I’ll Stay Out of Politics When Politics Stays Out of My Classroom
Last month, we shared SDEA’s
strategic plan with members. As we shared, we are not engaged in separate small battles but one big fight
for the schools our students deserve.
It is our contract campaign
that is the foundation for all our work moving forward. Our success
depends on building deep and powerful
structures at our schools and in our programs.
We must build these structures
to win our contract fight, which we all know is connected to our fight to elect a
pro-public education school board. These
battles are also connected to the fight to pass the Schools and Communities First
initiative that will infuse more than $11 billion dollars into California’s schools, public services, and
neighborhoods.
As you can see, much of this work
is political. Working to elect school board members, lobbying
legislators, and putting funding initiatives on the ballot are our new reality.
For too long, we hoped our
local and state elected officials would do the right thing when it
came to public education. Now, we see that we cannot always depend on those folks to make good decisions,
even when they run on pro-public education platforms.
Whether it’s class size or
Special Education or even what time our schools start, there are lots
of people out there, most of them non-educators, who like to tell us what we should
be doing in our classrooms. There are even more who want to see our
classrooms transformed into private spaces that generate profits, as opposed
to well-educated citizens who have the skills and knowledge to demand a better
world.
We must be proactive in making sure
the right people and the right policies are in place so that we have a true
voice in what happens in our classrooms.
SDEA hasn’t always made politics
a priority, but we can no longer ignore politics because politics won’t ignore me or you or our classrooms.
Together, we can raise our
voices over those of the privatizers and reformers and advocate for
ourselves and our students. Together, we can ensure that there are
enough resources to build the schools our students deserve.
Tentative Agreement Reached on 2019-20 Wages!
Click here for a video overview of the Tentative Agreement:
After more than two months of bargaining and a marathon 14-hour bargaining session on Wednesday, the SDEA Bargaining Team is proud to announce that we reached a tentative agreement on pay improvements with SDUSD.
Last, best, and final offer from SDEA Team
Wednesday evening at 10PM the SDEA team made our last, best, and final offer to SDUSD for a 3.7% raise and $2500 longevity stipend. This afternoon SDUSD called to accept our offer and sign the deal. Here's what we won:
3.7% across-the-board raise for everyone on Jan. 1
Every SDEA unit member will get a 3.7% raise next school year, on Jan. 1,
2020.
One lump raise, not spread out
The 3.7% raise we won isn’t like the so-called 3.5% raise that SDUSD
proposed via email on May 30, the one you might have heard about in the news.
That proposal took a 3.5% raise and spread it out over two years,
shortchanging teachers. In contrast, we won one lump 3.7% raise, effective Jan.
1, 2020. Period.
Taking the top of the teacher
pay scale to $100,771 in 2019-20
The top of the teacher pay scale will cross the $100k threshold for the
first time ever, going from $97,176 right now to $100,771 next year! SDEA
Bargaining Team member and math teacher Ron Reese noted that new teachers
benefit too. “This raise will also help keep newer teachers here in San Diego.
It will help us afford to live in the city we teach in,” Ron said.
$2500 annual longevity stipend after 22 years takes teacher earnings up to $103,271 in 2020-21
We won a $2500 annual longevity stipend after 22 years, which will be effective in 2020-21. For most members, that means you’ll get the longevity stipend after being on Step 17 for 6 years. SDEA Bargaining Team member and kindergarten teacher Sara Holerud said, “I’m so glad we’re finally over $100k at our top step, and that we addressed the need for longevity pay for our most experienced co-workers.” For a teacher at the top of the pay scale, this will take 2020-21 pay to $103,271.
What’s next?
SDEA members vote. Because we’re a democratic union, SDEA members vote on whether to accept this Tentative Agreement as part of a three-part agreement that includes earlier Tentative Agreements on special ed and safety. If you’re not yet a union member, you can join now to vote.
Voting will take place online from July 8 - 19. Look for an email to your personal email address with voting instructions. Voting will also take place in person at the SDEA office.
3 ways to learn more before voting:
- View the highlights of the Tentative Agreement. (Takes 5 min.)
- Read the 3-page Tentative Agreement Summary. (Takes 15 min.)
