Yesterday was the eighth bargaining session between SDEA and San Diego Unified. You might be double checking the date, because it feels like you’ve read this update before: Still no proposals on anything with a significant price tag. There were ongoing discussions on some of the same articles as last time. At this point in bargaining it’s normal to have a lot of back and forth on the details of contract language – that’s the nature of negotiations. However, our progress is certainly slowed down by the fact that the District still has not provided any proposals on our “big ticket items”: Special Education staffing and supports, wages, ending Fall excessing, expanding mental health supports, or even extending the ECE TK co-teacher stipend.
Once again, the District brought no counters related to pay. We did, however, come to a tentative agreement on Article 34, which is a shared commitment to advocate for more funding for our schools. The reality is that while SDEA educators will need to urge the District to responsibly spend every available dollar on the resources our students need, we all need to advocate together at every level to improve the abysmal funding for public schools in the wealthiest state in the US. Read the full Tentative Agreement on Article 34: Revenue for Public Education
While we’re still inching forward on air filtration and other repair issues, we’ve made significant progress on Community Schools, and we’re establishing structures to ensure that educators have a voice in improving our evaluations process.
Article 11: Safety Conditions of Employment
We again urged the District to prioritize classroom air filtration, reintroducing our previous proposal based on professional standards originally suggested by the District. We also discussed improving the process of requesting repairs by setting clear timelines. Our proposal would allow site-level fixes when possible and escalating to central PPO when needed. This would speed up responses to educator concerns and reduce the current bottleneck caused by routing all concerns directly to a central department. Read all of SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 11: Safety Conditions of Employment.
Article 14 and 18: Evaluations and Support
Our proposals for Articles 14 and 18 leave the current contract language as is, but clarifies the introduction:
- Referring to the current agreement on evaluations in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years.
- Giving authority to a Joint Evaluation Committee to amend that agreement next school year if needed.
While both SDEA educators and administrators are motivated to improve our evaluations process, our priority is always ensuring that evaluations are used to support educators, not punish them. Read all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 14: Performance Evaluation Procedures and Article 18 Peer Review & Enrichment Program (PREP). Make sure you’ve also checked out the current information about evaluations (including a summary and FAQ.)
Article 36: Community Schools
We are very close to an agreement that empowers Site Governance Teams at Community Schools and supports sustainability for this critical equity strategy that we fought for and won as union educators together with families and community allies! Read all of the District’s proposed changes to Article 36: Community Schools.
Most of our staffing discussion yesterday was focused on Summer School, along with two additional proposals that had minor adjustments:
Article 17: Summer School/Intersession Hours & Conditions of Employment
We’ve made some movement toward a more fair system of staffing Summer School, balancing the needs of individual sites and programs with the rights of SDEA members interested in this opportunity. The District’s proposal yesterday would reduce opportunities to teach summer school unless it is hosted at your school site, which is not fair for educators at sites that never host. This means we can’t accept this proposal as is and we’ll be countering it. Read all the District’s proposed changes to Article 17: Summer School/Intersession Hours & Conditions of Employment.
Article 5: Employee Organizational Rights
The District proposed a minor update to New Hire Orientation. Read all the District’s proposed changes to Article 5: Employee Organizational Rights.
Article 31: Reduced Workload
We accepted the majority of the District’s last proposal, with minor adjustments. Read all of SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 31: Reduced Workload.
What’s next?
Our next scheduled bargaining date is December 4, 2025. The District has yet to meaningfully respond to our proposals on wages, mental health supports, or fair compensation for our lowest-paid educators, but we’ll continue to show up and demand a contract that addresses the glaring needs in our district.
We need our 6000+ SDEA union educators to stay ready, so we don’t have to get ready! We need to keep up the momentum we’ve built so the District knows that our needs are urgent and that we’re serious about our demands… and so we can accelerate if needed. We Can’t Wait!
Stay informed:
Even through all the details of bargaining, we can stay focused on our demands for a new contract that ensures fully staffed schools, improved educator pay, and stability for our students and communities. Keep track of all proposals so far here, and access full campaign information here.
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
