As stalled contract talks move to mediation, the Santa Barbara Teachers Association staged a large, long and noisy protest march this week, winding up at the school board meeting to clamor for a 23 percent, two-year salary increase that Unified School District officials say is out of the question.
Callie Fausey and Josh Molina were on the street to cover the event, featuring 600 teachers, their families, dogs and community supporters, and on a new edition of Newsmakers TV,. reprise their reporting on the demonstration and the issues behind the conflict. The fight with the union has shadowed the SB Unified School District trustees, Superintendent Hilda Maldonado and top administrators since the school year began (don't miss Josh's story of cheating death while trying to get a good photo of the march from atop the wall outside the Museum of Art).
Nick Welsh then briefs us on Kelly McAdoo, the just-hired Santa Barbara City Administrator, who not only has an impressive record of experience in the Bay Area, but also has a fascinating historic connection to Santa Barbara history and a one-time U.S. Senator from California.
The gang also breaks down the controversy over council's go-ahead vote for a $32 million new pedestrian and bicycle bridge connecting Eastside neighborhoods to the waterfront; looks behind some alarming new statistics on how many people are using food stamps in the county, and examines some painful proposed cuts in the Goleta Union School District.
Plus: our political roundtable discussion focuses on the three big public safety endorsements Carpinteria City Council member Roy Lee snagged this week in his insurgent challenge to entrenched Supervisor Das Williams; revisits the crucial race for the Board of Supervisors Third District seat and gets behind the annual fundraising drive for our radio partner, KCSB, 91.9 FM, which is in its final week. (Call to help out this lively and important part of Santa Barbara's media landscape at 805-893-2424, or donate online at KCSB.org/donate. Plenty of free parking).
All this and more, right here, right now on Newsmakers TV.
JR
Check out the new episode via YouTube below or by clicking through this link. The podcast version is here. TVSB, Channel 17, airs the show every weeknight at 8 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the program Monday at 5:30 p.m.
Image: Drum corps led the Santa Barbara teachers union big march on Tuesday night (Josh Molina photo for Noozhawk).
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Cartoon by Sofia Warren for The New Yorker.
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