and mobilizing for a potential strike as talks entered mediation. Shortly thereafter, the District claimed it had reworked its budget and was prepared to return to the bargaining table. A tentative agreement on a multi-year contract good through 2007 was reached in late November between the parties, thus averting a strike. The Association agreed to accept an increase in the daily student contact limit from 150 to 155 in exchange for a maximum class size cap of 34 per individual class. Also, the District agreed to raise teacher salaries an average of 4.92 percent. The range in increases was from 0.35 percent to 10.13 percent because the parties had also agreed to restructure the system by which teachers are paid. 96 percent of the Association's membership approved the agreement. 2007 contract negotiations In March 2007, the Newark Teachers Association and the Newark Unified School District began negotiations for a successor agreement to the expired 2005–2007 collective bargaining agreement. This marked the first time in three years that the entire contract, cover-to-cover, was reopened. After several meetings between the parties, a tentative agreement was reached without impasse on September 13, 2007, which included a state allocated cost-of-living wage adjustment during each year of the agreement. Many articles of the agreement were also rewritten and reorganized. The agreement was ratified in October 2007 by a 97 percent approval vote of the NTA membership. The Newark Unified School District ratified the agreement on October 31, 2007, at a special meeting of the Board of Education. The agreement, effective through 2010, marks one of the first times in a decade that an agreement was reached without any impasse or deadlock between the parties. List of presidents 2002–2009 Phyllis Grenier 2009–2011 Chris Baugh 2011–2012 Chris Baugh, Bryan Blattel, and Jacob Goldsmith References National Education Association Teacher associations based in the United States Organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area Newark, California Education in Alameda County, California Trade unions in California Union City, California Educational organizations based in California Organizations established in 1969 1969 establishments in the United States