Cheney Public Schools teachers rally as union and district negotiate contract

A mass of red-clad educators congregated in front of Cheney Middle School on Wednesday, marching and chanting in support of their union representatives inside the school negotiating a new contract with representatives from the school district.

Hundreds of educators past and present, their families, a horse and some dogs gathered and chanted “hey hey, ho ho, don’t increase our workload,” punctuated by the beeping of passing cars.

Surveyed in the Spring, union membership said their priorities for a new three-year contract include ensuring staff safety, keeping class sizes low in general and special education classes, and improving staff compensation.

“We are by far the lowest paid educators in the Spokane area right now, and have been for a couple of years. We’re asking for something big, so that we can retain good teachers, highly qualified teachers, and then also recruit new teachers to come here who want to make a fair salary,” said Meridth Lemelin, fifth grade teacher and president of the Cheney Education Association as she waved to rallygoers with fingertips painted “red for ed.”

Compared to statewide averages that have been increasing linearly, the average salary for full-time teachers in Cheney has remained relatively stagnant in recent years. It’s also lower than other districts in the county. The base pay for the average teacher in Cheney was $71,800 in the 2021-22 school year and $72,100 the following year, the latest data available on the state’s database. Comparatively, in larger districts, Spokane Public School teachers averaged a base pay of $80,400 and $85,600 in those years. Central Valley teachers’ base pay was $81,800 to $87,100 in those years.

Teachers in the smaller districts also earned more than their Cheney counterparts. East Valley teachers’ base pay averaged to $92,800 in the 2022-23 school year, West Valley teachers averaged $80,700.

The board of Cheney Public Schools, which employs 350 teachers for more than 5,600 students, has set parameters for the new contract. Parameters include maintaining a fund balance at no less than 5% of the general fund with a goal of 7%, keeping a “sustainable contract” without reducing staff or cutting programs and considering community input.

“The District has been transparent throughout the process, posting updates after each negotiation session since June, and they are available on the District website at www.cheneysd.org,” Superintendent Ben Ferney provided in a statement.

The two parties have been negotiating a new contract since May, and have had a total of 13 sessions at the bargaining table. At these sessions, they’ve come to tentative agreements on 39 items in the contract that outlines employee compensation, working conditions and class sizes, to name a few.

The district’s latest proposal surrounding compensation includes a 15.14% raise over the three year span of the contract, 7.14% the first year, followed by 4% each year after.

“This proposal would allow the district to continue paying our teachers a competitive rate while remaining good stewards of our taxpayer dollars,” the statement read.

Teacher salary was a topic of discussion Wednesday afternoon, and its effects on school communities.

“We love our kids, and we will be there for them. We’re just not being compensated,” said Jeni Kelly, a Cheney teacher and union member for more than 20 years.

Other teachers expressed frustration with Cheney’s pay compared to surrounding school districts. She said she knows teachers who have left the district because of better pay and retirement benefits in neighboring districts like Central Valley and Spokane, she said.

“We stay because we want our kids to have consistency,” Kelly said.

Though she lives on the South Hill, inclusionary preschool teacher Sally Canton commutes the 20 minutes to and from Windsor Elementary to teach preschool to special and general education students.

“I’ve always liked that it’s small, I like the administrators here. I really just like the family, the closeness, all of that,” Canton said. “But unfortunately, the pay is just becoming a huge gap between Spokane and here and other little towns, and we do work hard.”

Canton attended the rally with her 14-year-old grandson Elijah Sarria-Wiley. He sees her rise early to make the commute and was eager to rally on behalf of his grandmother and her coworkers, like fellow inclusionary preschool teacher Suzy Yenney.

“She works so hard,” Elijah said. “I love my grandma.”

The duo of Canton and Yenney, who co-teach in their classroom, have been teaching for 19 and 35 years respectively. Though they’ve maxed out the pay scale that’s based on experience and education, they said better pay is needed to offset the higher costs of necessities such as groceries and gas.

“I mean, we don’t do this for the money,” Yenney said. “I’ve been teaching 35 years and I’m finally making ends meet. I do this because of what my job entails and I love my job.”

Working a combined five decades, the two often bear witness to the high turnover of staff. They attribute this pattern to low compensation and the strains of the job: long hours with added emotional exhaustion.

“It takes a very patient person to work and do what we do,” Yenney said. “And you know, it’s hard work, you know, we get the poopy diapers, we get spit on, we get the behavior problems, but it takes the person who can handle it.”

The growth they see in their pupils, 32 of them aged three to five, have kept them in the profession.

“That and just the ‘I love you’s,’ ” Canton said.

The first day of school in Cheney is August 27 and teachers’ contract expires on August 31. The district and union said they want to reach an agreement for a new contract before the first day. If their contract expires before negotiators reach a new agreement, it will be up to the union’s membership to vote on next steps.

Intern Reporter Claire Lyle contributed to this report.