Del Mar High School students struggled to complete college applications in October amidst the CHSTA work-to-rule slowdown imposed by teachers during their contract negotiations.
On Sept. 30, CUHSD Superintendent Robert Bravo emailed an update on the teacher contract negotiations. According to the Work-to-Rule Q&A attached to the email, work-to-rule is used by a union (in this case, CHSTA) during contract negotiations, and employees (the teachers) only do work required by law, contract, or policy. For instance, CUHSD teachers can deny writing students’ college recommendation letters or opening their room at lunch for students.
Dr. Bravo reassures families and students that “learning in classrooms and other vital aspects of the student experience will continue” in his email. Still, the effects of the work-to-rule slowdown are rampant among Del Mar students.
In an anonymous survey completed by 46 Del Mar students, one shared that their teacher would delay writing their letter of recommendation due to the slowdown but would complete it before the deadline. This made them “question whether or not [they] can trust [that] teacher”.
Overall, almost one-fourth (23.9%) of the 46 students surveyed stated the work-to-rule slowdown affected their ability to complete college applications. 39% of the students applying to college use the Common Application, and many private or public universities require letters of recommendation as part of the application process.
On Oct 18, CHSTA decided to shift from work to contract to other organizing actions in preparation for the outcome of Fact Finding, allowing students to receive help from teachers during unpaid instruction time. While Del Mar students can celebrate the ending of work-to-rule, the lasting effects linger, with a student sharing they are behind on college applications because they couldn’t get their teacher to review their essays.
Another student on the survey shares similar sentiments: “Letters of Recommendations are required for a couple of the colleges that I am applying to. Under the work to rule strike, my teachers were not able to complete my letters of recommendations, even though I had asked for the letters of recommendation two months in advance. This work to rule strike would have made my college application inadmissible to Stanford, as I applied early, if the strike didn’t end.”
