Modesto Teachers Association

Reminder to join MTA tomorrow afternoon/evening for the Welcome Back Picnic. Please be sure to RSVP on the website if you plan to attend and have yet to do so. Families welcome.

Remember what we are fighting for. There are seven issues still on the table. For the last few days we have shared details on each of these issues.

Today is the day our MTA negotiations team heads back into mediation with MCS. Wear your Blue. . .stand in solidarity.

Remember what we are fighting for. Seven issues still on the table. Here is one. Health and Welfare Benefits.

Same 2026 dollars on both sides. The fight is 2027 and after, and nothing is final until ratification.

District offer: flat dollars per month

Current: $1,050/month
District offer: $1,121/month fixed
MTA proposal: 100% of lowest plan, 150% Employee +1, 200% Family. When premiums rise, the district’s share rises with them, up to 10% a year.

BUT THERE ARE STRINGS ATTACHED!!

The strings attached: The district’s offer comes packaged with all of this

• Up to two elementary sites pilot an instructional day change
• A certificated evaluation committee reviews evaluation procedures
• A committee studies our model for the 2028 and 2029 benefit years while their fixed 2027 dollars stay in place

Their number is fixed. Ours moves with the rates, up to 10% a year, and reopens above that.

One keeps up. One sends us back every year.

Support MTA and our negotiations team tomorrow as they heads back to the bargaining table for the next round of mediation. Wear your Union Blue! Tuesday, September 22nd.

Remember what we are fighting for. Seven issues still on the table, here is one. Salary.

Where the offers stand against COLA.

2025-2026
Funded COLA= 2.3%
District offer: 2.5% on the salary schedule
MTA Proposal: 3% on the salary schedule

We are still .5% away

2026-2027
Funded COLA= 4.31% (Statutory 2.87% plus 1.44% “super COLA”)
District offer: 2.5% on the salary schedule, Plus 2% one-time money
MTA proposal: 4.5% on the salary schedule

We are still 2% on the schedule away.

The 2% is a one-time payment, only for members in active status on April30, 2027. It never touches the salary schedule and is gone the next year.

A one-time check is not a raise on the schedule. We are bargaining for the schedule.

Wear your Union Blue tomorrow, Tuesday, September 22nd as the MTA negotiations team heads back to the table with the District for our second day of mediations.

Remember what we are fighting for. Seven issues still on the table. Here is one. Poison Pill Language.

Where they took our language, they added a sentence.

Staffing ratios

They took most of our ratios. Not counselors. Not nurses.

Then they tagged every support position “Supplemental/Concentration funded” and added this:

The District may reduce Supplemental/Concentration funded staffing at its discretion should it be determined that there are not sufficient funds.

What this means: The district decides the money is short. The district decides what to cut. MTA gets a letter by December 1. Notice is not bargaining.

The .5% professional development initiative: They kept the .5%…Then they deleted this sentence: The District and the Association shall meet and negotiate the terms of discontinuing the program.

What this means: The district decides the money is short and sends a notice by July 1. The sentence that made them sit down with us is gone.

Both clauses do the same thing. The district decides. MTA gets a notice.

Wear your Union Blue this Tuesday, September 22nd for our next round of mediation with MCS. Support our MTA negotiations team.

Remember what we are fighting for. There are seven issues still on the table. Here is one. K-3 Class Size Maximums.

Taking an overage is voluntary today. The district wants discretion.

Average class enrollment, K-3

Current contract language: The District is required to make progress toward maintaining an average class enrollment of not more than twenty-four (24) students for each school site in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3.

Today= Voluntary Our newer overage language: taking students above the max “is voluntary for classroom teachers.” (Art. VI, ssA.5)
District Proposal= Discretion Six categories. No per-classroom cap. Notice by category only.

Six reasons the district could exceed 24:

Any of these, if the student enrolls on or after the first instructional day.

• Student receiving special education services provided at the site
• Student residing in the attendance area
• Homeless (unhoused) youth or foster move-in
• Student transferring under a legally required school safety transfer policy/regulation
• Change in custody order

In short: the district wants to place students above the K-3 max under any of six categories, with no per-classroom cap, and MTA gets a category, not a reason.

Wear your Union Blue this Tuesday, September 22nd as our MTA negotiations team heads back into mediation for the 2nd day.

Remember what we are fighting for.


• Sibling enrollment