New Face, Same Privatizer Attacks

Local anti-union forces launch postcard blitz

There is a new front in the attack on public education. Carl DeMaio, a failed politician here in San Diego who fought to deny San Diego City workers a pension, has now set his sights on the educators of San Diego. DeMaio and his fellow privatizers are seeking to weaken educators’ unions by encouraging us to drop our union membership under the guise of requesting a “rebate”. DeMaio is funded by the same anti-union, anti-public education billionaires who seek to weaken our union and privatize our schools in order to turn a profit.

Why are educators’ unions the current target? Because we’re winning! The Janus decision didn’t stop us. In some ways, it made us stronger! Last spring, we saw thousands of members recommit to our union as an act of solidarity. More recently, the UTLA and OEA strikes showed us the power of collective action and the amazing level of support for public education by our parents and communities. We helped elect Tony Thurmond as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, as well as a supportive state legislature that just passed a bill that will hold charters to the same accountability rules as district schools.

And we finally found something we can agree on with US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos: educator unions are the only thing standing in the way of corporate school privatization efforts. SDEA is fully committed to striking a huge blow against those same anti-public education forces with the long-overdue Schools and Communities First Initiative in November 2020, which could bring billions of tax dollars back to our schools every year.

In order to see these gains, we must double our efforts to ensure every educator is a member of our union. Our success depends on our power, and our power depends on our membership. Together we have the resources to win a fair contract, charter accountability and transparency, and increase state funding for schools. We are not alone in our fight. We are in the midst of a nationwide teacher uprising, with new locals standing up every day. SDEA is part of a statewide coalition of teacher unions united together around connected struggles.

The attacks against us are not going to stop anytime soon. Can we count on you to reach out to every non-member at your school site? We have to make membership a priority. Together we can push back against any campaign launched to weaken our union. Together we can launch a winning contract campaign. Together we can win the battle for the schools our students deserve. Together we are stronger!