Lee is waging a competitive, well-funded campaign despite failing to win the backing of the teachers union. As a result, teachers are putting money down to support their endorsed candidates.
Berkeley Federation of Teachers
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Berkeley teachers say they need compensation for extra duty of writing college rec letters
Berkeley High stopped hiring subs to cover teachers’ classes while they write letters. As teachers negotiate, students applying to college are caught in the middle.
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Berkeley Unified to raise teacher pay in new union contract
Pay will rise 12% over 2 years. Teachers’ health care costs will fall, and elementary classes are now capped at 27 students.
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School board split over proposal to mandate vaccines for athletes and at events like prom
The proposed rule requires students to get vaccinated or tested weekly and includes a controversial vaccine mandate for athletes and events.
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‘Our single biggest challenge’: Staff and substitute shortages put pressure on Berkeley schools
Berkeley Unified faces a shortage of substitute teachers, after-school care providers, and special education aides.
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5 Berkeley educators share their pandemic-teaching takeaways
Teachers are ready to say goodbye to distance learning. But some lessons from Zoom school are here to stay.
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Berkeley will require teachers get vaccine or tests 6 weeks ahead of state schedule
All Berkeley teachers and staff will need to either get tested for COVID-19 weekly or present proof of vaccination as soon as Sept. 3. The state won’t require compliance until Oct. 15.
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Berkeley teachers to get 1% raise and 3.5% one-time bonus next year
Critics say the raise comes at the expenses of direct services to students, while proponents say the raise is barely enough to address the high cost of living in Berkeley.
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Middle and high school students will return to school for a few hours a week
Berkeley Unified and the teachers’ union reached an agreement Tuesday on a hybrid learning schedule.
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As Berkeley teachers get vaccinated, they reflect on returning to classrooms
Teachers are looking forward to seeing students again, but there are safety concerns and the rhetoric of the reopening debate has taken its toll.
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In reopening debate, we chose not to report on the teachers union leader and his toddler’s school. Here’s why.
Readers have asked why Berkeleyside has not covered this story when many local and national outlets have, so we are sharing our thinking.
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Berkeley Unified announces tentative plan to return to hybrid learning this spring
The union needs to ratify the agreement and teachers need to be vaccinated, but more in-person instruction could ramp up by late-March to mid-April.