- Read the 3-part Tentative Agreement itself. (Takes 20+ min. )
You can read proposals exchanged on Wednesday between our bargaining team and SDUSD's
SDEA Bargaining Team: Teri Ang, Drama Teacher, Mann MS; Kisha Borden, SDEA President and Teacher; Rickeena Boyd-Kamei, Home/Hospital Teacher; Lindsay Burningham, Teacher, E. B. Scripps El., Sarah Darr, SLP, Millennial Tech MS & Scripps Ranch HS; Jared Enyart, Education Specialist, Mission Bay HS; Mary Gantz, Nurse; Sara Holerud, Teacher, Baker El.; Eri Nall, Counselor; Ron Reese, Math Teacher, Henry HS; plus SDEA staff Abdul Sayid, Executive Director and Morgan Thornberry, Organizer
Fulton Teachers Fix Leaky Roof with Union Power!
For months, teachers at Fulton K-8 struggled with a leaky roof. Water-logged ceiling tiles fell into the classroom. Puddles formed on the bathroom floor. It affected teachers across the campus. As the rain wore on, we kept hearing that maintenance was backlogged and Fulton would have to wait. But Fulton teachers know better! We had a union meeting to talk about taking action. Our union contract gives us the right to a safe working environment. Leaks violated that, so we had a grievance. However, we decided not to file a grievance. We wanted a solution within a week, and worried that layers of administrators could draw out the grievance process. So we came up with a plan to organize!
We had to get specific about the solution: we wanted the roof fixed in 1 week, or an action plan to fix it. The BSS or principal couldn’t do that, though. The decision-maker with power to give us what we wanted was the head of Maintenance. We decided on a coordinated email campaign, with every teacher sending an email to him on the same day with photos of leak damage. This showed our unity.
What if the District didn’t give us our solution? We planned for that! If it wasn’t solved in one week, we’d make a parent flyer about the leaky roof, asking parents to call the head of Maintenance. All of us would pass it out in front of school. But we didn’t have to do that because… after every teacher emailed the head of Maintenance, they met our one week deadline to fix the leaks! They even came in on the weekend to finish the repairs!
Bargaining Update: SDEA Wins Major SPED Improvements
Shortly after midnight on March 19, after 15+ hours of bargaining, SDEA won agreement on a hard cap of 20 for all current Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists. This hard cap will be in effect in the fall of 2020, with caseload reductions to begin immediately in the fall of 2019. If this agreement is ratified, we will have one of the best caseload caps and the strongest SPED contract language in the state of California.
This tentative agreement is a direct result of the powerful organizing that SDEA members have engaged in around special education understaffing this year!
New Caseload Cap of 20
The implementation of the hard cap of 20 will be staggered.
Effective fall 2019, the following caseload protections will be in effect:
- The District will be required to hire 26 more Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers, above and beyond current staffing levels, for next year.
- There will be one job title of Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teacher for all current Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists.
- All Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers will have a caseload of 20.
- The District will allocate Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers to sites at a 20:1 ratio for the 2019-20 school year.
- During the 2019-20 school year, if a caseload increases to 21 or 22 students, the affected teacher will receive a stipend of $324 per month unless and until the caseload is reduced to 20.
- Caseload overages of 23 or more students will trigger an automatic staffing allocation increase. Failure to fill the new vacancy will be subject to the grievance procedure.
- Any current Resource Specialist who could be adversely affected by the elimination of the Resource Specialist job classification will be fully protected from loss of employment.
Effective fall 2020, the hard cap of 20 will be in effect as follows:
- All Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers will have a hard cap caseload of 20.
- Caseload overages of 21 or more students will trigger an automatic staffing allocation increase. Failure to fill the new vacancy will be subject to the grievance procedure.
New Workload Protections
Additionally, the following new rights around assessments and staffing assignments will be in place effective in the fall of 2019:
- A cap on new initial or PPPSS assessments for Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers who are at full caseload, with additional staffing support, release time or hourly pay after the fourth initial/PPPSS assessment.
- Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers shall be assigned to no more than three schools.
Caseload Grievance Settlement
Tonight’s agreement also includes settlement of all pending caseload overage grievances as follows:
- A one-time stipend of $1,500 to any Resource Specialist, Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teacher or Education Specialist: Moderate/Severe teacher with a caseload overage during the 2018-19 school year.
- Affected members will have the opportunity to furnish proof of eligibility for the stipend until June 30, 2019.
- For the remainder of this year, the District will continue to increase and work to fill allocations for special educators whose caseloads exceed the current caseload limits.
- The District will pay a $1,000 stipend to any member currently on a temporary contract or in layoff status who is willing to become credentialed to teach in a hard-to-staff special education credential area.
- As a result of this settlement, the scheduled class action caseload grievance meeting for Tuesday, March 19 at 3:30 p.m. is CANCELED.
