On November 17th of last year, MDEA (Mt Diablo Educators Association) members ratified a one year contract with MDUSD that codifies real benefit and wage gains for District educators. 

Of 1,317 MDEA members, 773 voted yes on the deal and 42 voted no. The MDUSD school board ratified the tentative agreement 5-0 on December 13^th.

On the benefits front, MDUSD agreed to assume 100% of medical benefits based on Kaiser rates, plus 1, and for families, effective January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2025, with subsequent rates to be bargained over during contract negotiations in the 2024-25 school year. This constitutes an undeniable improvement over the previous dispensation which left MDEA members paying 20% of benefits costs. 

On the wages front, MDUSD agreed to a 9% salary schedule increase for the 2024-2025 school year, effective July 1, 2024. This follows a cumulative 10.5% wage hike codified in a three-year agreement sealed in the spring of 2022 that was made effective July 1, 2021. The 2021-24 contract itself followed a five year period without a wage increase. 

The third pillar of the 2024-25 contract between MDEA and MDUSD is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that commits both parties to pursue a parcel tax for the “sole purpose of lowering class sizes.” This part of the agreement can be seen as a modest win in the sense that it raises the issue of class sizes as one that needs to be addressed and points to a pathway to address it at least in a limited way. However, the downside of such an agreement is that it suggests that the strategy for addressing class sizes–the most intractable issue during contract negotiations–is through localized, case-by-case measures that don’t target the millionaires and billionaires at the state level. Statewide action would be preferable. 

–Aaron Hackett  

MDEA member and 8th grade teacher