Since mid-December, three more school districts have joined the more than a dozen California districts already at an impasse with their teachers unions over contract negotiations.
Woodland Joint Unified and Washington Unified school districts in the Sacramento area are now officially at an impasse with their teachers unions, as is South Bay Union in the San Diego region, according to the California Teachers Association.
The districts joined San Francisco Unified, Los Angeles Unified, Oakland Unified, Berkeley Unified, Madera Unified, Evergreen, Little Lake City, Upper Lake Unified, Duarte Unified, Newport-Mesa Unified, Oak Grove Union, Apple Valley Unified, Rocklin Unified, Twin Rivers Unified and Natomas Unified school districts, bringing the number of districts and unions at an impasse to at least 18.
The teachers unions are largely seeking better pay and benefits, smaller class sizes, and more school counselors and psychologists. School districts are pushing back, saying declining enrollment and rising costs make raises unaffordable.
If either party formally declares negotiations are at an impasse, the state appoints a mediator. If the mediator can’t help the parties reach an agreement, a state panel will review the evidence in a fact-finding process and will recommend a nonbinding settlement. If either party disagrees with the settlement, negotiations can continue, or a strike could be called.
Most of these district unions are part of the CTA’s “We Can’t Wait” campaign, which has spent the last few years aligning contracts to end on the same date in order to add pressure on districts in areas where multiple unions are negotiating and could potentially strike at once.
The plan might play out in the Sacramento region, where five districts are at an impasse with their unions, and teachers in at least three of those unions have indicated, by vote or informal survey, that they are ready to strike.