You Matter. We Matter. This Is OUR Union.

By Monique Barrett, M.Ed., President, San Diego Education Association

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“Our strength is our willingness to stand together, even when we think differently.”

We hold different political views, beliefs, and values. We will disagree at times, and that is healthy. Some believe politics belongs outside education.

I respect that perspective, and I know the decisions affecting our classrooms, our students, and our livelihoods are often made far beyond our school sites.

Politics is education. And education is politics.

Every day, elected officials make decisions about funding, staffing, resources, and working conditions in schools they may have never stepped foot in. Those decisions shape our profession, our livelihoods, and the children we serve.

That is why we engage.

After more than 23 years in education, I know what it means to walk into a classroom and give everything you have, sometimes more than you have, because your students need you. I have worked alongside colleagues whose experiences, values, and political beliefs differ from mine, and I have learned that we can care about one another across those differences. We can recognize together that our working conditions and our students’ learning conditions are connected.

As your president, I represent educators across the political spectrum. Whether you are conservative, progressive, somewhere in between, or simply tired of politics, you belong in this union.

I invite you to listen, learn, question, and examine the consequences of the decisions we make. Our responsibility to children stays constant, whatever our personal convictions.

Every child deserves to be safe, respected, seen, valued, and welcomed. Every child deserves to thrive.

And so do educators.

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Let’s talk about funding.

Our paychecks, raises, fully paid family healthcare, benefits, staffing, resources, and working conditions all connect to education funding and to what we negotiate and protect collectively.

Workloads keep growing, staffing runs short, and our students need more support. The fight for better working conditions and the fight for the resources that sustain them are one fight.

What we have today, we fought for, negotiated, and won.

Our fully paid family healthcare, contractual protections, due process rights, and the ability to advocate for safer working conditions come from generations of educators organizing, bargaining, and standing together.

These protections matter when an educator faces an unfair administrator, when workloads become unmanageable, when our professional judgment is challenged, or when we need to put our families and our own well-being first.

Educators who came before us organized so that those who followed would have something better. We honor them by protecting what they built and continuing to build for those who come after us.

What we maintain tomorrow depends on what we protect today.

Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions.

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Proposition 3 and the future of school funding

Proposition 3 addresses the continuation of higher income tax rates on California’s highest earners, a source of revenue supporting public education. The measure raises an important question about how California will sustain the resources our schools and students need in the years ahead.

For educators, funding is never just a number on a spreadsheet. It is connected to staffing, manageable workloads, student services, classroom resources, and our ability to negotiate and protect the working conditions our students depend on.

Your vote is part of this work.

California’s election for Superintendent of Public Instruction shows why our engagement matters. The office is nonpartisan, the candidates bring distinct educational priorities, and the person elected will make decisions with real consequences for our classrooms.

The California Teachers Association (CTA) has endorsed Richard Barrera for Superintendent of Public Instruction. CTA points to priorities including fully funded classrooms, smaller class sizes, student mental health supports, and better pay and healthcare for educators. These issues matter because the decisions made at the state level reach into every classroom and affect the people who teach and learn in them.

The State Superintendent provides statewide educational leadership, carries out education policy, and holds oversight responsibilities in California’s public education system.

As you review the candidates, look at their records. Ask what their approach to public education looks like, where they stand on the use and oversight of public education dollars, including charter schools, and how they approach curriculum, access to books, and educators’ professional judgment. Ask what their policies mean for student safety, dignity, privacy, and belonging, and for the educators who serve those students every day.

The SDEA Voter Guide gives you a starting point.

We may reach different conclusions about candidates, propositions, or political strategies. Every one of us still has a place in the larger work of protecting public education. We owe one another conversations grounded in facts, respect, and a willingness to listen.

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Make your plan to vote by November 3, 2026.

• Every active registered California voter receives a mail ballot. Mail yours as soon as possible. Mail ballots must be postmarked by November 3, 2026, but the Postal Service recommends mailing your completed ballot before Election Day.
• The online voter registration deadline has passed, but you can still register in person… including on Election Day! See more about conditional voter registration.
• You can also return your ballot at an official drop box or your county elections office, or vote in person. Early in-person voting is available at designated locations, with dates and hours varying by county. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
• Look up your sample ballot, polling place, early voting locations, and ballot drop boxes at sdvote.com.

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To our site representatives: leadership carries responsibility. If a particular campaign does not fit your capacity, help identify someone who can coordinate it. Build a team. Share the responsibility. Reach out to your SDEA organizing team for support.

Pass the baton. Keep it moving.

And to every educator: You matter in this work.

Your voice, experience, perspective, and participation matter. Everybody has something to contribute.

Start with one conversation. Talk with a colleague about what matters to them. Attend a site meeting. Connect with your site representative. Find an issue or campaign where you can contribute. If you want help finding a place to begin, reach out to SDEA.

Imagine what we could accomplish if each of us committed to doing something.

Our children are watching us. They watch how we handle disagreements, treat one another, and respond when things get difficult.

We teach students about respect, belonging, courage, critical thinking, and collective responsibility. We teach those principles by practicing them.

We can disagree. We can challenge decisions. We can hold leadership accountable, including me. Our differences make us stronger when we stay beside one another.

I want SDEA to be a union where members ask difficult questions, respectfully challenge one another, and participate as their full selves.

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This is OUR union.

When we sit at the table, we help shape the decisions. When we organize, we strengthen our collective voice. When we listen to one another, even through disagreement, we move forward together.

So find your place in the work. Ask questions. Have conversations. Organize. Support one another.

If we want to go far, we go together. I want us to go far, and I want us to win. Together.

Every win we earn, we earn together.

Shoulder to shoulder. Member by member. Site by site.

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Monique Barrett, M.Ed.
President, San Diego Education Association