L.E.A.R.N.!

SDEA WINS STRONG CONTRACT SETTLEMENT!

Full Bargaining Update

April 4, 2018

After eleven months, 24 bargaining sessions, a 130-school picket, a union-wide work-to-rule action, and a 16-hour marathon session ending at 1:40 this morning, SDEA members have won a strong, comprehensive contract settlement. Last night’s victories build on our successes throughout the bargaining campaign. Since bargaining started almost a year ago, we fought back potential healthcare concessions. We fought back the District’s attempt to completely eliminate the Elementary Enrichment Program, which gives elementary teachers prep time. We fought back proposed class size increases TK-12. We fought back proposed increases to Special Educator caseloads. We fought back the District’s efforts to gut our due process rights for administrative transfers. We fought back almost 1,000 educator layoffs without making any concessions at the bargaining table. And we won scores of other improvements throughout our contact. All tentative agreements reached since April 2017 are available on the SDEA website.

April 3 – April 4, 2018 Bargaining Highlights

Last night’s victories include:

The new contract locks up our current fully-paid family healthcare for three years, through June 30, 2020.
There will be a 2% wage increase for next year with a staggered implementation.
There will be an additional 1% off-schedule payment made to all SDEA unit members by August 1, 2018. This payment resolves an outstanding grievance.
We won three weeks of paid maternity leave, making us one of only three districts in the County to have it.
We also reached tentative agreements that protect and improve our class size and transfer rights.

Increased Raises and Maintenance of Health Benefits HelpKeep Our Compensation Competitive

Salary Increases

All members will receive a 2% ongoing raise in the 2018-19 school year. 1% will be effective July 1, 2018, and 1% will be effective mid-year (January or February 2019, based on traditional or year-round calendar).

All contracted and non-contracted members will receive a one-time 1% payment based on their 2017-18 earnings, no later than August 1, 2018. This 1% payment is being issued through settlement of a union-wide grievance regarding CCTE staffing allocation changes that the District made last year. The change that the District implemented last spring saved them $6 million that would otherwise have been spent on our bargaining unit. To settle the grievance, the District has agreed to give that $6 million back to the SDEA bargaining unit, in the form of a 1% one-time payment. Secondary staffing allocations will remain as they are this year, inclusive of CCTE educators.

Just like our last contract, there will be a reopener to negotiate over wages for the third year of the contract. This means additional salary increases could go into effect in 2019-20 and our health benefits remain locked up.

BTSA

The tentative agreement reinstates District-paid BTSA for new educators. Starting July 1, 2018, probationary or permanent members who participate in the District-approved BTSA program will not pay any cost.

Salary Appendices

Experience credit in salary placement for Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists.
Two additional workdays for nurses before school starts to perform necessary work to make sure kids are safe on the first day of school.

Strong Agreements Reached on Leaves, Transfer, Class Size, Salary Appendices and Term of Contract

Leaves

Three weeks of paid maternity leave. This makes SDUSD one of only three districts in San Diego County to offer paid maternity leave.
The expansion of personal leave from three days to eleven days with greater flexibility in usage, as agreed to earlier in bargaining.

Class Size

We fought back all proposed class size increases. That includes the District’s proposed TK-12 class size increases by eliminating our staffing allocations, and the District’s proposal to have no secondary class size caps at all for the first seven weeks of school.
PE classes will have a cap of 60, and shall average no more than 50 over an eight-week period.
Strengthened language for potential increased nursing staffing based on acuity.

Term of Contract

A three-year contract for 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. There will be reopeners on wages and one additional article each selected by the District and SDEA for potential implementation in 2019-20. However, Article 9: Health and Welfare Benefits CANNOT be reopened for the full three years of the contract.

Transfer

We won a lot of new improvements to our transfer article! These include:

A new clear and meaningful process for members who want to voluntarily transfer.
An electronic, seniority-based process for placing members who are still excessed after the May Post and Bid.
A March 15 contract renewal deadline for CCTE educators, concurrent with the notice of expiration of their current contract. This means there will be no gap between the notice that their current contract is expiring and the issuance of their new contract.
A support plan for members involuntarily transferred to teach in a credential area they have not taught in the past five years, or a grade level more than two away from the one they most recently taught.
Strengthened rights for Program Governance Teams in itinerant staffing procedures.
Priority consideration for members returning from a long-term leave of absence.
An expedited transfer grievance process to attempt to resolve transfer grievances before the member experiences the harm of being wrongfully transferred.
We fought back proposed concessions on seniority rights in the Post and Bid.

What’s Next?

The Town Halls are still on! The School Board didn’t settle this contract because they were feeling nice. They settled our contract because we organized as union members and demanded it. We never should have had to threaten a strike to win a fair contract, and we need to continue to hold them accountable for steering our district in the right direction.

That’s why SDEA members are still hosting School Board Town Halls starting TODAY to make our expectations clear to the School Board members going forward. We need them to commit to long-term prioritization of competitive educator wages, and to address the continuous decline in enrollment responsible for our ongoing budget problems.

Please click one of the links below to RSVP!

Wed., April 4 • 3:00PM • Ocean Beach Elementary with Trustee McQuary

Wed., April 4 • 3:15PM • McKinley Elementary with Trustee Barrera

Thur., April 5 • 3:30PM • Green Elementary with Trustee Beiser

Mon., April 9 • 2:45PM • Zamorano Elementary with Trustee Whitehurst-Payne

Mon., April 9 • 4:00PM • Spreckels Elementary with Trustee Evans

Ratification

Both SDEA and SDUSD must ratify our new contract before it takes effect. Stay tuned for details about informational meetings about the new contract, and the details for the ratification process.

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

All NEW Tentative Agreements:

District Asks to Return to Bargaining Table – Additional Session Added

After declaring impasse and announcing our upcoming Town Hall meetings with SDUSD Board members, the District’s bargaining team has asked to meet on Tuesday, April 3. The purpose of this additional bargaining date is to attempt to reach a settlement and avoid moving closer to a strike. Why is the District asking for an additional bargaining session? Because pressure works. We are still preparing for impasse and moving forward with our organizing, including the Town Halls and further escalation, and will adjust accordingly should a settlement be reached.

Stay tuned for updates!

SDEA Declares Impasse

Bargaining Update

March 23, 2018

Bargaining Highlights

SDEA declared impasse yesterday after the District came to our last scheduled bargaining session with a meager wage proposal and no significant movement on class size, maternity leave or transfer rights.
Tentative agreements were reached on hours and special education.
We will now request state-facilitated mediation. In the meantime, we need to RAMP UP THE PRESSURE on the School Board and Superintendent so when they come back to the table, they are actually ready to settle. See below for upcoming opportunities to speak out at SDEA-hosted School Board Town Halls.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

District Proposal Fails to Meet Educator or District Needs

After ten months at the table, the District made their first movement on wages, and it was woefully inadequate. The District proposed no raise for this year, no ongoing raise for next year, and a $1,000 one-time payment for next year—only IF the state allocates the amount of one-time money that the Governor recommended in January. This “maybe money” would represent roughly 1% for educators at the top of our salary schedules, and less than 1% for those lower on the schedule. Of the $29 million in one-time money the Governor recommended, this proposal would direct only $6.5 million to SDEA’s bargaining unit. The “bonus” would be received by every employee in the District, in November, which the District’s team characterized as a “nice time of year” for it.

The District once again rejected SDEA’s proposals for paid maternity leave and class size improvements. The District also failed to make significant movement on our transfer rights, including non-cost items such as making the voluntary transfer process meaningful.

Not only did the District’s proposals signal a lack of respect, so did their behavior. Despite SDEA’s offer to stay as long as necessary to reach an agreement, the District insisted on shutting down bargaining at 3 p.m. Instead, the District said they had “more movement to make” and asked us to continue bargaining into late April. SDEA’s team responded that they’ve had ten months to make whatever movement they had to make, and we’re not waiting any longer in our fight for the contract educators and our schools and students deserve.

The bottom line is that with what they brought to the table yesterday, the District failed to pass along state-allocated cost of living increases to educators. The District failed to do what is necessary to attract and keep the best educators in our schools. The District failed to show educators the respect we deserve. And the District failed to avoid a bargaining crisis. That’s why SDEA responded by declaring a bargaining impasse.

SDEA Made a Powerful Last, Best and Final Offer on Wages, Class Size, Leaves and Transfer

After 23 bargaining sessions and roughly 150 hours at the table, SDEA’s team declared impasse with a strong and fair last, best and final offer including:

Wages/Salary Appendices

A 2% one-time payment for 2017-2018, utilizing the one-time money the District is receiving this year.
A 2.5% ongoing raise effective July 1, 2018, equivalent to the cost of living increase proposed by the Governor.
New longevity stipends at years 18 and 22.
District-paid BTSA for new educators.
Experience credit in salary placement for Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists.
Two additional workdays for nurses before school starts to perform necessary work to make sure kids are safe on the first day of school.

Leaves

Three weeks of paid maternity leave.

Class Size

Protect the 36 secondary hard cap.
Protect 24:1 at TK-3.
Lower grades 4-6 class size cap to 34.
Lower secondary PE class size to ensure the safety of our students.
Increase nurse staffing.
Create a path to permanent contracts for CCTE teachers.

Transfer

A clear and meaningful process for members who want to voluntarily transfer.
The removal of the “levels” restriction on priority consideration for excessed members.
Expanded rights for leave replacement members to be rehired.
Other core improvements contained in the full proposal below.

Term of Contract

A two-year contract for this year and next year.

Tentative Agreements Were Reached on Hours and Special Education

We reached agreement on Hours and Special Education. In both articles, SDEA members fought back significant concessions proposed by the District, and won improvements that will benefit educators and students.

Hours

Protect the Elementary Enrichment Program, which the District proposed entirely eliminating. This is how elementary teachers get weekly prep time.
New support plans for members who are having an assignment change or a classroom move.
Expand the role of the Governance Team regarding the schedule of modified days and the number of preps for secondary teachers.
Strengthen non-classroom supervision schedules.

