Bargaining Update - February 3

Yesterday was our thirteenth bargaining session, and we’re continuing the escalated pace! There’s been movement from both sides, because both the District and our team are motivated to come to an agreement on as much as possible this month. The District has been clear that their priority is to do whatever they can to avoid a strike. Even though our strike is specifically about our Unfair Labor Practice for the District’s violations of our current contract on Special Education staffing, the fact is that the District is discussing the entire contract in a room full of picket signs that are a constant reminder that SDEA educators are ready to hit the picket lines. The District is also seeing other unions escalate across the state, and seeing other union educators stand up when their own bargaining stalls (like the big recent win of our We Can’t Wait siblings United Teachers of Richmond in the East Bay.) That bigger picture may be providing extra motivation to keep things moving at our own table. That’s the point of a statewide coordinated bargaining campaign - ramping up the pressure for the schools our students deserve!

Our team’s priority is to use that momentum to reach quick resolution on as many things as possible, and to set the stage for anything best resolved in our next bargain, since next school year we’ll already be collectively developing our demands for our next round of negotiations.

Important Movement:

Layoffs 

The District proposed a package of proposals that included a sideletter promising no layoffs this school year. They packaged this with their proposal for Transfers and class sizes. We’re still negotiating over a more fair and standardized process for extended day units, and for limits to assignments to combo classrooms, so won’t be accepting this particular full package deal, but the fact that the District is willing to offer no layoffs would be a big win for our members and our schools. See the District’s full package proposal for Article 12: Transfer Policies, Article 13: Class Size, and a Sideletter: Reassignment of Certificated Unit Members in Lieu of Layoff Notices.

Our new Equity Article

The District proposed their own changes to our new Equity article, which is informed by the 10-Point Program that was adopted by SDEA’s elected representatives in January 2025, with protections for the members of our community most susceptible to current federal attacks.

• The District accepted our proposal to provide up to 10 days of unpaid release for educators to attend to immigration or citizenship matters.
• They also agreed to establish at least 1 immigrant family legal clinic in partnership with a local law school or community organization.
• They accepted a variety of our proposals to protect LGBTQ+ students and staff, like the use of our preferred name and pronouns.
• They agreed to provide at least one private gender neutral bathroom at each school, and will ensure that all bathrooms and locker rooms, regardless of designated gender identity, will contain free menstrual products and stall-based trash receptacles for menstrual products.

Even when some protections exist in current District policies and initiatives, putting protections in our union contract means that these cannot be changed without negotiating with us. See the District’s full proposal for the new Article 35, which they’ve suggested naming “Safe and Supportive Communities”. 

Still Negotiating:

Special Education Staffing and Supports

We’re still negotiating over exactly what our Special Education contract article should look like, as this is a critical part of our contract (and as the District seeks to avoid our strike over violations of our contract related to Special Education!) We discussed the need to address the “continuum of services” - all support our students get, not just from SDEA members. We’re hoping to set the foundation for future negotiations where we hope to work alongside our District union siblings like CSEA to address the big picture issues with SpEd staffing. In the meantime, we urgently need to get fixes into this contract. Yesterday we proposed a few changes to the District’s last proposal:

• As we seek to replace years of caseload grievances with more enforceable language, we proposed adjustments to the tiers of stipends for when the District goes over caseload limits. Right now it’s been possible for the District to save some money by leaving positions vacant and educators overloaded, and we’re trying to find ways to incentivize actually supporting students and educators!
• Similarly, we proposed parameters around staffing 0.2 positions after Fall excessing.
• We’re holding firm on our proposal that all SpEd teachers get a $4000 stipend.
• See all our proposed changes for Article 29: Special Education and for Appendix A: Salary Schedules & Rules.

Wages 

Yesterday both our teams countered on wages for this next contract. The discussion of how raises should be distributed across the two school years in our contract is influenced by what the District gets as funding through the state COLA, which is confirmed 2.3% for this school year and estimated 2.41% for next school year.

• We proposed 3.5% this current school year and another 3.5% next school year. See our full proposal on Article 7: Wages: 2025-2026 & 2026-2027.
• The District proposed a 1.87% raise this current school year, and another 2% next school year. They also want to add a lot of contingency language tying these numbers to state funding, and specifying that they wouldn’t necessarily have to pay members retroactively if they retire or resign. See the District’s full proposal on Article 7: Wages: 2025-2026 & 2026-2027, and their proposals for related Appendices B through G.

ECE Stipend 

The District still hasn’t come through on the most urgently felt issue for ECE Teachers: A pay cut of $4250 when the District let the ECE Teacher Stipend expire in June. The District’s proposals yesterday did not include renewing that stipend, so this is something we’ll have to continue to stand firm on. ECE Teachers are the lowest-paid contracted teachers in the District, and any proposal that represents a pay cut for these members is unacceptable. See the District’s full proposal for Appendix B: Early Childhood Education Programs Salary Schedule & Rules.

