As we write this, our We Can’t Wait union siblings the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) are engaging in the first strike in almost 50 years in their district as they seek to win fully paid family healthcare and wage increases that keep up with the outrageous rise in the cost of living across our state. This comes on the heels of the successful strike on the other side of the Bay by our We Can’t Wait siblings United Teachers of Richmond that, together with the UESF strike, generates the momentum and combined power that will help us to get to the finish line in our SDEA campaign to win the schools our students deserve.
The District is feeling the power of an overwhelming 90% of us voting YES to strike to stop the special education staffing crisis in our district. On January 27, several hundred SDEA union educators, SDUSD families and community allies showed up strong at the rally at the Ed Center to deliver an unmistakable demand to school board members and the superintendent – We won’t accept any more broken promises. Enough is enough. The clock’s ticking and Time’s Up to settle the Unfair Labor Practice and staff Special Education.
And our collective pressure is working! We’ve seen the District giving in on a lot of our key priorities recently in bargaining. They’ve suddenly started to concede on some pretty big items because they REALLY don’t want us to strike. They’ve already agreed to no layoffs, a path to eliminating fall excessing for classroom teachers, case management days for special education teachers and a new article in our contract with critical protections for our immigrant and LGBTQ+ students and educators who are being targeted by the bully in the White House who likes to pick on the most vulnerable members of our communities to score cheap political points. We must continue as SDEA union educators to take a stand to defend the human dignity and civil rights of all of our students and colleagues because An Injury to One is An Injury to All!
The same way that we have effectively organized together with families and community allies to defend our schools from ICE terror, we cannot relent in our campaign to fully staff special education in our district. We must leave the District with no other choice but to take responsibility for doing everything that’s within their control to provide for our highest need students with disabilities. District leadership, since we know you’re reading this, we have a clear message for you: It’s 11:59 p.m. and Your Homework is Due at Midnight. We Can’t Wait. Our Students Can’t Wait.
