Organizing to support students at Alcott Elementary
The power of having a union contract is the power to advocate for our shared priorities and ultimately to have what we need to support our students. This takes a variety of forms:
- We make sure our union contract meets current needs by identifying collective priorities each time we come to the bargaining table to bargain our next contract. SDEA members are ready to go to the bargaining table this month with a platform built and ratified by members.
- We assert our contractual rights through the grievance process when necessary.
- Most importantly, we build daily solidarity within our communities!
Successfully addressing violations of our contractual rights is essential, even when the process takes time! Ideally, union members can also meet urgent needs quickly by organizing with their colleagues. See some examples of how fellow SDEA members used site-based organizing to solve immediate needs in their schools:
Alcott Elementary organized to get the prep time necessary to support their students!
This Fall, SDEA members at Alcott Elementary flexed their union muscle to support students with IEPs, and they came out stronger than before.
Alcott is a small school with just ten classroom teachers, nine of whom had more than 20% of students in the classes with IEPs. According to section 29.7.2.1 of the SDEA contract, they tried to create a support plan with the principal. They proposed multiple support plans but could not get the principal to agree to any of them. Some might have given up, but not these educators.
One option was to file a grievance over a violation of section 29.7.2.1 of the union contract. But Alcott SDEA members didn’t want to wait for the grievance process to run its course. Instead, they organized for a speedy solution.
First, union members had a union meeting to build consensus on a solution. They decided they wanted 15 prep days shared among the ten teachers.
Then they created a petition to the principal very clearly calling for 15 preparation days. 100% of the union members signed it. Instead of just putting the petition in the principal’s mailbox, all the union members marched up to the principal to deliver the petition as a group.
The principal couldn’t ignore them. He reacted by offering 2 of the requested 15 prep days (with the possibility of more, he said.) He said that was as much as the site budget would allow. 2 out of 15 didn’t sound good, so they didn’t back down.
A small group created a simple paper survey that asked one question: “Are you satisfied with the principal’s response?” It invited members to a union meeting on December 4, explaining, “If this problem isn’t resolved by then, we will review the survey results and make a plan of action.”
Guess what happened the day before the union meeting? The principal announced that he’d found the money in the budget to pay for 15 release preparation days! So instead of using the union meeting to plan the next action on the principal, they used it to celebrate.
Grievances vs. Organizing
While grievances are a formal way to remedy violations of our contractual rights and strengthen our contract in the long term, Alcott is an example of how organizing around shared priorities got results without waiting for the grievance process.
Have an urgent issue at your site that you hope to solve? Talk to your colleagues and bring it up at your next union meeting!
Want to join the SDEA Communications Team?
Are you interested in being more involved in union communications? Consider joining the SDEA Communications Team. This member-driven group will brainstorm ways to improve outreach, share site stories, and create content highlighting member voices.
The idea is to hold regular meetings and involve members and community partners based on their interests and capacity, even if busy educators cannot attend every meeting.
Our initial meeting for 2025 will be on Zoom on Tuesday, Jan 14, 2025 at 4:00pm to...
- Review results of the Fall 2024 Communications Survey
- Plan for upcoming actions
- Brainstorm for the future!
Invites with Zoom Link have been sent to everyone who expressed interest via the Fall Communications Survey, but you can still sign up!
Sign up for the SDEA Communications Team here!
Know Your Rights: Restorative Justice
Part of our contractual rights when it comes to Student Discipline is a Site Restorative Discipline Plan (per section 11.7) and access to ongoing training (per 11.7.7.) See more in the flyers below:
Many sites are currently waiting for information from the District regarding training that will be essential in effectively implementing Restorative Practices at the site and classroom level, so it is more important than ever that SDEA members understand their rights when it comes to Restorative Justice.
See more Know Your Rights flyers and resources here!
NEA Representative Assembly: Declarations of Candidacy
Educators need a voice anywhere that decisions are made.
