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CUSD exodus: Where is everyone going?
Since 1995 the number of employees leaving the district has nearly doubled
By Michelle Ku and Pam Marino
In the waning moments of a typical Cupertino Union School District board meeting in April, Jan Newman approached the podium. As a parent active in the district for 12 years, Newman had addressed the board before and was, as usual, nervous. But this was not a usual presentation. Afraid there is a serious problem in the district, she decided to make her fears public. Her hands shook slightly as she tightly gripped the paper holding her prepared statement and began speaking:
"Where is everyone going?" she asked, listing the names of a dozen CUSD administrators, including assistant superintendent John Erkman. "Every one of these people has left the district within the last two years. And they represent only the exodus from district office and administrative positions. Dozens of teachers are departing as well. Granted, a few are retirees. But what about the rest of them? Where are they going, and more importantly, why?"
There are 10 first- and second-year principals, she continued. In a district of 24 schools, 40 percent of the principals have left within the last two years.
Four of CUSD's schools are in Sunnyvale, including Nimitz, Stocklmeir and West Valley elementary schools and Cupertino Junior High
A visibly shocked Ben Liao responded in disbelief, "If this is a trend, maybe we need to find out where the trend is going."
Since August 1998, 116 employees have left the district. Compared with the 61 who left during the 1995-96 academic year, personnel leaving the district has nearly doubled.
Of those who left this year, 29 retired, and 87 resigned their positions. Among those resigning were 44 teachers, six administrators, a principal and an assistant principal. Retirees included 26 teachers and an administrator.
Since 1997, the district has replaced its superintendent and all of its assistant superintendents. The reasons cited include retirement and other employment opportunities.
According to an official of a statewide administrators' association, some of what's befallen the district is happening around the state. Cupertino and other districts are in a tailspin as they scramble to deal with the teaching void left by class-size reduction and other state mandates.
"It's a hard time to be in the profession right now," said Bob Wells, executive director of the Association of California School Administrators. "We're being asked to do a whole lot all at once."
Class-size reduction has created a teachers market, district officials say, making it easier for teachers to pick and choose districts. The same holds true for administrative positions, they said.
Although what's happening in CUSD reflects a problem many districts in the state are confronting, there are those in Cupertino who say the district has significant internal problems that have helped fuel the exodus of staff members.
In fact, for some employees, morale has decreased to the point that a joke was making the rounds at the annual CUSD barbecue last month.
Question: What's the difference between the Cupertino Union School District and the Titanic?
Answer: Music was playing when the Titanic went down.
A group of employees even created a display for the barbecue: a model of the Titanic with "CUSD" printed on the side of the ship.
"I think the feeling [of problems in the district] is widespread, and I think often people can't put their finger on it, but it's kind of a feeling of discontent, a feeling of floundering, of being rudderless," said Steve Trinwith, president of the Cupertino Education Association, the teachers' union. "The culture is definitely shifting, changing. Something is happening."
Members of the school board, superintendent William Bragg and other administrators disagree that problems are this severe. In recent interviews they were tightlipped regarding internal conflicts, and instead focused on external factors--like class-size reduction--as possible causes for higher turnover rates.
"We are in a period of transition," Bragg said. "There are a number of new initiatives the district has been faced with that we are trying to deal with beyond just facilities. We have considered the move to middle schools. There are a lot of things that are going on that certainly have resulted in the sense that we need to find specifically the direction we need to go or not to go. There is a dialogue that's going on, and part of what's happening is [that] with this dialogue we'll be able to find the next steps."
Contracting Conflicts
Teachers and other CUSD staff point to several conflicts that have given rise to employee dissatisfaction. This year, three employee groups--the teachers' union, the clerical union (which includes instructional aides) and the skilled trade workers' union--came to an impasse with the district over the proposed increase in the salary schedule.
The district has traditionally enjoyed good labor relations, but this year's negotiations had a decidedly unfriendly tone, said members of the union bargaining teams.
