Fed up with district proposals to increase class size and eliminate middle school counselors, hundreds of school employees showed up at the San Mateo-Foster City school board meeting Feb. 19 to demand a fair contract.
"After going nearly 600 days without a contract, teachers here are at the end of their rope," says Jim Remington, president of the San Mateo Elementary Teachers Association. "Our members want a fair contract."
The two sides are at impasse over several issues, and Feb. 20 was the last scheduled session with a state mediator. "The school board needs to step in now or face the consequences," says Remington. "Our members are willing to strike if that's what it takes to make the district listen."
The 583-member chapter has authorized its leaders to call a strike "to preserve the quality education program that our communities expect and deserve."
"The community has twice voted for parcel taxes that reduced class sizes," says Remington. The most recent one directed the district to provide funding to attract and retain highly qualified staff.
Teachers have not proposed a salary increase, but are fighting to improve their health benefits, which rank at the bottom of all San Mateo County school districts and have not been improved since 1994.
"Now we are being asked by the administration to increase class sizes and eliminate many counselors in the middle schools where the student-counselor ratio is already 400 to 1. We are saying no to that. It's not what our community wants and it's not right for our kids. We have made too much progress in this district to turn back now."