Posts Tagged ‘United Teachers of Richmond’
WCCUSD teachers announce strike after mediation fails
Teachers will go on strike Thursday in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, but the superintendent says schools will remain open. United Teachers of Richmond announced at 7 p.m. Monday that it had rejected the district’s latest offer of a 3% salary increase, and 90% coverage of health care benefits beginning in 2027 “Striking is the…
Read MoreWCCUSD teachers union prepares for next step after two-week impasse over salaries
More than two weeks after the West Contra Costa Unified School District declared an impasse with United Teachers of Richmond, many educators are feeling scared and uncertain about the future of their jobs. Since the negotiation process began in February, UTR’s focus has been on ensuring all students have high quality, certificated educators; providing emotionally…
Read MoreWCCUSD candidates backed by the UTR headed for victory; one race remains too close to call
Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy, formerly a bilingual teacher and president of the United Teachers of Richmond, has won by a large margin in the Area 4 race for West Contra Costa Unified School District. Gonzalez-Hoy won 50% of the votes with 100% of the precincts reporting, according to the Contra Costa County semi-official election night results. Y’Anad…
Read MoreBilingual teacher running for school board wants to improve English language classes
Gonzalez-Hoy is running for West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) board trustee for area four.
Read MoreSchool board discusses charter school moratorium
The proposed resolution, inspired by several others—including one that passed last month following the teachers strike in the Los Angeles Unified School District—calls for a moratorium on charter school expansion from the California State Board of Education and seeks to establish additional oversight over existing charter schools.
Read MoreRichmond teachers struggle to afford housing on “poverty level” salaries
Diane Maddox sold gold jewelry as a side hustle, just to get by during her 33 years of teaching in Richmond. The single mother raised her two daughters in an apartment above a garage. It took the 56-year-old Maddox more than two decades until she could finally afford to purchase a home. She currently teaches…
Read MoreA new immigrant’s path from learning English to representing 1,700 educators
On a chilly morning in 2004, 13-year-old Demetrio Gonzalez who just immigrated to the U.S. sat in an eighth-grade English class at the Oak Crest Middle School in Encinitas, California and read Shakespeare’s articles for the first time. He stared at his brand new English book and thought, “Qué es esto?”–“What is this” in Spanish.…
Read MoreSchool board candidates discuss charters, nutrition and safety at forum
The moderator asked questions about charter schools, nutritious lunches, school safety and educational inclusion at a forum Tuesday.
Read MoreAlternative discipline methods help elementary school drop suspension numbers
Meditation and breathing exercises are daily rituals at Grant Elementary School in Richmond. Principal Farnaz Heydari introduced these practices in an effort to reduce bad behavior, which had led to high numbers of student suspensions.
Read MoreAdvocates fight for teacher salary increase in West Contra Costa schools, decry proposal of contentious charter school
United Teachers of Richmond is currently in negotiations with the West Contra Costa Unified School District school board for said salary raise and smaller class sizes. The proposal comes after the union called for an increase in teacher retention rates.
Read MoreSchool suspensions cost communities and unfairly affect minorities, experts say
A recent study suggests that not only do suspensions take a toll on students, they place a financial burden on their communities.
Read MoreWest Contra Costa school district, teachers to continue salary negotiations
West Contra Costa school officials and the local teachers union said Thursday they intend to resume bargaining in a few weeks after teachers rejected a proposed settlement while demanding bigger pay increases.
Read MoreRichmond, Oakland leaders supporting proposed state regulation of ammunition sales
In the wake of recent mass shootings—including one in December at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which took 26 lives, and one in late July at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater, which left 12 dead—an East Bay politician is pushing for new state restrictions on the sale of ammunition in California. The move has received widespread support from city and school officials in cities like Oakland and Richmond, which struggle with high rates of violent crime.
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