WCCUSD students, parents say they support teachers’ decision to approve strike

Recent WCCUSD employee strike authorization votes have left the school community with many questions. Some students say they’re supportive but worried about their education while others are excited at the prospect of a strike instigating needed changes. 

But the general consensus among those Richmondside spoke to is supportive of the teachers and teamsters who are fighting for higher pay and an improved quality of education.

The United Teachers of Richmond (UTR), the union that represents about 1,500 educators in the West Contra Costa Unified School district, approved a strike on Oct. 14, with 98% of those voting in agreement. The Teamsters, another union that represents 1,500 staff, including cafeteria employees, custodians and para-educators, also voted to authorize a strike. 

Richmond High School student Katy Zarate told Richmondside she wouldn’t mind if a strike interrupts her education, because she thinks it’s the right thing to do. 

“They want to get paid well and the district doesn’t pay attention to them,” Zarate said, referring to WCCUSD teachers. “I think it’s a good thing they’re (considering) doing the strike or else they won’t get what they want.” 

Gian Maldonado, a junior at Kennedy High School in Richmond, said while he supports a strike, the thought of not having his regular teachers for an extended period of time is “frightening.” (If the teachers were to go on strike, the district would bring in substitutes but its unclear if they’d be able to staff every classroom.)

“I’m taking three AP classes and the idea of all of those kind of stopping is super intimidating, because…our teachers have done an amazing job of trying to break down the courses to be as simple as possible so we can excel in them,” Maldonado told Richmondside. “The AP (test) is already scheduled. You can’t push those types of things back. So just to have a huge break in between is super scary.” 

But if the teachers go on strike, Maldonado said he and his classmates are ready to strike alongside them. 

“There has also been talks about, very short whispers here and there, about a full student strike alongside of the teachers,” Maldonado said. “We’ve protested for Gaza, for immigration, (held) walkouts for the teachers…We’re not scared to protest to get our or have our voices heard. And I believe our community is right alongside us whenever any of those things happen.” 

If both unions go on strike, there would likely only be administrators present at WCCUSD schools. The district would need to rely on substitute teachers to cross the picket lines. To prepare, WCCUSD authorized a higher pay rate for substitute teachers. 

There’s still time for WCCUSD to reach an agreement with unions

But a strike vote doesn’t mean a strike is imminent and it also doesn’t mean it will happen soon.

UTR and WCCUSD are at the final stage of the state’s mediation process. A three-person panel is required to meet on or before Nov. 6 and will make recommendations to both parties on how to come to an agreement. After the hearing, they will issue a non-binding report with settlement recommendations within 20 calendar days (on or before Nov. 26).

Once that report is released, assuming the two sides don’t follow the panel’s recommendations, UTR is legally authorized to strike and must give the district 48-hours notice. At any time, WCCUSD can make offers to persuade the teachers union to call off the strike.

Still, many educators believe a strike is inevitable because their frustration has been mounting for years, UTR President Francisco Ortiz said. 

“Seeing that they’re preparing to pay ($550) a day for a substitute, it looks like there’s no other possibility (but to strike) unless they’re (the district) going to come correct at fact-finding,” Ortiz told Richmondside. Fact-finding is part of the state mediation process that helps a union and employer agree on a contract.

Over the weekend, dozens of teachers teamed up with local artists to paint, draw, and print banners, posters and picket signs in preparation for a potential strike.

UTR Executive Director Mark Mitchell said he thinks if the union doesn’t go on strike, then teachers will be upset with the union. In 2022, UTR authorized a strike vote with 90% of those voting in favor. At the last minute, the district proposed a 14.5% raise over two years, and the strike was avoided. (The district originally proposed a 10% raise that year; the union was asking for 17%). However 40% of the members still wanted to strike, regardless of the deal, Mitchell said. 

“They’re just so angry at the district because of years of mismanagement, misprioritization,” Mitchell said. “They just don’t want to cut them any slack.” 

UTR’s main objective now is to secure a salary increase. The union makes less than teachers in neighboring districts, so there’s a high teacher turnover rate, leaving WCCUSD classrooms staffed with unqualified teachers or substitutes. The union also wants smaller class sizes. 

The union asked for a 10% salary increase over two years — which would cost the district $20.8 million. For six months, the district countered with a 0% increase. Days before the strike vote result was announced, WCCUSD offered a 2% raise and increased its contribution to cover healthcare costs from 80% to 85%. The offer was quickly rejected by the union and taken as an insult. 

WCCUSD Superintendent Cheryl Cotton, however, said she is still hopeful the district can avert a strike. 

