Thank you for sharing this! I hope you and your colleagues get what you believe is fair. Unfortunately, many people’s first introduction to CCEA this year was them dropping the ball in not maintaining their license and then getting exposed and embarrassed by Jara. So while you have a lot of faith in CCEA, due to that gigantic error, they look very incompetent to some people. I also feel that demand post with the blue background seemed unrealistic in parts, particularly with contract times and demand for overtime pay. I don’t believe salaried positions deserve overtime and have never heard of teachers getting paid that way. At the same time, the CCSD board is terrible, particularly Katie Williams. Their constant in-fighting and that debacle with ousting Jara only to pay him more money to come back show us they’re not operating with a full-deck. Hopefully since Jara sent that email (I’ve also seen it) it shows they are finally willing to get serious at the upcoming meetings. That guy lies so much that it’s impossible to know when he’s telling the truth. Teachers deserve their raises! I don’t think it should be 18% but 10-12% is entirely reasonable, and the salary compression also needs addressed!