Mt. Diablo Unified teachers, district at impasse

Mt. Diablo Unified teachers, district at impasse

Teachers in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District are calling for a rally Wednesday night, ahead of the school board meeting.

PLEASANT HILL, Calif. - Pleasant Hill teachers in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District are calling for a rally Wednesday night, ahead of the school board meeting.

Negotiations between the 29,000-student district and its teachers are at an impasse. 

In its last offer in August, the district offered educators a 2% raise for this school year, in line with the state's cost-of-living adjustment, smaller class sizes for kindergarten and high school math classes, and paid healthcare benefits for educators and their families. 

The union is calling for smaller class sizes across the board, and an end to combined classes where an educator would have to teach students across two different grades in the same class.

The union is also calling for smaller caseloads for nurses, speech language specialists and counselors — some of whom made statements on the union's Facebook page.

Since the two sides are at an impasse, the negotiations now move to the fact-finding stage. That's when an outside third party comes in to examine the demands on both sides to determine if they're fair.

The Mt. Diablo Educator Association is calling on families, students and supporters to go to the school board meeting at 6 p.m. and let the school board know their thoughts on the status of these negotiations.