Dublin Teachers Rally Ahead Of Contract Negotiations

DUBLIN, CA — Teachers in Dublin have been organizing this week as contract negotiations head into their next round on Friday. On Tuesday, educators with the Dublin Teachers Association held a rally and march to draw attention to issues they say the Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) has with hiring and retaining teachers. The assembled marched to the school board meeting and spoke, as well.

Teachers' association president Robbie Kreitz presented the board with her concerns and was at the rally.

"At a time when California funding for education is at an all-time high, Dublin in many capacities is ranking last," she said. "We are hoping we can entice the district to continue to work with us, to put students first, because that's our goal."

Kreitz said her union's ultimate goal is to recruit more teachers and retain the ones that are already employed. She said she loves her job but is frustrated with the state of teaching in Dublin.
"We're all out here because we want what's best for kids," she said.

Chip Dehnert, public information officer for DUSD, said it is not out of the ordinary for teachers to come to meetings and speak about their concerns during contract negotiations. But he pushed back on the idea that the District didn't have the best interests of the students in mind when it negotiates with teachers.

"I can assure you that everyone who works in the district-- certificated, classified, and administrative staff-- works with the best interests of the students at heart," he said.

Dublin's rally coincides with similar events throughout the state this week from nurses, who, like teachers, are facing burdensome recruitment and retention issues that affect either nurse to patient or teacher to student ratios.

When citing a national teacher shortage, many people point to a 2016 study done by the Learning Policy Institute. The study estimates a deficit of needed teachers of up to 112,000 per year; the study also said that the United States will need 316,000 teachers per year by 2025.

In California this year, the Learning Policy Institute found that two-thirds of districts surveyed faced increased vacancies compared to pre-COVID years. Six districts still had to fill 10 percent or more of their vacancies.


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