Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Pasadena Teachers Union, School District Report No Movement on Salary, Class Size After Eighth Bargaining Session

Both sides plan to return to the table May 22 as layoffs of more than 160 certificated positions move forward

The Pasadena Unified School District and United Teachers of Pasadena met April 17 for what PUSD described as the eighth bargaining session of the 2025-2026 cycle, and in separate written statements issued afterward, both sides reported no movement on salary or class size.

UTP introduced a new proposal at the session requesting a 5% ongoing salary increase beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, according to both sides’ bargaining updates.

The negotiations are occurring as the district implements layoffs of 161.35 full-time equivalent certificated positions approved by the Board of Education on Feb. 26 to address a structural budget deficit of more than $30 million, according to prior district actions and coverage.

PUSD’s positions in this article are drawn from the district’s April 17 written bargaining update. PUSD was not interviewed for this story. UTP President Jonathan Gardner provided additional comments in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Where the Two Sides Stand

UTP’s bargaining update, issued April 17, said the union’s position for the 2025-2026 school year remains a 2.35% cost-of-living adjustment. The update characterized the district’s position as a 0% COLA for the current year.

On the 2026-2027 cycle, UTP said it proposed a 5% salary increase for that school year and proposed maintaining the current health and welfare benefits structure, with an added provision that would offer 90% benefits coverage to members retiring at age 59 until they reach age 65. UTP also said the district “has gone the entire school year failing to respond with a counter to UTP’s Health and Welfare Proposal #1.”

PUSD’s update said UTP has continued to propose ongoing salary increases “which carry financial implications for the District” and that the April 17 session included UTP’s second proposal on salary, the one requesting an additional 5% ongoing increase commencing with the 2026-2027 school year.

In its statement, PUSD referenced the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s role in the district’s finances. The district said LACOE has requested that PUSD submit an updated Fiscal Stabilization Plan as part of the 2026-2027 Adopted Budget, “signaling ongoing fiscal concerns.” PUSD said it submitted a mandatory plan to LACOE in December, that reduction-in-force resolutions were approved in February, and that “evidence of implementation” was required for its March 13 submission of its 2025-2026 Second Interim Financial Report.

Class Size

On class size, UTP said its position is to “eliminate staffing ratios and move to class size caps,” while characterizing the district’s position as “ballooning class sizes are just fine.”

PUSD, in its statement, said UTP has advocated for contract language establishing class size caps, citing concerns about widespread over-enrollment in PUSD classrooms. The district said analysis of classrooms “reveals the vast majority are not overenrolled,” and that strict class size caps could result in “the potential need to move students between classrooms to remain compliant and within prescribed limits regardless of carefully composed classrooms.”

“Maintaining stable learning environments is a priority for the District, and frequent movement of students may disrupt instructional continuity,” the PUSD statement said.

The district also said UTP’s class size language “appears to represent internal inconsistency, as it allows the District to exceed proposed caps if the teacher is provided additional compensation per student over the cap.” The district said such language “appears to shift concern away from overcrowding and the student experience toward one regarding compensation.”

Gardner, in an interview Tuesday, said the provision is meant to function as a “soft cap.”

“The option that we’re providing the mechanism for essentially a soft cap allows the district to have flexibility while discouraging them going over that cap,” Gardner said. “We of course would rather that the class sizes just be a good experience for the students and the teachers, but we wanted to make sure that we provided some flexibility and they’re turning around and throwing that flexibility back in our face, which is not really appropriate.”

Asked how UTP’s proposal addresses the district’s concern about moving students between classrooms, Gardner said: “We provide the flexibility of allowing one or two additional students to be there as long as that teacher is compensated. The goal of the extra of the stipend that we’re suggesting is to discourage the district from adding extra teachers, but also make sure they still have that opportunity.”

Supplemental Pay and Special Education

On supplemental pay, UTP’s update said the district has acknowledged that a $66-per-hour pay rate — not a $55-per-hour rate — applies to teachers working in the LEARNS (ELOP) program delivering instruction after school. UTP said the $55 rate “was implemented when they bypassed the negotiation process.” UTP said the district “is refusing to provide retroactive pay to affected teachers” and is attempting to tie the compensation to closure of the 2025-2026 bargaining cycle. The district’s April 17 update did not address supplemental pay.

UTP also said the Special Education Memorandum of Understanding will expire in June without an agreement and said that “securing a new agreement is critical to maintaining even the limited safeguards in place this year.” UTP said that if no agreement is reached, “those protections will expire, potentially leaving teachers and students with fewer supports next year.”

UTP’s Position on District Spending

Gardner, in the interview, said UTP believes PUSD has not adequately examined central office spending before making classroom-level cuts. He said there are at least 95 administrator positions at central office “that are going unexamined,” that UTP is confident “at least half of those could be cut,” and that PUSD currently has “three times as many administrators at central office as we have in our school sites.” Gardner said approximately $30 million — about 20% of the unrestricted budget, excluding fire-related expenses — is being spent on contracts that he said the district should scrutinize more carefully. Gardner also said his criticism was targeted at central office staff, not school-site principals and assistant principals, whose work he said supports students.

“The district has cut heavily from school sites and from the student experience at our school sites, including our teachers with the 135 layoffs,” Gardner said. “However, the central office has experienced little to no cuts.”

District’s Stated Position

The PUSD statement said both parties have begun discussing what comes next, as both “have confirmed that any further exchange of proposals on salary and class size will not result in changes to positions on these issues.”

“The District remains committed to engaging in good-faith negotiations that are fiscally responsible and centered on student stability and success,” the statement said. “All proposals must be carefully evaluated to ensure they are sustainable and do not create unintended consequences for students, staff, or the District’s long-term financial health.”

Bargaining Teams

PUSD’s bargaining team members listed in the district’s update are Dr. Sergio Canal, chief human resources officer; Dr. Helen Chan Hill, chief academic officer; Dr. Jen Alcazar, director of human resources; Lori Touloumian, principal of Thurgood Marshall; and Maricela Brambila, principal of Willard.

UTP’s team, as listed in the district’s update, is chaired by Bethel Lira of Thurgood Marshall and includes Gardner; Nate Banditelli of the California Teachers Association; teachers Stephanie Kaul of San Rafael, Maureen Noble of Jackson, Steven Cole of Blair IB, and Beverly Rodriguez of John Muir High School; special education teacher Michael To of Blair IB; and school nurse Lisa Collins of Pasadena High School.

What’s Next

UTP has called on members to attend the April 23 PUSD Board meeting in what the union described as a rally “to speak out against cuts and RIFs that threaten our schools and to support our bargaining goals.”

Asked about UTP’s strategy heading into the May 22 session, Gardner said, “We believe that there is still room for us to continue to discuss it, but we believe the community needs to know that the district is operating receivingly in a vacuum.”

The parties return to the bargaining table May 22.