These new rights will greatly improve special educators’ working lives, and more importantly, our students' learning conditions. Yet we all know that there are still important issues for us to solve together to improve special education service in our District beyond what can be addressed at the bargaining table. That’s why the accountability forum with Cindy Marten is still set for 4:00 p.m. on March 20 at the SDEA office (10393 San Diego Mission Rd.). Click HERE to RSVP for the Supt. Marten forum.
Informational meetings about this tentative agreement will be scheduled shortly. The tentative agreement will become effective once our entire reopener bargaining process is done. SDEA will continue reopener bargaining with the District on Wages and Safety for the remainder of this school year. SDEA’s bargaining team will fight to have a full tentative agreement on all three for ratification by June. In the meantime, the District will move forward with implementing the agreed-upon staffing improvements for the 2019-20 school year, and will allocate staff to schools accordingly.
Together we are stronger!
New Face, Same Privatizer Attacks
Local anti-union forces launch postcard blitz
There is a new front in the attack on public education. Carl DeMaio, a failed politician here in San Diego who fought to deny San Diego City workers a pension, has now set his sights on the educators of San Diego. DeMaio and his fellow privatizers are seeking to weaken educators’ unions by encouraging us to drop our union membership under the guise of requesting a “rebate”. DeMaio is funded by the same anti-union, anti-public education billionaires who seek to weaken our union and privatize our schools in order to turn a profit.
Why are educators’ unions the current target? Because we’re winning! The Janus decision didn’t stop us. In some ways, it made us stronger! Last spring, we saw thousands of members recommit to our union as an act of solidarity. More recently, the UTLA and OEA strikes showed us the power of collective action and the amazing level of support for public education by our parents and communities. We helped elect Tony Thurmond as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, as well as a supportive state legislature that just passed a bill that will hold charters to the same accountability rules as district schools.
And we finally found something we can agree on with US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos: educator unions are the only thing standing in the way of corporate school privatization efforts. SDEA is fully committed to striking a huge blow against those same anti-public education forces with the long-overdue Schools and Communities First Initiative in November 2020, which could bring billions of tax dollars back to our schools every year.
In order to see these gains, we must double our efforts to ensure every educator is a member of our union. Our success depends on our power, and our power depends on our membership. Together we have the resources to win a fair contract, charter accountability and transparency, and increase state funding for schools. We are not alone in our fight. We are in the midst of a nationwide teacher uprising, with new locals standing up every day. SDEA is part of a statewide coalition of teacher unions united together around connected struggles.
The attacks against us are not going to stop anytime soon. Can we count on you to reach out to every non-member at your school site? We have to make membership a priority. Together we can push back against any campaign launched to weaken our union. Together we can launch a winning contract campaign. Together we can win the battle for the schools our students deserve. Together we are stronger!
Bargaining Update: Fight for More SPED Staff Continues
Bargaining Update
March 12, 2019
Yesterday, SDEA and SDUSD met for a second time for reopener discussions and to bargain over special education caseloads for Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists.
SDEA’s bargaining team is continuing our fight to increase special education staffing. In response to continued pressure from SDEA members, the District’s team did make improvements to their proposal from a week ago — but their proposal continues to fall short of what our students need.
Here is where the teams DO agree:
- One job title of Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teacher for all current Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists.
- A cap for Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers effective for the 2019-20 school year.
- Caseload overages would trigger automatic staffing allocation increases for affected Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers.
- Unfilled vacancies would trigger automatic stipends for affected Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers.
- Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers shall be assigned to no more than three schools.
These items above will only be implemented IF we reach agreement on the entire caseload negotiation, including what the caseload cap itself will be. Unfortunately, we are not in agreement on caseload sizes, overage stipends, or staffing increases.
SDEA’s bargaining team proposed:
- A hard cap of 20.
- Unfilled vacancies would trigger a monthly stipend of roughly $250 per student over caseload. The stipend would be tied to .25% of Step 17, Column 5 of the SDEA teacher salary schedule. The stipend is designed to create an incentive for the District to actually fill vacancies and increase staff.
- A requirement to hire at least 30 more Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers for next year.
- A requirement to notify parents of caseload overages after attempts to fill a vacancy
The District’s team proposed:
- A hard cap of 22.
- Unfilled vacancies would trigger a $1,000 stipend for the semester, regardless of the number of students over or the length of the overage.
- A cap on new initial or PPPSS assessments for Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers who are at full caseload,with additional staffing support or release time after the fourth initial/PPPSS assessment.
Throughout this year, SDEA members and parents have made it clear to District admin that we need more special education staffing. The District’s proposal still fails to guarantee the staffing increases and caseload caps that our students need. The District’s proposal would still allow the District to essentially pay special educators off for far less than it would cost to actually hire staff. While it’s good news that we are getting closer, the District still has a long way to go.
