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Amid ongoing negotiations between Dublin Unified School District and the Dublin Teachers Association, the educators union continues to rally for community support while the district is set to review additional funding cuts next week.
DUSD Superintendent Chris Funk confirmed that both sides met on Jan. 30 for a negotiation session, which failed to result in an agreement.
“Earlier this week, negotiating teams for the district and the DTA met with a state-appointed mediator in an attempt to reach an agreement on our ongoing contract negotiations,” Funk said in an email last Friday to DUSD community members.
The negotiation mediator, assigned by the Public Employment Relations Board, was brought in after the DTA declared an impasse in December as a way to facilitate common ground.
“Unfortunately the mediation session we attended (on Jan. 30) with DUSD management was unsuccessful at allowing us to reach resolution, so we will continue on through state-mandated impasse procedures this month,” DTA president and Dublin High School teacher Allison Malone told the Weekly.
“Dublin educators remain committed to securing the best for Dublin students, and that means reaching an agreement with DUSD management that prioritizes teaching and learning,” Malone added.
For the 2023-24 school year, the district offered teachers a 2% salary increase. DTA representatives said that with inflation and rising cost of living, the offer is an “effective pay cut” and instead asked for a 9% salary increase for all its members.
Union members also noted the district received an 8.22% increase in state funding this year and offered DUSD management a 6% salary increase.
DTA previously voted to authorize a strike, with 98.8% approval, in the event that the district continues to deny its demands. The union will begin preparing its members for a strike as soon as this week.
“This stage of the negotiation process was not successful and we are now moving to the next step of the process, which will be fact-finding. Once this process has been initiated, we will provide updates as they become available,” said Funk of the Jan. 30 session.
The same morning of the meeting, dozens of DTA members handed out leaflets to parents at two separate DUSD school sites. Members picketed at Dublin High and Dougherty Elementary schools before the first bell to draw in community support and raise awareness for the current conditions of salary negotiations.
“We had educators at each school site help inform the Dublin community about the current state of negotiations and correct the misleading information shared by Superintendent Funk and DUSD management with regards to retaining and recruiting the best educator through the salary increases received over the past few years,” Malone said.
“The community was supportive and appreciative of the information we were able to share,” she added.
DTA was joined by leaders of the East Bay Coalition for Student Success.
“We are calling on DUSD management to invest in the best resources for Dublin students. This means salaries that keep up with the cost of living so we can afford to live in the community where we teach, secure healthcare for all DTA members and our families and respect for the years of prior service educators bring to DUSD,” said Malone.
DUSD responded to the rally through another email statement from Funk.
“We continue to remain committed to working collaboratively with our union partners on behalf of our most important resource: our staff. We remain hopeful that we can reach an agreement with DTA that allows us to continue providing the highest quality education to our students and maintain the fiscal solvency of the District,” said Funk. “Our goal is to reach an equitable agreement that maintains competitive compensation for certificated employees while also maintaining the fiscal health of our district.”
The superintendent added, “We recognize that the DTA has the right to formally object to the District’s proposal and they have done so by requesting an impasse determination from the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). While the District does not agree with the claim made by DTA that negotiations have reached an impasse, we intend to follow the PERB process to completion.”
Last Saturday, the school board held a special session to discuss budget alterations, workforce reductions and general fund cutbacks. The board will review the possible reductions in a regular meeting next Tuesday (Feb. 13).
Through the month of February, the teachers union has planned a number of support events. To answer questions about negotiations, DTA will host a community town hall via Zoom next Monday (Feb. 12) and a student success rally on Feb. 21.
A date has not yet been set for additional negotiations, a DUSD representative confirmed.
Weekly reporters — please include numbers with percentages. A percentage means nothing if not attached to a number. How much did a 6% raise for admin cost DUSD? How much would the union’s demand cost DUSD? How much would the district’s offer cost DUSD? What are the median pay and pay range for DUSD teachers? How much money is an 8.22% increase in funding? Percentages alone mean nothing.