On Friday, Dec. 1, DP students are planning a walkout after first period. Students will meet in the Greek and walk to Girsh Park. Valeria Tiburcio Romo (12), Aidan Myers (12), and Lukas Ginder (12) decided to organize the walkout in response to teachers’ low pay.
“The teachers have been expressing a lot of discontent with the district,” Myers said. “Just how they’re not being heard. How they’re being paid unfairly for the amount of hours they work.”
This protest follows the work to contract protest by Santa Barbara school district’s teachers, which was also in response to teachers’ low pay.
“It killed the DP atmosphere, if that makes sense. DP is so student led, but we obviously need the support of teachers,” Tiburcio Romo said.
In addition to the social aspect of DP, the work to contract protest also affects some students’ education. Tutoring outside of class, retaking tests at lunch, or staying after class to ask questions are all things covered under the teachers’ work to contract protest.
“It has really affected my level of understanding in that class, because I would take a test, fail it, and then go during lunch and ask them questions … to get clarity on what I needed,” Tiburcio Romo said. “And then I would go back the next day again during lunch and retake tests, and then get a better grade. But now, I have to do that either during class time or during seminar.”
However, Myers says that his frustrations lay with the district. He believes that the district is overlooking a lot of issues going on in schools.
“I think they’re almost out of touch with the situation that’s going on in the schools,” Myers said.
He hopes that this demonstration from the students will help the district realize the importance of the DP community, and that the community depends on teachers.
“It’s not just about numbers, or spreadsheet payroll, or it’s not about that,” Said Myers. “It’s about a community that we built … an d we’re just trying to keep, you know, keep it all alive… and I think that’s almost entirely because of the teachers. They just go above and beyond for us. And … because of the strike, it’s really visible.”
When asked if there’s anything else he’d like to say, Myers encourages students to join the walkout and educate themselves about the negotiations between the district and teachers.
“I think if you’re going to walk out for school, this is probably one of the best things you could walk out for,” Myers said. “I would really encourage people to, you know, read up about it, like what’s going on inside of the district meetings and read about what the teachers want and what they’re not getting and how the district is overlooking them. To educate yourselves and be prepared to understand why and ask questions and provide answers or try to provide answers. But I think it takes a lot of us. So yeah, show up.”
