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2022 Election Wins Educators and Our Students

There’s much to be thankful for in our recent election wins! Both of the SDEA member-endorsed candidates running for the SDUSD School Board have handily won their races. 

Shana Hazan has won her District B school board seat with an overwhelming 60% of the vote. 

The other SDEA member-endorsed candidate, Dr. Cody Petterson in school board District C,  notched a solid win as well. Cody is currently commanding 56% of the vote share in his race.

Lastly, San Diego’s voters have voted to further invest in our schools with passage of Measure U. Measure U will fund site modernization, security upgrades, and in a first for our county–SDUSD workforce housing development on surplus district properties. 

by nnajera

SDEA TK Union Meetings (10/26 and 11/3)

Wow! A lot is happening in TK, isn’t it? Elementary educators already know that during the pandemic, SDUSD overhauled Early Childhood Education and TK. On the plus side, thousands of children who previously were not enrolled in full-time school are now learning in a play-based setting. But not everything has been going smoothly.

Educators who are impacted by the quickly expanding SDUSD TK program will have a union meeting to discuss TK issues and make a plan of action. SDUSD owes it to our youngest learners to implement TK the right way.
If you are an impacted educator, register for one of two (in-person) union meetings happening at the SDEA Union Hall on Wednesday, October 26th: 4:15 -5:45 PM or Thursday, November 3rd: 4:15 -5:45 PM. Pizza and drinks will be provided.

by nnajera

Last Chance! The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Waiver Ends Oct. 31

Since 2021, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Waiver has provided $10 billion in student loan forgiveness for over 175,000 educators and public service workers, but it is ending on Oct. 31. After October, the program will return to its regular program requirements. This means if you had any past periods of ineligibility, those will no longer count for PSLF. (This waiver is separate from the one-time student loan forgiveness plan President Biden announced in August.)

Join the NEA PSLF waiver webinar on Tuesday, 10/18 from 4-5 p.m. PST to find out more. Register here.

The PSLF program cancels any remaining federal student loan debt for eligible government and nonprofit workers, including many teachers, after they have made 120 qualifying monthly payments. While some federal loans and payment plans did not qualify under earlier PSLF rules, under the waiver, all payments are eligible.Eligible borrowers may be required to consolidate their debt by Oct. 31 in addition to submitting a PSLF waiver application.

by nnajera

Last Chance! The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Waiver Ends Oct. 31

Since 2021, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Waiver has provided $10 billion in student loan forgiveness for over 175,000 educators and public service workers, but it is ending on Oct. 31. After October, the program will return to its regular program requirements. This means if you had any past periods of ineligibility, those will no longer count for PSLF. (This waiver is separate from the one-time student loan forgiveness plan President Biden announced in August.)

Join the NEA PSLF waiver webinar on Tuesday, 10/18 from 4-5 p.m. PST to find out more. Register here.

The PSLF program cancels any remaining federal student loan debt for eligible government and nonprofit workers, including many teachers, after they have made 120 qualifying monthly payments. While some federal loans and payment plans did not qualify under earlier PSLF rules, under the waiver, all payments are eligible.

Eligible borrowers may be required to consolidate their debt by Oct. 31 in addition to submitting a PSLF waiver application.

by nnajera

SDEA 2022 Election Endorsements

The SDEA Representative Council approved the endorsements for SDUSD School Board of Shana Hazan for subdistrict B and Dr. Cody Petterson for subdistrict C. The Political Involvement Committee (PIC), which is made up of SDEA members, interviewed prospective candidates for both seats in December and the PIC recommendations of Shana and Cody were approved by the SDEA Board of Directors in January.

Dr. Cody Petterson, SDEA’s endorsed candidate for SDUSD School Board subdistrict C, is Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Senior Advisor for Education and Environment for San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, union lecturer at UCSD, and parent of students in the La Jolla cluster. He is the president of the San Diego County Democrats for Environmental Action and a board member of several environmental justice organizations.

