Adult‑education ESL instructors urge board to pause program cuts, request independent budget review
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Summary
About two dozen Mount Diablo Unified adult‑education ESL instructors told the board they face canceled summer classes and stalled pay increases, and asked the district to pause cuts to the ESL Family Literacy Program until an independent budget review is completed.
A group of part‑time adult‑education instructors at Mount Diablo Unified School District told the school board on June 11 that cancellations of summer school and delays to promised raises are harming students and staff and requested an independent review of the adult‑education budget before further cuts are implemented.
The teachers said they had petitioned the board to recognize their union organizing through MEDEA and thanked the board for that recognition. But speakers said administrative secrecy and apparent budget decisions — including cancelling summer school this year and not asking teachers about fall assignments — left instructors and students uncertain about the coming school year.
The instructors cited prior promises from district administration that raises would come in December 2024 or in 2025 and said the increases have not appeared. At least one speaker, who said she is one of about 27 ESL teachers in the district, told the board she believes state and federal funding streams (CAPE and WIOA) show there were budgets available to run summer programming and to sustain the district’s robust fall ESL schedule. The teachers said they were told by administrators that staffing reductions would be needed if salaries rose, and asked the district to consider administrative savings — including reducing overlapping leadership positions — rather than cutting classroom sections.
Speakers asked the board to “pause cutbacks in the ESL Family Literacy Program until an audit or full budget review is completed by an independent party,” and offered documentary evidence to support their request. Multiple attendees warned that cutting sections and compressing students into larger classes would hurt student learning and could create safety or code concerns at some sites.
Board members heard public comment but did not take immediate action on the request. The remarks came during the public‑comment portion of the June 11 meeting and were made before the board’s subsequent budget presentation and public hearing on the district LCAP and proposed fiscal year budget.
