Teachers, support staff and union leaders press Mount Diablo Unified for higher pay, smaller classes and more support

Dozens of Mount Diablo Unified School District teachers, speech-language pathologists, nurses and union representatives used the board's public-comment period on Sept. 10 to press for a new contract they said would address high caseloads, large classes and insufficient pay.

Speakers asked the board and Superintendent Clark to negotiate with the Mount Diablo Education Association (MEDEA) in good faith and adopt measures to keep educators in the district. "We need to change from a caseload limit of 55 and change to a workload model, which is enforced by the American Speech Hearing Association," said Ezra Coco Contreras, identifying themself as a speech-language pathologist at Pleasant Hill Elementary.

The remarks were part of a sustained, hour-plus block of testimony. "Respect is at the heart of what we, as teachers, try to foster in our future citizens," said Becca Machado, an eighth-grade teacher at Sequoia Middle, criticizing what she…