We have multiple opportunities to advocate for educators, our students and our schools, which is especially important with our current campaigns as union members. The National Education Association Representative Assembly (or NEA-RA) is the highest decision-making body within the NEA, and is the world’s largest democratic deliberative body. Every year, RA delegates debate the vital issues that impact American education and establish policy for the year ahead. It’s more important than ever that SDEA educators are represented. Are you interested in representing your fellow educators at this year’s Representative Assembly? The 2025 NEA Representative Assembly will be held in Portland, OR, from July 2-5, 2025. Apply through the CTA before January 31, 2025! Declaration of Candidacy Forms are available online.
CTA Member Benefits Web Series
There is a new web series available from CTA about the benefits available to all members. See the webinar options below and use the links to sign up:
Session #1
“CTA MB Breaking News: What’s the Scoop on Your Member Benefits?”
As the New Year begins, there’s breaking news from the CTA Member Benefits Department! Many members have set financial goals and we’ll be reporting an update on all the member benefits available. Your MB Reporters will be sharing what benefitsyou have, how to utilize them to stretch your dollar, and provide financial protection to you and your family. After attending this “news report,” you’ll have a better understanding and can share the “good news” with your fellow CTA members.
Wednesday January 15, 2025 4:30-5:30
Session #2
“More Month Than Money: Setting and Living Within a Budget”
If you set a goal to get your finances in order, this session is one you won’t want to miss. We’ll focus on setting financial goals, learning about various investment vehicles, tracking daily expenditures, creating a cash flow statement, and establishing a budget. Throughout our discussion, we’ll highlight many CTA and NEA MemberBenefits designed specifically with CTA Members in mind to help stretch your dollar. CTA Members will leave feeling confident with steps to get their finances on track.
Wednesday January 22, 2025 or Wednesday February 19, 2025 4:30-5:30
Session #3
“Generation Debt: Student Loan Forgiveness”
Suffice it to say with the SAVE Plan tied up in litigation, the election of a new Administration, and potential changes to the US Department of Education, student loans, are top of mind for many educators. CTA Member Benefits is here to share the most current information, help answer questions, explain the loan forgiveness programs, and introduce the NEA Student Debt Navigator powered by Savi, which will analyze members student loans and help facilitate the process of making qualifying payments. By attending this session, members will have a better understanding of the process of forgiveness, paperwork to be filed, and how to advocate for themselves to the loan servicers.
Tuesday January 14, 2025 or Thursday February 6, 2025 4:30-5:30
Session #4
“Retirement 101: Where do I even begin?”
You know planning for retirement is important…however, you don’t know where to begin, money is tight, you might be too busy, you have lesson plans to prepare, or maybe you hope to win the lottery. CTA Member Benefits can’t help you with lesson plans (and the lottery’s a gamble), but by attending this session, you’ll leave with a better understanding of retirement concepts, how to design your retirement plan, and be introduced to the CTA 403(b) Retirement Savings Plan. Plan Fiduciaries will explain how to open and fund a 403(b) to make sure you’re fully prepared for a financially secure retirement.
Wednesday January 29, 2025 or Wednesday February 26, 2025 4:30-5:30
The votes are in: We Can’t Wait!
Last week SDEA members finished voting on our We Can’t Wait bargaining platform. An overwhelming 98% percent of members voted YES to ratify the platform, which was built from bargaining input sessions at 160+ schools and programs and in collaboration with local and statewide coalitions. A platform with demands supported by union educators and our school communities is a platform that we can win! We will “sunshine” this platform at the January 28th SDUSD Board Meeting, which is the official notification that begins the bargaining process.
Final vote tally:
- 4448 total ballots submitted
- 4377 "Yes" votes
- 57 "No" votes
- 15 invalid ballots submitted (e.g., blank, both "Yes" and "No" checked)
SPED caseload grievances: An update & call to action
The District has finally responded to SDEA's union-wide caseload grievance.
This year SDEA filed a unionwide grievance because so many Ed. Specialists have caseloads over the contractual limits. This has been the case for years now, but going into this school year the District still had not responded to the grievance submitted at the beginning of last school year. After months of follow-up and conversations, the District has finally shared a settlement offer for a grievance settlement that addresses both years. The District is proposing monthly stipends based on the highest reported caseloads, ranging from $500 to $2000 depending on how many students were assigned.
