Teachers express mixed feelings to contract
CALEXICO — Terms of the tentative agreement reached Wednesday between Calexico Unified School District and Associated Calexico School Teachers have been met with mixed reactions from union members.
“It depends how you look at it,” said Xavier Rodriguez, ACT president. “We had something that was structured differently. I think most of our members probably would have preferred, unfortunately, due to budgeting circumstances it was something the district couldn’t afford.”
According to a release shared by CUSD last Thursday, highlights of the tentative agreement included salary increases and one-time payments, medical benefits and additional information.
During Thursday’s CUSD school board meeting at Cesar E. Chavez Elementary, ACT members shared their sentiments in public comments.
“Will you speak and answer our questions now that we finally have attempted a tentative agreement, or will you continue to hide behind your desk, your cell phone and your lawyers?” said Abril Galvan, ACT member and a fifth-grade teacher at Kennedy gardens. “Will you ever recognize your mistakes in front of our community? If only you took the time to show kindness and visit our schools or classrooms, my classroom, you would see that I deserve what you are offering now and much more.”
ished bargaining with no negotiations for next year.
“It’s good to bring this closure. It brings peace,” said Rodriguez. “It allows everybody to put that focus where we always wanted it to be, and that’s in our students and the community and the classrooms.”
According to Rodriguez, contract negotiations were a major distraction the entire school year and now teachers feel they are even with other colleagues in surrounding districts.
“It’s a step in the right direction and hopefully moving forward,” said Rodriguez. “I’ve had communications with board members and their sentiment is they want to make sure that from here on we don’t run into these issues. We want everybody to be able to focus on our profession, helping kids.”
The agreement is pending ratification by ACT and the CUSD board. The district team is recommending approval to the school board during its regular meeting on May 26.