Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1543424
A F T E R A H I S T O R I C 98% strike vote, United Teachers of Rich- mond (UTR) members held the line for four days in December, winning big for educators and students. But this wasn't just a local contract win. It was the first real-time test of the power of coordinated campaigns in the We Can't Wait (WCW) move- ment and a demonstration of how collective power can force a district to prioritize students over hoarding reserves — and end a culture of managed decline. UTR members stood tall in the first WCW strike, leading the way for over 80,000 educators in 32 school districts fighting for more than 1 million students. By aligning contract expira- tion dates, coordinating site structure building and structure tests, WCW locals are maximizing their power, moving from isolated fights to a coordinated campaign that has the power to make our classrooms the priority in local district budgets and set the stage for winning the state funding our students deserve in the fourth-largest economy on the planet. In Richmond, this strategy was put to the first big test, and the results provide a blueprint for CTA locals across the state. Districts: Figure It Out The strike was driven by educators' refusal to accept the status quo of instability in their classrooms. After years of battling chronic understaffing, where students endure weeks without a permanent teacher and preschoolers who need critical sup- port have no access to speech language therapists and other federally mandated special education services, they stood up and said "The time is now!" Insufficient pay has led 1,500 educators to leave the West Contra Costa Unif ied S cho ol D i strict ( W C C USD), w hich includes Richmond, in the last five years. Over 70 vacancies left students sitting in classes without permanent teachers, forced to learn from laptops instead of people who are trained to help them learn and thrive. O ver th e c ourse of th e stri ke, th e mantra of " Fi gure it Out!" grew into a rally cr y by educators, students and par- ents. As U TR President Francisco Ortiz pointed out, " We are govern ed by th e sam e funding formula and th e same rules as ever y other district in California . We UTR Strike: A Case Study in Building Power #WeCantWait locals support and learn from each other as they demand the best for students and educators By Jonathon Mello The United Teachers of Richmond strike; photo: Brooke Anderson, @movementphotographer. 21 W I N T E R 2 0 26 Feature