Teachers rally, push WCCUSD for better wages and more hires to avert strike

Cars honked, megaphones blared and teachers chanted, “Education is a right, that is why we have to fight,” during a rally before Wednesday’s West Contra Costa Unified School District board meeting at DeJean Middle School.

Since January, WCCUSD and United Teachers of Richmond have been negotiating a new three-year teachers’ contract. The previous contract expired in June. The union is pushing for higher pay, smaller class sizes and increased staffing to fill vacancies with credentialed teachers. The district is citing an ongoing budget deficit and the risk of state takeover as reasons for belt-tightening. On Aug 19, the negotiations came to an impasse, triggering the involvement of a third party mediator from the California Public Employment Relations Board. 

If the UTR and WCCUSD cannot come to an agreement, UTR members may vote to strike in the coming weeks. 

Union and city officials including Richmond Mayor and former WCCUSD teacher Eduardo Martinez addressed the teachers as they prepared to enter the School Board meeting. 

“If we value education, then we’ll put our money there,” Martinez said.

During the meeting, dozens of teachers, staff, students, and parents conveyed that message to the board.

“My kids are not receiving proper services, and I’m watching it happen on a daily basis,” said  Colleen Ballantine, a special education teacher at Ellerhorst Elementary School in Pinole. 

“Many of us are stretched thin across multiple sites with unsustainable caseloads,” said Priscilla Lau, a speech-language pathologist in the district.

“We are living off the breadcrumbs that fall from your tables. We want to thrive, but we are put in situations where our schools are being defunded, our teachers are being cut,” said  Elias Avalos, a senior at Kennedy High School.

Others named unlivable wages, oversized classes, and the overuse of substitute teachers and contractors to fill the roles of full time, credentialed teachers as problems the boards needs to address. According to the union, WCCUSD ranks second to last for teacher compensation among Contra Costa County’s 19 school districts. 

“People have been really thirsty to be heard, because it’s just been such an unresponsive system and we know what’s possible,” UTR President Francisco Ortiz told Richmond Confidential, after seeing so many union members address the board.

Last year, the district won a lawsuit brought by an education advocacy group that said WCCUSD was violating students rights by forcing them into buildings with mold and other problems, and not ensuring classes were taught by credentialed teachers. In ruling for the district, a judge found that WCCUSD had gone to great lengths to address those problems. 

The issue has carried into this school year, with the district relying on substitute teachers who often are not certified to teach the subjects they are assigned, Niko Villars, a Pinole Valley High School teacher, told Richmond Confidential. “The subs are great. … But they’re not a replacement for an 11th grade English teacher,” Villars said .

Superintendent Cheryl Cotton issued a statement two days after the meeting, saying, “We continue to meet with union representatives to address challenges and issues that arise. We are committed to good-faith bargaining, and we value every member of our West Contra Costa family. As we navigate these challenging times, it is important to remember that we are one West Contra Costa.”

In a Sept. 12 “Negotiation Update” on the district’s YouTube channel, Cotton said, “Our priority is clear. Providing high quality instruction for more than 25,000 students in our 54 schools, while reaching a fair, fiscally responsible agreement that supports excellent teaching.”

The union’s next mediation session is Tuesday.  

“The UTR leadership are serious,” Villars said. “They’re good. They know what they’re doing. They’re organized. I’d be intimidated if I was the school district. And I think they have a lot of teachers behind them.” 

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