Around 1,500 educators employed by the Twin Rivers Unified School District will be striking on Thursday, March 5th to fight for fully paid health benefits, better wages and lower class sizes.
The union, Twin Rivers United Educators, said they have been in negotiations with the district for over 14 months to get a better contract.
About 100 picketters were outside Grant High School, shouting and demanding for better pay and working conditions.
“We would still love to get a call today that the district wants to meet at the table and avert a strike, but we are prepared to do whatever it takes for our students,” Twin Rivers Unified Educator President Brittoni Ward said. “And if that’s going on strike tomorrow, we are ready to do so.”
Ward said the district is one of the most fiscally sound unified school districts in the state. She said they receive $2,000 more per student than surrounding unified school districts, and have an unrestricted reserve of $79.6 million and another special reserve fund of $93.5 million.
Ward added that the district would not risk insolvency like other districts including Sacramento City Unified and Oakland Unified.
She claimed that instead of using state funding for students as required by California’s Education Code, district officials diverted more than $115 million over the past six years, even though those funds are specifically mandated to be spent on “classroom teacher salaries”.
““Investing in educators is investing in your students…” Ward said. “Ultimately, the things that we’re fighting for in our contract are going to make their learning environment better, their learning conditions better. And that’s what we’re ultimately fighting for, is our students.”
Director of Communications Zenobia Gerald said the district has negotiated in good fath
with the teachers’ union throughout the collective bargaining process. Gerald added they presented a revised contract proposal aligned with an independent fact finder’s recommendation on March 3rd, which was rejected.
She said they are disappointed with the outcome, but wanted to be clear that the disagreement does not diminish the district’s appreciation for their teachers or the work they do. Gerald added that they are ready to return to the table and students deserve stability and uninterrupted learning.
“Good faith bargaining requires careful consideration, open dialogue, and a willingness to move — a willingness to compromise,” she said. “The District has demonstrated that commitment by accepting the fact-finder’s recommendations, even though they exceed our previous offers and will require adjustments to other areas of the District’s budget.”
In the event of a strike, Twin Rivers Unified said schools will remain open for students and families and to provide access to meals, programs, and services, including after-school activities.
Ward said she fears many of those are not going to be credentialed educators who are able to teach students.
“I believe that they’ll do everything they can to make sure students that are in there are safe and taken care of, and we will be there in front of the school reminding them that we love them and that we’re doing this for them,” she continued.
The district and the union first began negotiations on the contract in February 2025 and met 11 times. In October, the parties found themselves at an impasse and a third party mediator had to get involved to assist with negotiations from November 2025 to January 2026.
By February, mediations were deemed unsuccessful as the union and district disagreed on 13 issues:
- General Provisions
- Work Day/Year
- Class Sizes
- Extra Duty
- Evaluations
- Safety
- Salary
- Benefits
- Joint Leadership Meetings
- Summer School
- Early Childhood Education
- Independent Study
- Personal and Academic Freedoms
The district said they have offered a 2.5% salary increase for this school year and a 2.21% salary increase for the following school year. They also said they offered full Kaiser HMO family health coverage paid fully by the district for employees and their families.
“To our teachers walking the picket line today: we see you, we respect you, and we want you back,” Gerald said. “This dispute is not between the district and the dedicated educators who give everything to our students. It is between the District and TRUE’s leadership. Leadership that has not been willing to negotiate a compromise.”
Twin Rivers is not the only school district in the city faced with teacher strikes. Natomas Teachers Association plans to strike on March 10 if no labor agreement is reached. Washington Unified also authorized a strike and are in the fact-finding stage.
“This is not an isolated crisis,” Ward said. “This is an issue that educators are experiencing statewide, maybe nationwide, especially when we see multiple districts in the situation in our own region. It really speaks to the crisis that we’re experiencing locally.”