![Teachers gather on the side of El Camino Real before school Tuesday to protest the lack of a pay increase. PAEA members have come together to support this cause. "You'll see when teachers are wearing their [PAEA] shirts, that means we're showing solidarity for negotiations," Social Studies teacher Ken Tinsley said.](https://verdemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_4667-1-1200x900.jpg)
Members of the Palo Alto Educators Association held a walk-in before school Tuesday to raise visibility for their advocacy for teacher salary increases.
The members gathered around all entrances to Palo Alto High School starting at 8:30 a.m., and at 8:50 a.m., they returned to their classrooms together to show solidarity for the cause. According to Social Studies teacher Ken Tinsley, who participated in the event, the purpose of the walk-in was to raise awareness for the PAEA’s cause for higher pay.
“A walk-in is meant to do three things,” Tinsley said. “To engage with the community, to inform the community as well as be visible to the community. The purpose of the name ‘walk-in’ is for us as teachers to show our solidarity or unity and this idea that we should be investing in students and not in reserves.”
The event came as a result of the ongoing protest around the Palo Alto Unified School District’s low teacher pay raises compared to surrounding districts. PAUSD has offered a salary increase of 3.5%, but this still lags far behind the salary increases of surrounding districts, according to a statement released by the PAEA.
“We are committed to supporting students and we would love to see the district reciprocate in that by giving just compensation,” Tinsley said.
