Statewide survey: most Californians support teacher strikes for higher pay

Public Policy Institute survey reveals split over charter schools, public support for education.

Oakland teacher Laura Jetter carries a sign during a strike rally in 2019.

Six out of 10 Californians say teachers’ salaries in their communities are too low and they support teachers striking for higher pay, according to a new statewide survey by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Even higher support for teacher strikes came from the San Francisco Bay Area where 70 percent said they backed strikes and Los Angeles where 65 percent approved.

Teachers from Los Angeles Unified and Oakland Unified went on strike in January and February, respectively, demanding higher pay and improved classroom conditions. Both strikes resulted in higher salaries for teachers as well as other concessions.

Teachers won support across the state with majorities saying their pay was too low: more than half of adults in the Inland Empire (58%), Central Valley (53%) and Orange/San Diego (53%).

“There were solid majorities saying teacher pay is too low and supporting teacher strikes,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC president and CEO. “For us it has a lot of meaning attached to it because in our survey last month we found a record number of Californians saying housing prices were a problem in their region and that they were seriously considering moving. It fit in with what we are seeing statewide and there is definitely a consequence to the high cost of housing in California.” The San Francisco-based non-profit carries out independent, non-partisan research on public policy issues.

A recent EdSource analysis of teacher salaries and rents showed that in nearly 40 percent of the 680 California school districts that reported salary data to the state, first-year teachers did not earn enough to afford a one-bedroom apartment. In more than a quarter of the school districts the highest-paid teachers could not afford to rent a three-bedroom house or apartment.

The gap between teacher pay and housing costs is the widest in the Bay Area, where teachers paid an average salary in nearly 90 percent of the school districts did not earn enough to rent an affordable two-bedroom apartment.

For districts already grappling with teacher shortages, high housing costs are one more obstacle to hiring. Although a recent report to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing shows that there has been an uptick in enrollment in teacher preparation programs, there are currently not enough credentialed teachers for every classroom.

In 2016-2017, according to the report, 23,832 prospective teachers were enrolled in teacher preparation programs, nearly 2,500 more than the previous year. In 2017-18 about 16,000 people received new teaching credentials. But the state needed 24,000 credentialed teachers to fill every classroom that year, according to the Learning Policy Institute.

For some teachers the only option has been to move out of state in search of less expensive housing, worsening the state’s teacher shortage. Between 2013 and 2017, the Census Bureau estimates that 40,000 teachers left the state, although it is not clear that they left because of housing costs. That was an increase of 22 percent over the previous five-year period.

The Public Policy Institute of California survey found that nearly half the adults surveyed and 57 percent of the public school parents surveyed believe the state’s teacher shortage is a problem.

Regarding charter schools, about half the people who were surveyed were in support of charter schools and about half were in opposition. It showed that people are concerned about the possibility of traditional public schools being financially impacted by charter schools, but they also want parents in low-income communities to have choices, Baldassare said.

“The fact that people are conflicted about the subject, I think is important,” Baldassare said. “It’s certainly not settled opinion.”

The non-profit research organization conducted its annual Californians and Education Survey of 1,512 adult residents in early April. This sample, which asked respondents to identify themselves as parents, closely represents what Californians would say if all were sampled, according to the report. It is the first-time the organization has used a fully online survey.

Survey takers said the most important issues facing California’s K-12 schools, in order of importance, are lack of funding, followed by large class sizes, concerns about the quality of education, limited curriculum and low teacher pay.

One of the biggest takeaways from the survey, according to Baldassare, is that Californians want Governor Gavin Newsom to put a high priority on K-12 education and its funding. Seven out of 10 Californians surveyed across all regions, ages, education, income and ethnic groups say Gov. Newsom should make K-12 education a “very high priority.” Most want him to move away from the K-12 policies of his predecessor Jerry Brown. The survey did not describe those Brown policies.

The good news for Gov. Newsom is that 53 percent of those surveyed approve of the way he is handing K-12 public education. Forty-seven percent of respondents approve of the way the state legislature is handing public education.

This is the first time the Public Policy Institute has asked California residents about teacher pay specifically, Baldassare said. He said he was prompted to ask the question because it was being asked in national surveys.

It also is the first time the organization asked residents their opinions about charter schools in detail, he said.

The survey also found:

  • Early childhood education: A majority of those who took the survey, 64 percent, approve of Newsom’s plan to allocate $125 million in the state budget to fund voluntary preschool for all 4-year-old children. Sixty-five percent favor his plan to spend $750 million to expand full-day kindergarten classes.
  • Property taxes: The margin of approval for a split roll property tax is slim, with 56 percent in support and 54 percent opposing a ballot measure that could amend Proposition 13, the 1978 ballot measure that imposed limits on property tax increases. The split roll ballot measure would allow the state to tax commercial, but not residential properties at their current market rate, directing some of the revenue to K-12 public schools. This is an uptick in approval from a January survey that didn’t mention a specific recipient for the tax revenue. In January, 47 percent of the adults surveyed approved of the ballot measure.
  • Parcel taxes: Respondents weren’t that excited about a bond measure that would lower the threshold for passing parcel taxes for public school from two-thirds to 55 percent. Only 44 percent were in favor.
  • K-12 goals: Those who completed the survey had mixed feelings about whether the goal of public schools is to prepare students for college. Only a quarter of the people who filled out the survey felt that should be the goal, while 44 percent of all parents who took the survey said preparing students for college is the most important goal of the school system
  • Immigration enforcement: A majority of Californians, 61 percent, are concerned that immigration enforcement efforts will affect undocumented students and their families in their local public schools.
  • School shootings: More than two-thirds of Californians are concerned about the threat of mass shootings at local schools.
  • College readiness: Forty-three percent of the people surveyed said they are concerned that students in low-income communities aren’t as prepared for college as students in higher income neighborhoods when they finish high school.
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