To the editor:

We are a group of politically diverse parents and community members who support Glendale’s public schools, which serve 25,000 students and employ over 1300 teachers and 1300 staff.

For the past two election cycles, parents and teachers worked together to protect our community from extremists and candidates who failed to earn GTA’s endorsement. We trust the expertise and extensive candidate vetting of the GTA, whose 1200+ members are the teachers who work with our children every single day.

All five GUSD board members now serving won their elections because they pledged to support educators with fair contracts. They also pledged to go through budgets carefully to prioritize spending on people and programs that are effective and that will support the long-term success of our district.

For at least the past 8 years, every single budget discussion has forecast doom and gloom, using the threats of cuts to maintain the inadequate status quo. In the past 4 years, contract negotiations have been frustratingly slow. We respectfully but firmly ask that our district pay our educators the competitive wages they deserve and turn the page on this chapter of negotiations.

Moving forward, we parents will not be able to support candidates who do not keep their promises to support the backbone of our district: the teachers who work in our schools. We also call on GUSD to complete contract negotiations in a timely manner in the years to come so that more resources and bandwidth can go towards working together to solve urgent challenges facing our students.

For decades now, Glendale’s parents have been filling in the gaps in staffing and educational materials by endless fundraising through foundations, PTAs, and direct donations to our children’s classrooms. Those of us who can afford it supplement our children’s learning with private enrichment, private tutoring, and private therapy. This has only exacerbated the inequity between schools and student learning outcomes. The promise of public education has always been to support all children by giving each child the specific tools and supports that child needs to succeed.

The Glendale Unified community, which includes teachers, parents, and administration, need to get to work solving the issues facing our district by looking closely at revenue sources, contracts, and spending to ensure every dollar is spent improving our children’s experiences in GUSD. As we celebrate another Teacher Appreciation Week with treats and cards, we call on the GUSD administration to appreciate teachers in a meaningful, professional way – with a fair contract.

Sincerely,

Sevana

Bee Jensen

Anne Gregory

Vanessa Williford

Jason Beeber

April

Jenna Greene

Adrianne Viar

Susan Smith

Sherianne McClenahan

Eugenia Chong

Sarah Goodwin

Julie Livesey

Christy Taylor

Tiffany Marcy

Jean Tiller

Christie Asselin

Sarah Armstrong

Rachel & Dallas Davidson

Rob O’Neill

Eric Cooney

Emily Rice

Johanna Maugg Kousoulas

Jennifer Ho

Banafsheh Sultan

Kristine Kimmel

Miriam Allcroft

Amy DiNoble

Deborah Manson

Thomas Deason

Elizabeth Anderson

Amy Loeliger

Emily Greene

Julia Figueira McDonough

Karineh

Angela Givant

Aaden Wilby

Chris Shellen

Allison Bennett

Michael Moghaddam

Karin Wang

Jessica Hollander

Dasha Flynn

Alan Harris

Stephanie Kermer Watkins

Elisabeth DiCarlo and Josh DiCarlo

Blaine Oberhardt

Molly Zielenbach

Amanda Moghaddam

Penelope Oberhardt, LCSW

Ian Kezsbom

Lauri Evans Deason

Sol Davis

Joann Lo

Monica Ko

Sarah Velasquez

Jessica Stamm

Lisa Avery

Michelle Wilby

Vania Bessos

Paul Givant

Stephanie Arm

Paul Rickey

Emily Van Voorhis

Lily Kate Deason

Elizabeth Vitanza

Jade Brookbank

Marisa Gallo

Grey James

Jane O’Neill

Amy Kaufman

John Ballon

Sarah King

Sent from my iPhone