Over July and early August 2022, the Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) and the Fremont Unified District Teachers Association (FUDTA) reached a finalized contract, confirming closed contracts for the 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 academic years. 

The new agreement, which FUSD brought to the bargaining table on July 5, 2022, includes a 4.25% salary increase and a one-time payment for the 2021-22 school year, a 6% salary increase for the 2022-23 year, and a projected 4.38% salary increase for the 2023-24 school year for all teachers at FUSD, accounting for cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and inflation. After approval by FUDTA’s Executive Board and recommendations from their Representative Council, members of the Union voted to ratify the then-tentative agreement between July 15 and July 25. While lower than the current cost of living asks from FUDTA, the new deal remains far higher than FUSD’s initial offers.

“If you look at it alone, exclusive of the budget that the state is giving us, this is a very good contract. It’s between 3% and 4% every year of a cost-of-living adjustment,” said Jennifer Olson, FUDTA Representative and Irvington Choir teacher. “However, when you look at that, in comparison with the state that’s giving 5.6% to districts, and we’re only getting 3%, then that’s where people say [the contract is] not as strong as it could be.” 

While the new contract contains finalized salary agreements, many articles that were part of the initial agreement were not accounted for.

“We didn’t get to decide what to do with a lot of special groups,” stated Justin Valencia, a history teacher at Horner Middle School. “We didn’t get lower class sizes. We just settled on getting that increase on the salary schedule.” 

Other issues where bargaining did not occur included lower caseloads for counselors and special educators, a lower nurse-to-student ratio, and health care coverage, all of which remain key problems for many staff members across FUSD. 

Prior to the end of the school year, FUSD and FUDTA reached an impasse on contract negotiations, leaving the Public Employment Relationship Board (PERB) to assign a neutral third party to help further negotiations. However, before the board assigned a mediator to the negotiations for an agreement based on facts from this point, the contract was settled.

Having expected negotiations to once again resume in September, many teachers and staff were surprised by the resolution decided over the summer.

“There were two camps: we had people that wanted to just take the money and settle the contract,” stated Mrs. Olson, “and some people that said, ‘No, we deserve more, we should get more, so let’s keep bargaining and negotiating.’” 

Ultimately, contracts for the academic years starting 2021-22 to 2023-24 have been finalized and will no longer be debated.

The next set of budget and salary negotiations will most likely occur for the 2024-2026 academic years, where articles closed from the current contract will be brought to the table for discussion between FUSD and FUDTA. 

Read more about past negotiations here. Read about teacher rallies over the course of the 2021-22 school year over here and here.