San Diego Educators Call on County and State Public Health Authorities to Close Our Schools
After consulting with the educators on the SDEA Board of Directors, and discussing current COVID-19 response plans with District leadership, I believe that now is the time to close our schools
to protect the health of students, staff, and the broader community. We call on the County and State Health Officials to allow SDUSD to temporarily cease regular operations.
As educators, we understand the connection between the health and well-being of our students and the health and well-being of their families and communities. The science of COVID-19 is clear:
the best way to protect the communities we serve is to limit the opportunities for this virus to spread. Closing schools would be an important step towards protecting our students, their families and their communities from the COVID-19 threat.
Many of our students depend on our schools for regular meals, even before accounting for the hardships our communities are facing due to lost income from the growing crisis. As we respond to this crisis, we must ensure that there is access to food for our students who depend on our school system for their basic nutrition. We call on the State, County, City, and School leadership to set up safe food distribution systems for our students.
The only way to keep our communities safe is for the County and State to act now.
Have You Signed the Petition Yet?
Last month, we launched the Schools and Communities First
signature gathering at Rep Council. The Schools and Communities First ballot
initiative is projected to bring $12 billion to our schools and communities
every year. Because we know that increased state funding is vital to creating
the schools our students deserve, signature gathering is an important part of
our bargaining plan this year.
What does this initiative have to do with bargaining our
contract? As we shared earlier this
year, SDEA’s three priorities are to bargain a fair contract, elect pro-public
education school board trustees, and ensure that Schools and Communities First
is adopted in November. These three
priorities are intertwined.
Our bargaining demands include increasing the number of
nurses and counselors, adequately staffing special education, and lowering
elementary class size. These demands all
have an impact on the District’s budget.
The school board trustees set the parameters for the
District bargaining team. Our bargaining demands include supports for our most
vulnerable students, lower elementary class size, and respect for educators and
our contract. We must work to elect
school board trustees that share the same values and priorities for our
schools.
For these reasons, all three priorities must be driven out
of our bargaining campaign. Every action we undertake this year will be
directly related to our bargaining platform.
The most urgent work before us is our signature gathering
goal of 3,700 signatures by March 12.
With almost 6,500 members, this is a reasonable goal. However, we can’t just rely on members to
sign on. We must also reach out to
fellow staff members and parents in our school communities.
Beyond our schools,
we must also spread the word with our own families, friends, and community
connections. If you haven’t signed the
petition yet, talk to your AR, CR, or CAT members. If you have signed it, great! Now, get your friends and family to sign on
also.
We have a lot of work ahead of us if we are going to create the schools and communities our students deserve. But, we most certainly can do it! Together We Are Stronger!
Mid-year Raise
As negotiated in our spring reopener bargaining, members will see a 3.7% raise in their January or February paychecks. The raise will be included in the January check if you are on 12-pay. You will see the raise in the February check if you are on 10-pay.
Updated salary schedules can be found on the website here.
Sign the Petition for School Funding
Most of us want similar things: good schools for our children, a healthy family, and safe neighborhoods. But for nearly four decades, big corporations have not been paying their fair share, leaving California with the most overcrowded classrooms in the US and with some of the worst ratios of counselors, librarians, and nurses per student.
In January, SDEA members are kicking off a signature gathering campaign to change that. Along with other labor and community groups, SDEA members are collecting signatures for the Schools and Communities First ballot initiative. It closes commercial property tax loopholes benefiting a fraction of corporations and wealthy investors, without affecting homeowners or renters, reclaiming $12 billion every year to fund schools and strengthen local economies.
With Schools and Communities First, San Diego Unified stands to reclaim $45 million every year to fund our schools. What could an extra $45 million buy for San Diego Unified?
• About 475 teachers, or
• A full-time nurse and full-time counselor in every school, or
• About 900 paraeducators, or
• A 7.5% raise for educators
Think for a moment about the spending that is most important to you. What would you like to see changed?
To qualify for the 2020 ballot, we need to collect 1.6 million signatures from registered voters statewide. SDEA is committed to gathering 3,700 signatures. You can join the effort by talking to your school’s AR about signing on and helping collect signatures from co-workers, friends and family.
