Native American Heritage Month Book Program - November 2023
Stories of Native History and Cultural Ways is a book distribution program in November 2023 (Native American Heritage Month) sponsored by SDUSD's Indian Education Program and Ethnic Studies Department. It is intended to develop awareness, understanding, knowledge, and respect about Native American history, cultural traditions, resistance movements, and lived experiences.
- 500 elementary & 100 secondary teachers get 3 Native American books (Nov. 4th distribution or by Nov. 6th)
- 35 secondary teachers attending the Nov. 4th Ethnic Studies Conference receive
Hoover High Community School Program Highlighted by CTA
Open up this month's CTA Educator magazine to read about how SDEA is leading the way with Community Schools, along with an in-depth look at the work being done at Hoover High School.
Salary Advancement Credits for Watching Recordings of CTA Conferences
Need units for salary advancement? If you’re an SDEA member, our statewide union California Teachers Association (CTA) will pay for up to six university credit units (up to $450 value) for attending virtual conferences. You can watch recordings of CTA Virtual Pass sessions and have the opportunity to accumulate the professional growth hours needed to qualify for university credit units through CSU Chico. Deadline to finish is December 7, 2023. For more information and a step-by-step process on how to claim University Credits, visit: www.CTA.org/Credit. To view the Virtual Pass course library, visit: www.CTA.org/VirtualPass. For any questions, please contact VirtualPass@CTA.org.
Process for Addressing Caseload Overages in the 2023-24 School Year
In Fall 2022, SDEA staff filed a unionwide grievance for Mild/Moderate & Moderate/Severe caseload overages. We have reached an agreement and have won a settlement that provides significantly more compensation for SDEA members than settlements provided in past school years. Read the full agreement and find out if you are eligible in this Contract Win! SPED Caseload Overage Agreement for 2022-2023 School Year flyer.
The District and SDEA have come to an agreement to implement a process to remedy caseload overages that occur due to the reassignment of students from a colleague’s leave of absence or a vacancy in the 2023-24 school year. Read the full agreement and find the summary at the bottom of this Contract Win! SPED Caseload Overage Agreement for 2022-2023 School Year flyer.
Evaluations for 2023-24 School Year
If this is your evaluation year, the traditional Stull Evaluation process has been replaced by a choice between the Educator Effectiveness and Empowerment (E3) Growth and Development Model or the Alternative Evaluation outlined in Section 14.7 of our union contract. The prior requirement of members to be in permanent status with five year’s teaching experience in order to qualify for an Alternative Evaluation will no longer apply.
The E3 model is voluntary for all bargaining unit members. 2023-24 is the first year E3 is available to School Nurses, Audiologists, and Librarians; therefore, the educators from these groups who choose to participate in E3 in the 2023-2024 school year will be deemed effective for their evaluation cycle. All other educators must complete the steps within the MyPGD platform and make progress on their goal or be rated “Accomplishing” in all CSTPs or UBPs, in order to be deemed effective for this year’s cycle.
Find the E3 timeline and Evaluation Side Letter here.
Fully-Paid Family Healthcare Locked In
In addition to the 15% salary increase that we will all see in our paychecks this school year, our SDEA union educator organizing efforts also resulted in a stellar new contract that locks in our fully-paid family healthcare for the next 2 school years. We are the only large district in San Diego County with fully-paid family healthcare and this critical benefit is essential to attracting and keeping the highest quality educators at our schools! In addition, healthcare premium costs are rising, so it’s essential to protect our standard-setting benefits in this volatile environment.
Our strength as a union is the foundation of the historic new contract that we will be starting to implement this school year. The reality is that district leadership didn't just "give" us the union contract we wanted. We organized to fight for it. Each collective action we took -- from t-shirt days to rallies and pickets -- built our solidarity and pushed the district closer to saying "yes." None of us has that power alone, but together, we have the power to win improvements to educator working conditions that are our students’ learning conditions. The source of our strength is that 95% of us choose to be SDEA members. Are you?
CTA Retirement Workshop on Monday, September 11
You’re never too young or old to learn about your CalSTRS benefits, programs, and services! Register now for upcoming CTA online retirement workshops starting on Monday, September 11 from 4:30-6:30PM. Space is limited!
There will be materials and discussion of the CalSTRS retirement benefit formula, options, Defined Benefit Supplemental program, survivor benefits, legislative changes, and Social Security Offsets. See this flyer for more information on the CTA online retirement workshops including additional dates and a workshop for CalPERS members on Wednesday, November 8.
SDEA members PROTEST THE SCHOOL BOARD next Tuesday, May 16!
We don’t have a tentative agreement, so we will be protesting at the School Board meeting next Tuesday, May 16. We will be declaring impasse if we can’t come to a fair deal for educators and students by the end of this month. If you still have picket signs from March, please bring them to the school board protest. If you have already returned your picket signs, there will be picket signs available at the protest. RSVP Here!
SDEA 2023 General Spring Election Results
The SDEA Spring 2023 election is complete and election results have been posted on the SDEA website. The Election Committee is proud to facilitate this process and thanks all SDEA members who participated in their democratic right. Together We Are Stronger!
Member Feedback on SDEA Budget
The SDEA Bylaws give SDEA members the opportunity to give feedback on some parts of the SDEA Budget. Your AR/CR team will receive a copy of the budget at this month’s Rep. Council. There are budget input sessions scheduled for April 14th and April 24th at 4:30pm. If you would like to attend either of these meetings, please email SDEAPres@sdea.net. Member feedback will then be considered when creating the 2nd reading of the SDEA Budget, which will be presented at the May Rep Council.