MPUSD Prioritizes Educational Experiences for its Earliest Learners
For Immediate Release
October 13, 2023
Contact:
Marci McFadden
831.706.6971
MPUSD Prioritizes Educational Experiences for its Earliest Learners
Increases pay for preschool teachers by 7% for current school year
Monterey, CA - The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District approved a seven (7) percent increase in pay for its 10- and 12-month preschool teachers for the 2023-2024 school year retroactive to July 1, 2023.
“Setting up our earliest learners for academic success is critical to their educational foundation and our preschool teachers set the stage for them to thrive,” said PK Diffenbaugh, Superintendent, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. “Through steady investment over the last 10 years, compensation for our beginning 10 month preschool teachers has risen over 77%. This agreement is groundbreaking in that 12 month preschool teachers can start out making over $50,000 a year and our most experienced preschool teachers will now earn over $70,000. As a district we continue to prioritize salary and benefits, and this salary increase signals our continued commitment.”
“The raise will help recruit new and upcoming teachers and create staying power within the preschool community,” said Midori Collins, a veteran preschool teacher at a recent MPUSD Board Meeting. “The salary increase makes preschool teachers within MPUSD feel more valued, appreciated and more inclusive with primary and secondary level educators,” said Collins. “This raise will help ease preschool teachers' minds with some financial burdens in which they may be encountering in their daily lives and helps compensate for the on-going cost of living in the communities in which we live.”
The district’s preschools are state funded, and this salary increase applies only to the district's preschool teachers, who fall under a separate salary schedule than the district’s teachers in grades transitional kindergarten - 12th grade. The district is currently in negotiations with its union labor partner, the Monterey Bay Teachers Association, for the current school year.
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About MPUSD
The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is built on a solid foundation of effective instruction, positive school culture, systems of supports, and collaborative leadership. We are building innovative schools that offer dynamic learning opportunities to all students. While our programs will evolve over time, our focus remains steadfast on increasing student achievement and eliminating performance gaps. The district was established July 1, 1966, and is home to 10 elementary schools, three transitional kindergarten - 8th grade schools, two middle schools, three comprehensive high schools, an alternative high school, three preschools, and an adult education program. MPUSD stretches from the city of Marina to the north to the city of Monterey to the south, and encompasses the communities of Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Monterey, Sand City and Seaside.
About MPUSD’s Preschool Programs
The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District offers preschool programs to students at the Dual Language Academy of the Monterey Peninsula preschool, the Marina Child Development Center, and the Seaside Child Development Center. The district will soon offer a program at its new Monterey Child Development Center. The district offers full-day and half-day preschool. Classrooms are tailored for infants (6 months), toddlers (age 2) and pre-school aged students (ages 3 - 4) with a seamless transition from preschool to kindergarten. Curriculum includes readiness skills for transitional kindergarten and kindergarten; social and emotional skill building; language development; multicultural education; and music, arts, crafts.