Special Education

Protect and maintain all current special educator caseloads. The District had proposed increasing Ed. Specialist Mild/Moderate teacher caseloads from 20 to 23.
Agreement to bargain over all special educator job descriptions, including separate and distinct job descriptions for Ed. Specialist Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists. This will allows us to fight back against the reclassification of Ed. Specialist Mild/Moderate teachers to Resource Specialists simply to increase their caseloads.
Strengthen support plans for general educators with more than 20% of students with IEPs.
Speech Language Pathologist Governance Team review and input regarding assignment construction for the following year.
Establishment of a committee to review District practice regarding placement of students into the least restrictive environment.

What Does Impasse Mean?

Declaring impasse does not mean that we are going on strike now. The law requires that SDEA and SDUSD complete the impasse process before a strike is allowed. Impasse is a two-step process: mediation, then fact-finding. The California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) will assign us a mediator, a neutral third party who will try to help SDEA and SDUSD’s bargaining teams reach a settlement. At any point in the impasse process, the union and the employer can return to the bargaining table and settle the contract. That’s why our continued organizing matters !

What Can We Do to Make Sure We Win the Contract We Deserve?

SDEA members are hosting School Board Town Halls to speak out to the school board members and say, “We don’t want to strike, but we will!” The town halls are hosted by union members and begin the first week after spring break, running April 4 – 9.

Which School Board Town Hall will you be at? Please click one of the links below to RSVP!

Wed., April 4 • 3:00PM • Ocean Beach Elementary with Trustee McQuary

Wed., April 4 • 3:15PM • McKinley Elementary with Trustee Barrera

Thur., April 5 • 3:30PM • Green Elementary with Trustee Beiser

Mon., April 9 • 2:45PM • Zamorano Elementary with Trustee Whitehurst-Payne

Mon., April 9 • 4:00PM • Spreckels Elementary with Trustee Evans

Every town hall includes a pizza party, sign-making, and a bit of preparation to get us ready to speak with one collective voice! Bring your friends, parents and even students.

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

District Comes to Table with Transfer Proposal, Nothing Else

Bargaining Update

March 14, 2018

Bargaining Highlights

Of the eight articles that the District owes SDEA in bargaining, at Monday’s bargaining session, they brought only one: Transfer.
SDEA immediately put the ball back in the District’s court with another strong Transfer counter-proposal.
March 22 will likely be our last bargaining date. At that point, the District will either come to the table with a comprehensive and fair settlement offer, or push us into impasse.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

Movement on Transfer but No Tentative Agreement

SDUSD made a Transfer proposal that conceptually accepted several items from SDEA’s previous proposals, including: an electronic, seniority-based process for placing members who are still excessed after the May Post and Bid; rules for staffing temporary vacancies; a new system for identifying “low performing schools” that is no longer tied to the defunct API 1-3 state test score system; and a support plan for members involuntarily transferred to teach in a credential area they have not taught in the past five years, or a grade level more than two away from the one they most recently taught. Those are steps in the right direction, but leave out key transfer improvements SDEA’s team is fighting for.

SDEA made an immediate Transfer counterproposal that includes: a clear and meaningful process for members who want to voluntarily transfer; the removal of the “levels” restriction on priority consideration for excessed members; the ability of sites to request review of faulty enrollment-based projections that may lead to unnecessary staffing cuts; expanded rights for leave replacement members to be rehired; and a process for Site Governance Teams to have meaningful input into master schedules.

What’s Next?

Once again, every article that we are still bargaining over is on the District’s side of the table: Wages, Class Size, Leaves, Special Education, Transfer, Work Hours, Term (length of contract) and the salary appendices. NOW is the time for the District to put a fair settlement package on the table in every single one of those areas.

On March 22, SDEA’s bargaining team will make the determination if we can make any further progress at the bargaining table, or if we are declaring impasse. Declaring impasse does not mean that we are going on strike now. The law requires that SDEA and SDUSD complete the impasse process before a strike is allowed. Impasse is a two-step process: mediation, then fact-finding. If we go to impasse, the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) will assign us a mediator, a neutral third party who will try to help SDEA and SDUSD’s bargaining teams reach a settlement. At any point in the impasse process, the union and the employer can return to the bargaining table and settle the contract. That’s why our continued organizing matters!

See your site AR to find out how you can pressure our School Board members to do the right thing if we declare impasse. We’ve got big plans!

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

Agreement Reached on Almost All Non-Cost Items; Still No Movement on Wages

Bargaining Update

March 5, 2018

Bargaining Highlights

Last Thursday, tentative agreements were reached on the Shared Decision-making and Discipline articles, leaving very few non-cost items still on the table to bargain.
Neither side made any movement on wages. SDEA’s team put the ball back in the District’s court again. We will not bargain against ourselves.
We added what will likely be our last two bargaining dates on March 12 and 22. At that point, the District will either come to the table with a fair settlement offer or push us into impasse.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

Tentative Agreements Reached on Shared Decision-making and Discipline

Tentative agreement was reached on our Shared Decision-making article that:

Memorializes the rights of Program Governance Teams.
Establishes the right of a member to be released from work duties if necessary to attend a Governance Team meeting contemplating a decision that directly affects the member.
Memorializes that PLCs must be member-directed, principal-facilitated and student-focused.
Requires that site-based assessments be planned collaboratively between teachers and administrators.

Tentative agreement was also reached on our Discipline article that will give all members facing a suspension the full protections under the California Education Code.

District Makes First Movement on Class Size

The District accepted SDEA’s proposed cap of 60 students for PE classes. Currently PE classes have only an average of 50 students with no cap, creating unsafe working and learning conditions when classes balloon into the 70+ student range. While this is an overdue step in the right direction, the District has still not agreed to any of SDEA’s other proposed class size or caseload improvements.

SDEA Makes Another Strong Package Settlement Proposal, that includes:

Wages

A 2% retroactive raise for this year.
A 2.5% raise for next year to keep our wages at County median.
New longevity stipends at years 18 and 22.
District-paid BTSA for new educators.

Class Size

Protect the 36 secondary hard cap.
Protect 24:1 at TK-3, with a new cap of 27.
Lower grades 4-6 class size cap to 34.
Lower secondary PE class size to ensure the safety of our students.
Increase nurse staffing.
Improve the elementary counselor allocation formula.
Create a path to permanent contracts for CCTE teachers.

Leaves

Three weeks of paid maternity leave.

Hours

Two additional workdays for nurses before school starts to perform necessary work to make sure kids are safe on the first day of school.
Protect the elementary enrichment teacher allocation formula by memorializing it in the contract.

What’s Next?

Every article that we are still bargaining over is on the District’s side of the table: Wages, Class Size, Leaves, Special Education, Transfer, Work Hours and the salary appendices. NOW is the time for the District to put a fair settlement package on the table in every single one of those areas.

After March 12 and 22, SDEA’s bargaining team will make the determination if we can make any further progress at the bargaining table, or if we are declaring impasse. Declaring impasse does not mean that we are going on strike now. The law requires that SDEA and SDUSD complete the impasse process before a strike is allowed. Impasse is a two-step process: mediation, then fact-finding. If we go to impasse, the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) will assign us a mediator, a neutral third party who will try to help SDEA and SDUSD’s bargaining teams reach a settlement. At any point in the impasse process, the union and the employer can return to the bargaining table and settle the contract. That’s why our continued organizing matters!

Help your AR make sure every SDEA member at your site is on board for our union-wide March 13 Work-to-Rule action and be there at the March 13 School Board meeting!

When: 4:30 p.m. on March 13

Where: 4100 Normal St.

Who: YOU and a friend or three!

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

SDEA Package Proposal Cover March 1 2018

SDEA Article 7 Wages March 1 2018

SDEA Proposal Article 8 Hours March 1 2018

SDEA Proposal Article 10 Leaves March 1

SDEA Article 13 Class Size March 1 2018

SDEA Proposal Article 24 Shared Decision Making March 1 2018

SDEA Proposal Article 33 Discipline March 1 2018

SDEA Article 36 Term March 1 2018

SDEA Proposal SLP Appendix G March 1 2018

District Proposal to Article 8 Hours of Employment- 03-01-2018

District Proposal to SDEA Article 13 Class Size -3-1-2018- rev1

District Proposal to Article 24 Shared Decision Making – 3-1-18

SDEA Puts Ball in District’s Court with Strong Settlement Package

Bargaining Update

February 23, 2018

Bargaining Highlights

At last Thursday’s bargaining session, SDEA laid the path to settle our contract on March 1 with a strong package proposal including wages, class size, special education and leaves.
SDEA’s wage proposal once again includes a 2% retroactive raise for this year and a 2.5% raise for next year.
We bargain again on March 1. The ball is in the District’s court to come back to the table ready to actually bargain over wages, or push us to an unnecessary bargaining crisis.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

SDEA Makes Strong Package Settlement Proposal, that includes:

Wages

A 2% retroactive raise for this year.
A 2.5% raise for next year to keep our wages at County median.
New longevity stipends at years 18 and 22. This will allow our wages to become competitive in terms of lifetime earnings.
District-paid BTSA for new educators.

Class Size

Protect the 36 secondary hard cap.
Protect 24:1 at TK-3, with a new cap of 27.
Lower grades 4-6 class size cap to 34.
Lower secondary PE class size to ensure the safety of our students.
Increase nurse staffing.
Improve the elementary counselor allocation formula.
Create a path to permanent contracts for CCTE teachers.

Special Education

Reduce Resource Specialist caseloads from 24 to 22.
Clarify the difference between a Resource Specialist and an Ed. Specialist Mild/Moderate teacher.
Improve workload protections for special educators assigned to a program rather than a school.
Strengthen the class support plan for general educators with a high number of students with IEPs.
Create a committee to review the continuum of services available to students with IEPs in our District.

Leaves

Three weeks of paid maternity leave.

Progress Continues on Non-Monetary Items

SDEA made a transfer proposal that would expand voluntary transfer opportunities, strengthen the rights of excessed members after the Post and Bid, move the fall reorganization deadline earlier in the year, and make other improvements to our transfer process. The District made a discipline proposal largely accepting SDEA’s previous proposal. This would give all members facing a suspension the full protections under the California Education code. The District also made a proposal that moves closer to SDEA’s last shared decision-making proposal, which is intended to strengthen Program Governance Teams.