Since it took nearly a year and a half to even propose a settlement to the 2023-24 grievance and ongoing staffing shortages have not improved, now there are two unresolved grievances related to caseload overages, for this academic year and last year. Surprisingly, the District included language that the same stipends would be used to preemptively address overages for the current 2024-25 school year.
*Note: The proposal contains references to an Exhibit A (a list of eligible members), which will be generated once the agreement is finalized. In case of discrepancies a Caseload Grievance Appeal Form will also be available. The deadline for that form would also be adjusted based on when we finalize an agreement.
SDEA has not signed off on this offer. It’s too little, too late.
This belated and insufficient offer does not address the urgent needs expressed by Ed. Specialists. The proposed structure of the stipends means that many Ed. Specialists would be getting less compensation as a remedy for being just as overloaded as they were in the past. Additionally, it took District leadership over a year to come up with this offer. This indicates that they simply do not share our sense of urgency to fully staff Special Education positions - a need that our educators and school communities feel acutely every day.
This is part of a bigger picture: An urgent lack of Special Education staffing.
SDEA leaders have heard over and over that while members absolutely deserve to be compensated for the extra work caused by caseload overages, their main concern is that settlement checks alone are not solving the problem of Special Education Staffing. Being over caseload impacts the ability to adequately serve our students, the District's proposed grievance settlement would provide extremely belated and shrinking checks to burned-out educators who are over caseload today.
Mark your calendar: Rally at the January 28th Board Meeting!
SDEA will “sunshine” our We Can’t Wait bargaining platform at the January 28th SDUSD Board Meeting - the official beginning of negotiations. This is also an opportunity for the District to agree to a fair settlement to our caseload overage grievances that better supports SDUSD students, and to show our strength in numbers. Through our collective action, we can make the Board feel that same sense of urgency: It’s time to fully staff our schools and demand concrete solutions to the chronic understaffing of Special Education!
- What: Rally at the San Diego Unified Board Meeting!
- When: Tuesday, January 28th, 2025 - 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- Where: 4100 Normal Street
- How: We’ll rally at the flagpole & walk into the Board meeting together!
Letters in Solidarity: We Are All Special Educators
We hope that everyone had a restful break and are energized for this last stretch with students in 2024 before we move into the new year. 2025 will bring new challenges for our union as president-elect Trump has threatened to cut off all federal funding to California public schools in retaliation for supporting vulnerable students and families.
11% of San Diego Unified’s budget comes from the federal government, which includes Title I funding for low-income students, Title III funding for immigrant and multilingual students, and IDEA funding for students with disabilities. We must be prepared as SDEA union educators to fight to protect our students amidst the chaos of a Trump administration that seeks to eliminate the US Department of Education, privatize our schools, and disrupt our students’ right to a high-quality public education.
Protecting high-needs students starts with taking proactive measures to address the chronic understaffing of Special Education in our district that is impacting all educators as we stretch ourselves thin to pick up the slack of ongoing vacancies. Despite the 15% salary increase that we deserved, fought for, and won in our last contract campaign, SDUSD still cannot find enough special educators to fill the growing number of vacant positions in our schools. Visiting teachers are hired to staff the vacancies, but cannot do case management that is then assigned to other Education Specialists who are already overwhelmed with caseload overages. This creates a vicious cycle where overworked educators leave Special Education, further exacerbating the staffing crisis.
The 17,000+ SDUSD students with disabilities (18% of total enrollment) can’t wait any longer for a solution to Special Education understaffing that is limiting the supports that we can provide to set them up for success. That’s why we advocated for a groundbreaking provision in the Early Retirement Incentive agreement to reimburse educators who agree to teach in Special Education positions for the cost of obtaining an Education Specialist credential. That’s also why the District needs to immediately agree to a fair settlement for our unionwide Education Specialist caseload overage grievance from last school year and provide hope to overloaded educators who continue to be case managing beyond contractual limits.
