Special Education: Reminders & Rights
Special Education: Rights to keep on your radar
Our union contract includes rights to help ensure that students and educators get the support they need! That includes rights to equitable distribution of Special Education caseloads. SDEA leaders and staff have heard from some members about concerning practices:
- IEP clustering: Students with IEPs being placed all in one class in violation of 29.1.6.
- Unbalanced caseloads: Administrators assigning students to Special Education caseloads strategically to avoid paying the caseload penalty payments that are a right recently won in 29.1.3.3.
If you are experiencing these, make sure to speak with your site rep immediately! Enforcing our contractual rights helps hold the District accountable for providing students the support they need.
For Ed Specialists:
- Were you over caseload in the 2023-24 and/or 2024-25 school years? If so, did you get your settlement check already? If not, August 31 is the deadline to submit appeal forms! See more here.
- It’s a good idea to keep a record of your caseload each week or whenever it changes, to submit as evidence if the District doesn’t pay you an overage stipend or breaks the contract in any other way. Download or print a caseload report from PowerSchool IEP with a date and timestamp. You are the one who knows your caseload best! (Remember: The District still hasn’t finished calculating exactly who was over caseload in last school year!)
Protect Our Schools & Healthcare: YES on 3!
Last Spring, SDEA members and union educators statewide gathered signatures to get Prop 3 on the ballot this November. This proposition would make permanent the tax on California’s top 2% that has funded smaller class sizes, school lunches, mental health supports, and Medi-Cal coverage for millions of families during the last 15 years. If Prop 3 doesn’t pass, that funding expires in 2030… triggering massive cuts and layoffs for 1 in 6 educators statewide. (Those who were teachers or students during the Great Recession may remember what we could face if this funding expires.)
This Fall, we need to spread the word: Vote YES on 3! With crowded ballots and inboxes full of political ads, it’s easy for voters to tune out. That’s why our communities need to hear from trusted educators like us… because when teachers talk about what schools need, voters listen!
Our wealthy state can afford to fund public education. Our students can’t afford the cuts if we don’t.
- Learn more about Prop 3
- Sign up to Canvass
- Spread the word about why this school funding matters to YOU by recording a video or join a 30-minute messaging workshop to feel more confident about how to talk about school funding with your communities.
Site and program reps learned more about Prop 3 at Union Academy last week… and they’ll have more to share with you at September union meetings!
You're invited to a book swap!
Calling all CTA educators! As you begin the school year, are you reorganizing your bookshelves? Looking to build a diverse classroom library? Come to a book swap!
🗓️ Sat, Aug 22
📍 SDEA Union Hall: San Diego Mission Rd #100
⏰ 9:30 - 10 AM Light breakfast & networking
📚 10 - 11 AM Swap hours
🔗 Please register by Aug 17:
bit.ly/sdeareac82226
Brought to you by the Black Panther Party SD & CTA San Diego Service Center Racial Equity Affairs Committee (REAC)
Raise Implementation
Your 5% Raise is Official
This afternoon, the District notified SDEA Leaders that while the recently adopted state budget still illegally withholds $3.9 billion in funding guaranteed by Prop. 98, enough new revenue was included in the budget to allow the District to implement our bargained 5% raise. All members will see this 5% raise to their salary reflected on their next paycheck, moving forward, starting either on the July payroll for members on 12-pay or on the August payroll for members on 10-pay. Retroactive payment for the 2.5% raise for the 2025-2026 school year will be issued to members no later than the end of November.
While we still must hold state leaders accountable for fully funding our schools, the implementation of our bargained raises immediately benefits our students by helping all of our great educators to afford the rising cost of living in one of the country’s most expensive regions.
Contemplating Retirement?
With the exception of members who retired on the last workday of their assignment for the 2025-2026 work year or 2026 summer school assignment, retroactive payment requires that members be employed by the District at the time the payment is made. Members considering separation, either through retirement or resignation, should keep this in mind when determining their last day of employment. Members may not receive the retroactive payment if their last work day before their retirement or resignation date is prior to the retroactive payment date.
Movie Night & Filmmaker Q&A: WTO/99
Go to the movies this summer to learn about the Seattle WTO protests in 1999: A "watershed moment in modern history" with connections to how communities & labor are standing up for democracy today.
????️ Fri July 10 @ 7 PM
???? Digital Gym Cinema
???? Learn more, see the trailer, & get tickets to see this documentary - including a filmmaker Q&A:
ACTION ALERT: Protest the withholding of Prop 98 funds!
URGENT: Show up Thursday to Protest Withholding of Prop 98 Funds!
California elected officials are still making decisions on next year's budget, & we can't let Prop 98 funds continue to be withheld. Our schools need MORE resources, not cuts! Come rally for public school funding with fellow educators and community members - our window to protect this funding is closing, and we can't afford to balance the budget on the backs of our students. Read more here, but most importantly... show up!
Rally to Fully Fund Prop 98:
????️ Thurs, June 18
⏰ 11:00 AM
????Meet at Norman Park: 270 F St, Chula Vista, CA 91910
☀️ Family friendly: Bring your kids, bring your friends, & bring your own water
???? RSVP here!
Call & Email David Alvarez:
Can't make it on Thursday? Showing up in person (and in a crowd!) is most impactful, but if you cannot attend, take a moment to call & email Assemblymember David Alvarez, the Chair of the Ed Finance Committee.
