CALEDONIA, Mich. — On Thursday, just after school ended for the day in Caledonia, parents, teachers and supporters of the Caledonia Education Association rallied in front of the district's administration building, advocating for a new teachers contract between the district and the union.

The teachers rally started at 3:30 p.m. across the street from Emmons Lake Elementary School.

13 On Your Side spoke with Vaanessa VanWagoner, a 7th-grade middle school teacher at Duncan Lake who is also the president-elect for the Caledonia Education Association.

She said that teachers have been working under the 2022 contract that was negotiated just two years after the COVID-19 pandemic started. She added that while contracts for teachers include a fair wage, it goes beyond that.

"The contract for an

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