Letters in Solidarity: We’re Voting YES to Strike for Our Students

We’re Voting YES to Strike for Our Students

As we are already approaching the midpoint of our school year, wishing everyone a relaxing holiday season with family and friends. We were busy in October supporting schools with getting strike ready and it is so energizing to see our SDEA “I’m Ready to Fight for Special Education” signs up in classrooms all over the district.

At our November SDEA Representative Council, over 150 SDEA leaders unanimously voted to endorse a YES on our strike authorization vote that is being conducted at union meetings at every school. We are fed up with 7 years of special education understaffing that have stretched us to the limit and hindered our ability to provide our students what they need to succeed. We Can’t Wait for the district to find the will to fairly settle our unionwide grievances going back 2 school years for special education caseload overages. We Can’t Wait for the district to prioritize following our contract and responding to SDEA proposed solutions to address the special education staffing crisis.

What will convince District leadership to share our urgency? Every action, from wearing red in support of our bargaining team to walk-ins or community rallies, shows our unity and determination. Escalating actions develop our organizing muscles, showing everyone (our fellow union educators, our school communities, district leadership) that we are getting stronger and we are ready to use that strength to fight for what matters to us: high-quality public education for ALL students.

Back in May 2025, our pickets across the District were a big enough flex to move the District to agree to a retroactive raise that we are now seeing on our paychecks – the first major progress in our contract campaign. With so much still to be won in our We Can’t Wait bargaining platform for fully staffed schools, improved pay and stability for our students and communities, it is going to take more collective strength to get the District to stop violating our contract when it comes to  Special Education staffing, and to show them that we are ready to keep fighting for the rest of our demands.

And we’re not the only union flexing our power! Over 30 other CTA locals across the state are also fighting for the same big contract demands and preparing for strikes if necessary. We’re all pressuring our individual Districts to invest every available dollar in our schools and over 98% of our We Can’t Wait siblings at United Teachers of Richmond recently voted to authorize a strike. Now is the Time for our union to take that same step alongside allies across the state and we will be voting YES to strike for our students!