Nearly 1,500 educators across the West Contra Costa School District hit the picket lines early Thursday, leaving their 29,000 students without a teacher after last-minute contract negotiations ended without an agreement.
The strike was the first for teachers in the district’s 60-year history, although the two sides narrowly averted scheduled strikes in 2022 and 2023.
Pay and health care were among the sticking points that led to the walkout, but the teachers union also demanded new contract concessions from the district to address special education issues and the needs of international educators brought into the district on temporary H1B visas…