Negotiations Updates

The AEA represents teachers, counselors, nurses, school psychologists, and speech pathologists.

AEA asked for 9% ongoing starting in 2025-26, plus: 

• A $2000 one-time payment this year 

• 50% of the cost of Kaiser health insurance coverage for a family 

•  A $1200/year increase in the cash-in-lieu benefit for employees who receive health insurance coverage outside of the district’s offered plans  (bringing the monthly benefit to $405/month) 

• Additional benefits for retirees 

AUSD, in response, offered:

• A 2.3% salary increase for the current year (that is cost-of-living increase that the State has said it will provide to school districts this year)
• A contribution of up to $1,168 per month towards individual health plans.  This amount would pay for the entire current cost of coverage for an individual employee on three AUSD health plans (i.e., employees would not have to contribute to their premiums). 

The cost of AEA’s current proposal would result in a deficit of $4.46 million at the end of 2026-27 and a deficit of $19.34 million at the end of 2027-28.  AUSD would have to make steep cuts in programs and positions in order to balance a budget with those kinds of deficits.

The ending fund balance is the amount of money a district has left at the end of the fiscal year.  Not all of that money is available to be spent, however, because it also includes funds that the district is obligated to spend at a future date.

For instance, the ending fund balance may include:

• Multi-year grants that have to be spent on specific programs over the next several years
• Funds to cover purchases already made but not yet paid for

It’s much like household finances. If you receive a $5000 paycheck in early October and have $500 leftover at the end of the month, you might choose to spend all that money on a weekend trip. But the more prudent course is to remember that you will owe $100 for your water bill in November and $1000 for your child’s college tuition in January and not spend the leftover funds.

AUSD’s ending fund balance on June 30, 2025 (the end of the fiscal year 2024-25) was $33.36 million. 

$4.23 million of that has to be held aside each year as follows:

• $1 million for potential lawsuits
• $2 million LCFF supplemental funds (state funds that can only be used for student services)
•  $800,000 open purchase orders (meaning items that have been ordered but not yet paid for)

Based on that yearly drawdown, by June 2028 staff project the ending fund balance to be $20.74 million.

Even that balance, however, can’t be spent on salaries because it is “one-time” money, meaning the district only has it at one point in time. As such, that money cannot be committed to ongoing expenses, like salaries, because once the balance is spent, no more is coming in.

The best rule of thumb for school districts is to: “use one-time funds for one-time expenditures.” In fact, a number of school districts around our region are facing steep budget cuts now due to having committed one-time monies for ongoing expenditures. 

The reserve is like a long-term savings account or emergency fund for the school district. It includes:

Like the ending fund balance, the reserve is comprised of one-time money that cannot be used  for ongoing expenditures.

The $9.5 being held aside to pay for the salary increases approved in 2024-25, however, is expected to be drawn down through June 2032. The district developed this multi-year drawdown strategy in order to give AUSD time to incorporate the yearly expenditure into its general fund budget.

If the Public Employees Relations Board certifies the AEA’s request for an impasse determination, the agency will assign a third-party mediator to work with the two teams. That process can take several months.

If the two teams still can't come to agreement, they'll enter a formal fact-finding process. During this process, a three-person panel -- comprised of a district-appointed member, a union-appointed member, and a state-appointed member --reviews the arguments and proposals of both sides and  provides a recommended course of action. The This can take several weeks.

Based on the fact-finding report, the district will then give its "last and best" offer. If the union rejects that, they can take a vote to strike.

About 82.7% of AUSD's budget goes to instruction (i.e., teacher salaries) or instruction-related services (e.g., principals, staff development, and teacher librarians).

The remaining 18% is spent on:

The impasse should not affect instruction. Teachers may choose to "work to rule," however, which means they will only work during their contracted work day. And you may see teachers distributing leaflets outside of their school sites at drop off and pick up times.

AEA members receive regular raises through a step and column pay structure, which provides  increases based on the number of years they have been with the district (“steps”) and their educational credentials (“column”). Employees move up a step every year or couple of years.

In addition, AUSD employees have received raises every year since 2013-14 (with the exception of 2024-25, because AEA and AUSD had agreed that if the cost-of-living increase was less than 2% they would not negotiate a raise). Over the last ten years, employee salaries have increased 40% as a result of bargained increases.

Yes. School districts across the state are currently facing budget challenges due to declining enrollment, reduced COLA funding from the state, and the end of one-time funds provided during the COVID pandemic.

Currently Berkeley, Dublin, Natomas (in Sacramento), and Evergreen (in San Jose) are at impasse. West Contra Costa Unified School District teachers went on strike December 3 and reached a tentative agreement with the district on December 10; San Francisco Unified teachers have voted to authorize a strike.