Healthcare costs sticking point in Modesto teachers union’s ongoing negotiation
Hundreds of Modesto City Schools teachers packed the parking lot and streets outside the Monday night Board of Education meeting, holding signs and wearing Modesto Teachers Association shirts. The ongoing negotiations between the union and the district are hung up over teachers’ concerns regarding the healthcare proposal.
Many teachers spoke during public comment, saying their healthcare coverage costs are more than their mortgage payments. They said MCS’s proposal, despite a bigger contribution by the district, does not reflect the rising cost of care.
“This association is not asking for fully paid vision and dental. This association is not asking for 100% coverage,” MTA President Jennifer McGrath said at the meeting. “We are asking for a reasonable tiered system that offsets a portion of the enormous growing healthcare costs that your teachers are absorbing so that this district can compete for, attract and retain the educators our students deserve.”
For the plan covering a single employee and one dependent, MTA is asking for a district contribution of about $1,681.50. “And even at that level, our teachers are still going to pay a minimum of $600 out of their own pockets to cover themselves,” McGrath said.
For the family plan, MTA is asking for $2,242, according to McGrath. She added, “A teacher with a family will still be paying a minimum of $671 out of their own paycheck every single month to cover their family” under the proposal.
The district is proposing a contribution of $1,121 for the employee-plus-one tier, and $1,350 to $1,400 for the family plan.
In a statement to The Modesto Bee, district Superintendent Vanessa Buitrago acknowledged that “the reality is that healthcare must become far more affordable for our teachers and staff.”
“The methods by which we cover those costs must become far more sustainable for school districts, including Modesto City Schools,” she said.
“In both the short and long term, we will continue our work with the Modesto Teachers Association and we are also asking state leaders to work with districts and labor partners on a permanent, sustainable solution that will stabilize the costs of healthcare statewide for school districts and employees alike,” Buitrago continued.
Modesto City Schools and MTA have been embroiled in negotiations since fall. The district reached an agreement with its classified staff in January.
Negotiations between MTA and MCS for a contract spanning 2023-26 lasted for over a year. The current contract ends June 30.
Chelsi Foreman is a sixth-grade teacher at Lakewood Elementary School and the single parent of a 6-year-old daughter, who is a kindergarten student in MCS. She shared that her daughter has required corrective surgeries since she was 6 months old. “Where is the equity for your own employees and their families?” she asked.
“I am currently her only caregiver and provider. While it was never my intention to parent alone, here I am, a college-educated professional with almost a decade of experience, and I am struggling,” Foreman said during public comment. “While these negotiations tend to hyper-focus on adults with pseudo choices for insurance plans, you forget who is really impacted by these decisions. It’s the kids. My daughter deserves coverage. She deserves healthcare.”
First-grade teacher Josh Chamberlain came to public comment with his wife, Sarah. He said they hope to start a family. “Not someday in the distant future, but now.” They haven’t had a child yet, he said, because they can’t afford the cost of healthcare.
“I pour myself into helping raise other people’s children. But I can’t afford to have one of my own. And that’s the part that keeps me up at night,” said Chamberlain.
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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 4:42 PM.