What’s Next?

After March 1, our only remaining bargaining date on the calendar, SDEA’s bargaining team will evaluate if there is more we can do at the bargaining table, or if we have reached our crisis point. Let’s make sure that the District sees 6,500 of us standing behind our bargaining team on Thursday!

Wear red to show solidarity with your bargaining team, and help your AR make sure every SDEA member at your site is on board for our union-wide March 13 Work to Rule action. If we are going to win fair and competitive wages, we have to keep the pressure on!

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

Big Movement on Class Size, Special Education after SDEA Organizing Ramp-up

Bargaining Update

February 22, 2018

Bargaining Highlights

The District has withdrawn all of their proposed take-backs on Class Size and Special Education. Their previous proposals would have increased class size TK-12 across the board, increased special educator caseloads, and triggered layoffs.
We are moving closer on non-monetary articles including Hours and Shared Decision-making.
Wages continue to be the sticking point. The next wage proposal will be made by SDEA on Thursday, Feb. 22.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

District Withdraws All Take-backs on Class Size and Special Education

At Thursday’s bargaining session, the District made new proposals on Class Size and Special Education that withdrew all of the concessions they were seeking in those two articles.

What changed since the last time they made Class Size and Special Education proposals? SDEA leadership launched Wave 2 of our organizing campaign, announcing that we are building to a union-wide Work-to-Rule action on March 13 to demand a fair contract NOW. Already 61 sites have held Wave 2 union meetings and committed to the Work-to-Rule, with 49 more and counting scheduled. When we put pressure on the District, they respond. Let’s keep it up!

New SDEA Proposals on Shared Decision-making, Hours and Discipline

Shared Decision-making

In the Shared Decision-making article, we have reached an agreement that Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) must be unit-member directed, principal facilitated and student focused. We have also reached an agreement that testing should be meaningful and useful, and that the over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing is undermining educational quality and equity. In support of this, the District has agreed to post opt-out information for parents on the District website regarding state testing.

Hours

SDEA’s team continues to fight to expand the work-year for nurses and secondary counselors by two days. This will allow nurses and secondary counselors time to perform necessary work duties before the school year begins.

We have reached agreement on protections for enrichment (prep time) teachers, including that they are solely assigned to provide instruction, and that their instruction must be within the content area of their assignment. SDEA’s team is still fighting to include a formula in the contract that would protect each elementary school’s enrichment allocation.

Discipline

SDEA’s team reiterated our proposal on discipline, which would give all members facing a suspension the full protections available under the California Education Code.

District Once Again Rejects Paid Maternity Leave

The District’s new leave proposal again rejected any paid maternity leave, despite the fact that there are now two districts in San Diego County offering at least three weeks. A County-wide teacher shortage means SDUSD has be a competitive employer. As paid maternity leave becomes more common, our District needs to agree to provide it, or lose out on excellent educators to other districts that provide such leave.

What’s Next?

We bargain again this Thursday, Feb. 22. Wear red to show solidarity with your bargaining team! Help your AR make sure every SDEA member at your site is on board for our union-wide March 13 Work-to-Rule action. Last week’s movement on Class Size and Special Education shows us that our pressure is working. If we are going to win fair and competitive wages, we have to keep the pressure on!

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

District Continues to Claim Poverty with 0% Raise Proposal

Bargaining Update

February 2, 2018

Bargaining Highlights

The District again proposed a 0% raise for up to 3 years.
SDEA’s team made a strong special education proposal, and made clear that there simply will not be an agreement that includes increasing special educator caseloads.
Good progress is finally being made on several non-monetary items. That’s a step in the right direction, but won’t get us all the way to a settlement.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

Where We’re Stuck: Wages, Special Education and Class Size

Yesterday the District once again proposed no raise for two and possible three years. That would drop SDEA members’ wages to the bottom quartile in the region. Plus, the District still has proposals on the table that could increase TK-12 class sizes and increase 465 Ed. Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers’ caseloads by two students, both of which could trigger layoffs.

SDEA’s team has made clear: There will be no settlement that does not include a fair raise, and there will be no settlement that increases class sizes or special education caseloads. To that end, SDEA’s team made a special education proposal yesterday that would strengthen, rather than weaken our District’s ability to serve students with IEPs.

With the Governor’s proposed budget projected to increase funding to the District by at least $46 million in on-going and one-time money next year, and with significant swings in the District’s budget this fall, SDEA’s team still believes our proposals are fair and reasonable. Now is the time for District decision-makers to make educators and our students a priority.

Progress on Charter Schools, Salary Credit, Hours and Shared Decision-making

A tentative agreement was reached on a charter school article that will bring greater accountability to the co-location process, whereby charter schools take over space at District schools, and makes charter schools more transparent to stakeholders. A tentative agreement was also reached on the salary credit portion of our salary appendices. The new language will expand the types of courses and professional development members can take to receive salary credit.

The teams also moved closer to settlement on hours and shared decision-making, and SDEA’s team made a leaves proposal that would include three weeks of fully-paid maternity leave.

What’s Next?

There are three more bargaining dates on the calendar: Feb. 15, Feb. 22 and March 1, including a new date that was added yesterday. After March 1, SDEA’s bargaining team will evaluate if there is more we can do at the bargaining table, or if we have reached our crisis point. That’s why Wave 2 of our organizing plan builds up to a union-wide one-day Work-to-Rule action on March 13.

The District has shown they don’t value educators. On March 13, we’ll show the District our value by demonstrating what schools look like without the countless extra hours we provide to our students. Instead we will spend the afternoon at the School Board fighting to win the contract our students deserve—and ask parents to join us!

See your site Association Representative to find out how you can be a part of our powerful wave of action!

Don’t forget to participate in your school’s “Together Thursdays” by wearing SDEA red until we win a strong union contract!

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

SDEA Calls Out District Budget Games

Bargaining Update

January 22, 208

Bargaining Highlights

SDEA’s bargaining team scrubbed the District’s budget. Revenues for this year actually jumped $31 million this fall. Then the District increased their spending by $56 million! Does this sound like a District that can’t afford a raise?
SDEA’s team made a strong proposal on wages, class size and hours that includes a 2% retroactive raise for this year and a 2.5% raise for next year.
SDEA’s team is fighting to protect class size and special education caseloads, while SDUSD once again proposed increasing special education caseloads.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

Budget

Last Thursday’s bargaining session started with a discussion of the District’s budget. The SDEA bargaining team pointed out the District’s revenue jumped $31 million between the start of school and Oct. 31. At the same time, their planned expenditures increased by more than $56 million! This does not look like the behavior of a District truly in deficit.

Here are some budget facts:

Gov. Brown’s newly proposed budget is projected to increase funding to the District by at least $46 million.
The wage costs of SDEA members have gone down by a massive $33 million from last year to this year. This is largely thanks to the early retirement incentive bargained by SDEA, which allowed veteran SDEA members (whose salaries and benefits cost more) to retire from the District.
The District is planning to increase spending on consultants, materials and supplies, and other outside contracts by $27 million.

Have you seen a sudden influx of supplies in your classroom?

These examples tell us that the District—despite its budget claims—has the ability to pay for a raise for educators, and fund supports for our students.

SDEA Makes Strong Package Proposal on Wages, Class Size and Hours

SDEA made a strong package proposal that includes:

◦ Wages

A 2% retroactive raise for this year.
A 2.5% raise for next year to keep our wages at County median.
New longevity stipends at years 18 and 22.

◦ This will allow our wages to become competitive in terms of lifetime earnings.

◦ Class Size

Protecting the 36 secondary hard cap.
Protecting 24:1 at TK-3, with a new cap of 27.
Lowering grades 4-6 class size cap to 34.
Lowering secondary PE class size in order to ensure the safety of our students.
Protecting teacher staffing allocations TK-12.
Increased nursing staffing.
Improving the elementary counselor allocation formula.

◦ Hours

Protecting planning and preparation time.

SDEA’s budget analysis was able to show the District how it could afford most of our proposals. The question is whether they choose to prioritize educators and students, or whether they choose to continue to prioritize things like consultants, outside agreements and “materials and supplies.”

Special Education: District Continues to Propose Caseload Increases

SDUSD once again proposed caseloads of 22 for all Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists. This would result in a caseload increase for nearly 465 special educators! Our schools need more special education teachers, not less. By increasing caseloads, the District could layoff dozens of special educators, continuing their path of balancing their budget on the backs of our neediest students.

Transfer

SDUSD made a transfer proposal that finally shows some movement towards SDEA’s proposals. SDEA’s team will continue to fight for a fair and transparent transfer process that meaningfully improves members’ ability to voluntarily transfer, and protects the rights of members who are in excess. We are hopeful that we are getting closer to agreement on transfer rights.

More Progress on Charter Schools

SDUSD made a new proposal on Charter Schools. They accepted most of SDEA’s most recent proposal, which would bring greater accountability to the co-location process, whereby charter schools take over space at District schools.

What Next?

There are three more bargaining dates on the calendar: Feb. 1, Feb. 15 and March 1, at which point SDEA’s bargaining team will evaluate if there is more we can do at the bargaining table, or if we have reached our crisis point. That’s why SDEA leaders launched Wave 2 of our bargaining campaign last week. Building from the success of our Wave 1 Pop-up Picket in November, Wave 2 will culminate in a union-wide one-day Work-to-Rule action on March 13.

See your site Association Representative to find out how you can be a part of our powerful wave of action!

Don’t forget to participate in your school’s “Together Thursdays” by wearing SDEA red until we win a strong union contract!

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

District Back to Delays at the Table

Bargaining Update

December 15, 2017

Bargaining Highlights

Over two days of bargaining this week, SDUSD did not make one single bargaining proposal.
SDEA’s team continued to fight for a strong L.E.A.R.N. contract with proposals on Special Education, Transfer and the Speech Language Pathologist Salary Appendix.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

SDEA’s Team Continued the L.E.A.R.N. Fight

SDEA’s bargaining team continued to push for lower special educator caseloads with a new Special Education proposal. SDEA also made a Transfer proposal that would expand members’ voluntary transfer rights while protecting seniority. The SDEA bargaining team was joined by a group of Speech Language Pathologists who spoke passionately and eloquently about the need to bargain fair compensation that will honor current members’ service to the District and also attract new Speech Language Pathologists into hard-to-fill vacancies the District is currently struggling to staff.

