Local & Statewide Solidarity: We Can’t Wait!

SDEA members are spreading the word!

In January, SDEA members passed out multilingual flyers to families to let them know about what we are bargaining for, and to ask for their support!

We let the SDUSD Board know: We can’t wait to fully staff our schools!

At the SDUSD Board Meeting on January 28 , SDEA members, classified colleagues, and community supporters showed up to demand two things:

• Settle caseload grievances fairly
• Finally bargain concrete solutions to our Special Education staffing crisis

SDEA and CSEA members spoke up about the daily student impact of understaffed Special Education programs, and then walked into the board meeting in solidarity chanting “We Can’t Wait!”

We officially shared our “Sunshine” proposal: We’re ready to bargain!

Along with a rally to specifically highlight the Special Education staffing crisis, this was the meeting where SDEA presented a “Sunshine” proposal – the official beginning of bargaining our next contract, where we share which parts of the contract we intend to bargain over.

While a “Sunshine” is designed for bargaining teams to plan out their negotiations, this document can also help SDEA members connect our bargaining platform (built by members through our input across our sites and programs!) to specific articles of our existing contract.

We aren’t alone in our fight!

While SDEA has a history of solidarity among our members, we know that what educators are facing today is bigger than just San Diego. So often when we ask for what our students and educators need, we’re told there isn’t enough money in the budget. Schools already lack the staff and resources they need, and are now facing additional threats to federal funding. SDEA members need to continue urging San Diego Unified to invest every available resource to support our students, but the reality is that we need to pressure the state, too. Even with the largest economy in the country, California spends less per student than most other states – and it’s our students who are suffering the consequences.

That’s why SDEA is joining over 77,000 union educators in over 30 districts across California to say: We Can’t Wait! It’s time to finally invest in the schools our students deserve.

While each union will negotiate with their individual districts, we are all aligning our proposals in three shared categories:

• Fully staff our schools
• Improve educator pay
• Stability for students & communities

On Tuesday, unions held press conferences and actions across the state to announce the statewide campaign:

SDEA educators were joined by classified colleagues, National City educators, CTA board members, and community partners for a press conference on Tuesday to announce our statewide “We Can’t Wait” campaign.

Local news coverage of SDEA’s press conference at Perkins:

• ▶️ NBC 7
• 📰 Times of San Diego
• 📰 Voice of SD 
• 📰 Union Tribune 

See all the unions involved in the We Can’t Wait campaign, and check out the #WeCantWaitCA hashtag on social media to see more!

More resources for our statewide campaign:

• See & share CTA’s We Can’t Wait video and the new statewide We Can’t Wait website.
• Read the results of CTA’s report on teacher pay: CA Teacher Pay: Decades of Falling Behind
• How has the teacher pay gap impacted you and your family? Add your story.