Yesterday, your SDEA Bargaining Team met with the District to continue successor contract negotiations where we left off before Summer break. This session focused on discipline and safety, with only one SDEA counterproposal since we already presented over 30 proposals in our first four sessions. Unfortunately, the District did not respond to any proposals with a price tag. They did, however, present counterproposals on safety, organizational rights, reduced workload, and revenue for public education.
Article 33: Discipline
SDEA members are advocating for discipline that is fair, transparent, and focused on supporting educators rather than punishing them. Our counterproposal on Article 33 includes:
- Reaffirmation that discipline must be for just cause, a right that the six other SDUSD bargaining units already have.
- Clearer progressive steps and criteria for skipping steps (for example, student safety or legal compliance).
- Fixing problematic language that allows unsubstantiated complaints to be placed in personnel files, even if they were never investigated.
- Clarification that discipline should address conduct, not performance (which should be addressed through evaluations).
Read all of SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 33: Discipline.
Article 11: Safety Conditions of Employment
The District rejected our initial proposal to keep and maintain standalone air filters in classrooms without HVAC units. They also proposed:
- Providing walkie-talkies only upon request, since all school sites now have 2-way communication systems.
- Language requiring implementation of a new District Restorative Discipline Policy aligned with Ed Code, but without ensuring educators are trained or re-trained on this updated policy.
Read all the District’s proposed changes to Article 11: Safety Conditions of Employment.
Tentative Agreement Ratified: Evaluations
While the District has not yet responded to our last proposal on Evaluations, SDEA members did ratify a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) on improved evaluation procedures for this school year and next.
- This agreement phases out the punitive “Stull” model and is a step toward educator-driven evaluations that prioritize our growth and support.
- If an educator receives a less-than-satisfactory evaluation rating during their on-cycle year, they may now receive peer support through a new Advisory model.
Read the full agreement on Educator Evaluation Plan 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 and a summary of what this means. You can also see the ratification vote results and access answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
Article 5: Employee Organizational Rights
The District submitted a counterproposal that would eliminate the option for new hires to attend a New Educator Orientation before prep days. This orientation at the beginning of the year is a critical opportunity for new hires to meet SDEA colleagues, learn about their contractual rights, and join their union! Read all the District’s proposed changes to Article 5: Employee Organization Rights.
Article 34: Revenue for Public Education & Article 31: Reduced Workload
Part of our We Can’t Wait campaign is advocating beyond the District for more public school funding from the State and Federal levels, and SDEA has used Article 34 in our contract as a place to draft a shared commitment to advocate for more funding, which will benefit everyone. The District accepted most of our proposed changes to Article 34, with some minor revisions. They also added a note at the top expressing that they have “no available reserves.” Read all the District’s proposed changes to Article 34: Revenue for Public Education, and their counter on Article 31: Reduced Workload.
The fact is: There are reserves available.
Based on the SDUSD unaudited actuals released this week, the District’s available reserves increased to more than $87 million. This is on top of the 2.3% cost of living increase to districts in this year’s California budget. District leadership can counter proposals with financial costs, but don’t yet feel the urgency to do so. Educators, students, and their families are the ones with urgent needs:
- Early Childhood Education co-teachers in TK classes, some of the lowest-paid educators in our District, got a $4,250 pay cut this past Summer because the District allowed their stipend to expire. Our SDEA bargaining team pushed to solve this problem with our Appendix B proposal in February. While the District has been more motivated in areas like improved evaluations and transfers (which positively impact both administrators and educators), ECE teachers are being treated as an afterthought.
- Special Education Case Managers are already over caseload caps while still waiting on two years of grievance settlements. A unionwide grievance has already been filed this school year, which is becoming an annual tradition: For the past six years, SDEA members have filed unionwide grievances to win stipends for educators over caseload. However, the grievances from 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years still remain unsettled, and the District has not responded to our proposal from March with a package of solutions to tackle the ongoing special education staffing crisis head-on. This is more than just delayed checks: Students are not getting the services they need and deserve.
For years, SDEA union educators have successfully worked with the District to center students and educators, and others are taking notice. In fact, United Teachers of Richmond (union siblings in our statewide We Can’t Wait campaign) recently pointed to San Diego Unified as an example. Now, as the District is overly cautious in maintaining extra reserves for a rainy day, we’ll need to pressure them to address the crisis we are in today. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again: We demand that San Diego Unified invest in our students and our schools, not just in our reserves.
What’s next?
It’s clear that the time is NOW for all of us to turn up the heat across the District! That’s why at your September union meeting, you’ll be talking about a plan for strike readiness. For our next bargaining session on Thursday, October 2, SDEA members are wearing red because we are SEEING RED!
- Wear your union shirt or anything red on October 2nd!
- Share photos and amplify your solidarity by tagging SDEA on social media!
Our students need fully staffed, stable, safe schools… and We Can’t Wait!
Read full proposals:
See a bargaining tracker for all proposals exchanged so far and all tentative agreements, with links to read the full text of each. You can access past bargaining updates, a community hub with multilingual family flyers, and more on this section of our website.
In Solidarity,
SDEA’s Bargaining Team
Kyle Weinberg, SDEA President, Ed. Specialist: Mild/Moderate, English and History Teacher; Laurie Bailon, 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