SDUSD is Back to Their Pattern of Delays at the Table

SDUSD’s team made no new bargaining proposals over this week’s two sessions, despite stating they would have multiple proposals ready. We “ran out of time” to see the one proposal they did have prepared, after SDUSD’s team extended Thursday’s working lunch break to roughly three hours. SDEA’s team comes to every bargaining session prepared and with the authority to settle. The District simply didn’t do the same this week.

What Next?

The Superintendent and School Board have made clear that they need to feel a lot more pressure before they will settle the contract our schools and students deserve. Let’s make sure they feel it! Our next bargaining date is Jan. 18, 2018, at which point SDEA members will launch Wave Two of our L.E.A.R.N. organizing campaign. See your AR for details once you’re back from a well-deserved break!

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

Attacks Continue on Special Education

Bargaining Update

December 1, 2017

Bargaining Highlights

SDUSD made another regressive, concessionary proposal on Special Education. Their proposal would raise caseloads and lead to layoffs.
Tentative agreement was reached on increasing “no tell” personal days from three to eleven, a change that SDEA members have sought for years.
SDEA and SDUSD inched closer together on Shared Decision-making and Charter Schools, but no deals were reached.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

Special Education: District Continues to Propose Caseload Increases

SDUSD proposed caseloads of 22 for all Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists. This would be an increase of two for 465 special educators! Our schools need more special education teachers, not less. By increasing caseloads, the District could layoff dozens of special educators, continuing their path of balancing their budget on the backs of our neediest students.

Tentative Agreement Reached on Eleven “No Tell” Personal Days, Up from Three

In a victory that SDEA members have sought for years across many bargaining campaigns, yesterday SDEA and SDUSD agreed to language that increases our number of “no tell” personal days from three to eleven. These days will now be personal necessity days instead of personal business days, but can still be used at the discretion of the member. The new language removes the bar against attaching the leave to a vacation, and removes the current 48-hour noticing requirement. This is a step in the right direction on the part of the District, and is the same sort of movement we need to see in Shared Decision-making and other non-monetary issues still on the bargaining table.

This new benefit and all of the other improvements we bargain will not take effect until our entire contract is settled and ratified. The sooner we win our entire L.E.A.R.N. contract, the sooner we can enjoy our new hard-fought rights.

Slow Progress on Shared Decision-making and Charter Schools

SDEA’s team made a new proposal on Charter Schools, and both teams made proposals on Shared Decision-making. Our Charter Schools proposal would bring greater accountability to the co-location process, whereby charter schools take over unused space at District schools. Our Shared Decision-making proposal protects the rights of Program Governance Teams, and memorializes best practices around PLCs and assessments. The District accepted some but not all of our improvements. Shared Decision-making and Charter Schools are no-cost areas. The District needs to show respect to educators and accept all of our fair, no-cost proposals.

What Next?

Bargaining continues Dec. 11, Dec. 14 and into the new year. Almost all of our scheduled bargaining days are on Thursdays. Let’s kick off “Together Thursdays” by wearing SDEA red on Dec. 14 and every Thursday after that until we win a strong union contract.

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

The Fight against Layoffs Starts Now

Bargaining Update

November 29, 2017

Bargaining Highlights

SDUSD’s Class Size proposal seeks new takebacks on elementary staffing allocations, on top of the takebacks they are still proposing on secondary staffing allocations.
With yesterday’s Class Size proposal and last session’s Special Education proposal, Superintendent Cindy Marten and the School Board are now paving the way for big educator layoffs this spring.
The District’s team repeated their same 0% wage proposal for two and possibly three years.
SDEA’s team made proposals to improve special education staffing and strengthen shared decision-making.
If we want to protect our schools, our jobs and contract, we must be ready to fight back.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

SDUSD Once Again Balancing Their Budget Mistakes on the Backs of Educators

As SDEA members’ pop-up picket organizing was sweeping the District earlier this month, SDUSD asked to add several bargaining dates to the calendar before year’s end. SDEA’s team agrees that we need a fair settlement now, not later. But if Superintendent Cindy Marten and the School Board think that what they sent to the table yesterday is going to get us there, they are wrong. While declining enrollment and its effects on the District’s budget are real, it’s also true that the proportion of the budget spent on SDEA’s bargaining unit has been steadily declining for at least five years. The District might have budget problems, but chief among them is a refusal to prioritize students and frontline educators. If we are going to reach a contract settlement, that needs to change.

District Now Seeking Across-the-Board Class Size Increases

SDUSD made a regressive bargaining proposal on class size that would eliminate the elementary staffing allocations. They also repeated their proposal to eliminate secondary staffing allocations. Staffing allocations are what guarantee the number of teachers a school gets. The District’s proposal would cut the amount of teachers TK-12, resulting in bigger classes across the board and enabling Superintendent Cindy Marten and the School Board to issue a wave of layoff notices this spring.

District Makes No Movement on Wages, Hours or Transfer

SDUSD’s team passed their same wage proposal from September: No raises at all for two and possibly three years. They are still refusing to expand elementary enrichment opportunities/prep time. And instead of giving any consideration at all to SDEA’s ambitious, cost-neutral proposal to bargain a new, fair transfer process, the District proposed simply creating a committee.

SDEA’s Team is Fighting for Special Education and Shared Decision-making Improvements

In the last bargaining session, SDUSD’s team proposed increasing special educator caseloads, paving the way for reduced services to students and special educator layoffs.

Yesterday, SDEA’s team fought back. Our proposal would:

Keep Education Specialist Mild/Moderate teachers at 20:1
Lower Resource Specialists to 20:1
Make caseload numbers a hard cap
Impose an immediate financial penalty for caseload overages
Strengthen the rights of general educators with more than 20% of students with IEPs
Require the District to produce an operational description with a full continuum of special education services available

SDEA’s Team Wins Movement on Leaves, Discipline Rights

SDEA’s team has been fighting to expand members’ ability to use personal business leave. This issue is about respect. Yesterday, the District’s team finally made movement in the right direction. The District’s proposal would essentially roll personal business leave into the personal necessity category and increase the amount of leave from three to eleven days. Their proposal would also lift the bar against attaching the leave to a vacation, and remove the current 48-hour noticing requirement.

SDUSD also made movement towards SDEA’s proposal to align employee suspensions with the requirements of the education code.

These are steps in the right direction, but combined with the District’s proposals on wages, class size, hours and other core L.E.A.R.N. priorities, they are nowhere near what we need to settle a fair contract.

What Next?

Bargaining continues tomorrow, Dec. 11 and Dec. 14. Keep in touch with your AR and CAT teams to find out how we can fight back together.

TOGETHER ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

District Moves, But Nowhere Near Enough

Bargaining Update

November 17, 2017

Bargaining Highlights

After our Nov. 8 pop-up picket, the District is finally picking up the pace at the table. We reached two tentative agreements and added three more bargaining dates in the next month.
But while District is saying they want a fast settlement, what they’re putting on paper at the table doesn’t match their words. We have yet to see the movement towards our LEARN bargaining priorities that we will need to reach a contract settlement.
In fact, the District made concessionary proposals on Class Size and Special Education.
SDEA’s bargaining team once again took the lead, making a strong settlement package on wages, class size and hours to settle a LEARN contract.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

District Needs to Put Their Money Where Their Mouth Is

Our Nov. 8 pop-up picket got District admin rattled. We now have bargaining dates scheduled for Nov. 28, Nov. 30, Dec. 11 and Dec. 14. The District’s team repeatedly said they want to wrap up contract bargaining before the end of the year. So do we! But that means the District needs to stop coming to the bargaining table and simply crying poverty. They need to make some real movement towards our LEARN bargaining priorities.

What would that look like? SDEA’s bargaining team made a package settlement proposal on Wages, Class Size and Hours that:

Reaffirms our proposal for a 2.5% raise for this year and a 3.5 % raise for next year. These raises would outpace cost-of-living adjustments and move our pay into the top half County-wide.
Protects the secondary 36 hard cap.
Lowers class size in grades 4-6.
Protects the 24-to-1 TK-3 class size average, and introduces a cap of 27.
Lowers PE class size to an average of 50 with a cap of 60.
Increases elementary enrichment/prep time and increases prep time staffing allocations.
Strengthens work hours protections.
Restores the fully funded BTSA program for new teachers.

District’s New SPED and Class Size Proposals would INCREASE Caseloads and Class Size

While SDEA’s bargaining team continues to fight for a contract that will make our schools stronger, the District’s proposal on Special Education and Class Size would move our schools backwards.

Special Education: District Wants to Balance Budget on the Backs of Our Neediest Students

During last fall’s bargaining input sessions, special educators explained that there is no difference between the work that Ed. Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists are doing under the District’s current service delivery model. But the caseloads are different. Ed. Specialist: Mild/Moderate caseloads are set at 20, while RSP caseloads can go as high as 24. That has led to the District converting Ed. Specialists to RSPs just to increase their caseloads. To solve this problem, SDEA has proposed bringing everyone’s caseloads down to 20.

Well, the good news is that the District has finally agreed that there is no difference in the work being done, and so the caseloads should be the same. But the really bad news is that instead of bringing the RSP caseloads down to 20, the District wants to make everyone’s caseloads 23. This means that roughly 110 Resource Specialists would see a caseload decrease of one student, 465 Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers would see their caseloads increase by three students!

That’s not “cost neutral,” which has been the District’s mantra at the bargaining table. That’s a huge cost savings for the District. It would lead to worse services to students and significant decreases in special education staffing. SDEA’s bargaining team estimates that the District’s proposal would cut roughly 70 special educators from our District. That’s the opposite of what our neediest students deserve.

Class Size: District Would Slash Secondary Staffing Levels

The District continues to seek significant concessions on secondary class size. The District’s proposal would prevent the 36 had cap from taking effect until the 8^th week of school, and would completely eliminate the staffing allocation formula for secondary schools. This means that high schools could essentially replace SDEA members with community college professors. While high school students can already take community college classes for dual credit, the District must maintain current high school staffing levels—actually producing lower class sizes. The District’s removal of the staffing allocations would raise class size and trigger layoffs at secondary schools.

