One year from the launch of the statewide We Can’t Wait campaign and after sixteen intense bargaining sessions, our SDEA bargaining team has reached an agreement with the District (at 11:00 PM!):

• An agreement to settle the Special Education Caseload Overage Unfair Labor Practice (ULP), and 
• A tentative agreement on our entire next contract.

This contract, if ratified by members, will finally hold the District accountable for staffing Special Education, and will also include a landmark protection against layoffs, raises beyond the state COLA, and more.

Concrete solutions to caseload overages:

We came to agreement on contract language in Article 29 that will provide more enforceable caseload caps, where educators will automatically be paid a monthly stipend whenever they are over contractual limits rather than waiting months and sometimes years for relief. This compensates educators for their time, but even more significantly, it financially incentivizes the District to actually fix staffing issues and provide the support that students and educators need.

Other agreements which address Special Education staffing:

• Mild/Mod Ed Specialists will have caseload management days to catch up on assessments, IEP meetings, paperwork, and family communications.
• $4000 annual stipends for ESN/Mod/Severe teachers to staff hard to fill positions.
• A pathway to free credentials, building on this year’s paid credential pathway for SDEA members to add a credential to staff SpEd vacancies internally.
• To settle the unresolved caseload grievances for the 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 school years, all educators who are over caseload will get stipends based on the number of students over caseload.

Strike is called off! February 26 will be a regular work day. 

At the last meeting of the SDEA Board of Directors, your elected leaders gave our bargaining team parameters for what Special Education solutions we would need to win in order to call off the strike. With tonight’s agreement, we’ve met those parameters. After this long weekend, site leaders will be getting lots more information on next steps, which they’ll be able to share with you at your next union meeting. 

Our solidarity won this victory!

As a bargaining team, we first proposed the Special Education solutions in Article 29 in March 2025… that’s almost a year ago! These solutions were just as urgent a year ago – students already desperately needed support, and educators were already burned out. The difference is that within the last year, SDEA members showed up and kept showing up. Special Education staffing isn’t something that just impacts our students with disabilities and our Special Education educators – when students don’t have what they need to succeed, it impacts everyone in the school community. It took the entire community standing up together to make a difference. 

We’ve reached a tentative agreement on the whole contract:

Along with the agreement on Special Education staffing and overage solutions, we reached tentative agreements on all pending articles for our next contract. That means big wins on staffing, pay, and stability.

• Concrete, enforceable solutions to the chronic understaffing of Special Education in Article 29.
• Expanded student mental health supports with the addition of intervention counselors in Article 13.
• Clearer and fairer process for staffing Summer School in Article 17.
• Clearer discipline processes that protect members from unsubstantiated discipline in Article 33.
• Improved evaluation system that supports educators rather than punishes them in Articles 14 & 18.

• A 2.5% raise for this year and another 2.5% next year – more than COLA! – to be paid after the District gets money from the state, in Article 7.
• Restored ECE stipend in TK classrooms to help close the pay gap for our TK teachers in Appendix B.
• Clarified leave policies to retain and support educators throughout our careers and the course of life events in Article 10.
• Protected copay limits in Article 9: Health & Welfare Benefits.
• Fair compensation for new educators attending orientations in Article 5.

• A promise of no layoffs through the term of the contract in Article 19.
• Continuing a path to end the unnecessary chaos of Fall Excessing in Article 12.
• Key protections for immigrant and LGBTQ+ students and educators in our new Article 35.
• Access to safe & clean school facilities, including a streamlined process for urgent repairs in Article 11.
• Stronger, more sustainable Community Schools in Article 36.
• Protections against educators being replaced by AI in Article 2.
• Expanded access to Job Sharing and Reduced Workload in Articles 21 & 31.

Next Steps: 

Tentative agreements for each article are still in the process of being signed and will all be added to our proposal tracker. After reviewing the changes won by members on our SDEA bargaining team, all members will have a chance to vote whether to ratify the new contract at a union meeting at your school or program. Stay tuned for lots more information so you can discuss with your colleagues and VOTE! 

The big picture:

After nearly a year of bargaining, we’ve made critical gains on all elements of our bargaining platform… and we’ve won some extra peace of mind to further stabilize our community. In the past, when SDEA members have won raises or other items with big price tags, the District has often paid those prices in layoff notices. It is a big deal that we’ve won a promise of no layoffs along with improved Special Education supports, a raise over COLA, and more. This isn’t happening in a vacuum – as a wave of educator strikes spread across California, the things we win build a foundation for our fellow educators to build from. 

We’ve also aligned our goals – and our wins! – with 80,000 other educators across the state who are also fighting for staffing, pay, and stability, with the ultimate goal of increasing funding for public education in California. Onward!

In Solidarity,

SDEA’s Bargaining Team

Kyle Weinberg, SDEA President, Ed. Specialist: Mild/Moderate, English and History Teacher; Laurie Bailon, Social Science & Restorative Justice Teacher, Bell MS; Carly Bresee, Ed. Specialist: Moderate/Severe, Lafayette ES, Sarah Darr, SDEA Secretary, WCW Campaign Organizer & SLP; Christina Gallegos, ECSE Teacher, Rodriguez ES; Candace Gyure, School Nurse; Stacy Hernandez, SDEA Bargaining Chair & 2nd Grade Teacher, Dailard El.; Andrew Melia, School Psychologist, Riley School; Elizabeth Miller, Ed. Specialist: Mild/Moderate, Lewis MS; Eri Nall, Head Counselor; Kiki Ochoa, History and Ethnic Studies Lead Teacher, Lincoln HS; Lori Schmersal, PE Teacher & Coach, Clairemont HS; plus SDEA staff Anthony Saavedra, Executive Director,  Sara Holerud, Organizer, and Rafal Dobrowolski, Contract Specialist