For more information, visit www.cta.org/taxfairness and www.schoolsandcommunitiesfirst.org
SDEA's Bargaining Platform
In early December, SDEA members across the District took part in an unprecedented action. Members at nearly 130 sites and programs reviewed and discussed our proposed bargaining platform before holding a secret ballot vote to support or reject the platform.
SDEA members voted overwhelmingly to support the SDEA bargaining platform for contract bargaining that starts in January. 99.3% of the nearly 3000 members who voted said yes to:
MAKE SPECIAL EDUCATION WORK - Schools need the resources to educate all of our students, including moderate/severe caseload limits and enough staff to meet IEP requirements.
MORE COUNSELORS & NURSES—NO CUTS TO PSYCHOLOGISTS - Classrooms will be safer for our students and we can curb behavior issues with more counselors and nurses, and no cuts to psychologists.
SMALLER ELEMENTARY CLASS SIZE - In 2012, SDEA members won the lowest secondary class size limit of large, urban school districts in California. Now it’s time to do the same for elementary.
DEFEND THE TEACHING PROFESSION - There’s a nationwide shortage of teachers. We need competitive pay and fully-paid family healthcare benefits to attract the best and brightest to our profession – and to keep us.
RESPECT EDUCATORS’ RIGHTS - When SDUSD doesn’t respect our rights, it hurts not just educators, but our schools, too. We demand that Superintendent Marten and her administration respect our rights, resolve grievances, and stop unfair labor practices.
FUND OUR FUTURE - California is the richest state in the nation but ranks 41st in per student funding. The money is here to fund our future. Funding public education needs to be a priority
This platform is based on bargaining input sessions conducted by member leaders, just like you, at most schools in 2019.
Because of this vote, when we sit down at the bargaining table this month, Superintendent Marten’s team will know that these aren’t just the demands of a handful of union members on the bargaining team. Instead, they’ll know that these are the demands of our whole union. SDEA members will have to fight hard if we want to win big changes, and this is exactly the right way to start!
The new round of bargaining, for our next contract, will begin on January 23, 2020.
Congratulations to all of the ARs and member leaders who made bargaining input sessions and this bargaining vote happen at your schools. You make your union strong!
I’ll Stay Out of Politics When Politics Stays Out of My Classroom
Last month, we shared SDEA’s
strategic plan with members. As we shared, we are not engaged in separate small battles but one big fight
for the schools our students deserve.
It is our contract campaign
that is the foundation for all our work moving forward. Our success
depends on building deep and powerful
structures at our schools and in our programs.
We must build these structures
to win our contract fight, which we all know is connected to our fight to elect a
pro-public education school board. These
battles are also connected to the fight to pass the Schools and Communities First
initiative that will infuse more than $11 billion dollars into California’s schools, public services, and
neighborhoods.
As you can see, much of this work
is political. Working to elect school board members, lobbying
legislators, and putting funding initiatives on the ballot are our new reality.
For too long, we hoped our
local and state elected officials would do the right thing when it
came to public education. Now, we see that we cannot always depend on those folks to make good decisions,
even when they run on pro-public education platforms.
Whether it’s class size or
Special Education or even what time our schools start, there are lots
of people out there, most of them non-educators, who like to tell us what we should
be doing in our classrooms. There are even more who want to see our
classrooms transformed into private spaces that generate profits, as opposed
to well-educated citizens who have the skills and knowledge to demand a better
world.
We must be proactive in making sure
the right people and the right policies are in place so that we have a true
voice in what happens in our classrooms.
SDEA hasn’t always made politics
a priority, but we can no longer ignore politics because politics won’t ignore me or you or our classrooms.
Together, we can raise our
voices over those of the privatizers and reformers and advocate for
ourselves and our students. Together, we can ensure that there are
enough resources to build the schools our students deserve.
Tentative Agreement Reached on 2019-20 Wages!
