Dear HTH Family & Community,
On Thursday, September 21, High Tech High and the High Tech Education Collective met to continue bargaining increases in teachers’ wages for the 2023-2024 school year.
Earlier in February, we agreed on an initial contract (“CBA”) –a first for our system–that provides competitive salaries and benefits for our teachers. This contract ensures smaller class sizes in all our schools and promotes teacher input in how we evaluate and support our teachers.
In our CBA, there’s an option to bargain teachers’ wages every year, as state funding for schools can change, and we usually get a clearer picture of this funding after the Governor’s budget announcements in May and June. We intend to provide the most competitive wages for our teachers while ensuring that we meet all of our financial obligations without fail.
It’s important to note that while focusing on teacher wages is crucial, High Tech High has the broader responsibility of sustaining our network of 16 charter schools. This includes not only salaries for both teaching and support staff, but also essential expenses like the rise in utility costs, the rise in facilities costs, increases to the teachers’ retirement system and health benefits, student programs, and more. While everything is more expensive, our aim is to balance these needs effectively and stay within our budget.
Please know we are committed to making decisions that will not compromise the quality of our students’ education, class sizes, or lead to layoffs when the wage increases become unsustainable. To better inform our community about how charter schools are funded, and the significant budgeting differences compared to traditional school districts, HTH will be hosting community workshops about our finances. More details will follow.
Although HTH and HTEC did not come to a mutual agreement on wage increases on Thursday, we remain optimistic. We will keep you updated as negotiations continue.
Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.
Best regards,
Board Chair Gary E. Jacobs
Interim Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kaleb Rashad
