Where Are We Going? Are We There Yet?
(or how to straighten out a crooked road)
By Camille Zombro, SDEA President and
Marc Capitelli, SDEA Vice President

Part 1

W e have a sacred legend in our country about the founding fathers/mothers and how they stepped forward to "pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor". By doing so, they all put themselves in danger of the gallows should things not go the right way. Behind them were the foot soldiers that had to do the fighting, live through horrendous winters and plant the crops somewhere in between doing the rest.

If we flash forward to present times we could rightly ask the question, "is there anybody left in this country who would stand up for those rights we give such lip service to?" We believe that among our members the answer, "I will," would ring forth with a resounding force to answer the call.

We all need to remember two truisms about unions:

• We are more powerful working together than we are alone.
  
• We are more powerful when we empower ourselves with
  information instead of being dependent on someone else.

SDEA leadership has made a conscious decision to build the strength
of our union and empower our members. Educating our members, asking
our member to participate, and listening to each other so that our work is grounded to members are all key ingredients in building a strong, purposeful union.

SDEA has embarked on a new path that is designed to empower our
members to handle most of the day-to-day issues with our contract. This is different than in the past when it was expected that you should call someone at SDEA to interpret for you what the contract says and to tell you what to do. SDEA was into what is called a "service mode" because of our bigness and because quite honestly it is an easier way to handle things. It is, however, limiting in building a strong union because a service mode is a dependent mode. A dependent mode is not conducive to building strong members, who are the base of a strong union.

Scenario 1:
Your principal tells you that you must attend training, after the regular workday, for which you will not be paid. You are wondering whether you really have to go. You pick up the phone and call your UFO or Contract Specialist for clarity.

Scenario 2:
Your principal tells you that you must attend training, after the regular workday, for which you will not be paid. You talk with your Association Rep for clarity.

Scenario 3:
Your principal tells you that you must attend training, after the regular workday, for which you will not be paid. You remind the principal, politely, that payment is required when the district mandates attendance past the regular workday.

SDEA is in the process of moving our members from scenario 1, through
2, and ultimately to scenario 3 where our members know their contract
rights and obligations.

Your union is investing in training programs for ARs, CRs, SOs, GOs, and ultimately all our members.

A STRONG (informed) membership is the foundation for a STRONG / POWERFUL union working for members working conditions and, by extension, the learning conditions of our students.Here are some Little Steps you can take to begin your empowerment.

• The Contract: Each of you should have a copy of the SDEA/ SDUSD contract. If you don't have contact your site secretary and get one. The latest version is a lovely green. It is our "constitution". You should sleep with it under your pillow. You should read it cover to cover. You should "dog ear" it to find the parts most important to you. This is different than in the past when it was expected that you should call someone at SDEA to interpret for you what the contract says. Have a book club about it to fulfill your Stull evaluations. Read your contract together and learn the power that is in your hands.
  
• Each month The Advocate has a section about contract interpretations. They are also available at SDEA.net. Read them and file them or attach them to your contract.
  
• If you are an AR, CR, SO or GO attend the upcoming trainings.
  
• Ask your AR to have a UFO, officer, or board member come to your school to conduct a short training about YOUR contract.

Lastly, if something is bothering you it most likely is bothering others in your staff. If you have an issue talk with your principal. We hold sacred the right of freedom of speech. Your principal should never silence your voice. In a real learning community we learn by a free exchange of ideas. If you are not comfortable doing that alone your AR/CR is the representative of SDEA. Their most important job is to stand for the union and stand with you.

It does take courage to speak for yourself and for others, but let us put it in perspective. The recent news from Myanmar has shown us a measure of courage we cannot imagine. Your leaders are not filled with magic when we go toe-to-toe with the Superintendent or when we tell our parent unions they got it wrong on NCLB. We only speak with passion and courage that comes from our belief in you and our students.

The road we travel in life, be it as an individual or a union, is sometimes circuitous. When we know where we are going we can clearly see which road we should take. If we want to go to San Francisco we, most likely, would not drive toward Miami.

We have chosen a direction. The road ahead may be bumpy. It will have
a few twists and turns because we chose the Coast Highway instead of
I-5. We are headed in the direction to empower you and SDEA in meeting the demands of the future.

Are we there yet Dad?" "Not yet son. Just a little while longer!"