Tentative Agreements on Parent Teacher Home Visits and School Funding

Yesterday we did reach a tentative agreement on two new articles—Article 34: Revenue for Public Education and Article 35: Parent Teacher Home Visits Project.

Revenue for Public Education

California is the sixth largest economy in the world and the richest state in the union. Yet our funding for students ranks 46th in the country and we have over 50% of our students living in poverty. We must invest in the schools ALL our students need and deserve. To achieve that goal, SDEA and SDUSD reached tentative agreement regarding the District’s commit to secure funding for our schools at a level of $20,000 per student by 2020.

Parent Teacher Home Visits

A tentative agreement was reached to include the Parent Teacher Home Visits (PTHV) project in our union contract, and to secure $30,000 in District funding for the project this year and next year. PTHV is a national program designed to strengthen relationships between educators and families, with the proven effect of keeping students in district schools. Sites will be able to choose to participate through a vote of Site Governance Team. Member participants at participating sites will be able to volunteer, get training, and receive pay to conduct visits.

What Next?

SDEA’s team is committed to making a hard push to settle a fair LEARN contract before winter break. But that will only happen if Superintendent Cindy Marten and her bargaining team continue to see thousands of members standing beside the SDEA bargaining team, just like they did on Nov. 8. Let’s all wear SDEA RED on Nov. 28! Let’s make sure we’re also staying in touch with our CAT teams. Depending on what happens on Nov. 28, we may need to swing into action on Nov. 30.

TOGETHER ARE STRONGER!

All Bargaining Proposals:

Our Pressure is Working – Tentative Agreement Reached on Safety

District Still Needs to Make Real Movement on L.E.A.R.N.!

Bargaining Update

November 3, 2017

Bargaining Highlights

Over the last two bargaining sessions, SDEA has made thirteen proposals, including a comprehensive proposal to settle our entire L.E.A.R.N. campaign with a fair raise and the supports our schools need.
The District brought only two proposals yesterday. They responded to only one piece of our L.E.A.R.N. settlement package—Article 8: Hours—and rejected almost all of our proposed improvements.
The District has not moved off their proposals for a 0% raise, increased class size, weakened seniority rights in our transfer process, and no improvements for Special Education.
We did reach a tentative agreement on Article 11: Safety.
SDEA proposed several new articles designed to stabilize our schools through charter school accountability, a Parent Teacher Home Visit program, and a commitment to increase school funding.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

SDEA Wins Strong Safety Improvements

Yesterday we reached a tentative agreement on Article 11: Safety that includes:
Air conditioning in all classrooms, with construction to start no later than Feb. 2019.
Protections for members whose non-classroom workspaces will not be air conditioned.
Staff members who don’t receive training and resources to implement restorative justice cannot be required to do so.
Requirement that the principal contact parents when a teacher suspends a student from class.
Increased reimbursement amounts for personal property damaged at work, with the current cumbersome pre-registration process removed.
Adequate workspace for counselors.

The sooner we settle and ratify the rest of our contract, the sooner these new benefits and protections will take effect!

No New Movement towards Our L.E.A.R.N. Goals

Despite the SDEA bargaining team taking the lead two weeks ago with an across-the-board package proposal to settle our entire L.E.A.R.N. campaign, the District’s team failed to return with an equally substantive package of counter-proposals. Instead, the District came back with one counter-proposal to our broader package and proposed only on Article 8: Hours. They state they want to settle our contract as quickly as possible, but that won’t happen if they continue to bring only two proposals to each session. The SDEA Board has given our bargaining team the full direction and authority needed to settle a L.E.A.R.N. contract NOW. The Superintendent and School Board need to do the same.

SDEA Makes Ambitious Proposals to Stabilize Our Public Schools

New Revenues

California is the sixth largest economy in the world and the richest state in the union. Yet our funding for students ranks 46th in the country and we have over 50% of our students living in poverty. We must invest in the schools ALL our students need and deserve. To achieve that goal, SDEA proposed that the District commit to securing funding for our schools at a level of $20,000 per student by 2020.

Parent Teacher Home Visits

SDEA has taken the lead in piloting a Parent Teacher Home Visit (PTHV) program in SDUSD. PTHV is a national program designed to strengthen relationships between educators and families, with the proven effect of keeping students in district schools. Millennial Tech Middle School was the first in our District to pilot the program, with great success. Yesterday, SDEA proposed memorializing that program into our contract. Sites could choose to participate, and member participants at each site could volunteer, get training, and receive pay to conduct visits.

Charter School Accountability

SDEA proposed new accountability measures around charter schools designed to the level the playing field for charter and district schools. These include:

· A new educational impact report for the authorization or reauthorization of charter schools.

· New non-discrimination measures for charter schools, including an investigation trigger whenever 5% or more of students with IEPs or English Learners leave a charter school.

· Stronger rules around charter school co-locations on district school campuses.

Get Ready for the Nov. 8 Pop-up Picket!

Yesterday’s bargaining session shows us yet again that the District isn’t going to hand over a fair contract just because the bargaining team asks. They need to see all 6,000+ SDEA members seated at the table.

We made the Superintendent and School Board a promise: Settle a fair L.E.A.R.N. contract with us now, or we’re picketing on Nov. 8. The District passed up the opportunity to settle with us yesterday. Now it’s time for us to make good on our promise!

Let’s show the Superintendent and School Board what it looks like when 6,000 members at 130 schools demand a fair contract now. Make sure to check in with your site AR so you know what time your site will be picketing on Nov. 8. When we all stand together, we win!

All Bargaining Proposals:

SDEA Proposes Raises in a Strong Settlement Package

Bargaining Update

October 24, 2017

Last week, SDEA’s bargaining team proposed a 2.5% raise for this year and a 3.5 % raise for next year. These raises would outpace cost-of-living adjustments and move our pay into the top half County-wide. Our proposal was part of a strong settlement package for a two-year contract that would also include:

Fully paid family healthcare with all current options
Better special education caseloads and supports
Lower class size
A new, fair transfer process
Increased elementary enrichment/prep time
Stronger work hours protections
Paid maternity leave and expanded personal business leave
Restoring the fully funded BTSA program for new teachers

In presenting our wage proposal, SDEA’s bargaining team scrubbed the District’s budget to make sure that our proposals are not only fair, but affordable. SDEA’s team asked pointed questions about the budget that the District’s team could not answer, and pointed out that the District’s historical pattern of underestimating revenues and overestimating costs continues. Meanwhile, the percentage of the District’s budget that is spent on educator salaries continues to steadily decline. That’s not a budget deficit problem. That’s a budget priorities problem.

SDEA’s package of proposals paves the way to a strong, fair, fast settlement. It is now time for Superintendent Cindy Marten and the School Board to agree.

District Disrespect at the Table Continues

On a day when they weren’t even presenting anything, the District’s bargaining team still managed to convey a serious lack of respect for those of us at schools and in the classrooms.

SDEA’s Special Education proposal includes new financial penalties for the District when they violate special educators’ caseloads. Our proposed penalty is $20 a day for every student above the caseload cap, until the District assigns enough staff to bring caseloads back down. The District has been treating special educator caseload caps as optional, so SDEA’s proposal creates a strong disincentive for future violations.

The District’s Director of Special Education responded by asking, wouldn’t that create an incentive for special educators to diagnose more students onto their caseloads so they can make more money? The SDEA bargaining team’s response was strong and clear. Educators are the ones fighting tooth and nail to get enough special education support for our students, while top District administration continues to cut student services to the bone. Not only are they violating our contract, they are violating our students’ rights under the law. And they think we are going to falsify student disabilities, adding to our own overwhelming workload, just to make 20 bucks? Shameful.

These comments simply continue the same pattern we’ve been seeing.

The District said, “We won’t give you ten personal business days because teachers might abuse it.” Then they said, “We won’t reimburse you for your property damaged at work unless you have an original receipt (on top of the police report you already have to file!) because teachers might abuse it.” And now they say, “We won’t compensate you for caseload overages because teachers might abuse it.”

Enough already! It’s time for the District to treat us with the respect we deserve by settling a fair contract with us and honoring it.

Let’s fight back on Nov. 8!

The SDEA bargaining team ended the meeting by delivering thousands of signatures from educators, parents and students across San Diego Unified in support of our L.E.A.R.N.! bargaining campaign and in support of our Nov. 8 Pop-Up Pickets to the SDUSD bargaining team.

Now we need to make good on our Nov. 8 promise! On Nov. 8, thousands of SDEA members will stand in solidarity with parents and students to support the fight for schools our students deserve! See your site Association Representative to make sure your school is ready for the Nov. 8 Pop-Up Picket. Together we are stronger!

All bargaining proposals:

Big Win on Benefits, Let’s Keep Up the Pressure

Bargaining Update

October 11, 2017

Bargaining Highlights

The District officially pulled the health benefits article off the table. This means that our healthcare is protected and cannot be changed during the term of our contract!
The District moved significantly closer to SDEA on providing air conditioning in every classroom— this will improve classroom and student safety.
The District proposed weakening seniority rights in our transfer process.
SDEA made another strong proposal on work hours.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

SDEA Wins on Health Benefits!

After announcing just two weeks ago that they would be opening our health benefits article on Oct. 5, the District reversed course and officially pulled that article off the table. What happened in between Sep. 19 and Oct. 5? SDEA union meetings at fifty-plus schools just in that two-week window, a plan to show up at the Superintendent’s Oct. 17 State of the District address, and a union-wide red t-shirt day. When we stand together, we win!

Positive Movement on Safety

The District has committed to providing air conditioning in all classrooms and educational support spaces, a giant leap forward in the right direction. This improvement in contract language will provide significant relief to our educators and students who work/learn in spaces currently not equipped with air conditioning. This language will include the installation of air conditioning units in thousands of classrooms and educational support spaces.

The District also committed to provide training and resources to educators and staff who are expected to implement restorative practices. The District’s proposals also require administrators to utilize shared-decision-making in each school community before implementing restorative practices—which is a positive acknowledgment of the need for stakeholder input before implementing significant programs like restorative practices.

