For the first time, educators in some of California’s largest districts will bargain for smaller class sizes, more resources for students, better wages and benefits, and greater stability for school communities — at the same time across the state.

To leverage our power statewide, UTLA and ten other major California educator unions have lined up our contracts to expire at the same time this summer. Educator unions in Anaheim, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Natomas, Oakland, Richmond, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Twin Rivers are fighting to win fully staffed schools, higher salaries, and stability for our students and communities at the bargaining table.

In November, UTLA members voted to join forces with these ten other educator unions statewide to bring our collective fight to the state level in the We Can’t Wait statewide campaign. As we prepare to bring our Win Our Future platform to the bargaining table with the district, UTLA members are fired up to maximize pressure through coordinated statewide action for our shared demands.

Middle school Special Education teacher Marcela Chagoya wants fully staffed Special Ed programs. She says, “We can’t wait for politicians to fully fund our schools, so we are fighting to win our future.”  

History teacher Noah Lippe-Klein is ready to fight for a contract that protects Black, immigrant, and undocumented students and communities who are under attack. He says, “We cannot wait for district administrators to fix these problems. We are coming together.”

The issues we face in LAUSD are felt by educators across the whole state. This morning, English Learning specialist Darcie Chan Blackburn from Sheridan Elementary in San Francisco said she is being forced to teach a third combo class next school year. According to the California Teachers Association report “The State of California’s Public Schools” released today, 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.

Parents too are feeling the squeeze and joining the fight. Natomas parent Volma Volcy (pictured) says when he drops his fourth-grader off at school, he knows his son will be cared for. “Teachers and staff go way above and beyond to make it work, but the resources just aren’t there,” says Volcy. He says as a parent, he is ready to stand up alongside educators in the fight for our public schools.