12 Dec ‘Unconscionable’: Union Remains Critical of WCCUSD as Teachers’ Strike Comes to Apparent End

Some, but pointedly not all, West Contra Costa school board members were thanked during Wednesday’s meeting for supporting striking teachers and school workers. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

More than 1,400 West Contra Costa Unified teachers and speech language pathologists effectively ended their strike this week with a new agreement that awaits union approval, but community members and staffers say they’re not forgetting how district leaders handled negotiations.

Teachers at Wednesday’s school board meeting said that meant the absence of Superintendent Cheryl Cotton from the bargaining table over the strike’s duration and two board members’ not standing in solidarity with the striking workers, on picket lines or otherwise. Before the strike, the teachers’ union had already issued two overwhelming votes of “no confidence” in the district’s leaders in finance and special education.

“What happened during this strike is unconscionable. I don’t know how our district staff leaders recover from the reputational damage they have wrought,” said Mark Mitchell, executive director of the United Teachers of Richmond.

The tentative deal includes an 8% pay increase over two years — 2% shy of UTR’s initial ask but far higher than WCCUSD’s initial offer of a 0% bump. Teamers Local 856, who initially went on strike with teachers, also reached a tentative deal over the last weekend.

Kim Moses, associate superintendent of business services and previously interim superintendent, and Cotton have remained consistent in messaging surrounding the budget that the district simply does not have enough money to increase salaries.

Francisco Ortiz, president of the teachers union, said the deal is proof that district leaders were wrong.

“We shattered the narrative that there is no money. We forced WCCUSD to do what they refused to do for ages — invest in educators so that we can stabilize classrooms,” Ortiz said.

>>>Read More: Teachers Union Asks Richmond to Look at WCCUSD Finances<<<

Union leaders issued votes of “no confidence” last month for two leaders the union says played a role in the conditions: special education director Guthrie Fleischman and Moses, according to Ortiz.

The vote against Fleischman was in response to “a pattern of harm that has affected students with disabilities, the educators who serve them, and the legal and ethical obligations the district holds,” Ortiz said at the Nov. 19 meeting. And Ortiz said this week that Moses’ “fear-based budgeting is not leadership. Because telling an entire community no, while classrooms stand empty and students go without permanent educators, is not leadership.”

Fleischman and Moses head the two departments concerning where UTR had focused bargaining proposals, on salaries, and special education services, including class sizes.

But teachers and students also pointed the finger at some of the district’s highest leaders. While expressing thanks to board members Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy, Guadalupe Enllana and Cinthia Hernandez, noticeably missing mentions were board President Leslie Reckler and member Jamela Smith-Folds.

Gonzalez-Hoy, Enllana and Hernandez were spotted on the picket lines and publicly spoke in support of a better contract for teachers, but community members did not say the same for Reckler and Smith-Folds.

Smith-Folds said on social media Dec. 5, the day after the strike began, that, when making decisions, she found it “harmful” to, in part, “make promises that can’t be paid for.”

“As an elected, I will not make promises without a plan because I know how dangerous it is. It sets individuals and the system up for failure,” she wrote. “I will always take the time to ensure that what you as a community want to happen can happen with minimum harm and maximum positive impact to the most people. I believe this is effective and shared governance.”

For her part, Cotton, who’s been on the job since this summer, remained hopeful and said in her report at the meeting that the moment invites “both reflection and recommitment.”

“Challenging times have a way of revealing an organization’s strengths and its vulnerabilities. Over these past months, we’ve seen both, and through it all, one thing has remained crystal clear: the passion every person in this district holds for our students and their future,” said Cotton.

Cotton and the district communication team sent out a number of communications to update families during the strike that drew criticism for being confusing or contrary to what the union was seeing.

>>>Student Speak:

Why I Joined My Teachers on the Picket Line<<<

“(The communications) had me and my peers a little bit confused, as communication was unclear and kind of surface level with certain things being said,” said Devin Witten, a student at Hercules High School, who did thank Smith-Folds for answering his questions during the strike. “A lot of my peers felt like we were a pawn in a game played by adults who were unable to have a regular adult conversation.”

But students and other community members like Witten also signaled that the division doesn’t have to stay.

“I do suggest us having a community engagement event of some sorts to bring the district together and really make us one district,” added Witten.