Lastly on safety, the District proposed to add a new requirement that members provide an original purchase receipt in order to receive reimbursement for personal property destroyed at work. SDEA did not accept this new addition that can prove to be problematic down the road—we intend to offer a realistic counterproposal on this piece.

We Still Have a Fight in Other Areas and Must Keep Up the Pressure

Transfer

When bargaining began, SDEA’s team made an ambitious and thoughtful transfer proposal that would bring more stability to our school staffing, and would create a more fair and transparent process for moving voluntarily or involuntarily from one school to another. The District rejected every single part of SDEA’s proposal with no satisfactory explanation. Even when pressed, they couldn’t explain their objection to most of our proposal, suggesting they simply hadn’t taken it seriously enough to even consider. The only change the district proposed was increasing the number of candidates who may be interviewed when filling posted vacancies from the current number of five candidates to ten. Such a change would weaken our current seniority rights.

Leaves

SDEA’s strong leaves proposal would make several significant changes: Establishing paid maternity leave that does not come out of accrued sick leave (much like what educators in the Grossmont School District recently won), expanding parental bonding leave for all new parents, increasing the number of sick days we can use for personal business each year from three to ten, and allowing members who are ill better access to using Family Medical Leave.

On Oct. 5, the District finally made their counterproposal. Although they made movement in the right direction on parental bonding, the District rejected our proposals on maternity and personal business leaves. Regarding maternity leave, the District is claiming poverty, but has yet to provide evidence that our proposal would create a cost burden. In fact, members who give birth already take maternity leave, so SDEA’s bargaining team believes there would be little to no fiscal impact on the District budget. The only difference would be that new birth-mothers would not have to burn through sick leave that they could otherwise use in the future or save for eventual STRS credit—just like members who don’t give birth are able to do.

Shared Decision-making

The District rejected all of SDEA’s proposal, instead proposing that a mediated conversation around Shared Decision-making in the future would be the best course of actions.

Hours

SDEA made a counterproposal on hours that continues to fight for expansion of the elementary enrichment program, strengthens protections around prep. time, and would establish new rights around grade-level/subject changes and classroom moves.

How Can We Stand Up to Win a Fair Contract NOW?

The District’s rapid reverse-course on health benefits shows that when we all stand up and DEMAND what is right, the District changes their behavior. Here is what every SDEA member can do right now to get in the fight for a fair contract:

Attend your site’s Wave One Union Meeting if it hasn’t happened yet. See your AR for info!
Sign the L.E.A.R.N. petition, and see your AR about getting parents to sign as well.
Join the delegation of SDEA members delivering our L.E.A.R.N. petitions to Supt. Cindy Marten at her State of the District Address at 4 p.m. on Oct. 17 at Sherman Elementary.
Join in the union-wide pop-up picket on Nov. 8 at your school!

All Bargaining Proposals:

Special Education and Wages

Bargaining Update

September 22, 2017

Bargaining Highlights

District rejected SDEA’s proposed improvements for special education—and added language that weakens Early Childhood Special Education caseload protections.
District did propose to streamline the process for addressing caseload overages.
District continues to propose a 0% raise for at least two years, adding a possible reopener in year three.
District will make a healthcare proposal on Oct. 5. Given their current stance about their budget, it is unlikely that they are opening our healthcare article to make improvements.
SDEA made a strong counterproposal on safety. We are close to winning a guarantee of air conditioning in every classroom.

Read below for additional details and full proposals.

Special Education

In yesterday’s bargaining session, the District finally responded to SDEA’s proposal on special education. SDEA is fighting for lower special educator caseloads, compensation for caseload overages, increased staffing, expanded special education supports, and establishing a true continuum of services for our students. On a positive note, the District agreed to refocus the Special Education Workload Committee on district-wide issues, allowing individual caseload overages to move directly to the grievance process. Everyone recognizes that the District isn’t flush with money; but, we have to make some progress in addressing the real challenges that face our Special Education program.

The R in L.E.A.R.N. stands for Resources for Kids, and our students with IEPs need resources and support from the District. SDEA’s bargaining team is committed to fighting for those resources at the table. All SDEA members can join the fight by attending your site’s Union Meeting, signing the L.E.A.R.N. petition, and joining in the union-wide pop-up picket on Nov. 8 at your school!

Wages

After proposing a zero percent raise for “a multi-year agreement” at the last bargaining session, the District followed up yesterday with two packaged proposals:

A two-year contract with a zero percent raise for both years.
A three-year contract with a zero percent for two years, and a wage reopener for the third year. There is no guarantee the wage reopener would result in a raise.

While it is true that SDUSD’s budget has been negatively impacted by a loss of student enrollment, the budgetary problems are not such that a raise is impossible during the term of this agreement, in order to keep our wages competitive County-wide is impossible.

A core component of our L.E.A.R.N. contract campaign is to ensure that we are able to Attract and retain the best educators. SDUSD’s proposal moves us in the opposite direction, but SDEA’s bargaining team will be making a wage proposal in the near future based on an analysis of the District’s true budget picture.

Safety

SDEA’s team made a strong counter-proposal on safety, including:

An air conditioner in every classroom by 2019.
Guaranteeing adequate, safe workspaces for itinerant members and counselors.
Requiring the District to get stakeholder input on what restorative justice should look like for each involved school community, and to provide necessary supports at schools where restorative justice is being implemented.

Thanks to the voices of hundreds of SDEA members calling for air conditioning in every classroom, we are very close to winning an agreement on this issue!

All Bargaining Proposals:

SDUSD Proposes 0% Raise, Class Size Take-backs

Bargaining Update

September 11, 2017

Wages

At a contract negotiations session last Thursday, SDUSD proposed a zero percent raise for SDEA members for the life of the agreement—which could be anywhere from 2-3 years. SDUSD claims that its (notoriously inaccurate) budget deficit projections make it impossible for them to propose any raise. SDUSD also proposed to stop providing BTSA support for new educators, would require new teachers at the bottom of the salary schedule to pay thousands out of pocket to clear their credentials.

SDUSD’s wage proposal is offensive and unacceptable. While it is true that the SDUSD’s budget has been negatively impacted by a loss of student enrollment, the budgetary problems are not such that a raise during the term of this agreement to keep our wages competitive County-wide is impossible. In fact, it wasn’t even clear that SDUSD’s team undertook the necessary budget analysis—like determining what even a 1% raise for SDEA members would actually cost—before making 0% proposal.

A core component of our L.E.A.R.N contract campaign is to ensure that we are able to attract and retain the best educators. SDUSD’s proposal moves us in the opposite direction., SDEA’s bargaining team will be making a wage proposal in the near future based on an analysis of the District’s true budget picture that moves us in the right direction.

Article 7 Wages SDUSD Proposal September 7 2017

Class Size

SDUSD also proposed to gut several important pieces of our contractual class size protections. SDUSD’s proposal delays the 36 hard cap for secondary schools until the 7^th week of school, and completely removes any rules SDUSD must follow in determining how many teachers secondary schools get . The District also proposed making 17 schools (all atypical and alternative schools) entirely exempt from class size protections! After strong rebuke from the SDEA bargaining team, they withdrew that part of their proposal just two hours later. That’s good—but how did that proposal make it across the table in the first place?

SDUSD’s proposal also totally rejected SDEA’s previous proposal to cap non-athletic (e.g. football team) PE classes at no more than 50 students. SDEA’s proposal for the cap on PE classes is based on the needs and safety of our students and educators.

SDEA’s proposal on class size also included numerous pieces that did not have any sort of monetary implications, but SDUSD completely rejected those proposals as well. Ensuring lower class size is also a component of our L.E.A.R.N campaign and is important to our school communities—and SDUSD’s proposal is not in line with the wishes of our communities.

Article 13 Class Size SDUSD Proposal September 7 2017

Safety and Hours

In a sign of positive movement, the district’s team proposed that all school sites would begin construction on air conditioning by 2019, moving them closer to that piece of SDEA’s safety proposal.

However, just as with our class size proposal, SDUSD rejected dozens of SDEA’s proposed improvements on safety as well as work hours, despite little to no monetary cost being attached.

There are many ways that the District can show respect to educators that have no cost attached. For the District to bring a 0% raise to the table without making any significant movement on the cost-neutral parts of SDEA’s L.E.A.R.N. campaign is a sign of real disrespect to San Diego’s educators.

Non-Discrimination

One place where the District actually did the right thing was in reaching a tentative agreement on SDEA’s non-discrimination proposal, which would require the District to provide the necessary professional development, training and resources for educators to protect students from discrimination, and backing off of their proposal to make it exempt from the grievance procedure.

This shows us that the District is absolutely capable of sending proposals to the table that align with our shared values. Now they need to do the same with all of the other parts of our contract.

Other Proposals

The teams also discussed aligning employee suspensions with the requirements of the education code, ensuring that future contract negotiations start before the expiration of the contract, and continuing the work of designing a new educator evaluation plan.

Despite its alarming proposals, the District did come fully authorized and prepared to engage in negotiations for the first time since bargaining started five months ago. Our hope is that the District will continue to engage in future negotiating sessions with the same sort of urgency and authority it brought to the negotiating table on Thursday.

Our Plan to Win a L.E.A.R.N. Contract!

Thursday’s bargaining sessions shows yet again we can’t rely on the District to simply hand over the L.E.A.R.N. contract our students and schools deserve. SDEA leaders and staff have planned three waves of escalating union-wide action this year that will build us to win a strong contract by spring.

Every school in SDEA will have a Wave One Union Organizing meeting between now and late October. Your participation in your school’s union meeting and the actions to come will make the difference between success and failure in the fight ahead. Ask your AR when your Wave One meeting will be! We can win, and we will win, if we stand together. Because SDEA members know, Together We Are Stronger!

SDEA Makes Strong Special Education Proposal

Bargaining Update

July 14, 2017

SDEA members spoke loud and clear this past spring: Resources for students, including students with IEPs, is a major priority in our L.E.A.R.N.! bargaining campaign. In yesterday’s bargaining session, SDEA’s team made a strong initial proposal on Article 29: Special Education that would greatly increase such resources for our students with IEPs, and rights for special educators.

