Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1545867
Educators across the state are demanding fully funded family health care; at left, UESF educators on strike, and at right, a UTLA rally in late 2025. conditions for som e educators w ho have seen their costs balloon to more than $2,200 a month to ensure their families have coverage. This is caus- in g major churn in scho ol di stricts w ith th e hi g h e st imp acts to educa- tors — even causing many to consider leaving education altogether. e pushback and demand for health care benefits was central to campaigns i n l o c al ch apt ers i n clu di n g Unit e d Tea ch ers of Ri ch m on d ( U T R ) , w h o paved the way with their historic strike victories late last year, TRUE and Natomas Teachers Association (NTA), who were com- mitted to striking to win better benefits, and West Sacramento Teachers Association (WSTA) who secured major improvements because they were also prepared to strike. eir district even admitted to feeling pressure to avoid a strike like neighboring districts in the Sacramento region. "e fight for health care and other issues look different in every district but the common theme is we were all fighting for affordability," says NTA President Nico Vaccaro. "Going on strike was tough but when we saw other people going on strike and winning, it really gave us the inspiration that we weren't going it alone." WSTA President Doug Knepp says the fight of neighboring locals TRUE and NTA absolutely contributed to WSTA's tentative agreement w hile his local chapter were preparing to strike. He says this year's success shows that we can no longer accept excuses from inef- fective politicians and that the path to the public schools our students deserve is through organizing and action. "School districts love to triage problems so they take the burden off of state politicians. When we use duct tape and Band- aids to hold a broken system together, we are not able to hold our leaders accountable to fix the system." Knepp says. "is system is broken and by pretending it's not, it's perpetuating this endless cycle of undervaluing the education of our children in this country." Starting Off Strong: Richmond Teachers Set the Standard United Teachers of Richmond (UTR) President Francisco "We're never going back into bargaining without being prepared to strike. Whether it's health care or any other part of the contract, you must be ready to do it. We were never going to make progress in areas like health care if we were not prepared to strike." —Twin Rivers United Educators President Brittoni Ward 19 S U M M E R 2 0 26