Posted on Jul 30, 2009
Only one day after they had bid farewell to their students for the summer, hundreds of SDEA educators gathered before the Education Center to present what was possibly the longest petition in District history to Board President Shelia Jackson. Bearing over 4,000 signatures collected in the space of one week, the Petition to Save Our Schools was roughly the length of a football field. At Jackson’s behest, SDEA members convened again the following week to present the petition to the entire school board, reminding our elected representatives that we are watching closely as they govern one of the nation’s largest urban districts.
Petition to Save Our Schools
Dear School Board President Shelia Jackson,
We, the undersigned members of the San Diego Education Association, pledge our support for any and all Board of Education actions taken on behalf of the children, teachers and staff of the District to restore our confidence and trust in the administration of SDUSD.
San Diego’s educators chose public education as a career to contribute to the future of our community’s children. We readily accept the challenges of working in public schools, and we stand prepared to work with you through the current economic crisis and other challenges before us.
But in the past year, we have witnessed a return to the environment of fear, hostility and divisiveness that characterized past years within SDUSD. This environment can only serve to impede the progress we are making with our students, while deepening the challenges before us. We cannot stand by while another top-down administration makes decisions which damage our schools, limit our ability to serve our students, and ultimately place the future of our District in jeopardy.
We call on you, as the leader of the SDUSD Board Education, to do everything in your power to reverse the current negative trajectory of the District, and restore us again to a place where honesty, openness and fairness are valued in words and in action.
Sincerely,
