Summit announced on Friday, June 26th, that teachers either had to agree to freeze their pay (which would result in up to a 16% reduction in expected pay for some staff) or else Summit will lay-off between 10-14 Expeditions teachers.

We are opposed to this false choice between cuts to expected pay and lay-offs; as outlined below, Summit’s budget assumptions are flawed and the organization continues to prioritize its highest-paid employees and non-student facing initiatives over its schools.

Summit’s announcement is part of a larger pattern of ignoring community concerns. This is one of the reasons teachers formed a union, Unite Summit, in January 2019. Instead of working with teachers to address their three main priorities -- increasing support services for students, decreasing teacher turnover, and allowing teachers to have a voice in decision-making -- Summit has responded by firing union activists, using legal delay tactics, and drawing out negotiations for our first contract.

We urge Summit stop any plans for pay freezes or layoffs and work with the teachers union to settle a fair contract quickly.  

Background on the “pay freeze or layoff” threat
Amidst a global pandemic, Summit Public Schools expanded on its online learning program to stay open for the duration of Shelter in Place orders. Teachers were praised for their “transformative” work in statements from Summit’s Chief of Staff, as they pivoted to teaching through google calls, served as mental health support for students in their “mentor” class, and reached out to families to keep track of financial need in the community.  

On Monday, June 22nd, two week after schools closed for summer vacation, the CEO of the charter network emailed the entire staff to state that pay would be frozen. The CEO -- Diane Tavenner -- stated that staff would not be compensated according to their compensation letters distributed in April because of Summit’s budget for next year.

Summit’s budget was based on a 10% cut in state education funding, which was part of Governor Newsom’s May budget revise. However, on June 22, the legislature announced a budget deal that includes no cuts to education funding. Despite this information, on Thursday June 25, Summit’s Board approved a budget which funds teacher compensation at a frozen pay rate and continues to assume a 10% cut in state funding.  

The teacher's union, Unite Summit, has continued to reject a pay freeze but has proposed to negotiate with Summit again as early as September 16 if there are dramatic changes to our schools’ finances that may necessitate a cut. Obviously teachers want to make sure our schools are financially stable, but given the high cost of living in the Bay Area, they believe other options should be explored before cutting expected pay (Unite Summit’s initial proposals for alternatives to the pay freeze can be seen here).

On Friday, June 26, in the last 15 minutes of bargaining, Tavenner announced that if teachers didn’t agree to a pay freeze, she would lay off 10-14 Expeditions teachers.

Summit Can Afford to Pay Teachers What They Were Promised

Tavenner has stated that about $970,000 must be cut from the budget, specifically from teachers either through layoffs or pay freezes. This is financially unnecessary for a number of reasons:

1. Last month, SPS received almost $6.8 million dollars from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (a low-interest loan intended for small businesses harmed by the COVID crisis that has the potential to become a grant).
2. There are no cuts to state funding as part of the budget deal. The budget deal also prohibits teacher layoffs during the 2020-21 school year. While it is currently unclear if charters are exempt from this prohibition, the fact that SPS and school districts are receiving the same amount of money, yet Summit is threatening to lay-off teachers while school districts are prohibited from doing so is extremely troubling.
3. SPS has estimated reserves of just under $50 million dollars. As part of their budget, Summit is committing $14 million from its reserves to continue operating, with 4.1 million going to CA schools. Making good on the 2020-21 salary raises would cost less than three percent of the remaining SPS reserves.
4. SPS is paying its top employees extraordinarily high salaries:
   1. Summit hired an “Entrepreneur in Residence” in April for a salary of $400,000 a year.
   2. Summit’s CEO is the highest paid K-12 public school leader in the state at $450,449 a year
   3. Meanwhile, administrators in higher education, along with other local charter school leaders, are voluntarily taking large pay cuts in order to protect the pay of their lowest paid employees.

The budget reflects the mistaken belief that teachers can afford a compensation freeze.

Most of our teachers and hourly workers, particularly younger teachers, are compensated at the lower spectrum of the pay scale at Summit. The median teacher salary is $29,425 less than the median home office employee salary.

Teachers have made important life decisions based on promised salary increases. For lower income employees who are already struggling to afford essential expenses, a cut in expected pay creates huge concerns with paying for housing, student loans, and child care. Nobody welcomes a pay freeze, but undeniably teachers with a lower income will be the employees struggling to afford essential expenses. In addition, a higher proportion of People of Color are employed as teachers and hourly workers than in Summit’s central office. With respect and solidarity, we acknowledge that People of Color would be disproportionately impacted by a pay freeze.


Expeditions is Vital to the Summit Model

By threatening layoffs if teachers don’t take a cut in expected pay, Tavenner is threatening to destroy one of the core parts of Summit’s program. Expeditions can be described as a signature blend of electives, internships, and shop programs. The course catalog includes arts programming, hands-on STEM classes, and health and fitness options. Many courses use hands-on approaches or industry approaches to help students explore future careers, such as Bike Shop and Wilderness. In college applications, students often discuss how Expeditions inspired their future paths. These courses are key selling points for our schools.  

We do not view any of our teachers as expendable -- we view our Expeditions team members as an integral part of our organization. Tavenner’s proposal to cut 10-14 positions from Expeditions would result in the inability of our organization to offer a quality electives program, which is a core aspect of our model.

A Lack of Transparency

The timing of Summit’s decision to freeze pay suggests that there is an intentional lack of transparency. The lack of transparency within the Summit organization is precisely why teachers voted to form a union -- to ensure that Summit could not make unilateral decisions without the input of all stakeholders.

Despite having three bargaining meetings between Summit and Unite Summit in May, nothing was shared with teachers about any plans to freeze pay. Despite being told by site directors to not check emails over the summer in order to fully recharge, teachers were notified about the pay freeze over email on the first day of summer break. Many teachers did not even see this email and had to be notified by text or calls from other coworkers. Such drastic action should not have taken place over email and teachers should have been given more than three days notice before the board meeting to approve the budget.

No Pay Freeze, No Layoffs: Fair Contract Now

Summit’s teachers are not asking for money that does not exist. Diane Tavenner and Summit Public Schools management need to prioritize the essential needs of employees -- not the high salaries of a few or a bloated reserve of $50 million.  

Summit has an opportunity to change course and create a budget based on realistic revenue assumptions. It also has the opportunity to work with its teachers union to negotiate a fair contract that addresses their core issues: increasing support services for students, decreasing teacher turnover, and allowing teachers to have a voice in decision-making. This is the right thing to do for our schools and our students.