Alameda Teachers Stage Informational Picket After Contract Rejected

ALAMEDA (KCBS) - Hundreds of Alameda teachers formed picket lines before school on Tuesday to protest a recently rejected contract offer they say asked for too many sacrifices.

Last week, teachers voted down a tentative agreement reached on March 23 that included a bonus and a raise dependent on state funding levels.

KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:
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Talks went to a state mediator because of other issues besides pay, said Gray Harris, president of the Alameda Teacher's Association.

"It's a little bit about the money, but it's mostly about things like mandatory collaboration that would be controlled by the district, larger class sizes that would be permanent," Harris said.

The larger class sizes amount to a higher workload for teachers who already gave up eight days of pay in the previous school year, Harris said, which amounted to a 4.5 percent pay cut.

The two-year contract had a one-time bonus equal to one percent of pay, and a 1.5 percent raise in 2013 that would become just one-time bonus if the state cuts funding for the district, provisions Superintendent Kirsten Vital told the Bay Area News Group guaranteed teachers more money "even in the worse (sic) case scenario."

Harris said the teachers also opposed a provision allowing the district to accept anonymous complaints about teachers without the teacher being able to try to resolve the complaint.

About 500 teachers work under the contract which expires in June.

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<p><strong>KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:</strong>