UTR’s anti-teacher,  anti-activist, and  charter support  history has contributed to  charters’ takedown of the local and WCCUSD.

1991   UTR leadership convinced members to vote for a 9% salary giveback to the district.

1994  UTR did not support the March 4 Education, a walk from Downer Elementary School to Sacramento seek relief from a state loan to the district and imposed trustee financial oversight. Marchers who walked during the day and camped at night, included Eduardo Martinez, now candidate for Richmond Mayor, and Diane Brown, later UTR President 2010 – 14. The march received wide Bay Area media coverage and union support, but not from UTR. As Eduardo Martinez, at the time, a UTR site rep at Downer, has said, “I was  shocked that my union would not support us”.

UTR has never gone on strike. “The best strike is the strike you don’t have,” the mantra of Pixie Hayward- Schiekle, a 30+ year member of the UTR EBoard  and influential leader of the board majority. She ran for CTA Secretary- Treasurer to get in line for CTA President, but lost the election.

Demetrio Gonzalez Hoy came to WCCUSD through Teach for America, taught for a few years and, out of nowhere, was elected UTR President.

Before that, he had been campaign manager for Valerie Cuevas, a charter school candidate who was elected to the WCCUSD School Board. Demetrio’s UTR EBoard endorsed Cuevas in 2018. He no longer works for WCCUSD and has been elected to the WCCUSD School Board.

Cuevas repeatedly voted to expand charter enrollment and to increase charter  funding.

2014  Election Education Matters  Charter PAC, gave $97,000 to  Liz Block and  $60,000  Cuevas, both charter candidates. The Charter Schools Association gave $120,000 to Block and $87,000 to Cuevas and spent $187,000 combined to oppose Peter Chau and incumbent Madeline Kronenberg who were not charter supporters.

WCCUSD has experienced an expansion of charter schools over the past years. There are currently 14 charter schools with 5,500 students out of the district’s total enrollment of 32,000 This adds $27.9 million a year to WCCUSD costs for running its  own schools and $978 less for each traditional student it serves.

 WCCUSD Charter oligarchs ( billionaires) have, a least, neutered their potential adversary (the union) and made  inroads  on the school board.

2009  UTR Charter District Proposal  

2009 Melanie Perkins UTR EBoard Treasurer sent an email, Subject Re: Charter School District to a list of 20 people including Eric Heins, CTA Secretary -Treasurer, CTA President, 2015-2019.

She wrote:

 … we on the UTR Executive Board brought a proposal to change our district into a charter school district… a few … benefits of this proposal:

1.     Charter schools get more money from the state. Rather than having ADA taken off the top… the money goes right to the schools….

2.     Teachers and parents will write the charters…  have control over how we teach, materials we use, and how we assess….

3. We would receive $100,000 dollars per school to organize our new     charter school.

4. … that debt that former Superintendent Marks created…goes away.

It will stay with whatever is left of the old WCCUSD.

The EBoard Charter proposal was discussed at a Rep Council meeting and dropped after reps voiced opposition.

Teachers, we must become active in struggle against charter schools billionaires and their accomplices , teacher unions’ leaders.

Margaret Browne, WCCUSD retired, CTA and NEA life member

Mary Flanagan, Resource Collaborator, WCCUSD retired, CTA and NEA life member