On september 8, 2016 a whopping 97 percent of SUSD teachers voted to go on strike if demands are not met. Though the goal is not to, teachers have said that they will go on strike if it comes down to it. This whole thing is an “ugly situation”,said Susan Bradley, a teacher at Cesar Chavez as well as an union executive member.

    After many rumors being spread about a strike possibly happening we interviewed some teachers at Cesar Chavez High School about it and all responses were close to similar. Every teacher that was interviewed made it clear that their goal was not to go on strike. Teachers at Chavez said that they wanted to achieve a fair contract with fair wages by pressuring the district as well as to attract new qualified teachers to stockton.

    If the susd teachers decide to take action they will risk losing up to $400 for each day that the strike last. Though it is a major risk, some chavez teachers are willing to sacrifice their pay, hoping that it will better them in the long run.

    Incase of a strike the school board has agreed to pay substitutes $350 a day, more than double the average pay for subs. However, STA has refuted this claim stating that this is an illegal practice and cannot happen.

     A strike could last for days to even weeks which becomes a problem for students because it would result in them being temporarily left with as unstable education.

    The teachers at chavez who have said that they will be participating in the possible strike said that they will not leave the strikebreakers any lesson plans for the students as it would defeat the purpose of striking.

    The teachers of Stockton Unified want more respect.

    Some teachers from nearby schools have started to hand out papers issued out by the STA to parents, encouraging them to call the school board and to tell them “it’s time board members put students first by offering our dedicated teachers a fair contract”.

    The handed out paper states that “stockton teachers are leaving to surrounding schools” which is true yet they don’t state that new teachers are also coming to stockton schools. The SUSD website (http://www.stocktonusd.net/) says that “For the 2016-17 school year 24 teachers left SUSD for other districts. But at the same time, 62 teachers left other districts in the county to come teach in Stockton Unified. That accounts for a net gain of 38 teachers to Stockton Unified”.

With all of the conflicting reports between the two sides teachers need to do their due diligence in researching the truth. This can be done through Board of education meetings, informational meetings, meetings after school between teachers and STA reps.

    The next Stockton Board of Supervisors meeting will be held December 13, 2016.

    The teachers of chavez who were interviewed believe that they must fight for what they believe in and to fight is what they will do.