Cotati-Rohnert Park educators started protesting for better wages and a multiyear raise on Tuesday, Mar. 8 at a four-hour school board meeting. The strikes began on Thursday, Mar. 10 and Friday, Mar. 11 in Rohnert Park. 

Thursday morning, over 300 teachers, dressed in red, were met by students, staff, custodians, food service workers, parents, and community members on the picket line to show their support the teachers. Due to the strike, many schools across the district had staffing issues both Thursday and Friday, causing a demand for substitute teachers and in many cases, classes being canceled.  

Teachers, parents, and other community members are encouraging the community to write emails to the district board members. “I am keeping my kids home in support of the teachers and I am so proud that they are joining their dad on the picket line this morning. If you see teachers in red throughout Rohnert Park, please honk to show your support. Knowing the community is behind them has kept them going through this battle. More than money they are asking for respect and this district has not demonstrated they are capable of respecting their employees,” wrote Heather Cain on Facebook. 

Teachers, represented by the Rohnert Park Cotati Educators Association (RPCEA),  made it clear that they wanted to see higher annual raises over the next few years. The District felt these demands would “force the district into a multimillion-dollar deficit as soon as next school year.” wrote Kaylee Tornay, a staff writer for the Press Democrat.

A letter, to Dr. Mayra Perez, the superintendent of the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District (CRPUSD) and the school board, written by, Cassandra Wilcox, a teacher at Monte Vista Elementary school who has worked for the district for ten years, and posted with permission onto the RCPEA Facebook page, expressed concern for the way the district was portraying the teachers.

“On Friday, I received another correspondence from the district office painting a devastatingly divisive picture to families that portrays teachers as the “bad guys” for requesting to be paid a decent, livable wage…However, it is not inappropriate, it is within teachers’ rights to demonstrate peacefully to show dissatisfaction with how they are being treated by their district,” wrote Wilcox. 

A forty-five page document laid out the fact finding proceedings pursuant to the Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA), contributing to the impasse between the union and district. 

The report wrote, “Though the parties must ultimately reach agreement on their own, the factfinding report contributes to that process by offering a careful analysis, neutral outside perspective, and framework for considering settlement terms.” The report suggested a six percent raise for the school year of 2021-22, a five percent raise for 2022-23 and a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for 2023-24.

The district believes they are prioritizing their employees and students needs but feel the RPCEA’s request for an ongoing annual wage increase could cause a negative financial status for the district. The union argues that the district fails to prioritize it’s teachers budgets and “adopts a budget in June with 0% allocated for the teachers, and then months into the school year teachers are told there is almost nothing left for them,” wrote the report. 

A few more teachers showed concern for the district’s actions “Throughout this process the school board and superintendent have not attended a single negotiation meeting. Nor did they attend the fact finding meeting (although Dr. Perez did drop off donuts and stay just for the introductions)…They are not listening or even willing to talk with us. We have parent and community support. Only 12% of the student body attended school the last two days (mostly due to lack of childcare).” wrote Lightfoot in her email to the county supervisors.

Findings and recommendations made by the fact finding panel were intended to provide both parties with information to reach a settlement, but the disagreements were large enough making the settlement difficult. The panel found evidence of Sonoma County school district finances changing compared to other districts, as well as the district providing incomplete financial data.

“Nowhere in that email did the district take accountability for the mismanaged funds highlighted in the fact finder’s report. Yet, accountability is something we teach our own kids. What kind of message is being sent?” wrote Wilcox

A GoFundMe page was created and posted by Nancy Ellis to support the RCPEA educators on Facebook. “Our community is facing a crisis in our schools due to unacceptable wages that prevent us from recruiting and retaining the best educators for our students. Sadly, after months of futile negotiations, we are at the end of the legal mediation process. Over 90% of the RPCEA membership voted to authorize a strike if the District does not provide a fair offer.” wrote Ellis in the page description. With a goal of $25,000, Ellis and the association are grateful for all the support they have gotten so far.