"I am at a point in my life where it just wouldn't make sense to move to another district but each year retirement looks more and more attractive," says Pierce, who is also vice president of the Cupertino Education Association.

Many teachers in the district share that sentiment. And some of them are leaving the district for reasons ranging from the high housing costs in the Bay Area to growing dissatisfaction with the district.

In the 2001­02 school year, 23 teachers sought relocation, 12 accepted other jobs, 26 resigned for personal reasons, and 30 retired. Along with teachers who left the district because of death, professional growth or parental responsibilities, 96 teachers departed—about 12 percent of the district's educators. In the 1996­97 school year, teachers leaving for the same reasons accounted for only 7 percent of the teaching staff.

"All school districts in the county are experiencing difficulties," says Cupertino Union School District Superintendent William Bragg. "We have no greater number of problems than other districts. But we do have trouble retaining teachers because they are tired or want to move out of the area."

In August 2002, the district formed a recruitment, preparation and retention task force to identify the causes of the high turnover rate. The task force is made up of teachers, city officials, academics, union representatives and community leaders.

After five public meetings and dozens of subcommittee meetings, the task force is expected to make recommendations to Bragg and the school board in late January.

"Housing is a big issue," says Cupertino City Councilman Richard Lowenthal. "According to the city's latest survey, affordable housing is residents' biggest concern. People are not worried about themselves, since most of the people interviewed are already homeowners. They are worried for the teachers."

Living in Cupertino is tough for teachers, especially for starting teachers.

Although the district offers comparatively handsome salaries for its starting teachers compared to other school districts in Santa Clara County—approximately $43,500 for a regular credentialed teacher with a bachelor's degree—few of these teachers can afford to buy a home and start a family in the city.

"Cupertino is the highest in-demand school district in the valley," says Alan Aoyama, vice president of Century 21 Champion, a real estate company that has served the Bay Area for 14 years. "A regular three-bedroom or four-bedroom house costs between $700,000 and $1 million. If a person takes a 30-year mortgage, he or she has to pay about $3,600 a month, which means he or she has to make at least $120,000 a year."

The district faces more complex challenges because the district spans six separate cities and each city has different housing requirements. The Santa Clara County Blue Ribbon Task Force, which formed in May 2002 to investigate ways to battle the countywide educational crisis, has been working with Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group to make its housing initiative a countywide plan so all teachers in the county can benefit. The district is also considering appointing a staff member to coordinate housing.

Some suggest providing low-income housing for teachers. The irony is that most teachers, though widely acknowledged as underpaid, make too much to qualify for low-income housing.

"People say teachers should have low-income housing, but why should teachers have a low income?" asks Janice Hagerbaumer, president of the Cupertino Education Association, who has taught in the district for 42 years but still rents an apartment. "Many teachers have college degrees. They usually put in more hours than they are paid for. Although they are appreciated, they are not paid for overtime."

An increasing workload also causes teachers to leave the profession. However, the state has been working to stem the problem.

Since the late 1990s, the state has created more mechanisms to ensure accountability. School districts are subject to rewards or sanctions according to students' Academic Performance Index (API). The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Student Success Plan also add to educators' workload.

"They are increasing requirements about accountability and assessment," says Don Bolce, assistant director of the center for educational planning under the Santa Clara County Office of Education. "There is also a new state curriculum framework. Although bringing new things to classrooms may be a good thing for the students, there are also increasing expectations for teachers and everybody in education."

Ben Liao, who has been a Cupertino Union School District board member for six years, suggests the district provide teachers with more development and training classes to make their tasks more manageable.

"The most critical issue of my department is class size," Pierce says. "According to our previous contract, there were supposed to be no more than 25 students in an ELD class. Every year our core classes for language arts and social studies have had as many as 34 students in some classes but never less than 25. The ELD science classes have had as many as the high thirties."

Pierce says that although the size of the core classes is smaller this year, other science classes still have up to 38 students.

Class size is also a major concern for those who teach fourth, fifth and sixth grades. Their class size is not mandated by the state's 1996 Class Reduction Act, which mandates classes between kindergarten and third grade should not have more than 20 students per classroom. As a result the workload for "intermediate" teachers is greater.

"This equates to 10 to 18 more report cards, 10 to 18 more parent conferences, more papers to grade daily, more parent calls to make and more students to monitor and build relationships with," Pierce says.

The school district is looking into the possibility of imposing a parcel tax to reduce class size and raise teachers' salaries. The district expects to put the item on ballots as early as June.

However, money is not the only issue. Some teachers have left or are leaving the district because they say the district has failed to appreciate them and engage them in the district's decision-making process.

"Housing is a factor, but teachers have always been paid less than other professions in this area," Pierce says. "Teachers have thought of the CUSD as a family in the past. But that feeling isn't there today."

The conflicts between the district and teachers came to a head during the contract negotiation impasse in the first part of 2002. The teachers proposed a 5 percent salary increase and an additional $3 million in health benefits beginning in the 2002­03 school year. The district offered a 2.5 percent salary increase plus a onetime 1.4 percent increase for the next year and a $1 million increase in health benefits. The impasse ended in June.

"The teachers never felt they got anything out of the contract, even though it was settled," Pierce says. "After feeling unappreciated this past year, many teachers have started taking stock of their lives, looking at what they give to this profession and looking at what this profession takes from their family life."

Another common complaint among teachers against the district is the lack of communication.

"[Former Superintendent] Pat Lamson was a really tough person but she kept the lines of communication open," says a teacher who agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity. "But unfortunately when Dr. Bragg was hired, the situation changed. He didn't seek input from teachers. When he did, he discarded it."

Bragg dismisses such comments as "anecdotal" and "unconstructive." But an independent consultant was hired in fall of 2002 to evaluate communication effectiveness in the district.

The consultant's report, which was presented to the school board on Dec. 11, concludes that while the district has grown substantially in size and complexity over the past 10 years, the sophistication of the communication systems, both formal and informal, has not evolved along with it.

The consultant suggested the district establish a systematic plan for communications, but added that the success of the system depends on the district and all employees taking responsibility for their role in communication.

"The magnitude of the issues, the complexity of the problems, the demands of the student population and the intensity of the workload cry out for a more persuasive and sophisticated communication process that connects people to each other," the report states.

In addition to working on establishing a better communication system, Bragg visited all the district schools at the end of 2002 to meet teachers and hear their concerns. He says he will conduct more forums this year.

"There have been concerted efforts by everyone to better support our teachers so they can do a better job to help the students," Bragg says. "Let's get over the hard feelings and keep the dialogue going."