Posted on Feb 04, 2010
SDEA Urges SDUSD to Accept its Fair Bargaining Proposal
What’s at Stake for SDEA Members and our Schools
On Thursday, Feb. 4 SDEA presented the SDUSD bargaining team with a counter proposal to the District’s Jan. 19 proposal. Backed by thousands of teachers, nurses, counselors, librarians and other professional educators, the San Diego Education Association has proposed a pay cut in order to preserve class sizes and protect programs and services in our neighborhood schools.
In January, the District proposed a three-year contract, effective July 2008, with an eight percent salary reduction effective September 2010. The District further proposed a plan for salary restoration that would occur in the distant future, with no contractual guarantees that repayment would actually occur. The SDEA bargaining team found the District’s proposal utterly unacceptable, and launched a series of city-wide membership meetings during the week of Jan. 25 to seek input from SDEA members in the critical work of constructing a counter proposal.
The counter proposal SDEA presented to the District on Feb. 4 represents the input we gathered from the SDEA members who participated in those meetings over the past week. Through those tough conversations, a clear direction emerged. Across the District, an overwhelming majority of those who participated authorized the bargaining team to craft a proposal including a temporary pay reduction to preserve class sizes and protect programs and services. Accordingly, SDEA presented the District with a counter proposal extending through 2012-2013 including:
- No changes to the salary schedule during 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years.
- A prohibition on any layoffs that would take effect during the 2010-2011 school year.
- Three student-contact furlough days each in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, roughly equivalent to a 1.6% salary decrease each year.
- Reinstatement of the furlough days in 2012-2013, along with salary increases bringing us well above current levels. Any improvements to the District’s fiscal circumstances would cancel the furlough days or be applied to the salary schedule.
- Class size caps, protections for nursing and counseling staffing levels, a five-year evaluation cycle for eligible members, and other non-monetary contract improvements.
Through this counter proposal, SDEA members are also sending a clear message to our community: When it comes to our schools, we’re all in this together. Public education is the cornerstone of San Diego’s future, and teachers will continue to do our part to protect our students.
The Voices of Our Members
San Diego Unified School District’s history of wasteful spending, combined with the current economic crisis, puts the future of our students and our city at risk. In their February 4, 2010 bargaining proposal to SDUSD, SDEA members are now calling on the District to make an equal commitment to protecting San Diego’s children by:
- Keeping class sizes low by not laying off teachers,
- Preserving core student programs and services like nursing and counseling, and
- Bringing San Diego teacher pay up from among the lowest in the County once the current economic crisis has passed.
SDEA members are taking back control of the debate and exerting our own power over the destiny of the schools we work so hard to strengthen and protect. When presenting SDEA’s counter proposal to the District, the SDEA members on the SDEA bargaining team shared their thoughts and feelings regarding the damage that the District did to their relationship with our members in proposing an unacceptable eight percent salary cut. Videos of those words members delivered to the District bargaining team may be viewed at our newly launched YouTube channel. Meghann Hughes, a bargaining team member from Kearny High School, is featured below:
The counter proposal was also accompanied by a cover letter summarizing not only the content of the proposal, but SDEA members’ frustration toward and expectations of the District, as shared with us through the all-member meetings. Members may download the letter, or watch a video of SDEA President Camille Zombro introducing and reading its contents, as delivered to the District bargaining team.
What’s Next: RALLY FOR A FAIR CONTRACT
SDEA members are making a commitment to protect our schools during these difficult times. Now it is the District’s turn to step to the plate. SDEA members must support the bargaining team and demand that the School Board accept our fair and reasonable proposal, so that we can all get back to the critical work of teaching and learning.
On Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. SDEA is rallying outside the Education Center to make sure the Board hears our voices loud and clear. Click here to download the rally flyer. Wear your red SDEA t-shirt and bring your family, friends and kids!
Location: SDUSD Education Center – 4100 Normal Street, San Diego, 92103
For more information about SDEA’s Feb. 4 counter, and to download the most recent SDEA and SDUSD proposals, visit the Bargaining Updates page.