Proposals:
- SDUSD Proposal One March 11 2019
- SDEA Proposal March 11 2019
- SDEA Settlement Proposal Caseload Class Action Grievance March 11 2019
- SDUSD Proposal Two March 11 2019
- SDUSD Settlement Proposal Caseload Class Action Grievance March 11 2019
They have one more chance to get it right at our bargaining session March 18, or we are taking our fight to Superintendent Cindy Marten. If we don’t reach agreement by the 18th, the accountability session with Cindy Marten is set for 4:00 p.m. on March 20 at the SDEA office. Click HERE RSVP for the Marten forum and for location information.
SDEA will continue reopener bargaining with the District on Wages and Safety for the remainder of this school year. Stay tuned for more updates.
Together we are stronger!
SDEA Fights for More SPED Staff, SDUSD Proposes Bigger Caseloads
On Monday, SDEA and SDUSD met to bargain over special education caseloads for Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists. This was the first bargaining session of the reopener bargaining.
SDEA took our yearlong fight to increase special education staffing to the bargaining table. Based on feedback from educators and parents at an input session last Thursday, SDEA’s bargaining team proposed:
- One job title of Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teacher for all current Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists.
- An immediate hard cap of 20 for Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers.
- No new Initial or PPPSS assessments for Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers already at a full caseload.
- Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers shall be assigned to no more than two schools.
- Mandatory parent notification to any parent whose child is on the caseload of an Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teacher who is over caseload.
To say our union and the District are far apart on these issues right now is an understatement. Here is what the District’s team proposed:
- One job title of Mild/Moderate Teacher for all educators currently under either of these titles.
- A soft cap of 22 for all current Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teachers and Resource Specialists.
- The cap would not go into effect until the eighth week of school.
- Overages of 23 or 24 would not increase staffing. Instead, Mild/Moderate Teachers with 23 or 24 students for 20 consecutive workdays (after the first seven weeks of school) would receive a $1,000 stipend.
- Overages of 25 might increase staffing. Sites with a Mild/Moderate Teacher with 25 or more students for 10 consecutive workdays (after the first seven weeks of school) could receive a proportional staffing allocation. After another 20 workdays days, if the allocation is not filled, the teacher would receive another $1,000 stipend.
The District also proposed a new joint job description and shared plans for additional professional development around special education.
While SDEA and the District are on the same page about having one job title and one caseload, the similarities end there. SDEA’s proposal would strengthen the current Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate teacher cap of 20, while lowering the current Resource Specialist cap of 24 to 20. Our proposal would increase special education staffing and better enable student service hours to be met.
The District’s proposal would weaken current special educator caseload protections. It would essentially set everyone’s caseload at 24, with a stipend for some educators with over 22 students after 11 weeks or longer. The proposed stipends are far less than the cost of actually hiring additional staff, effectively incentivizing the District to pay off special educators over caseload without bringing in the staff our students with disabilities need. That is the opposite of what we are fighting for!
The District has two more chances to get it right, or we are taking our fight to Superintendent Cindy Marten. There are two more bargaining dates on the calendar for the the Parties to discuss special education: March 11 and March 18. If we don’t reach agreement by the 18th, the accountability session with Cindy Marten is set for 4:30 p.m. on March 20 at the SDEA office. Save the date now!
There are also two more special educator input sessions at the SDEA office to make sure the SDEA bargaining team knows your priorities:
Proposals and Ground Rules
- SDEA Proposal March 4 2019
- SDUSD Proposal March 4 2019
- Ground Rules March 4 2019
- Limited Discussions Agreement March 4 2019
SDEA will continue reopener bargaining with the District on Wages and Safety for the remainder of this school year. Stay tuned for more updates.
Together we are stronger!
SPED Organizing Leads to District Caseload Proposal, Supt. Forum Postponed
Our collective organizing to address the understaffing of Special Education is working, thanks to you and the pressure educators and parents have put on the District. In response to our organizing, the District has made a new proposal to SDEA to negotiate over the caseloads of Resource Specialists and Mild-Moderate Ed. Specialists. What the district is proposing is nowhere near what we need to address the SpEd understaffing issues our members and students are dealing with; however, it is an opening to possible real improvements.
To that end, we are rescheduling the forum with Supt. Marten that was scheduled for February 28th and will instead use that time to discuss the District’s proposal and get input from you (and parents) on a response that will result in real improvements for Special Education educators and students.