???? Sacramento office 916-319-2080 / Chula Vista District Office 619-498-8580
✉️ Calling is more effective, but you can also email by clicking “Contact” on this website
????️Suggested Script:
(Always share your name and address if you're a constituent!)
"Vote NO on the proposed budget. It is unconstitutional. It does NOT fully fund public education under Prop. 98. San Diego County students shouldn't lose out on $380 million!"
Spread the word:
Amplify this action by sharing these social media posts on Instagram, Facebook, & Bluesky.
Ed Specialist Caseload Grievance Settlements: 2023-24 & 2024-25
Ed Specialist Caseload Grievance Settlements: Settling past overages
In February 2026, after years of pressure, SDEA members won a settlement of several years of Special Education caseload grievances… along with a new contract with more enforceable caseload language.
2023-24 and 2024-25 School Years
*See note below regarding the 2025-26 school year
The District has compiled caseload data to pay Ed Specialists the settlement stipends they are owed for unresolved grievances for the 2023-24 and 2024-25* school years, and educators have the opportunity to cross-check the District’s data and correct errors if needed. Educators know their caseloads best!
- SDEA Know Your Rights: Understand the grievance settlement payments and appeal process with this KYR flyer
- District Data: Check your caseload data and stipends owed, searching by your ID number - see the KYR flyer for tips on how to read this exhibit:
District Exhibit: SPED Caseload Overage Data for 2023-2024 & 2024-2025 School Years
👉 Note: The District has shared that educators listed on the exhibit can expect to receive their payments by July 31, 2026.
- District Appeal Forms: See an error that would change your payment? (Hint: Use flowchart below!) Fill out an appeal form for the year the error occurred. Deadline: August 31, 2026
Do I need to turn in an appeal form?
How do I know how much I am owed in this settlement?
2025-26 School Year
As this school year ends, the District is compiling this information to provide an Exhibit and Appeal Form. Check back soon and keep an eye on your email if you were over caseload in 2025-26. This year's stipends will be paid as one sum retroactively since the school year is already over, but going forward stipends must be paid monthly after overages.
Going Forward: A simpler ongoing process
2026-2027 School Year
- Moving forward with our improved, more enforceable contract, the District must pay a penalty payment in the form of a set monthly stipend to any Ed Specialist who is over caseload, to compensate educators and pressure the District to fill vacancies quickly.
- The amount of stipends negotiated in the new contract are slightly different than the stipends in the grievance settlement for the previous 2 years' grievance settlement, but the ranges are the same.
Check back soon and keep an eye on your email for monthly exhibits if you are over caseload.
Family events around San Diego this summer
Check out some fun local events shared by your fellow SDEA members:
Attend Santee Pride this Saturday, May 30, and stop at the SD Service Center Equity Team’s booth! Help show the community that union educators support the LGBTQ+ community and that students are safe with us.
Check out the 4th Annual San Diego Lao Food Festival on Saturday, June 20 in Escondido. This 1 day event showcases the diverse and rich cuisine of Laos, on Sign up as a volunteer to get a free meal & T-shirt!
2026 Juneteenth Freedom Day Brunch
Letters in Solidarity: We Can’t Give Up - The Struggle Continues!
We Can’t Give Up - The Struggle Continues!
As this school year winds down and we head into our much-deserved summer break, let’s celebrate our collective victories over the last 4 school years that we all fought so hard to win together as SDEA union educators:
- Over 20% in pay increases & protecting our fully paid family healthcare to maintain the best total compensation in the county
- Stopping the layoffs of hundreds of the newest educators in our schools
- Almost completely eliminating fall excessing that was so disruptive to our school communities
- Establishing 39 community schools for next school year, a safe sleeping site for our unhoused students at the former Central Elementary campus and protections for immigrant and LGBTQ communities being targeted by the bully in the White House
- Winning significant solutions to finally address years-long unresolved caseload overage grievances and the special education staffing crisis in our district
Our historic next contract is a testament to all the hard work it took to get strike-ready for the first time in 30 years in SDUSD. When we achieved our goal of more than 90% of SDEA union educators voting to authorize a strike, we left the district with no other choice but to shut down schools on the day of our strike because they knew that you can’t run schools without us! This gave our SDEA Bargaining Team maximum power to push the limits of what was possible in our next contract because we had the full force of more than 6000 mobilized SDEA union educators behind us.
We now have the foundation to build to maximum power once again with our We Can’t Wait sister unions across California to create the momentum needed to:
- Increase funding for public schools in the wealthiest state in the country
- Secure major improvements in our contract around salaries, class sizes, caseloads and ratios for student support professionals like SLPs, psychologists, nurses and counselors
- Defeat rising authoritarianism and fascism in our country
We can accomplish all of this through escalating our collective actions and building our union power in the next phase of our We Can’t Wait contract campaign, just like we did so successfully over the last 2 school years. This is our opportunity to develop a bargaining platform with even more ambitious demands and get ready for potential open-ended, economic strikes in 2028 to win big on all the things.
It is easy to get discouraged with the threats to public education and unions from the federal administration and to our funding from the Governor who continues to withhold the funds in budget negotiations for our 5% raise that is needed to staff hard-to-fill positions like special education. But we can’t give up - the struggle continues and all of us are critical to win this fight for the schools and communities our students deserve! Onward!