Highlights of the proposal include:

Establishing a true continuum of services for students
Making special educator caseloads a hard cap
Lowering Resource Specialists caseloads to 20, to match Education Specialists: Mild/Moderate caseloads
Reducing Speech Language Pathologist caseloads
Increasing special education staffing levels
Additional prep time for special educators who co-teach
Release time to conduct excessive initial and triennial assessments

Article 29 Special Education SDEA Initial Proposal July 13 2017

SDEA’s team also brought a counterproposal on negotiation timelines that would start our future bargaining well in advance of the expiration of contract.

Article 4 Negotiation Procedures SDEA Proposal July 13 2017

On the other hand, the District continued their pattern of making no substantive proposals. SDEA’s team went into the meeting optimistic because the District’s team promised they would finally bring two new initial proposals. Technically, they delivered. The District did make initial proposals on Article 14: Performance Evaluation Procedures and Article 18: Peer Review and Enrichment Program (PREP). What exactly did they propose? Simply to reopen both articles at an unspecified future date, when the joint evaluation committee has a recommendation. Other than that, they proposed no changes.

This marks nearly two months since SDUSD has made any significant initial proposals at the table. Their last significant initial proposal was on May 19, when they proposed major take backs on our transfer rights. They have since withdrawn it.

The District also brought a counter-proposal to SDEA’s proposal on Article 27: Non-Discrimination. SDEA had proposed that the District provide the necessary professional development, training and resources for educators to protect students from discrimination. SDUSD broadly accepted the concept—but only if their commitment to doing so is exempt from the grievance procedure, and therefore unenforceable. SDEA’s team made an immediate counter, making clear that we are here to bargain a contract this is a requirement, not a suggestion.

SDUSD Proposals — Articles 14 18 and 27 July 13 2017

Article 27 Non-Discrimination SDEA Proposal July 13 2017

In addition to their non-substantive proposals, the District stated that they are withdrawing seven other articles that they had originally planned to bargain over. This is movement in the right direction, given the District’s glacial pace in negotiations, but still leaves 15 articles that they have yet to put on the table. That’s on top of the ten SDEA proposals that are currently awaiting counters from the District.

The next scheduled bargaining session is Sep. 7. At that session, SDEA’s team will make all four of our remaining initial proposals, with the goal that negotiations will move rapidly towards a fair settlement. Our expectation is that the District work toward doing the same.

District Continues Pattern of Bad Faith Bargaining

Bargaining Update

June 22, 2017

For the third bargaining session in a row, the District’s bargaining team came to the table with no new initial proposals, despite having opened up 26 articles in our contract. SDEA’s team brought two. All the District brought to the table was the argument that SDEA’s L.E.A.R.N. proposals are too expensive, which apparently means they can’t bargain. The District failed to counter any of the eight proposals SDEA now actively has on the table. The teams had set aside 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. for a full day of bargaining today. Instead, bargaining began shortly after 9:30 and ended an hour later because the District was unable to respond to any of SDEA’s proposals.

The only bright spot was the District officially withdrawing their destructive, anti-union transfer proposal after a strong and immediate backlash from SDEA members, and a recognition that the proposal is not in alignment with the School Board’s own philosophy about public education and the importance of unions in protecting it.

SDEA’s team continued to push the pace with two more initial proposals:

Article 27: Non-Discrimination

SDEA’s proposal is short but powerful. We propose the following addition: “The district will provide the necessary professional development, training and resources for educators to succeed in ensuring that all students are protected from harassment and discrimination regardless of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic group identification, race, national origin, religion, color, or mental or physical disability.”

Article 27 Non Discrimination SDEA Initial Proposal

Article 16: Organizational Security

SDEA proposes maintenance of membership language to bring our contract in line with the Educational Employment Relations Act.

Article 16 Organizational Security SDEA Initial Proposal

SDEA will continue to do everything possible at the table to win a fair, fast settlement for our L.E.A.RN.! contract campaign. If the District continues not to engage in good faith, we will take the steps necessary to compel them to come to the table prepared and able to actually bargain.

SDEA Makes Strong Class Size, Safety and Shared Decision-making Proposals

District Delays Continue

Bargaining Update

June 9, 2017

Today’s bargaining session was deja vu all over again. SDEA’s team came prepared to make three new initial proposals: Class Size, Safety and Shared Decision-making. SDUSD’s team brought no new proposals, and just one counterproposal that was limited to changing bargaining timelines.

Class Size

Lowering class size and caseloads is one of the five pillars of our L.E.A.R.N.! contract campaign! SDEA’s proposal includes:

Changing the grades TK-3 site average of 24-to-1 to a hard cap of 24.
Lowering the grades 4-6 class size from an average of 35 over 30 days to a hard cap of 30.
Further lowering class size for elementary combo classes.
Lowering the secondary class size from a hard cap of 36 to 32.
Changing the PE class size from an average of 50 over a ten-week period to a hard cap of 50.
Significantly lowering the caseloads for nurses and counselors and increasing site nurse and counselor allocations.

Click below for the full proposal:

Article 13 Class Size SDEA Initial Proposal

Safety

When SDEA members bargain to make our working conditions safer, we are bargaining to make our students’ learning conditions safer. SDEA’s proposal includes:

An air conditioner in every classroom by fall 2018.
Guaranteeing adequate, safe workspaces for itinerant members and counselors.
Requiring the District to get stakeholder input on what restorative justice should look like for each involved school community, and to provide all necessary supports at schools where restorative justice is being implemented.

Click below for the full proposal:

Article 11 Safety SDEA Initial Proposal

Shared Decision-making

SDEA members know that our schools work best when those of who live and breathe at the school each day—educators, parents, classified staff, administrators, and even students—are involved in making decisions that impact our school communities. SDEA’s proposal includes:

Broadening stakeholder input into District education reform decisions.
Turning best practices for PLCs into contractual rights.
Pushing back against a culture of high-stakes testing in public education.

Click below for the full proposal:

Article 24 Shared Decision-making SDEA Initial Proposal

Click below for SDUSD’s counterproposal on negotiation timelines:

Article 4 Negotiation Procedures District Counter June 8 2017

In four sessions, SDEA has made six of our planned 13 initial proposals. We have responded to every District proposal, countering two and reaching a tentative agreement on a third.

In those same four sessions, SDUSD has made only three of their planned 26 initial proposals, and one counterproposal. When we asked what the expected timeline was for their remaining 23 proposals, they could not tell us.

SDEA will continue to push the pace as we fight for a fair, fast settlement for our L.E.A.RN.! contract campaign. If the District delays continue, we will move just as quickly towards filing an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the District to compel them to come to the table prepared and able to actually bargain.

Let’s Turn Up the Heat This Summer!

Join the SDEA Street Heat Team to be part of the action! Email SDEAPres@sdea.net with the subject line “Street Heat Team” for summertime alerts about short but intense actions that turn up the heat in the fight against layoffs and for a L.E.A.R.N.! union contract.

SDEA members can end the traditional school year with a bang by showing up at the School Board meeting on Tuesday, June 13 at 4:45 p.m. Let’s continue to voice our demand that Superintendent Marten and the School Board to recall every single one of the remaining 300+ layoffs, and turn their attention to bargaining a L.E.A.R.N! union contract. Be there, bring a friend, and wear red!

Although SDEA came prepared to bargain, once again the District did not!

Bargaining Update

May 26, 2017

District Already Delaying at the Table

Yesterday marked our third bargaining session, and the District is already beginning to drag their feet in bargaining. SDEA came prepared to make two proposals. The District came prepared to make none.

The District showed up at 10:05 for our 9:30 bargaining session, and extended our one-hour working lunch to an hour and 50 minutes. What the District did have time for at the table was asking why in our Article 8: Hours proposal, SDEA’s team thought elementary teachers need 90 minutes of prep time each week (as opposed to the current 45-60 minutes). Apparently 90 minutes of prep in one week is excessive for elementary teachers, but top District administrators need more “prep time” than that in a single day—and they still failed to come back to the table with any counterproposals.

SDEA Comes Back Strong on Transfer Rights

SDEA made a strong counter proposal to the District’s May 19 Transfer proposal, which gutted our due process and seniority rights. The SDEA proposal ensures a fair and transparent transfer process for both voluntary and involuntary transfers. It maintains due process and seniority rights. It also establishes an inclusive and transparent interview and selection process through shared decision-making.

SDEA was prepared to present an additional proposal, Article 24: Shared Decision Making, but was unable to due to the District’s delays. At our next bargaining session scheduled for Thursday, June 8, your SDEA bargaining team will be prepared to present strong proposals for Article 24: Shared Decision Making, Article 13: Class Size and Article 11: Safety Conditions of Employment.

SDEA Article 12 Transfer Proposal May 25 2017

What’s Next? “Occupy” the Ed. Center!

Our next organizing action to support our “NO to LAYOFFS…YES to L.E.A.R.N.!” campaign is scheduled for Tuesday, May 30 at 4:15PM at the District Office (4100 Normal Street). Come join your fellow educators, parents, community and labor partners as we “Occupy” the Ed. Center. We will meet at the flag pole at 4:15PM, our occupy action will be from 4:30-4:45PM, and we will pack the School Board meeting at 5:00PM demanding that the Board recall ALL remaining laid off members and support our SDEA L.E.A.R.N. contract!

SDEA Proposes Overhaul of Transfer Process and a Major Expansion of Parental and Other Leaves

SDUSD Proposes Gutting Our Transfer Article and Seniority Rights

Bargaining Update

May 19, 2017

Today’s bargaining session highlighted a growing division between SDEA members and the District. Do we want a District where decisions are made together by educators, administrators, classified workers, parents, and all community stakeholders? Or do we want a District where decisions are top-down and management driven, with no one else having a voice or a seat at the table?

SDEA members believe in the first vision, and advanced two key areas of our L.E.A.R.N.! campaign today to do exactly that. SDEA’s team proposed an entirely new transfer process that is fair and transparent, and a leave article that significantly expands parental and personal leave.