"It's never been like this before," Trinwith said. "There's a lack of goodwill [outside of the bargaining teams]. We don't trust the district. We trust the district's attorney more than we trust the district."
Representatives of the classified employees' and skilled trade workers' unions thought negotiations were straining good relations, and employee morale was suffering.
Before negotiations ended, Erica Zweig, labor relations representative for the California School Employees Association, the unit representing the classified workers, warned: "The message they are sending to the employees is they are not valued, and they will have a hard time bringing the morale up when this is over. They will lose employees because of this in all the bargaining units, and I think they should be worried about that."
In previous years, the district earned a reputation for working amicably with the unions to reach beneficial agreements. For several years, the district has deferred the replacement of buses and other equipment to provide employees with raises. The district has traditionally provided raises higher than those defined by the state's Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).
"Many districts did not give a 5 percent [raise] last year when [the state issued] a 2.7 percent COLA, but we gave a 5 percent raise," said Pat DeMarlo, assistant superintendent of human resources.
But this year, the district balked at giving employees raises larger than 3.55 percent, the state COLA. Members of all three unions believed the district was capable of providing higher increases.
The 3.55 percent was the lowest offer a district in the county made to the clerical or skilled trade workers' unions, Zweig said. "Even for districts who have less funds or funds close to Cupertino, five-plus is the standard," Zweig added.
Scheduling Squeeze
"I just am totally frustrated by the lack of communication," said Jan Newman. "They seem to think that keeping us in the dark and not telling us things is the best way to operate, and it's outrageous because it makes for so much misinformation and misunderstanding and then mistakes can be made."
Less than six months ago, a group of parents were outraged that the district was seeking to reduce instructional minutes at junior high schools. The district was bound by a state mandate to ensure that all of its junior high students were being taught for the same number of minutes. Although parents and teachers understood that the district officials had no choice but to adjust the schedules, many said the district handled the situation poorly.
Board president Barry Chang acknowledged parents' frustrations. "There's been a communication breakdown between the district and parents," Chang said. "How else do you get 500 angry parents for the junior high scheduling issue and another 200 to 300 angry parents over middle school? There is a definite need for improvement."
From one district official's perspective, parents should not have been invlolved in the junior high scheduling issue because it was a contractual issue between teachers and the district regarding the teacher work day, said John Erkman, former assistant superintendent for instruction.
Although teachers participated in developing schedules, they said the fact that the district request for reduced class sizes--along with the already difficult task of equalizing minutes--made their job nearly impossible.
Within the ranks at the schools, the issue turned heated and pitted teacher against teacher. Small class sizes meant eliminating an elective class, leaving elective teachers to fight for their jobs.
"In 27 years in the district, I have never seen the divisiveness that we have now," said Jim Grayson, a Kennedy teacher on the scheduling committee. "School pitted against school. Finger-pointing. All of this derision over class size and minutes. We have to stop this finger-pointing. We have to heal."
Finally, the school board loosened the class-size parameter and teachers created a compromise schedule.
Chuck and Carol Buffum, parents in the district, conducted a survey to determine how the scheduling issue affected teachers at Hyde and Miller. Teachers overwhelmingly stated the issue decreased their morale.
Of the 30 respondents from Miller, 25 said their morale has been negatively affected by the scheduling issue. Twenty-six of the 30 Hyde respondents had the same reply. Only four of the 60 teachers believed their morale had improved from the previous year.
Management Shift
Some parents and teachers say they started to notice problems after 1997, when Superintendent Patricia Lamson retired and a new board was elected.
A few of the teachers and a former administrator interviewed said they believe Bragg is one reason for many of the district's problems in the last two years. The administrator, who asked not to be identified, said, "There is no direction from my own experience" under Bragg.
The Sun attempted to contact all of the administrators and principals who have left in the last two years. Some could not be found. Most did not return calls. The majority refused to comment on any conflicts.
