Unprecedented We Can’t Wait Coordinated Bargaining Campaign Involving 77,000 Educators in 32 California School Districts Serving 1 Million Students is Launched

Local educator unions working together to fight for increased wages, staffing improvements and more resources for students

Educators in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Oakland, Anaheim, Sacramento, San Jose and two dozen other school districts across the state kickoff bargaining with shared demands


SACRAMENTO
– Saying “we can’t wait” for Washington to get its act together and unwilling to wait any longer for the schools students deserve, 32 local educator unions across California are joining together to coordinate their contract bargaining on common issues. The unprecedented We Can’t Wait campaign involves 77,000 educators in 32 districts across the state who teach and serve 1 million students. In the coming weeks, educators will approach their local school districts with the shared priorities of the campaign. This is possible because many of the local unions have been able to align their contract expiration dates to expire in June 2025 and have all come together around a set of shared demands. For the first time, educators in some of California’s largest districts will bargain for improved class sizes, more resources for students, better wages and benefits, and greater stability for school communities – at the same time across the state.

“It’s unacceptable that in the “Golden State,” with its vast wealth and resources, our communities struggle with fully staffing our neighborhood schools,” said David Goldberg, President of the California Teachers Association. “This is why educators are coordinating to take a stand statewide. Together with parents, students and our communities, we demand that districts prioritize resources for our students and ensure California leads the country in providing a quality public education for every student.”

Speaking at a campaign launch Tuesday, flanked by local union leaders, Sylvia Allegretto, Senior Economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), explained that part of the reason that school districts are having difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers is a widening pay gap between educators and other professionals with similar educational backgrounds.

According to Allegretto and a new report from CEPR, California Teacher Pay: Decades of Falling Behind, over the last four and a half decades, the average weekly wage of teachers in California increased by 26.3 percent, while those of non-teacher college graduates rose by 70 percent. When the high cost of living in California is considered, teacher wages have been flat since 2003.

It’s not just wages for educators.

Although the fifth largest economy in the world, California ranks in the bottom half of states for per-student funding. California also ranks 48th in the nation for student access to school counselors and is in the bottom five states for ratios of students to teachers, student support service professionals and librarians.

A report, The State of California’s Public Schools, conducted by GBAO Strategies for the California Teachers Association and released last month, found that four out of 10 educators surveyed are thinking about leaving the profession because they’re not getting the support they need in school and can’t make ends meet at home.

  • 84 percent of the teachers surveyed cannot afford to live near their schools.
  • 81 percent say their salaries are not keeping up with rising costs for groceries, childcare and other necessary expenses.
  • 80 percent have concerns that they would not be able to cover an unexpected cost.
  • 69 percent cite high, out-of-pocket, and often inadequate healthcare costs eating into their paychecks.

“Our students deserve class sizes and staffing levels that allow them to thrive and feel safe at school,” said Kampala Taiz-Rancifer, President of the Oakland Education Association and a parent of school age children. “They also need to know that they aren’t going to have that support taken from them due to layoffs and school closures.”

Despite a statewide teacher shortage, school districts across the state sent 2,000 layoff notices to educators in 2024.

“Local chapters have been preparing for this campaign for a couple years to align contract expiration dates and discuss shared demands statewide. We are organizing internally and mobilizing externally with the support of parents and community groups,” said Kyle Weinberg, President of San Diego Education Association. “Why? Because we can’t wait for adequate school staffing. We can’t wait for our schools to have sufficient resources. We can’t wait for schools to be safe and stable. California’s students deserve better.”

The We Can’t Wait campaign launched February 4 with actions led by local educator unions across the state.

See below for more details on the actions:

Below is a list of the 32 school districts where educators have joined together in this historic campaign:

Albany City USD
Anaheim Union High School District
Berkeley USD
Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint USD
Fairfield-Suisun USD
Farmersville USD
Hayward USD
Lincoln USD
Live Oak Elementary
Livingston Union Elementary
Los Angeles USD
Los Banos USD
Lynwood USD
Madera USD
National Elementary
Natomas USD
Nevada Joint Union High School District
Oakland USD
Riverside USD
Sacramento City USD
San Diego USD
San Francisco USD
San Jacinto USD
San Jose USD
Saugus Union Elementary
Soquel Union Elementary
Twin Rivers USD
Ventura USD
Washington USD
West Contra Costa USD
Whittier City Elementary
Woodland Joint USD

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The 310,000-member California Teachers Association is affiliated with the 3 million-member National Education Association.