Dublin Unified School District Bosses Relent to Teachers Strike Threat

Trumpets blare, drums beat, and car horns sound as people wave makeshift signs. Teachers across Dublin crowd on narrow sidewalks. Outside of Dublin High School, Catie Tombs helps to coordinate one picket line.

“As a teacher, there’s literally anywhere I would rather be than striking,” Tombs said. “But this strike is about one particular thing: our young people.”

Tombs, an English teacher at Dublin High School, is one of over seven hundred teachers who went on strike throughout the Dublin Unified School District (DUSD). After months of bargaining, Dublin Teachers Association (DTA) members took to the picket lines on March 9 over proposed budget cuts — a move they say jeopardized key issues like class sizes, special education investment, cost of living wages, and more. 

After four days of protests, which saw DTA members rally with the community around parks, schools, and the district office, DUSD relented and approved a tentative agreement late on March 12.

Out on the scene, Current talked to teachers, students, and the community about why the strike is happening.

At the center of DTA’s grievances are unsustainable class sizes

Throughout DUSD, teachers have been struggling to manage big class sizes. For Fallon Middle School teacher Breana Castro, things had reached a breaking point.

“There’s money not being spent directly on students,” said Castro, who has taught math for 15 years. “We have an algebra class with thirty-nine students in it, and others with thirty-seven!” 

Without “exact maximums” for middle and high school students, Castro explained that teachers are expected to instruct “up to 150 students a day.” For comparison, the California Teacher’s Association recommends instructing no more than 100 students a day. Though teachers are compensated per ‘extra’ student, many argue the missed opportunities for more individualized instruction are priceless.

“It’s defeating,” said Emerald High School teacher Jaime Roberts. “I don’t know my students as well as I’d like to and [big class sizes] cause burnout with a lot of us. But when it comes to the social and emotional wellness of our students? That’s more important to me than overage pay.”

DTA aims to address this by 'capping' class sizes and raising overage pay. However, as the district faces up to $9.2 million in budget deficits, meeting in the middle is difficult.

“Over the past two years, DUSD has made $16 million in reductions due to declining enrollment and rising operational costs,” explained Assistant Superintendent Dr. Matt Campbell in an email. “Any changes to class size must be implemented in a way that is financially sustainable over time.”

After years of strain, teachers like Roberts say the time has come for change.“I was told that classes could accommodate 32 students. But we’re cramming 36 to 38 students in there. Some of us teach 100 to 170 students every day — it’s hard to give them the one-on-one support they need.”

The strike did pay off. In the new agreement, DTA secured key reductions to class sizes for elementary to high school classes.

DTA demands more support inside and outside the classroom

Administering vital one-on-one support is typically a job for school counselors. However, for Dublin’s eight elementary schools, DUSD is proposing to cut all eight full time counselors — essential positions that DTA fought hard for.

“We’ve already been without a counselor for months now,” said Kolb Elementary teacher Kara Burrell, who has taught for nearly 30-years. “Our kids are already feeling it, especially the ones that need it the most. I have two students who need that extra one-to-one attention — they’re already begging to go and talk to her. If you get rid of counselors, they’re going to miss that.”

According to Campbell, “elementary school counselors are currently funded for the 2026–27 school year.” He commented that DUSD “offered language that would fund [them] through the 2027-28 school year as well.”

DTA members successfully fought off the proposed counselor cuts. Thanks to their help, counselors will stay through 2028, helping students and teachers.

DUSD had been unwilling to negotiate changes to special education

“It’s disheartening,” said Dee Michetti, a special education teacher. “As a special education teacher, you come in with a more special heart to take care of your students. But a lot of the time, we can’t effectively manage our caseloads and deliver the services that students need.”

A crucial part of DTA’s negotiations involved securing tailored support for DUSD’s inclusion program, which integrates special needs students into general classrooms. Despite concern by DTA about the program missing effective strategies, DUSD has “shown no interest in even discussing these ideas at the bargaining table,” according to Michetti. 

“It hurts my heart when I can’t take care of my families and be an advocate for my students,” Michetti said. “I never saw myself striking… but we’re looking for student centered change.”

Though there are few details about how the tentative agreement will support the inclusion program, DTA’s recent victory secured reduced caseloads for special education teachers.

Salaries simply don’t match the cost of living

While the strike focused on students, the district’s failure to raise wages was another major issue. The Bay Area is ranked as the most expensive region in the nation, but teacher salaries simply don't match the costs. Generally, teachers receive annual raises to meet the rising cost of living — dubbed “COLA.” However, from 2024-2025, Dublin teachers saw no such raises.

“It’s really been hurting me,” explained Burrell. “My electricity bill is $1,000 a month. Just getting a cost of living allowance would help that — it’s not a lot to ask for.”

Originally, DTA demanded a 3.5% salary increase. In the tentative agreement, DTA agreed to a 2.3% pay increase — slightly higher from the district’s proposal of 2.1%. DUSD did agree to increase healthcare coverage for Dublin teachers. Ultimately, teachers will decide if the agreement addresses enough of their overlapping concerns.

“If on Thursday, what we cared about the most was our COLA adjustment and our healthcare, we could have taken that deal. We could have been at school on Friday and kept trekking like normal. But we didn’t because they offered nothing on class size, nothing on caseloads, and nothing on counselors,” said Tombs.

Community rallies behind teachers

On March 9, teachers, students, union leaders from around California, and concerned community members rallied near the district’s headquarters. Local congressman Eric Swalwell was also present.

“We ask teachers to do the impossible,” said Swalwell, who is currently running in the Democratic primary race for Governor of California. “We ask them to be social workers, therapists, and to put themselves between a mad man’s bullets and the child they teach… we can no longer be a community where CEOs make $50,000 an hour and the people who taught them how to read are barely able to survive.”

Many students were present to show support for their teachers. Standing among them was Sunny, 12, whose family declined to list a last name.

“We’re here to see my dad and the other teachers from my school,” said Sunny, whose father is a teacher. “My [physical education] class has 36 kids and most of my classes have 25-30 kids. If there were less kids, they could focus more on an individual person.”

Others were there because it didn’t make sense to keep going to school. 

“Everybody’s leaving,” said Izeel, 14. “They put us all in the gym, took attendance, and said we could go into different parts of the school. They told us to do our classwork… but we can't because the teachers aren’t here. Most of us just walked out of the gym because they’re not taking attendance until lunch.”

The strike has drawn attention from local and statewide unions. In attendance was Francisco Ortiz, President of the United Teachers of Richmond (UTR). Recently, UTR went on strike for smaller class sizes, special education investment, and a raise in pay — all similar to DTA’s demands. UTR ratified their contract, which included an 8 percent wage increase over two years and 100 percent employer-paid family health coverage, in December 2025. 

Members from the fledgling Dublin Student’s Union, originally formed to oppose a proposed ICE detention center in nearby Camp Parks, were also present.

“A ‘student-centered’ solution would be making cuts to the district rather than to teachers,” said Ruilin, a DSU leader and DUSD student. “It would be hiring more teachers, creating classes for a higher range of subjects, and delegating more time and effort to existing schools rather than new ones.” 

The DSU is currently taking steps to oppose the closure of Valley High School, a DUSD school aimed at helping underperforming students. In the meantime though, DSU will join the other countless unions in solidarity with the DTA and its seven hundred educators as they decide how to vote on the tentative agreement.

“We are one of the most economically prosperous cities,” Ruilin lamented. “We should not have a problem paying our teachers.”