Brentwood and Oakley students recently rallied at a school district board meeting, calling for better working conditions for teachers.
During the Oct. 22 Liberty Union High School District (LUHSD) board meeting, students spoke about how they were impacted by a recent work-to-rule policy, which entailed teachers only opening their doors during their contracted work time with a duty-free lunch — resulting in less availability for their students. The teachers had implemented work-to-rule amid union and district negotiations starting Oct. 14 because they were denied the 3.8% raise they requested.
“[The work-to-rule] has made it difficult for me to meet up with my teachers, specifically regarding extra help and retakes,” said Maddie Bernal, a student at Heritage High School in Brentwood.
While some teachers across LUHSD’s five high schools have since stopped the work-to-rule, many Liberty Education Association (LEA) union member teachers plan to continue until their demands have been fulfilled.
“This work-to-rule is one of the only ways where we can exert some sort of power and control over the situation, to highlight just how much we aren’t being compensated for,” said Sarah Yearby, a teacher at Heritage High. “We know that the [work-to-rule] impacts students … and while that’s not our goal, it’s one of the few areas we can put any sort of pressure on.”
Negotiations between the union and district have occurred multiple times in the past, specifically for fairer salaries and equal raises. This recent action was largely sparked by the disparity of raises between LUHSD employees and the cost-of-living increases in California.
“Our negotiations team has been negotiating since last spring for raises … but the board is only willing to offer 2% raises, which is below the … cost of living in California,” said Deborah Clawson, an educator at La Paloma High School in Brentwood and the LEA union vice president.
Union teachers have also been advocating for smaller class sizes.
Julie Phillips, an educator at Heritage High and union bargaining chair of LEA, said the job has only gotten harder since the pandemic.
“Kids need more help, class sizes have continued to get bigger and students are absent more,” Phillips said. “It’s really difficult to accommodate all of this under our paid contract.”
Fifteen students across the five LUHSD high schools gave public comments to the board at the Oct. 22 meeting. The board limited each speaker to 2 minutes per comment.
“You are fully aware that teachers’ commitments extend beyond the classroom … the least you could do is give them a fair raise for their efforts,” said student speaker Mariah Warrez in her comments to the board.
Luke Taylor, a Heritage High student, urged the board members to support the teachers’ pay raise.
“Our school community needs your help to thrive. We need our teachers, and our teachers need you,” Taylor said.
LUHSD board members and Superintendent Denise Rugani did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
