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Teachers’ union warns 4% offer won’t retain staff, asks board to study internalizing contracted positions
Summary
Jessica Pagan, vice president of the teachers’ association, told the Washington Unified board the district’s 4% bargaining offer lags neighboring districts and urged trustees to direct cabinet to study hiring in-house for contracted specialists and consider using Fund 17 to boost compensation and retention.
Jessica Pagan, vice president of the teachers’ association (WSTA), told the Washington Unified School District board on Aug. 28 that a proposed 4% bargaining offer from the district is insufficient to recruit and retain teachers and other school staff.
"We will not keep and recruit the teachers our students deserve with WUSD's 4% offer currently on the table," Pagan said, pointing to neighboring Sacramento City Unified’s recent pay increases as a competitive pressure. She said that health-care negotiations with the Volition Group have been productive but that pay and benefits remain the decisive factors for educators choosing where to work.
Pagan urged the board to direct the district cabinet to study whether some positions now filled by outside contractors — including speech and language pathologists, assistants, nurses and psychologists — could be hired internally, arguing that in-house hires would be more cost-effective in the long term and improve retention. "We could hire our own speech and language pathologists... with more competitive salaries and consistent recruiting," she said, and asked trustees to consider whether Fund 17 could be repurposed to support staffing.
Why it matters: Teachers’ ability to stay in a district affects classroom stability, student learning and the district’s use of limited budget resources. Pagan told trustees that neighboring districts have increased pay substantially (she referenced a >30% increase in Sacramento City) and that WUSD risks turnover if compensation remains uncompetitive.
Board response and next steps: Trustees did not vote on bargaining terms at the meeting. The report prompted discussion of next-step actions during future budget and bargaining sessions; the board will receive additional updates as negotiations and the health-care study move forward.
Provenance: Topic introduced and discussed in segments beginning with the teachers’ association presentation (SEG 084) and concluding at SEG 196.
Speakers quoted: Jessica Pagan (vice president, WSTA).
