|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Pleasanton teachers should be pleased this week after their bargainers settled with the school district for a package including a 10% raise.
That’s almost 4% higher than the district’s previous offer. The parties resumed negotiating Monday after receiving a fact finder’s report that indicated the district could afford a 9% increase. The package also included full coverage for Kaiser health insurance for a single person (a Cadillac policy—I know we have it). It’s expensive, but the out-of-pocket costs are minimal. I spent four days in Kaiser Walnut Creek after minor finger surgery for a persistent infection and paid $50 total. Class sizes in high school also were reduced.
Assuming the school board signs off at its meeting later this month or in April, what’s on the table is further budget cuts. District staff already had recommended $10 million in cuts based on the prior best offer of 6% plus the additional health care. District spokesman Patrick Gannon said the total cost of the tentative agreement was still being calculated and would be released before the board considered the contract. He did verify that further cuts will be necessary.
State law requires any teachers being laid off must be notified by Friday so that will require immediate action.
With the state budget $68 billion upside down and districts anticipating 0.76% cost-of-living adjustment, it will be tough sledding for the state and school districts alike over the next few years. The federal Covid handouts are gone.
And the situation in Pleasanton is exacerbated because the enrollment is declining which means budgets will be declining.
The Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority leaders pushing the final BART around-the-bay connection should be taking a deep breath instead of continuing to push ahead. The feds released their analysis of the latest cost estimate for the tunnel under downtown San Jose. The project, set at $4.4 billion to open in 2026 in 2014, now is $12.2 billion with a 2036 opening date. The feds said it was $600 million low. Nonetheless, the agency already has spent $76 million on the drilling machine and now needs to break ground and dig the huge to insert the tunneling machine.
No where do you hear any discussion asking, given the uncertain future of traditional downtowns, if the huge investment makes sense. Hybrid work weeks and remote work are here to stay.
It’s sadly reminiscent of the Central Subway in San Francisco that was billed at $530 million in 2000 and opened years late after expenditures of $1.6 billion. Ridership has been way below estimates. The same is true for the BART extension to the San Francisco Airport, a project I supported. Originally both major East Bay lines offered service to the airport including the Dublin/Pleasanton station. After a few years of operation, service was suspended on that line, necessitating a transfer in Daly City.
The line, despite the long travel time, generally is the most efficient way to get home from the airport if your flight is arriving during afternoon commute hours.
