On April 22 and May 6, the Novato Federation of Teachers (NFT) union organized pickets outside the Novato Unified School District (NUSD) office before their bimonthly board meetings. Teachers on NFT’s Executive Board met with the district to negotiate for the upcoming school year, including negotiations for salary increases to reflect the rising costs of living in Marin. Unsatisfied with the district’s initial negotiation of a 0.25% salary increase, the union organized pickets to voice their concerns to the school board and the Novato community.
The Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is given to the district by Sacramento’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which is determined for NUSD by average daily attendance. It exists to adjust salaries by matching rising inflation and help employees afford escalating costs of basic living expenses, such as groceries and gas. LCFF from the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years combine to a 3.5% COLA that the district has received and will be receiving in the future, a number which teachers have not seen reflected in their salaries. Teachers had expected to see a larger increase than 0.25%, especially after they had accepted 0% for the current school year in the last negotiations.
“I’m making 10% less money from 2005 to the present because of the differential of what the district pays us and inflation [in Marin County],” science teacher and NFT treasurer Tim Blok said.
Made up of K-12 educators in Novato, NFT advocates for the teachers’ best interests and paves the way for a negotiating platform, which they use to discuss any proposed improvements with the school board. Part of the negotiations for the next school year included expressing why a 0.25% salary increase was unreasonable.
“It seemed really disrespectful; we were told that everything’s more expensive,” Physical Education teacher and San Marin’s NFT site representative Ben Philpot said. “[The district said] that’s why we can’t give you more of a raise, and my brain’s like, everything except teachers is more expensive, right?”
If NUSD does not offer a salary increase more proportional to the district’s COLA, it will have a harder time attracting teachers when other districts in the area offer higher living wages.
“If you can’t attract and maintain good, high-quality teachers, then your schools are not being staffed with high-quality teachers, and it can affect everyone,” math teacher and NFT secretary Kimberly Laabs said.
The contract between NFT and NUSD has not yet been finalized and negotiations are still in progress.
