Imagine you’re pulling up to school and you spot protesters. Only these protesters have familiar faces, and then you realize that they’re your favorite teachers. That is what’s going on in TMS and throughout the district.  Teachers are protesting right outside the school holding signs saying, “ Fair Pay!” and, “Support TVUSD Teachers!” But why?

The reason teachers are protesting is because they believe they should be paid more as the school board hasn’t really been paying the teachers very well. We interviewed some teachers and we asked them questions about what message they wanted to send. Here’s what they said:

What do you want to get out of this protest?

Teacher 1: “ We just want to get a cost of living raise. It’s simple. It’s a cost of living raise that the state provides.”  

Teacher 2: “ The teachers here at TMS and over TVUSD just want to get paid our fair wages. We’re one of the lowest-paid districts in the area right now, and we are some of the hardest-working teachers and staff who just love being here.  We love our students, and we are not asking for going above and beyond, we’re asking for the bare minimum here and it’s sad that the school board is not letting us have that.”

Teacher 3: “ Out of today’s protest, I want our community to know that we love our students, we love our jobs but we need to be paid fairly.” 

What do you want to tell students?

Teacher 1: “ We want to tell students that they rock and we love teaching them.” 

Teacher 2: “ Students, your teachers, and staff love working with you, we are here for you, we’re fighting so we can continue to be there for you.”

Teacher 3: “ We want to tell students that we love them every day they come to school, we enjoy teaching, we enjoy sharing time with them, and that’s why we’re teachers.”

It’s not just our school that’s being affected by this though, as the mandate was spread all throughout Temecula. Teachers protest outside of most schools now, and it’s because of the school board. The TVUSD school board did not raise their cost of living wages, causing an outburst from teachers and parents alike. Parents and teachers held massive protests at Margarita Middle School and Great Oak High School, cars honked in support of their actions. 

The teachers’ efforts were not in vain though. On October 18, 2023, another school board meeting was held, and the school board gave the teachers a cost of living raise.  What do you think? Leave a comment!