Cody has consistently organized alongside union educators and has lobbied our federal, state, and local officials on numerous education justice issues. He is a committed advocate for Universal Pre-K, Ethnic Studies, Community Schools, Career and Technical Education and strengthening the district’s implementation of restorative practices.

Shana Hazan, SDEA’s endorsed candidate for SDUSD School Board subdistrict B, is a community leader, former union public school teacher, and parent of a student in the Hoover cluster. She is the chair of the City of San Diego’s Human Relations Commission, president of the Friends of Franklin Elementary School Foundation, a member of her School Site Council, and a member of San Diego Unified’s District Advisory Council on Compensatory Education.

Shana collaborated with educators at Franklin Elementary to boost enrollment, improve the instructional program, and secure resources to support high-quality teaching and learning. She worked alongside teachers at community events and on campus to encourage neighborhood families to enroll at Franklin and is a champion for expanding this work districtwide.

SDUSD Measure U (San Diego Student Safety, Health, and School Repair Measure)

Your elected SDEA ARs & CRs (collectively known as the Representative Council) recently voted to endorse SDUSD Measure U (San Diego Student Safety, Health, and School Repair Measure) for the November 2022 election. SDUSD Proposition Z school maintenance bond funds will expire this fall and the other two current SDUSD bonds will also expire soon. The state and federal government do not provide sufficient funding to maintain SDUSD schools ($245 million yearly deterioration/backlog) and without bond funding, resources in the district’s general fund could be potentially diverted away from other priorities in our SDEA contract bargaining platform.

Highlights of the bond include:

• Maintaining highest standard air ventilation and filtration measures when federal COVID relief funds expire
• Maintaining Boxlight interactive displays and 1:1 student devices
• Replacing portables with permanent classrooms
• Solar energy systems and upgrades to facilities reduce greenhouse gas emissions needed to meet climate action goals
• Affordable teacher and employee housing for first time in an SDUSD bond
• Independent Citizens Oversight Committee to provide accountability and oversight

The general election will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Mail in ballots will be arriving at voters' homes starting October 11, 2022. This will be the first year with subdistrict only school board elections and the current political climate shows us that we will need to redouble our efforts to maintain our pro-public education and pro-worker board. SDEA members can donate to our Political Action Committee to increase the funds available to support our endorsed candidates. The SDEA PAC Contribution Form is easy to fill out and now available online!

by nnajera

SDEA Scholarship Deadline

SDEA annually offers scholarships for members and members’ dependents. The Dependent Application is for graduating seniors and current college-enrolled students, who are dependents of a current SDEA member. The Member Application is for current SDEA members who wish to further their education. Applications can be found here on the SDEA website. The deadline to submit applications is Friday, May 6th at 5pm.

by nnajera

COVID Leave Win!!

After months of work to push the District on improving COVID leave, an agreement was reached this week. The new agreement expands the previous COVID leave benefits (Section 2.g) to include caring for yourself, caring for a family member and vaccine-related issues. The agreement requires the District to provide paid leave to SDEA members who fall into the aforementioned categories. This Know Your Rights (KYR) flyer gives an in-depth explanation of this agreement.

by nnajera

SDUSD Mask Mandate Decision

This past July, SDEA members overwhelmingly
approved a safety agreement that called for the District to follow state public
health directives and implement any changes in a timely fashion.

Effective March 14, the California Department
of Public Health (CDPH) has lifted the masking requirement in schools, but also
delegated decision-making authority around masks to local school districts.
SDUSD’s decision to plan to follow CDC COVID-19 Community Levels as its guide
for determining masking in schools is in line with the agreement approved by
educators back in July–and the updated state guidance from CDPH. Nevertheless, if
cases do increase it's going to be critically important that masks are
reincorporated to respond to those potential increases.

Starting on April 4, masks will not be
required in SDUSD schools, but will continue to be strongly encouraged for
staff, students and other visitors to our school campuses. Additionally, SDEA's
agreement with SDUSD continues to require improved ventilation and weekly
access to testing.

by nnajera