Statment – October 6, 2026
San Diego Education Association represents over 6,500 educators. We are done being polite about this.
When national rhetoric treats San Diego as a punchline, it does not stay on a stage. It walks straight into our classrooms. Our educators spent this morning sitting with young students who heard their home mocked on national television, answering questions no child should have to ask, and holding their own fear quietly so a room full of kids could feel safe.
That is not in any job description. Nobody pays our educators enough to carry that weight. They do it anyway, because that is what showing up for this community looks like.
More than 115,000 active-duty military personnel call this region home. They are the parents of the children sitting in our classrooms. San Diego has paid real prices in service to this country. Nobody gets to call that small. Nobody gets to call it a joke.
San Diego Education Association will not sit quietly while political theater puts fear in our students and extra weight on the educators holding them steady. Our members show up for our communities every single day. We expect the same respect in return, and we will keep saying it until somebody listens.
Children at the Heart. Educators at the Center. Justice at the Core.
Monique Barrett
President, San Diego Education Association
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