We are all special educators with the increasing population of high-needs students with IEPs in our classrooms. As the relentless special education staffing crisis continues year after year, we need to find solutions NOW when we see our students being underserved. The centrality of special education in our school system and our organizing is reflected in the We Can’t Wait contract platform that SDEA members are voting to ratify at all schools this month. As we move toward launching our contract campaign in 2025, we will be ready as SDEA leaders who have taught in special education and general education to fight alongside you to win the staffing that our students deserve!
Supporting Students with IEPs: A Collection of Resources
With the chronic understaffing of Special Education in San Diego Unified, many educators are in need of additional resources to sustainably and appropriately support their students. See a list of highlighted resources below.
Have more resources to add to this page? Send them to kennedy_s@sdea.net
Your rights in the SDEA contract
Here are some highlighted Know Your Rights flyers related to recent issues that have come up regarding supporting students with IEPs:
- For Ed Specialists:
- For all educations:
Special Education Resources from CTA
Our state affiliate has a hub of Special Education Resources to support members with a variety of issues related to Special Education:
**You will need to log into your CTA account to access some resources
- A variety of recorded webinars are available, including videos on:
- Co-Teaching
- MTSS
- Class Size and Caseloads
- IEP Rights and Responsibilities
- IEP Meetings - 3 part series meant to inform best practices for IEP team meetings for both new and veteran educators
- Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:
- Navigating Special Education as a General Education Teacher: Slide Deck - This may be useful for site-based professional learning
- Special Education Resources Guide** - This extensive guide has a clickable table of contents and provides information on:
- Special Education issues in the law, including:
- IEP Rights & Responsibilities
- Caseloads/Workload information and analysis tools
- Information about Safety, Social Emotional Learning & Mental Health
- Social Justice Tools
Additional Resources
- Disability Rights California
These are high quality resources designed for parents but useful for educators as well, both for providing to parents but also understanding what parents have access to. Includes toolkits like “Behavior & Discipline” and “Disagreements with the District.” - Special Education Rights & Responsibilities
This interactive manual from Disability Rights California includes chapters on the left to find answers to some common questions related to specific topics like Due Process, Evaluations, Early Intervention, and lots more. - Crisis & Trauma Resources Institute
These resources for critical incident debriefing could be useful for schools navigating threats and how to follow up on the impacts on the community. This includes Indigenous perspectives and not just a Western lens.
Key considerations:
Student Discipline
One of the contractual rights of SDEA members is the right to suspend students from their class for specific reasons, per 11.7.3. However, there are legal considerations when it comes to suspensions and student discipline for students with IEPs. The CTA Special Education Resource Guide breaks down these considerations in Ed Code on pages 52-55. When dealing with discipline issues in your classroom, this may be a good resource to review before meeting with administration, so you are aware of your students' legal rights to a free, accessible public education and how that relates to discipline.
Injury to Employees
Unfortunately, educators sometimes get injured - especially in chronically understaffed schools. Some things to know:
- Ed Code (44014.) specifies that appropriate law enforcement needs to be notified in the case of an attack, assault, or physical threat against any employee. Failure to make this report can result in a fine. However, a student’s age or cognitive/emotional impairment can be considered when evaluating whether a child actually had intent or ability to cause an injury. See page 55 of the CTA Special Education Resource Guide.
- Even interaction with police at school can negatively impact students and contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline, which is why there has been advocacy in California to change the law to give educators more say in whether or not to involve the police. Read this CalMatters story about AB 2441, which recently failed to pass.
- See SDUSD’s process here for what you should do if injured on the job. If there are issues with denied Workers' Compensation claims, SDEA members have access to free legal consultations.
Know Your Rights: Supporting Students with IEPs in the General Education Classroom
Our contract includes specific protections and resources to help educators appropriately support students with IEPs, particularly in classes where over 20% of students have IEPs.
- Read more about your rights and how to ask for support when needed with our new Know Your Rights Flyer
- Access lots more resources here