The forum with Supt. Marten will be re-scheduled for late March, to allow for negotiations to take place. It is still critical that Supt. Marten face parents and teachers, but she now has a chance to show her commitment to Special Education by directing her staff to negotiate real improvements in Special Education staffing.
If you invited parents to attend the Supt. Marten Forum you can let them know about the meeting change and that they are welcome to attend and discuss the district’s proposal.
The District’s request to negotiate (link to proposal) includes a plan to have:
- One caseload number for both Resource Specialists and Mild-Moderate Ed. Specialists.
- A caseload cap for the new positions and compensation for caseload overages.
- Monitoring systems to ensure caseload adherence.
Make no mistake, the initial proposal from the District is not good enough! However, it is a response to our organizing and an opportunity to address caseload language in our contract now. We must keep the pressure up on the District leadership to make them realize adequate change will only come from adequate staffing.
In addition to the repurposed meeting this upcoming Thursday, there will also be additional opportunities for impacted SDEA members to give their input on the District’s proposal. These additional meetings will be held on Tuesday, March 5 and Thursday, March 7.
Sign up here to attend one of the SDEA Special Education Union Meetings to be held at the SDEA Building located at 10393 San Diego Mission Road, Suite 100 San Diego, CA 92108:
a. Thur. February 28, 2019 - 4:00-5:30pm (open to parents)
b. Tues. March 5, 2019 - 3:30-4:30pm
c. Thur. March 7, 2019 - 4:15-5:15pm
What UTLA’s Strike Win Means for Us
After six days on the picket lines, LA’s educators have some huge wins to celebrate. One victory that stands out is the increase to nurse and counselor staffing. LAUSD will hire at least 300 additional nurses in the next two years to guarantee a nurse at every school, five days a week. Plus, their counselor ratios have been reduced from 1:1000+ down to 1:500. They also made big progress in class size. English and math classes at the secondary level will be reduced by seven students, bringing the class-size cap to 39.
Another huge win for public education in LA was the cap on additional charters that was passed by the LAUSD School Board at their first meeting after the end of the strike. This is significant, in that unregulated charter growth costs LAUSD upwards of $600 million every year.
Thankfully, we don’t have those sorts of factors in place at SDUSD—for now. Also, our contract already has things that UTLA was fighting for—like better secondary class size caps, and student-to-counselor ratios. However, that isn’t to say that we do not have disputes with SDUSD. We saw that at the last board meeting when SDUSD’s initial bargaining proposal called for a reduced work year, despite the increased spending for education in the Governor’s proposed budget. We see that in the current fight around special education understaffing. In fact, we have gone to impasse in our last two rounds of bargaining with SDUSD.
Hopefully SDUSD will deal with its educators in a fair way when we begin bargaining again in the next month. No union wishes to go on strike. It is something that is always forced on them by bad employer behavior. If SDUSD deals with its employees, our members, in a fair manner then there is no opening for a strike. Whatever happens, we will stand strong together. There is power in our numbers. Together we are stronger!
District Proposes Furlough Days Despite State Funding Increases
Despite an increasingly positive education funding forecast statewide, at today’s School Board meeting the SDUSD Board will be “sunshining” a proposal to cut our pay in the form of furlough days starting next year. If this shocks you, it should. This proposal is insulting and goes against the grain of what’s happening everywhere else in the state. Even the rightfully maligned LAUSD leadership, in the face of a successful, massive weeklong teacher strike, has responded positively to the Governor’s proposed 2019-20 budget and reached a contract settlement today. With these proposed cuts, our School Board and Superintendent could not be more out of touch with reality.
These are the facts:
- We don’t believe their budget assumptions, because history and our current analysis tell us not to.
- The School Board has been missing in action. They need to actually show leadership here. They run our District, not the bloated bureaucracy that they’ve allowed to take over.
- Given the improved state funding, the question the Board should be asking is how much we should improve, not how much we should cut.
- SDUSD’s educator pay is flat-out not competitive. They need to invest in us and our schools, not make needless cuts to fund more pet projects.
- Cutting the school year will harm students. It will make SDUSD less competitive in recruitment of educators. And it will tell the community that just voted to approve a $3.5 billion bond that the School Board is not serious about investing in schools.
We cannot take this lying down! As union members, we must move forward with our fight for competitive wages and safer schools, which is what wewill be sunshining at today’s School Board meeting.
If you want to fight back against these attacks on our schools and our pay, be at today’s School Board meeting! Educators across our state and nation are standing up and fighting back against attacks on public education. Now it’s our turn.
When: TODAY at 4:30 p.m.
Where: 4100 Normal St.
Who: YOU! Be there and bring a friend!
TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!