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UNION CITY, Calif. (KTVU) - The New Haven Teachers Association and the New Haven Unified School District ended another long session on Sunday without reaching a deal.
In fact, neither side budged on their demands, which means negotiations will continue at 9 o’clock Memorial Day morning.
Just after 8 p.m., district officials ended the bargaining session for both sides were unable to reach a deal.
As they were exiting the Alameda County Office of Education in Hayward, the protesters followed district negotiators to their vehicles while chanting as police officers watched from a distance.
Teachers are seeking a 10-percent pay increase, while district officials are holding firm on their “best and final” offer of a 1% raise with a one-time 3% bonus.
In a statement from the district released on Sunday night, the district said “The teachers’ proposal would cost the District between $20 million and $30 million over a three-year period.”
At the same time, teacher said there is enough money district coffers to give teachers what they want.
“”They're sitting on $26 million in an unrestricted reserve and they're not sharing it with us,” said Lisa Duncanson. “There were years and years that I took a pay cut because we did furloughs and I was one of the champions in our district for taking for furlough.”
The Delaine Eastin Elementary School science teacher told us that the 10% increase still would not bring back the salary she sacrificed during the district’s leaner years.
Duncanson said she had held out hope that the Sunday negotiations would bear fruit because it was the first time that two members of the New Haven Unified School District board, Linda Canlas and Sarabjit Kaur Cheema, attended the bargaining session.
The Sunday night statement from the district insisted that meeting the pay increase demand “would cost the District between $20 million and $30 million over a three-year period.”
In addition, they said $7,820,000 in cuts would be needed and listed 19 areas within the district that could no longer be founded.
Among them, the closure of an elementary school, eliminating social workers, cutting teaching positions and increase TK and Kindergarten Class Sizes to 30 to 1.