Stockton Teachers Rally In Hopes Of Landing First Contract Since 2008
STOCKTON (CBS13) — A demonstration of anger and frustration in Stockton as teachers rallied at district headquarters on Thursday over a contract dispute.
It's been six years since the Stockton teachers had a contract, and the union says its' reached an impasse in negotiations with the district.
Regardless of how good or how bad mediation went on Thursday, they teachers planned to rally outside the district office. That's because they've rallied there every year for the past five years.
"It was 2008 was our last contract," said John, president of the Stockton Teachers Association. "We've been bargaining without a contract since then."
And many parents, like Sherry McClain, are marching with them.
"My kids are in school most of the day," she said. "Our teachers need to be taken care of."
But the second state mediation didn't happen on Thursday, because the school district says the mediator called out sick.
"We wanted to continue bargaining without the mediator, but the district did not feel comfortable continuing the bargaining without the state mediator present," Steiner said.
Both the district and teachers say September's negotiations went well. A compromise was reached on having students' performance tests be a part of a teacher's evaluation, though the details are unknown since both sides are still bargaining.
The rest boils down to money. The district says it offered an 11.5 percent raise over two years, but the union says part of that money covers additional work teachers will have to do, and it doesn't offset healthcare costs.
"We're far from getting to a strike yet," Steiner said. "We can settle and we want to settle soon."
But if they strike, parents at the rally say they'd support them.
"I'm going to keep [my kids] at home. There's no reason to send them to school if there are no teachers to teach them," she said.
The last time teachers walked out of class was in 1990.
The second state mediation is now scheduled for the last week on October. The union says it if fails, a series of fact-finding from both sides would take place, and a last and final offer would come from the district.
If the union rejects that offer, the teachers will strike.