“We have reached out. I have reached out and really looking to come back to the table,” Cotton said at the Oct. 22 school board meeting. “It’s time for us to come together and figure out how to solve this problem…avoiding a strike, avoiding any work stoppage, avoiding any disruption to our students and their learning.” 

In a letter send to WCCUSD families last week, Cotton said she does not want a strike to happen particularly because of the disruption it would have on students and the community, “and we want to do everything possible to avoid any harm to our kids. “

“It is essential for all of us to realize that a strike does not change the financial realities that our District faces,” Cotton wrote. “We are doing what we can to avoid any strike, which is why we have made a good-faith offer.  I believe that continued dialogue and the fact-finding process are key to reaching a fair agreement that honors our staff while protecting the long-term stability of our schools for your children.”

Brownwyn Evans, a first-grade teacher at Murphy Elementary in Richmond, said she can’t imagine the district could offer enough to avoid a strike. In her opinion, it’s about time the union strikes. 

“The district has come through so many times being like, ‘if you give us this leeway now we give it back to you tenfold next time around’ and that is not true,” Evans told Richmondside. “We really want to go see this through till the end.” 

She said the educators at her campus are almost excited to strike because they are hopeful it will lead to tangible changes. 

“It just comes down to human rights and the rights of workers to get what they deserve and get what they need. We all work tremendously hard. We do it for the kids,” Evans said. “We have this agitated energy to get things done and to have things turn out fairly for us and we know that ends up supporting our students too.” 

WCCUSD parents are generally supportive; one group is trying to solve problems

The potential strike has also received support from a number of parents. 

Joey Knapp, a parent of two Highland Elementary pupils and a member of the LCAP parent committee, a committee that advises the district on how it funds programs that helps certain groups of students, said he isn’t overly worried about a strike. 

“I want to support the teachers and I think they know their situation better,” Knapp told Richmondside. “We have a huge teacher retention problem, a teacher recruiting problem, and we have shortages throughout the district. It seems like a good investment to invest in the teachers.” 

Yolanda Vierra Allen, parent and co-chair of the African American Site Advisory Team, said the strike hasn’t been talked about much in the rooms she’s been in lately but said most parents would agree that teachers aren’t paid enough. 

“I don’t know where the money (for raises) will come from given our underfunding and large debt,” Vierra Allen told Richmondside. “Schools simply do not have enough money to meet its needs … Our systems need a reset but I don’t believe our school community has the vision or will to do so.” 

One group of parents and teachers have taken it upon themselves to find creative solutions to some of the problems the strike aims to solve.

 A new community group called WCC Community Building, led by El Cerrito High School teacher Sky Nelson, is a coalition of community members who are combing through the budget documents to understand where there may be overspending. The group has focused on finding ways to shrink special education costs which have skyrocketed over the past five years.

Grace Wu, whose two children attend Vista Virtual Academy, said the district needs to be creative about how it addresses its budget shortfall, teacher shortage and shrinking enrollment. 

Her proposal is to expand the Vista Virtual Academy. The virtual academy could potentially bring in more students, increasing the district’s revenue. And because the students attend class virtually, it saves the district money because it reduces physical overhead costs, Wu argues.

She and a group of parents started a petition last week to expand the virtual school in response to a potential strike. 

“Parents like myself are trying to put this out there so that the community can see that there are solutions besides cutting,” Wu said. “The education landscape has changed rapidly since the pandemic, and the constant attrition of teachers and students is not going to change by just cutting more programs.”

Wu said if WCCUSD removes all enrollment barriers, fully staffs the virtual school and allows students in neighboring districts who prefer virtual school to enroll, WCCUSD could increase its revenue by up to $45 million. Instead, the district has cut the virtual program by laying off a number of teachers and closing its virtual kindergarten.

“Homeschool has doubled since the pandemic. And a lot of homeschoolers use our school or other virtual charters to supplement the curriculum,” Wu told Richmondside. “This is a very viable win-win solution for everybody. There are a lot of kids with perhaps ADHD, that were bullied, or other issues where in-person (school) might not be their thing, but they can do very well in virtual school.” 

Wu said her children have become independent learners by attending Vista Virtual, so a strike wouldn’t impact their learning. But she has sprung into action because she’s worried how the strike and the continued staffing issues will impact the education of other children. 

“It just breaks my heart,” Wu said. “Most parents like me are happy that their kids are doing great, but we sympathize with everyone else in the community and want to be part of the community and contribute to solving this issue. And this is a very solvable issue.”

Richmondside reporting intern Zoe Harwood contributed to this report.