The bargaining teams for the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) and the Alameda Education Association (AEA) had their first mediation session last Thursday. Because the session did not result in an agreement, a second session has been scheduled for February 5.

The two teams are in mediation because AEA asked the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to declare an impasse in their contract negotiations with AUSD back in November.  AEA, which represents teachers, counselors, nurses, school psychologists, and speech pathologists, believed the two teams needed a mediator to reach a settlement.   

After certifying AEA’s request for impasse determination, the state’s Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) assigned a third-party mediator to work with the two teams.  

“While we would have very much liked to reach agreement last week, our team and our Board remain committed to following the mediation process,” Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi says. “We intend to continue to work collaboratively and creatively, internally and with AEA and the mediator, to find that sweet spot where we can achieve progress on salary and benefits while remaining fiscally responsible.” 

The two proposals
AEA’s original proposal was for a 9 percent salary increase, a 2% one-time payment, increases in health benefits, and benefits for retirees. AUSD initially countered with a 2.3% increase and a smaller increase in health benefits. Once AEA’s request for impasse was certified, bargaining effectively ended.

At the  time, AUSD estimated that AEA’s initial proposals would result in a deficit of more than $16 million at the end of 2027-28. 

“Like many of our neighboring districts, we’re being asked to make student-centered decisions,” Superintendent Scuderi says. “But making commitments we can’t afford can end up hurting the very  people we're trying to help."

Indeed, according to the Los Angeles Times, two-thirds of California school districts are currently considering program and staff cuts due to declining enrollment and the loss of one-time COVID funds. Yet many – including several in the East Bay -- have offered salary increases that will result in steep budget deficits within the next few school years.

“The current needs of our staff are real and there is no disagreement that our people deserve better,” Superintendent Scuderi says. “We are all united in that. But balancing helping employees financially at a respectful rate while not creating other, comparably large problems for them and our families, is a much more complex problem than most folks realize.”

One-time versus on-going revenue
Many unions are also asking their districts to use their “reserves” to pay for salary increases. District reserves, however, are made up of “one-time money” –money that is received by the district only once and can only be spent once. Because raises are an ongoing expense (meaning they are permanent), they require ongoing revenue.  

“Once that one-time money is gone, it’s gone,” Superintendent Scuderi says, “and then there is no longer money to pay for the raise. It’s like taking on a $500 per month car payment after receiving a one-time $500 tax refund. The bill is ongoing, but you don’t have ongoing funds to pay it.”
 

• Watch Superintendent Scuderi's video message about reserves

Since bargaining commenced last January, the AUSD team has continued to look for creative solutions, alternative models, and ways to move forward, and has repeatedly offered to meet with the AEA.  

“Across the state, unions are asking districts to re-prioritize the budget, and we’re looking for ways to do that,” Board President Ryan LaLonde says. “But districts can’t de-prioritize fiscal stability. That’s not prudent.  The ask really should be for the state to re-prioritize its budget so that school districts can both pay teachers a fair wage and remain solvent in the long term. Still, as a Board, we are committed to reaching a fair, sustainable agreement that moves toward what our teachers ultimately deserve and also protects the long-term financial health of our schools.”

 If the current rounds of mediation don’t result in an agreement,  the two teams will enter fact-finding, in which a panel reviews the arguments and proposals of both sides and then provides a recommended course of action. 

• Learn more on AUSD's Negotiations Update page