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Community Corner

Ivy Academia Charter School

I write this to bring attention to an issue that is being grossly overlooked, my kids go to Ivy Academia Charter School, they love everything about their school, of course like every place it’s not perfect, but up until this year, my kids called it their school with much love, but with a 34% teacher turnover rate, they are starting to notice that some teachers just don’t come back, I started asking questions at the beginning of the year as to why this was happening and I realized, Ivy Academia Charter School is paying teachers an average of 17% less than their area colleagues, that means they make around $7400 /year less than teachers who work at other area Charter or Public schools, please bear in mind this school spends 10% of their budget on administration costs, double the average of area schools! I also discovered the teachers have joined UTLA in an effort to have a bigger voice at the school, and they have been in negotiations for a new contract since May 2013, I have always been a believer in “it takes a community” to raise children, and it breaks my heart that Ivy Academia doesn’t see the stability it brings to kids to have their teachers every year there, to be able to come back after summer and see the same faces. It seems Ivy doesn’t value my children’s teachers! There are 8 days for the year anniversary of negotiations, and teachers have been provided with a salary counterproposal that is depending on enrollment, meaning if there are 1200 students enrolled, they get a salary comparable to their colleagues at other schools, but having 1199 students enrolled gets them back to being underpaid an average of 17% than their colleagues at other schools. I really believe a school with an $8million budget, who signed a 10 year lease for a high school campus in West Hills, can and should do better by its teachers, regardless of how many students are enrolled. In support of teachers please join the Parents for Ivy FB page, so our Board of Directors and Administration can see teachers also have the community support.

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