SDEA members have been advocating for equity for our CTE teachers for years
Job security and due process are key benefits of a union contract, but for years our members who work in Career Technical Education (CTE) have been unable to become permanent employees. Education Code practically required districts like SDUSD to keep these educators in probationary status year after year, while educators in other areas were able to attain permanent status after a probationary period. Permanent status protects educators from being terminated without just cause and is a basic professional right.
The particular limbo of CTE teachers is an inequity that SDEA members and other union educators have been advocating against for years, proposing and supporting a variety of bills that until now have not made it into law. Our union members have been so vocal about this issue that SDUSD was one of the very few districts that went on the record in support of past bills that would have allowed permanent status for CTE teachers. This summer, SDEA members flew to Sacramento to testify in favor of AB 2245, the most recent bill that would change Ed Code’s section on permanent status. On September 29, 2024, Governor Newsom signed AB 2245 into law.
AB 2245 marks a significant victory for SDEA members
With the signing of AB 2245, state law finally allows CTE educators in our district access to permanent status. Voices from San Diego have been significant in this change – in fact, this law specifically opens access to educators in CTE programs operated by a single school district (like San Diego Unified.) Although SDEA members’ voices successfully advocated for this right for CTE teachers in SDUSD, other union educators across the state are still advocating for access to permanent status.
This bill is proof of the power of our collective voice. Together We Are Stronger!
The union difference: Support in navigating changes in employment status
SDEA leaders are connecting with our statewide affiliates to clarify which academic years would count as probationary for currently employed CTE teachers, based on the final bill language. In the meantime, union membership is one important step to accessing the full benefits enjoyed by permanent employees. Especially for educators navigating changes in employment status, union membership gives access to free legal consultation as one of the benefits available to all dues-paying SDEA members. (Because employment status is a matter covered in Ed Code and not found in our union contract, correcting any errors in legal status involves legal consultation. That free consultation is not available to those who are not dues-paying union members.) Not yet a member? Join your union today!
Together, SDEA members can have a real voice in their working conditions, which are also our students’ learning conditions. It is that collective voice that successfully advocated for this change to Ed Code, and which will be needed to win a strong contract in the upcoming round of negotiations.
