United PCS

Third Contract: Our values

These guiding principles might look familiar; they are the same three priorities we had when negotiating our second contract. To us, they are the foundation of a school community where everyone thrives.

timeline

An overview of our current contract negotiations.

Scroll to the bottom of the page for the most recent developments.

December 2024

Negotiations began for our third contract. The United PCS bargaining team sat down with the head of school and PCS legal counsel to set norms and start the process of introducing articles for bargaining.

January-may 2025

We had productive discussions about a number of items, including instructional standards, technology and resources, union rights and parental leave. We reached a tentative agreement (TA) on several issues.

While we presented a compensation proposal, backed by our team’s analysis of school finances, PCS countered with a 0% increase in pay for 2025-2026. This marked the second year in a row that PCS offered no cost of living increase (COLA).

June 2025

PCS announced its new head of school, Chris Guyer. Faculty had been given an active role in the interview process, and widely supported this hiring decision.

We wrapped up the school year without having settled a new contract. The previous contract’s term, from June 2022 to June 2025, expired.

September-October 2025

The United PCS bargaining team met with our new head of school in September. At his request, we postponed a scheduled October session until November so that he could draft a new compensation counter-proposal.

november 2025

PCS presented a revised compensation proposal of a 1% salary increase for the 2025-2026 school year. United PCS countered with a 3.5% increase. We cited California’s 2.3% state funded COLA for the current school year, the lack of COLA in the previous year’s salary schedule, and our ongoing concerns about PCS teacher retention and recruitment, as our salaries are among the lowest in the county.

January 2026

The United PCS bargaining team, as well as the executive team, sat down with management for a candid dialogue about school finances. This meeting enabled us to elaborate on our budget analysis and projections, and to ask and answer questions with the goal of coming to a stronger mutual understanding.

The dialogue was candid; United PCS appreciated management’s openness to our ideas and concerns.

March 2026

Contract negotiations stalled at the bargaining table as the school failed to meet the adjustments to compensation and length of work year proposed by United PCS. The school and United PCS officially filed for impasse with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).

The declaration of impasse triggers the next phase of labor negotiations, in which a neutral mediator from the state is assigned to sit in on negotiations between the school and the union to facilitate a deal.

May 2026

Governor Newsom’s proposed budget revision delivers a significant boost in state funding through a revised 4.31% "Super COLA" and expanded operational dollars. This influx of state revenue strengthens our school’s general fund and directly supports the core demand of our upcoming contract negotiations: a well-deserved, competitive raise across our salary schedule. With these additional state funds on the table, the district has the financial capacity to invest in the educators who show up for our students every day, proving that securing better pay and protecting quality education go hand in hand.

Despite the influx of good financial news, the school showed no progress in meeting the union’s demand for vital adjustments to the salary schedule. United PCS membership signed and delivered a strike pledge to send a clear message to the school: We will use the full extent of our organizing power to do right by our students, school, and faculty, even if it means invoking our right to strike.

United PCS celebrated labor movements throughout history, and its own fight for a fair labor contract, by holding a May Day Rally on May 1st.

August 2026

As the union held firm on its dedication to investment in the salary schedule and work year comparable to surrounding schools, the school continued to refuse such necessary investments. The state mediator, feeling that the school was “diametrically opposed” to the unions reasonable asks, declared an end to mediated negotiations.

For the first time in our union’s history, United PCS and the school were on the path to enter “fact finding.” This phase of the labor negotiations process involves both sides compiling relevant evidence to support their position and entering into negotiations conducted by a small panel of one person from the union, one from the school, and one state-employed mediator. This mediator acts almost like a judge in a trial: they consider both party’s evidence and create a report with an official recommendation of settlement. This report is non-binding, and becomes public ten days after being shared.

With Santa Cruz being the most expensive housing market in the country for the fourth year running, an absence of adjustment to the PCS salary schedule since 2023, and the sheer lengthiness of the negotiations process in which United PCS has only lowered their original compensation asks, we were confident that factfinding would validate our cause.

🎉 As of August 27, 2026 — after 20 months of negotiations — United PCS and the school entered into a tentative agreement in alignment with the union’s bargaining platform.

Below is a non-comprehensive list of the gains we won:

• 3.5% raise retroactive to 25-26 school year

• 3.5% raise for the 26-27 school year

• 7% increase to all stipends for extra duties and advanced degrees

• Reduced work year from 190 to 186 days beginning in the 27-28 school year

• Permanent inclusion of paid parental leave language in our contract

• A seat at the table for decisions made about technology in our classrooms

This victory relied on the support of the PCS parent and student communities, who stood resolute alongside us throughout the labor negotiation process. Thank you!