Pregnancy Leave
An overview of Pregnancy Leave
The California Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) Law requires employers to provide up to 4 months of
leave for employees who are disabled by pregnancy, with or without pay. However, certificated
employees are eligible under the union contract to receive paid leave before and after their delivery,
through use of their accumulated sick leave, and up to an additional 100 work days of half-pay sick leave
once they exhaust their full-pay sick leave.
Parental Leave
What are the new laws concerning Parental/Bonding leave?
As of January 2016, all certificated employees now have the right to take 12 workweeks of paid parental
or bonding leave. Employees are eligible for this leave if they have worked for the school district for one
continuous school year. This law applies to mothers, fathers, adoptive parents, and foster parents. For
Virtual CTA Retirement Trainings
You’re never too young or old to learn about your CalSTRS benefits, programs, and services. Our union, through CTA, conducts retirement training throughout the school year. At these trainings 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. The next trainings are on Tuesday, February 7, Tuesday, March 7, Thursday, March 9 and Tuesday, April 4 from 4:30-6:30 pm. Follow this link for more information about how you can sign up for this upcoming training.
NEA Teacher Grants
Innovate your teaching instruction in 2023 with a grant from the NEA Foundation. Check out their Envision Equity, Student Success and Learning and Leadership grants for union members today. Apply by February 1 to receive a grant from $1.5k to $5k. For more info see the NEA Foundation website and the How to Apply for A Grant video.
CTA Scholarships and Grants
It's that time of the year again! The following scholarships, grants and awards are currently available to SDEA members and their dependent children.
Deadline: January 27, 2023
The CTA Scholarships offer scholarships in the following categories. Scholarship funds must be used for education-related expenses only.
Dependent Children
This program offers up to 35 scholarships of up to $5,000 each to a dependent child of an active member of CTA, CTA/NEA-Retired or a deceased CTA member and be claimed as a dependent on the member's current year's IRS form.
Dependent Children in Honor of Del A. Weber
This program offers one scholarship of up to $5,000 to a dependent child attending or attended continuation high school/alternative education programs.
Members
This program offers up to five scholarships of up to $3,000 each to active members of CTA (including members working on an emergency credential).
CTA Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Scholarship
Deadline: February 10, 2023
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Scholarship Program encourages Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) students to become educators, school nurses, school counselors or school therapists and to promote professional growth for BIPOC teachers and Education Support Professionals (ESP) members.
César E. Chávez and Dolores Huerta Education Award Program
Deadline: March 3, 2023
This award program provides recognition for educators and their students who demonstrate an understanding of the vision and guiding principles embraced by César E. Chávez and Dolores Huerta.
The NEA Foundation Awards for Teaching Excellence
Deadline: March 3, 2023
The NEA Foundation Awards for Teaching Excellence recognize, reward, and promote both excellence in teaching and advocacy for the profession. The awards are presented jointly by the National Education Association (NEA) and the NEA Foundation.
LGBTQ+ Safety in Schools Grant & Scholarship Program
Deadline: May 31, 2023
The grant program will support groups, projects and presentations that promote understanding of and respect for LGBTQ+ persons. In addition, the scholarship program will support self-identified LGBTQ+ members enrolled in a teacher/counseling credential or graduate program who are pursuing a career in public education and who understand the importance of LGBTQ+ educators as role models in our public schools.
Independent Study Contracts FAQ
AB 181, the most recent California education funding bill, renewed the requirement to provide synchronous instruction, live interaction and IEP services for students who are on Independent Study (IS) contracts for 15+ cumulative days during the 2022-23 school year. This SDEA Independent Study Contracts FAQ is intended to help members navigate expectations around IS Contracts.
CTA Institute for Teaching (IFT) Grant Program
Did you know that there is a teacher directed/run grant program that can help you fund innovative instructional programs at your school? The Institute for Teaching (IFT) helps all students and schools by awarding grants directly to CTA members and local chapters. To date, CTA members have funded 501 grant projects totaling more than $5.8 million. All CTA members are eligible to apply for an Educator grant (up to $5,000) or an Impact grant (up to $20,000). You must be a member to apply.
The next round IFT grants applications will open up on December 1, 2022 and run through March 31, 2023. Follow this link for more information.
ACTION ALERT: Flood the School Board on Dec. 13!
This year SDEA members are fighting for a new union contract to Recover, Rebuild, and Rise Together!
The SDEA Bargaining Team has proposed a lot of big changes, which are based on direct feedback at bargaining input sessions last year, in contract bargaining, including:
- A significant pay raise
- Summer healthcare coverage for temporary contract members
- Double paid maternity leave from 3 to 6 weeks
- Double elementary prep time from <1 hour/week to 2 hours/week
- Protect secondary prep time by prohibiting meetings
Thousands of SDEA members have taken action in support during September’s Solidarity Sticker Week, October’s Family Flyer Week, and wearing red on a bargaining day.
But what have we heard from the District on our bargaining proposals? Crickets! The District hasn’t responded to any of these really important proposals from SDEA members.
That’s why SDEA members are going to flood the school board meeting on Dec. 13! We’re rallying at the school board meeting at the Education Center. If each school sends 3-6 members (depending on size), we will have a huge showing!
CTA Human Rights Award Nominations
Do you know a fellow union educator who is a human rights champion? The goal of the CTA Human Rights Awards Program is to recognize the work of educators who promote the advancement and protection of human and civil rights. Nominees must be active CTA members. All award nominations must be submitted online on or before Wednesday, November 30, 2022.
CTA Scholarships
Applications are now available for educational scholarships that support CTA members, dependent children of active members and Student CTA members throughout the academic year with funds to be used for education-related purposes.
Deadline: Friday, January 27, 2023
Scholarship Amount: up to $5,000Questions? Email scholarships@cta.org