask me what I thought the cause was. I asked a somewhat rhetorical question: “Who would want to be a teacher right now? Have you seen how teachers are being treated?”
Teachers have had to endure revolting public comments at school board meetings, floggings via social media and even being called “losers” by national leaders. This kind of treatment needs to end immediately.
Teachers are indispensable to our society, but sadly, they are not treated as such. We have to not only defend our teachers, but praise them and elevate them to a level commensurate with the value they add to our communities. I recognize that the vast majority of folks in our community agree, and they do respect, appreciate, and recognize the value they provide to our community.
HTH’s leadership has been paid more than their public school counterparts, according to an article in the San Diego Union Tribune. Then-Superientent of San Diego Unified Cindy Marten, the state’s second-largest district with roughly 103,000 students and 180 schools, was paid $281,167 in 2016:
The leader of High Tech High charter schools, which serve about 5,400 students and has been lauded for an innovative education approach, was also highly-paid. High Tech High CEO Larry Rosenstock made $351,092 in 2016
(Note: at present HTH serves approximately 6,350 students in grades K-12 across four campuses.)
The network of charter schools grew out of discussions in the mid-1990s by the San Diego Economic Development Corporation and Business Roundtable. Over the next two years they met regularly to discuss how to engage and prepare local students for high-tech careers.
In 2000, the San Diego Unified School District approved the first charter and construction began at a site in Liberty Station.
The HTH charter network accepts students through a lottery that randomly takes a certain number of students from every ZIP code in San Diego with the goal of ensuring the student body reflects the city’s population.
Its project-based system of learning has drawn both praise and criticism. According to Great Schools, HTH has a 95% graduation rate and 100% of its graduates meet UC/CSU entrance requirements.
It’s impossible to know what’s causing the problems at HTH, but it is clear they have a management problem, either with their accounting systems or impaired cash flow. Problems with payroll at a time when school systems are actively poaching teachers from each other would seem to point to much larger issues, which is a little strange, since the school has been a magnet for donations from the wealthy “education reform” set.
According to the Associated Press:
According to a June survey of 2,690 members of the National Education Association, 32% said the pandemic drove them to plan to leave the profession earlier than expected. Another survey by the RAND Corp. said the pandemic exacerbated attrition, burnout and stress on teachers, who were almost twice as likely as other employed adults to feel frequent job-related stress and almost three times more likely to experience depression.
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Lead image via High Tech High