Richmond Teachers in Stalled Talks with District as School Year Starts with Unstaffed Classrooms

Nearly 2,000 students affected by vacancies caused by WCCUSD's lack of competitive wages as district continues to propose no increases to educator salaries in contract negotiations 

Richmond, CA – Months of meetings between the United Teachers of Richmond (UTR) and the West Contra Costa Unified School District(WCCUSD) have stalled without an agreement, with the union declaring impasse on the evening August 19^th.   UTR started the negotiations process with a vision for the district their students and communities deserve: fully staffed schools, competitive wages to recruit and retain educators, and stable schools and resources for students. 

Despite projecting more than $76 million in unspent revenue at the end of the year, WCCUSD has refused to put forward a fair compensation offer that addresses the recruitment and retention issues in the district. Teacher salaries remain uncompetitive with neighboring districts, contributing to hundreds of resignations and retirements in recent years, and resulting in 71 vacancies affecting over 2,000 students at the beginning of the 25-26 school year. Instead of investing in staffing, district leadership has continued to put forward zero percent raises while simultaneously funneling millions of dollars into outside consultants, contracts, and administrative overhead. 

The district has not responded at all to the union’s proposals addressing ongoing challenges in special education classrooms, neglecting the district’s most vulnerable students. UTR has proposed modest caps to the number of students on some specialists’ caseloads that would greatly improve the experiences and outcomes for those students.

“This district’s budget makes clear that the money is there—what’s missing is the will to prioritize the classrooms where students learn,” said Francisco Ortiz, President of UTR. “We have 5-year-old students receiving speech therapy over zoom due to our inability to recruit teachers in our district. Declaring impasse was not our choice, but as you can see, WCCUSD management has left us no other option. Our educators cannot afford to live on 2023 wages, and our students cannot afford the instability caused by turnover and vacancies.” 

With the union’s declaration of impasse, the bargaining process will move to mediation through the state mediation and conciliation service. If the District continues to shortchange students and educators, the next step is statutory impasse procedures, which could bring the district to the brink of a strike. 

“Educators are the last line of defense for our students. We will not allow this district to hoard obscene reserves, nearly 20% of what it spends annually, on the backs of students and educators while consultants and outside contracts flourish,” said Ortiz. “Our community deserves better—and we are ready to stand together until we win the schools West Contra Costa students deserve.”

The United Teachers of Richmond is the democratic union of educators in West Contra Costa Unified School District. UTR fights for fully funded, stable, and equitable schools that serve all students and families Richmond, San Pablo, El Cerrito, Pinole, Hercules, Kensington, and unincorporated areas.

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