Click here for a video overview of the Tentative Agreement:
After more than two months of bargaining and a marathon 14-hour bargaining session on Wednesday, the SDEA Bargaining Team is proud to announce that we reached a tentative agreement on pay improvements with SDUSD.
Last, best, and final offer from SDEA Team
Wednesday evening at 10PM the SDEA team made our last, best, and final offer to SDUSD for a 3.7% raise and $2500 longevity stipend. This afternoon SDUSD called to accept our offer and sign the deal. Here's what we won:
3.7% across-the-board raise for everyone on Jan. 1
Every SDEA unit member will get a 3.7% raise next school year, on Jan. 1,
2020.
One lump raise, not spread out
The 3.7% raise we won isn’t like the so-called 3.5% raise that SDUSD
proposed via email on May 30, the one you might have heard about in the news.
That proposal took a 3.5% raise and spread it out over two years,
shortchanging teachers. In contrast, we won one lump 3.7% raise, effective Jan.
1, 2020. Period.
Taking the top of the teacher
pay scale to $100,771 in 2019-20
The top of the teacher pay scale will cross the $100k threshold for the
first time ever, going from $97,176 right now to $100,771 next year! SDEA
Bargaining Team member and math teacher Ron Reese noted that new teachers
benefit too. “This raise will also help keep newer teachers here in San Diego.
It will help us afford to live in the city we teach in,” Ron said.
$2500 annual longevity stipend after 22 years takes teacher earnings up to $103,271 in 2020-21
We won a $2500 annual longevity stipend after 22 years, which will be effective in 2020-21. For most members, that means you’ll get the longevity stipend after being on Step 17 for 6 years. SDEA Bargaining Team member and kindergarten teacher Sara Holerud said, “I’m so glad we’re finally over $100k at our top step, and that we addressed the need for longevity pay for our most experienced co-workers.” For a teacher at the top of the pay scale, this will take 2020-21 pay to $103,271.
What’s next?
SDEA members vote. Because we’re a democratic union, SDEA members vote on whether to accept this Tentative Agreement as part of a three-part agreement that includes earlier Tentative Agreements on special ed and safety. If you’re not yet a union member, you can join now to vote.
Voting will take place online from July 8 - 19. Look for an email to your personal email address with voting instructions. Voting will also take place in person at the SDEA office.
3 ways to learn more before voting:
- View the highlights of the Tentative Agreement. (Takes 5 min.)
- Read the 3-page Tentative Agreement Summary. (Takes 15 min.)
- Read the 3-part Tentative Agreement itself. (Takes 20+ min. )
You can read proposals exchanged on Wednesday between our bargaining team and SDUSD's
SDEA Bargaining Team: Teri Ang, Drama Teacher, Mann MS; Kisha Borden, SDEA President and Teacher; Rickeena Boyd-Kamei, Home/Hospital Teacher; Lindsay Burningham, Teacher, E. B. Scripps El., Sarah Darr, SLP, Millennial Tech MS & Scripps Ranch HS; Jared Enyart, Education Specialist, Mission Bay HS; Mary Gantz, Nurse; Sara Holerud, Teacher, Baker El.; Eri Nall, Counselor; Ron Reese, Math Teacher, Henry HS; plus SDEA staff Abdul Sayid, Executive Director and Morgan Thornberry, Organizer
Fulton Teachers Fix Leaky Roof with Union Power!
For months, teachers at Fulton K-8 struggled with a leaky roof. Water-logged ceiling tiles fell into the classroom. Puddles formed on the bathroom floor. It affected teachers across the campus. As the rain wore on, we kept hearing that maintenance was backlogged and Fulton would have to wait. But Fulton teachers know better! We had a union meeting to talk about taking action. Our union contract gives us the right to a safe working environment. Leaks violated that, so we had a grievance. However, we decided not to file a grievance. We wanted a solution within a week, and worried that layers of administrators could draw out the grievance process. So we came up with a plan to organize!
We had to get specific about the solution: we wanted the roof fixed in 1 week, or an action plan to fix it. The BSS or principal couldn’t do that, though. The decision-maker with power to give us what we wanted was the head of Maintenance. We decided on a coordinated email campaign, with every teacher sending an email to him on the same day with photos of leak damage. This showed our unity.
