The Palo Alto Educators’ Association faces an unusually lengthy negotiation season following changes in district leadership at the Palo Alto Unified School District.
According to PAEA President Tom Culbertson, the union is eager to reach an agreement.
“As far as I know, we [PAEA] haven’t gone this far into the school year without a contract in many years,” Culbertson said. “We’re ready. We’re ready for a contract.”
The last contract expired on July 1, 2025. The PAEA is optimistic that the recent departure of Don Austin as PAUSD superintendent will accelerate the negotiations.
“PAEA is now focused on the opportunity for a ‘cultural reset,’” the PAEA said in a statement. “Our schools thrive when there is a true partnership between the district office, the Board of Education, and the educators in the classroom. We call on the Board to conduct a transparent search for new leadership — someone who prioritizes student well-being, respects the expertise of our staff, and understands that the strength of PAUSD lies in its people, not its policies.”
Daniel Nguyen, the head of negotiations for the PAEA, emphasized that the leadership change at the district improved the tone of the discussions.
“Under Acting Superintendent Herb Espiritu, the tone and demeanor of how things are run has been a lot more cordial and polite,” Nguyen said. “In terms of substance, we’ve seen movement in some areas on some articles, but again, in terms of compensation benefits, the district is still prioritizing putting money in bank accounts instead of investing in our schools.”
Espiritu did not respond to a request for comment.
Negotiations began in October 2025. Culbertson noted that while the tone of discussions have improved, the pace of progress remains slow.
“I think it [the delay] might be the result of management disarray because of the change in superintendent,” Culbertson said. “We’ve only recently gotten to what I would call a ‘real talk’ during negotiations at our session on Thursday. We got down to the big issues and really discussed things very frankly with each side. That was really productive, but it’s taken a long time.”
Nguyen said that the PAEA remains frustrated at the slow-moving progress of the talks.
“If we don’t have a contract, we’ll just follow the previous contract,” Nguyen said. “But in terms of morale, in terms of the image of our district, it doesn’t look good when the district doesn’t have a contract for the teachers.”
Culbertson said that the PAEA continues to focus on creating a better environment for the district’s teachers.
“We believe that they [management] have been under-supporting the folks who are on the front lines working with students,” Culbertson said. “We have these great financial resources and it’s time for management to really step up.”
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