West Contra Costa Unified School District educators go on strike
By Tim Fang
About 1,500 teachers in the West Contra Costa Unified School District took to the picket lines on Thursday, striking over pay, benefits and staffing.
Members of the United Teachers of Richmond, which represents the educators, began striking at the district’s 56 school sites. The district serves about 28,000 students in the cities of Richmond, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Pinole, Hercules and in several surrounding communities.
West Contra Costa Unified is proposing a 3% salary increase as its latest offer, but the teachers are rejecting the proposal, saying it is too low.
In addition, teachers said classes are overcrowded and that 71 classrooms in the district lacked a permanent teacher, relying on substitutes. Issues involving special education programs and support for teachers from overseas working under H-1B visas were also concerns.
At El Cerrito High School, union president Francisco Ortiz spoke about what he calls instability in the district.
“Let’s be clear about what instability looks like in West Contra Costa. Multiple weeks without a speech language pathologist for preschoolers who need early support. Classrooms without permanent teachers, students left drifting. School sites stretched so thin that they are breaking,” Ortiz said. “This is happening right now, and our students feel every ounce of that instability.”
Eric Jepsen, one of the striking teachers, told CBS News Bay Area, “We are very interested in improving the situation for our special ed students who have not been getting the services they deserve. We are interested in protecting our immigrant teachers. The district recruits a lot from overseas and then does not always stick with them, and there are a lot things in the contract besides money. This is really about priorities. it’s not about the money.”
The strike follows the release of a “fact finding report” on Friday by the California’s Public Employee Relations Board. In it, the report called on the district manager to offer a substantial salary increase, but it did not address the overcrowding or need for more educators.
District officials said that campuses would remain open during the strike.
Superintendent Cheryl Cotton said in a statement, “A strike takes teachers out of classrooms, harms relationships, and can make it harder to keep strong educators. It will not improve our budget and may deepen our deficit. And it will interrupt essential services for students with special needs—students who rely on us the most. I understand why people are frustrated, but a strike does not solve the challenges we face and may make them harder to overcome.”