What if the District didn’t give us our solution? We planned for that! If it wasn’t solved in one week, we’d make a parent flyer about the leaky roof, asking parents to call the head of Maintenance. All of us would pass it out in front of school. But we didn’t have to do that because… after every teacher emailed the head of Maintenance, they met our one week deadline to fix the leaks! They even came in on the weekend to finish the repairs!
Bargaining Update: SDEA Wins Major SPED Improvements
Shortly after midnight on March 19, after 15+ hours of bargaining, SDEA won agreement on a hard cap of 20 for all current Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists. This hard cap will be in effect in the fall of 2020, with caseload reductions to begin immediately in the fall of 2019. If this agreement is ratified, we will have one of the best caseload caps and the strongest SPED contract language in the state of California.
This tentative agreement is a direct result of the powerful organizing that SDEA members have engaged in around special education understaffing this year!
New Caseload Cap of 20
The implementation of the hard cap of 20 will be staggered.
Effective fall 2019, the following caseload protections will be in effect:
- The District will be required to hire 26 more Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers, above and beyond current staffing levels, for next year.
- There will be one job title of Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teacher for all current Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists.
- All Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers will have a caseload of 20.
- The District will allocate Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers to sites at a 20:1 ratio for the 2019-20 school year.
- During the 2019-20 school year, if a caseload increases to 21 or 22 students, the affected teacher will receive a stipend of $324 per month unless and until the caseload is reduced to 20.
- Caseload overages of 23 or more students will trigger an automatic staffing allocation increase. Failure to fill the new vacancy will be subject to the grievance procedure.
- Any current Resource Specialist who could be adversely affected by the elimination of the Resource Specialist job classification will be fully protected from loss of employment.
Effective fall 2020, the hard cap of 20 will be in effect as follows:
- All Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers will have a hard cap caseload of 20.
- Caseload overages of 21 or more students will trigger an automatic staffing allocation increase. Failure to fill the new vacancy will be subject to the grievance procedure.
New Workload Protections
Additionally, the following new rights around assessments and staffing assignments will be in place effective in the fall of 2019:
- A cap on new initial or PPPSS assessments for Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers who are at full caseload, with additional staffing support, release time or hourly pay after the fourth initial/PPPSS assessment.
- Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers shall be assigned to no more than three schools.
Caseload Grievance Settlement
Tonight’s agreement also includes settlement of all pending caseload overage grievances as follows:
- A one-time stipend of $1,500 to any Resource Specialist, Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teacher or Education Specialist: Moderate/Severe teacher with a caseload overage during the 2018-19 school year.
- Affected members will have the opportunity to furnish proof of eligibility for the stipend until June 30, 2019.
- For the remainder of this year, the District will continue to increase and work to fill allocations for special educators whose caseloads exceed the current caseload limits.
- The District will pay a $1,000 stipend to any member currently on a temporary contract or in layoff status who is willing to become credentialed to teach in a hard-to-staff special education credential area.
- As a result of this settlement, the scheduled class action caseload grievance meeting for Tuesday, March 19 at 3:30 p.m. is CANCELED.
These new rights will greatly improve special educators’ working lives, and more importantly, our students' learning conditions. Yet we all know that there are still important issues for us to solve together to improve special education service in our District beyond what can be addressed at the bargaining table. That’s why the accountability forum with Cindy Marten is still set for 4:00 p.m. on March 20 at the SDEA office (10393 San Diego Mission Rd.). Click HERE to RSVP for the Supt. Marten forum.
Informational meetings about this tentative agreement will be scheduled shortly. The tentative agreement will become effective once our entire reopener bargaining process is done. SDEA will continue reopener bargaining with the District on Wages and Safety for the remainder of this school year. SDEA’s bargaining team will fight to have a full tentative agreement on all three for ratification by June. In the meantime, the District will move forward with implementing the agreed-upon staffing improvements for the 2019-20 school year, and will allocate staff to schools accordingly.
Together we are stronger!