Teamsters 856 members rallied in support of graduate tutors at the West Contra Costa Unified School District Board meeting on March 20th

Teamsters 856 is still in the fight to save the jobs of West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) graduate tutors.

Since the plan to cut graduate tutor jobs was approved by the WCCUSD Board last December, Local 856 members have been working with parents, students, and staff to urge the Board to keep their budget cuts out of the classroom and stop graduate tutor cuts.

(Read more about Teamster 856’s work to stop graduate tutor cuts at www.StopGradTutorCuts.com.)

Last week, Teamsters and the community packed the board meeting and many spoke in support of the graduate tutors.

Hector Mejia, a student at Richmond High asked board members which of them would be willing to step in and teach students like him who are learning to read, speak, and write in English because of their graduate tutor. “Please think about what will happen without them,” he told the board.

“There are numbers on that budget, but behind those numbers, there are people,” Local 856 Secretary-Treasurer/Principal Officer Peter Finn told the Board. “There are teachers, there are grad tutors, there are kids, there are services…We ask that you prioritize the classroom and look to save the graduate tutors.”

On Wednesday night, The WCCUSD Board voted 3-2 to approve their second interim budget with no amendments.

However, the fight is not over! In addition to approving the budget, the board also committed to discussing further reductions to outside contracts, so that any cost savings from cuts to these contracts can be applied to saving graduate tutors. This means Local 856 members will continue their work to stop graduate tutor cuts.

TAKE ACTION: If you haven’t yet, please click here and sign the petition to urge the Board to save graduate tutor jobs