The board and others defend Bragg's leadership, saying that it's not unusual for some employees to feel loyalty to a former boss and be unhappy with a change in management.
"With the changing of the CEO, you will have some change in the organization personnel-wise, which, in my opinion, is normal because the leadership style is different than the previous one," said Chang, board president. "Of course, some people can adjust and some people cannot adjust. This is a free country, and if some people cannot adjust, then they can go somewhere else, which is exactly what they did."
Board member Roberta Pabst said some departures would be expected, and the number of departures was small compared to the total employee force of 1,400.
In response to one criticism that he was not accessible, Bragg said he meets regularly with senior staff members, and with principals and the District Advisory Committee monthly, as well as visiting all the schools throughout the year.
A 'Very Green' Board
But Bragg was not the only target of some criticisms. Some people said the school board itself has not brought the leadership needed during the last two years of significant change in the district.
"What I see from afar--because I don't sit on that board anymore--is a lack of unified direction," said Sandra James, former board member and current Cupertino councilwoman. She said since the board election in November 1997, when Ben Liao and Barbara Fielden were elected and Debbie Byron was re-elected, the board has been "struggling" with finding a similar vision or direction.
"It's still a strong school district, it just has a lot of growing pains right now," James said.
Pabst and Fielden acknowledged that the board is "very green" and that it takes time for a board of five to come together. Of the new board, Fielden commented, "It was a new marriage of six people." And as in any new marriage, she said, there may be some issues to work out at the beginning.
As an added strain, Bragg started that same year: "It's a new thing for the district to have a fairly green board and a new superintendent at the same time," Pabst said.
CUSD Mirrors Statewide Trends
Bragg, DeMarlo and board members said they believe much of what is happening in Cupertino is not really a matter of a lack of leadership or communication, but an onslaught of changes that are out of their control and are happening to districts statewide.
Two years ago California school districts found themselves saddled with a blessing and a curse: class-size reduction. While generally praised as being beneficial to students because of the lower 20-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio, the program has brought a new source of problems to education. It has created a huge demand for teachers, and it has created a "teachers' market," allowing teachers to leave for higher pay and a lower cost of living in other districts. Silicon Valley's high cost of living, especially the high cost of housing, puts Cupertino at a disadvantage.
The movement of teachers and administrators out of Cupertino is not confined to just this district. The Sunnyvale Elementary School District has also experienced a loss of personnel. Sunnyvale's turnover rate in its certificated staff has increased from 8.3 percent in 1995-96 to 11.5 percent this year. The percentage of classified staff leaving the district has dipped from 18.6 percent in 1995-96 to 16 percent.
This year, with Sunnyvale lost 85 employees, compared to 73 in 1995-96. While most school districts, the Santa Clara County Office of Education and the California Department of Education do not keep statistics on personnel turnover, Sunnyvale's turnover rates mirror what's happening in Cupertino and what Bob Wells from the Association of California School Administrators says is happening throughout the state.
Also, there's a pattern, CUSD administrators say, of young teachers being hired while single or newly married. After a few years they start having children, and want to buy a home. "Then they run into housing prices and there they go," DeMarlo said.
Most Cupertino teachers come into the district making $35,000 a year, the third-highest starting salary for teachers in the valley. That salary is frozen for the first three years. If a teacher stays with the district for 27 years, the top salary he or she can earn is $65,000.
Another major trend in California education that is causing the loss of both teachers and administrators is the retirement of long-term employees. A recent change in state retirement rules has made early retirement, at age 57, more attractive to teachers and administrators who have been working for 30 years or more.
DeMarlo herself is retiring in August, after 38 years with the district.
Board members said they are proud that the district, despite having to make hard choices between "good things," as one member said, is able to deliver a quality education with the funding it receives.
"I'm surprised we do as good as we do and the reputation is as good as it is. It is a very successful district," Fielden said.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
