Berkeley Unified School District students and staff filled the BUSD school board meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, demanding a fair contract for all BUSD employees amidst ongoing contract negotiations. Since June 30, 2025, BUSD teachers have been working under an expired contract. On Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, BUSD and Berkeley Federation of Teachers (BFT) reached a tentative agreement on a new contract.
In an attempt to put pressure on the district, BFT and supporters organized a large group to attend the school board meeting, encouraging students, staff, and community members to “flood” the meeting in demonstration of their cause by taking up meeting time and outlining their fight for better pay and benefits on par with neighboring districts.
There were over 400 teachers, staff, and community members in attendance. The group completely packed the area outside the boardroom, with many holding signs that read “We Can’t Wait” and “Strike Ready.” As the group entered the meeting space, they did a call-and-response chant, yelling, “‘What do we want?’ ‘A fair contract!’ ‘When do we want it?’ ‘Now!’” as well as, “The teachers united will never be divided.”
BUSD School Board meetings typically allot 30 minutes for public comment, limiting speaking time to one minute per person. As public comment began, Berkeley High School sophomore class president Jordan Kehat and junior class president Jane Kelly took to the podium to express their support for Berkeley educators and staff.
“How do we allow ourselves to pay mere wages for the periods they work — wages that don’t account for the hours spent outside of school grading, planning, and investing in the lives of futures of students,” Kehat said. After their comment, the two students were met with cheers and applause from the audience.
A similar sentiment was shared by various speakers. Many teachers explained problems specific to their personal situations. Catherine Klingman, a teacher at Berkeley Technology Academy, talked about her personal experience with her current healthcare plan.
“If I get breast cancer, which is extremely likely, my costs with my current BUSD benefits will range anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 depending on the severity and the stage of the cancer. The costs of ovarian cancer treatments are even higher. I understand that the district says it cannot afford to increase our salaries and benefits, but I cannot afford to stay in the district if these things don’t change,” Klingman said.
According to the Budget Study Session that occurred after the regular school board meeting, the district currently has a $1.7 million shortfall, meaning that the district is spending more money that it is taking in, causing the district to be in a $1.7 million deficit.
According to Matt Meyer, the president of BFT, the district has access to unused savings as well as ongoing revenue and one-time funds.
“The district has always used a conservative and unrealistic approach to budgeting. There are also savings that have not been fully realized. The district received six million dollars in new ongoing revenue between last year and this year, as well as $2.7 million in one-time funds,” Meyer said.
After negotiations between BFT and the district were declared in impasse, the mediation portion of negotiations began in early January. After one day of mediation, both parties were released to the factfinding process. The two parties put together plans to present before a neutral third party. Afterward, this third party released a report on their view of the situation. This report is meant to encourage agreement. However, if no agreement had occured after this stage, it would then be legal for the union to strike.
BFT presented their case at a factfinding meeting on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. According to Meyer, a tentative agreement was reached between BFT and the district. After nearly eight months of negotiations and work on an expired contract, BUSD teachers finally have a new and improved contract. General member voting on the new contract began on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, after the negotiations team recommended the new contract, and will close on Friday, March 6, 2026. This new contract includes a three percent salary increase per year over the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. All healthcare plans will also increase their coverage. The current contract covers 56 percent of the total cost. This will increase by 14 percent in Jan., 2027 and another 10 percent capping at 80 percent coverage in Jan., 2028. Another key change is the addition of specific language considering the physical space of classrooms when making class sizes in high school.
This agreement came after months of negotiations between the district and educators as well as multiple protests. The Summary of Tentative Agreement for the 2025-27 Contract states, “The BFT Negotiations Team wants to thank our members, whose activism created the conditions for this agreement.”