The top administration at SDUSD clearly believes in the second, top-down vision. The District’s transfer proposal would allow the District to transfer anyone, at any time in the year, for any reason! It completely guts seniority and all other protections for members currently in the contract, and gives unlimited authority on staffing decisions to Human Resources and site administrators. SDEA’s bargaining team truly wonders if the School Board had any clue “their” team would be making this proposal today. The words of the District’s proposal today sounded like they came right out of the mouth of Betsy DeVos— not what we would expect from a progressive Board that is rooted in labor.

N: No Destabilizing Our Schools through a Fair, Transparent Transfer Process

During the Bargaining Input Sessions, SDEA members stated loud and clear that the current transfer process does not work. It’s confusing, and it leads to more grievances than any other section of our contract. We need a transfer process that is clear, transparent, and involves the voices of all stakeholders—not just management.

SDEA’s Article 12: Transfer proposal includes:

The involvement of Governance Teams in the creation of school and program schedules for the following year, including excessing, vacancies and master schedules.
A separation of the involuntary and voluntary transfer process, with stronger seniority rights for excessed members and a meaningful bite at the apple for those who are voluntarily seeking a new position.
An earlier deadline for fall transfers, so schools aren’t reorganizing classes and losing teachers as late as Halloween.
More Governance Team Involvement in staffing decisions for multiple assignment and itinerant positions.
Clear rules and protections surrounding partial positions.
Expanded supports for moves between schools, or on your current campus.
Supports for members moved to a new subject, or more than two grade levels from your current grade level.
A $1,000 early notification bonus for members retiring or resigning.
Seniority protections when a school or program is reorganized.
A stronger, faster process for SDEA members to enforce violations of the transfer process.

In almost total contrast to what SDEA proposes, SDUSD proposes:

The removal of any and all due process rights for administrative transfers. If your principal thinks you’re a bad fit for your school, with three days notice, you can be removed. The only recourse is a non-binding meeting with your boss’ boss.
Excessed members would have the right to an interview, and that’s it. There is no guarantee of placement into any position you bid on.
Total elimination of seniority rights from the Post and Bid process.
Unlimited management rights for placement after the Post and Bid. If an excessed member doesn’t find a spot through Post and Bid, Human Resources can put that member anywhere they want.
The elimination of the October 31 deadline for transfers. The District could continue to excess members based on “site need” at any point in the year.
No requirement that excessing be tied to anything real, such as decline in enrollment. Principals can excess based on “site need” … as determined by the principal.
Multiple assignment members would lose the right to keep their own positions when rebundled.
Removal of all deadlines for itinerant member assignments, which could be changed at any point in the year.
A complete elimination of the ability of the union to look at the Post before it goes live, or attempt to problem-solve ahead of time.

SDEA’s bargaining team made it perfectly clear that the District’s proposal is the opposite of what SDEA members believe is right for our schools. We know that we will have a fight on our hands to win a transfer process that does not destabilize schools—and fight we will!

A: Attract and Keep the Best and Brightest with Competitive Leave Policies

SDUSD must offer leave policies that honor us as professionals, and compete with other local school districts.

SDEA’s Article 10: Leaves proposal includes:

Eight weeks of fully paid maternity leave for new mothers that does not come out of accrued leave.
Two weeks of fully paid bonding leave for all new parents that does not come out of accrued leave.
Ten more weeks of bonding leave using accumulated full-pay leave and then half-pay leave. (A new state law now provides 12 weeks of bonding using accumulated full-pay leave and then half-pay leave.)
Expand personal business leave from three days to 10 days.

SDEA’s proposal will allow SDUSD to compete with the Grossmont District, where our fellow CTA members recently won six weeks of fully paid maternity leave for new mothers. SDEA’s bargaining team reminded the District’s team that the United States is one of the only countries in the world that provides zero paid parental leave. The children of educators become the students we educate. Our proposal is right for our members, it’s right for our families, and it’s right for kids!

Also addressed were negotiations timelines and clean-up language regarding now-defunct “tracks” at year-round schools.

What’s Next?

Wear red next Thursday to show support for the L.E.A.R.N.! campaign and our fight against layoffs, as our team heads back to the bargaining table. See your site AR for stickers to wear as well!
Occupy the Ed. Center on Tuesday, May 30 — 4:15 at 4100 Normal St. There’s no reason the Board should not vote to recall every single one of Cindy Marten’s remaining 400+ layoffs that night!

SDEA Proposals:

SDUSD Proposals:

Tentative Agreement

Tentative Agreement Article 23 Year Round Schools

District Withdraws Proposal to Cut Enrichment/Prep Time, Backs off of Plan to Centralize Prep Time Teachers for Now

Bargaining Update

April 28, 2017

Bargaining our next union contract is officially underway, and SDEA members are already making headway at the bargaining table. In anticipation of our first bargaining session yesterday, SDUSD sent over a proposal a week ago that would have completely eliminated the elementary enrichment/prep time program. In addition to cutting crucial enrichment for our students, their proposal would have slashed elementary educator prep time from roughly ten hours a month to less than four hours a month. Yesterday, in response to member pressure, SDUSD withdrew that proposal entirely. The District also agreed to honor our contract and cease any attempts to centralize elementary enrichment/prep positions for the 2017-18 school year, likely resolving the class action grievance and Unfair Labor Practice Charge that SDEA filed over their plan.

These immediate victories come on the heels of the first SDEA Town Hall, which was held the evening before bargaining began. More than 100 educators, parents and students showed up to call on School Board member Kevin Beiser to undo the District’s proposed cuts to prep time, recall layoffs, and commit to supporting SDEA’s L.E.A.R.N. contract campaign to secure the schools our students deserve. The pressure continued last night, with over a 100more showing up to make the same demands of School Board members Richard Barrera and Mike McQuary.

The SDEA bargaining team is building on the momentum union members are generating. SDEA’s first bargaining proposal, presented yesterday, would nearly double the elementary enrichment and prep time program. The SDEA Article 8: Hours proposal would also strengthen secondary prep time meeting prohibitions, expand protections for emergency coverage, expand the nurse and counselor work year by three days, strengthen shared decision making, and provide clear rules and supports for grade level/subject changes and on-site classroom moves.

While the District backing down on elementary enrichment and prep time now is a good first step, the District is only conceding this for the 2017-18 school year. SDEA’s bargaining team believes the District may still propose drastic changes to the elementary enrichment program for future years. Plus, the District’s bargaining team is already showing some red flags with bargaining behavior. They canceled our second bargaining session, which has been on the books for months. SDEA’s bargaining team expects the District’s bargaining team to show up prepared and bargain in good faith on the days we say we’re going to, and will be holding the District accountable if they don’t.

We bargain again on May 19. SDEA’s bargaining team will be prepared to make proposals on Leaves and Transfer.

All of this means we need to keep the pressure on! There is one more Town Hall on May 1 from 4-6 p.m. at the SDEA office (10393 San Diego Mission Rd.). Be there to make sure Superintendent Marten and School Board members Whitehurst-Payne and Evans commit to recalling layoffs and supporting our L.E.A.R.N. campaign at the bargaining table.

Together We Are Stronger!

Let’s say NO to layoffs and YES to L.E.A.R.N.!

District administration is creating a budget crisis to push through cuts that are bad for kids. They are planning to layoff 1 in every 8 educators, get rid of enrichment classes, and slash supports for our neediest students. Creating an environment of panic and instability is an opportunity to push through the cuts and reorganizations top administrators want, but that parents, educators and our school communities oppose.

These cuts are based on worst-case predictions, and they’ve been wrong every time. District administration doesn’t really know what its budget will be until June. Right now they are just guessing, and they have a long history of guessing wrong. Last year their budget was off by 48%, and in 2014-15 it was off by 94%! That’s $79 million! That’s why we are fighting back against teacher layoffs and slash- and-burn cuts.

Educators have a better plan for our schools. Educators aren’t getting distracted by this inflated crisis—and we don’t want parents to be, either. To move us forward, we’re launching a campaign to fight for a union contract that gives our kids and our schools the resources they really need.

Let’s join the contract fight to

L.E.A.R.N.!

Lower class size! Lower class sizes for every classroom means our students will get the attention they need to learn.

Expanded enrichment classes! Kids need art, PE, music and more to learn and grow. Plus, the time kids spend in enrichment classes gives their teachers time to plan and prepare.

Attract and keep the best educators! Our kids deserve the best, but San Diego educator pay is near the bottom half of all educators in the county. That’s why we’re fighting for competitive pay and benefits.

Resources for kids! We need more wrap-around resources, like counselors, nurses, and special education support, to make sure all of our kids get everything they need in order to learn.

No destabilizing schools! We want to start off the school year with teachers in place and ready to teach — no more last minute changes. Staffing policies should create stable schools and be fair.

L.E.A.R.N.!

SDEA WINS STRONG CONTRACT SETTLEMENT!

District Asks to Return to Bargaining Table – Additional Session Added

SDEA Declares Impasse

District Comes to Table with Transfer Proposal, Nothing Else

SDEA Puts Ball in District’s Court with Strong Settlement Package

Big Movement on Class Size, Special Education after SDEA Organizing Ramp-up

District Continues to Claim Poverty with 0% Raise Proposal

SDEA Calls Out District Budget Games

District Back to Delays at the Table

Attacks Continue on Special Education

The Fight against Layoffs Starts Now

District Moves, But Nowhere Near Enough

Our Pressure is Working – Tentative Agreement Reached on Safety

District Still Needs to Make Real Movement on L.E.A.R.N.!

SDEA Proposes Raises in a Strong Settlement Package

Big Win on Benefits, Let’s Keep Up the Pressure

Special Education and Wages

SDUSD Proposes 0% Raise, Class Size Take-backs

SDEA Makes Strong Special Education Proposal

District Continues Pattern of Bad Faith Bargaining

SDEA Makes Strong Class Size, Safety and Shared Decision-making Proposals

District Delays Continue

Although SDEA came prepared to bargain, once again the District did not!

SDEA Proposes Overhaul of Transfer Process and a Major Expansion of Parental and Other Leaves

SDUSD Proposes Gutting Our Transfer Article and Seniority Rights

District Withdraws Proposal to Cut Enrichment/Prep Time, Backs off of Plan to Centralize Prep Time Teachers for Now

Let’s say NO to layoffs and YES to L.E.A.R.N.!

L.E.A.R.N.!

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