During negotiations for a new labor contract with Berkeley Unified School District, the Berkeley Federation of Teachers (BFT) has been advocating for higher salaries and benefits to raise the standard of living for BUSD teachers. Negotiations have been underway since the spring, with the most recent contract expiring on June 30, 2025.
An impasse — a stall because of disagreement on both sides — has been declared between the two. Labor negotiations between teachers unions and school districts around the Bay Area have broken down. The United Educators of San Francisco have recently overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike and West Contra Costa County teachers went on strike on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. After multiple rounds of negotiations, The United Teachers of Richmond agreed to end the strike in the early morning on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, resulting in 100 percent of healthcare benefits covered, and an eight percent wage increase in the next two years. A contract with better pay and benefits for BUSD teachers alongside smaller class sizes would improve the learning environment for students. When teachers have better working conditions, they are simply able to do their jobs better.
The average annual salary for a public teacher in BUSD is slightly above $100,000. This number doesn't include out-of-pocket expenses for benefits such as healthcare. A recent investigation by The Jacket calculated that a BUSD teacher making a mid-range salary may spend anywhere from 12 to 31 percent of their salary on healthcare, varying based on the number of dependents on their health insurance. Yet, the cost of living in Berkeley and the San Francisco Bay Area is dramatically higher than average, both nationally and statewide, with an estimate by MyLifeElsewhere putting the cost of living in Berkeley at 31.3 percent higher than the U.S. at large. When teachers have to balance a high cost of living with healthcare costs and an already-low salary, they are stretched thinner and are less able to focus on their students and the classroom. Our teachers are forced to balance pursuing a career they are passionate about with worries over affording their basic needs. BUSD must act to ensure a future contract includes higher salaries with more, if not all, healthcare expenses covered to ensure high quality education for their students.
The United Educators of San Francisco, and the West Contra Costa Administrators Association, alongside BFT, are participants in the greater We Can’t Wait movement, a movement uniting teacher unions around the Bay Area campaigning for key demands such as a rise in educator wages alongside smaller class sizes. Smaller class sizes provide for a more conducive learning environment by allowing for more time spent on each individual student by a teacher.
Proper resources for teachers improve standards for both teachers and students. A study from the Learning Policy Institute has shown that when teachers receive more instructional resources and community support, there is an increase in student achievement, shown through testing results, and learning outcomes. Teachers need more supportive contracts, which include things like higher wages, better benefits, smaller class sizes, alongside classroom resources. These would all prioritize the growth of students, reduce teacher turnover and workload, and compensate teachers fairly so they can focus more on their role as an educator rather than their ability to pay upcoming bills.
Teachers play a pivotal role in shaping future generations. School districts that are in especially high cost-of-living locations, such as BUSD, should invest in the welfare of their staff since it is directly intertwined with the health and success of the student body. Teachers deserve wages proportionate to the cost of living to ensure the stability of BUSD and the wellbeing of our community.