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"An injury to one is an injury to all."
(Knight of Labor, one of the most important labor organization of the 19th century)
By Dick Gale, SDEA Executive Director

As a union, we subscribe to this basic tenet and it is clear that many of our members hold similar beliefs. Even though layoff notices were issued to fewer than 15% of SDEA members, thousands of teachers and certificated support staff expressed their outrage at the School Board’s actions. While their job security was not personally at risk, their sense of loss was nonetheless real and profound.

This support from colleagues was a critical part of SDEA’s response
to the RIFs. Putting a human face of what was otherwise simply a list
of numbers and job titles was essential if the community was going to
be able to grasp the true implications of the Board’s actions. Our near
constant organizing activities over the past two months served to keep
the issue on the front burner and brought pressure to bear on key
political decision-makers.

In addition, of course, there was the legal response to the RIFs.
SDEA’s job for our permanent members was to challenge the
District’s actions before an Administrative Law Judge at a two-day
RIF hearing held at Correia Middle School on April 14th and 15th.
In front of a packed house of teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians,
SDEA/CTA attorney Fern Steiner and field organizer Steve
Kaplan worked together to process the huge volume of data that had
been generated as a result of a series of informational meetings and
individual consultations with affected members.

SDEA representatives questioned the District’s claims of financial
hardship, the accuracy of seniority dates and credential issues in an
attempt to rescind as many of the layoffs as possible. As the hearing
progressed, SDEA staff gathered notes and questions from affected
members and transmitted relevant facts to our attorney so incorrect
assertions made by the District could be countered immediately.

Although the judge’s final decision fell short of our expectations,
there was an agreement from both sides to correct several dozen
errors. This led to a rescission of a handful of the layoff notices
and jubilation among the crowd gathered in the auditorium. While
we will have to wait until summer to see whether the state budget
process yields additional dollars for public schools, it is clear to teachers
involved in the process that whatever the final outcome, SDEA’s
advocacy was strong and unwavering.

In a separate process, thanks to the hard work of our ARs and CRs,
grievances were filed on behalf of all probationary members who
received a RIF notice. The Step 3 grievance hearing is scheduled to
be held on May 28th at the Ed Center. Depending on the outcome
of that hearing, SDEA will decide whether to pursue arbitration in
an attempt to overturn these RIFs. In the meantime, perhaps our
legislators will succumb to the ever-increasing public pressure and
do something significant to exempt our schools from this budgetary
hardship.