Other proposals:

We’re still negotiating over a variety of other open articles, including:

• Hours: The District rejected most of our proposal from almost a year ago, where we tried to expand and clarify prep time and the support needed to be successful. They did accept our proposed right to bathroom breaks. We’re also negotiating minimum days, and the definition of an 8 hour “consecutive” work day, which would impact required attendance at evening events and attendance at more frequent department meetings for some members. See the District’s proposal for Article 8: Hours of Employment.
• Employee Organization Rights: We’re very close to agreement. Read the District’s proposed changes to Article 5. 
• Leave Policies: The District rejected our last proposals to expand and clarify leave policies and make the process more fair. Read the District’s proposal for Article 10: Leave Policies.
• Discipline: We’ve made significant movement toward our SDEA proposal to make discipline more fair, and are negotiating the details. Read the District’s proposed changes to Article 33: Discipline.

What’s Next?

As we take advantage of the District’s motivation to settle as much as possible, there is a real possibility we could reach a deal on fixing Special Education Staffing before our scheduled ULP strike. If so, SDEA leaders would call a special Rep Council to give your site and program leaders the information needed to pivot to next steps, like contract ratification if we end up settling even more than just SpEd. Attend your union meetings and stay in communication with your colleagues - we are stronger together!

We’re bargaining again tomorrow, February 5, and again on February 12 & February 26… mark your calendar and put your red shirts in the laundry so you can wear red in solidarity!

See our tracker for all proposals exchanged so far and all tentative agreements, with links to read the full text of each.

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

by Sara Kennedy

Bargaining Update - January 29

Thursday was our twelfth bargaining session with the District, and what a change in pace! The District’s team started the session by expressing that their priority is to avoid a strike. Even though our ULP strike is not specifically tied to bargaining, they’ve felt the heat: Not just of the 90% ULP strike vote, but of members and community allies showing up strong to rally for Special Education at the board meeting on Tuesday. District leaders now want a deal, including settling the entire contract as quickly as possible. That means scheduling additional bargaining dates and serious movement on many of the areas that our SDEA bargaining team has identified as top priorities: Special Education solutions, wages, mental health supports, restoring the ECE stipend, and elimination of Fall excessing. With so many articles still open, speeding up the bargaining process will mean prioritizing getting the best deal we can now while also setting the stage for future improvements.

This update is structured a little differently to share what we’ve already agreed on, what we’ve made significant movement on, and what we’re still negotiating.

Tentative Agreements Reached:

At this session we came to agreement on quite a few points - a direct result of the collective pressure the District is feeling from SDEA members!

• Article 9: Our copay limits are protected! The District retracted their proposal to remove the limit on Kaiser co-pays - $10 limit restored! 

• Articles 14 & 18: Our improved evaluation system is now enshrined in the contract, with the flexibility needed to continue to tweak the system as issues arise. 
• Article 11: We’ve ensured that safety conditions include access to clean, cool air and a more streamlined process for requesting the most urgent repairs.
• Article 36: We won stronger, more sustainable Community Schools rooted in shared decision making.
• Article 22: We won protections for the workload of English Language Development teachers.

These tentative agreements are the individual puzzle pieces that will make up the full contract that members will vote on, after we’ve reached agreement on all the individual articles. Tentative agreements need to be signed by both District and SDEA teams, which is still in progress for some, but you can view an ongoing list of all tentative agreements in their own tab in our proposal tracker.

Important movement on Special Education staffing:

With a looming strike date over Special Education staffing, the District brought a package of proposed Special Education solutions. 

• They agreed to settle the still pending caseload grievances for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, and to enforceable monthly stipends for caseload overages in the contract - more enforceable than the current language which led to years of unresolved grievances that did nothing to ensure students had the staffing needed. (This would allow settlement for educators currently over caseload in the current school year, without a years-long wait on a union-wide grievance!)
• They agreed to case management days for Mild/Moderate Ed Specialists.
• They agreed to codify the current ECSE instructional model in the contract: Maintaining the weekly indirect service day, coverage provided by ECSE Itinerant teachers and non-classroom teachers, 4-day instructional options, and infant teacher caseload caps.
• They proposed a sideletter to continue the Special Education Credential Pathway from this year’s SERP agreement, so that educators can add a credential and fill SpEd vacancies.
• See the District’s full package of proposed Special Education solutions.

This proposal from the District represents important movement on these Special Education staffing solutions and their motivation to avoid a strike over Special Education.

Still negotiating: 

Raises

In response to our last proposal of 7% across two school years, the District proposed a little over half of that: 1.87% for 2025-26 and another 1.87% for 2026-27, but delayed until after the District gets state funds. This is still less than COLA, which is confirmed 2.3% for this school year and estimated 2.41% for next school year. See the District’s full proposal for Article 7 - Wages: Wages: 2025-2026 & 2026-2027.

Expanded leave

We proposed a variety of changes to expand access to leave:

• We proposed increased and more flexible pregnancy leave, and expanded the definition of “immediate family” when it comes to leaves.

• We re-proposed the option to work elsewhere during long-term unpaid leaves. (In current language, if a member has to temporarily leave to care for a family member or to follow a deployed partner, they would have to resign if they wanted to get any employment - even while on unpaid leave.) 

• We also proposed language to make it harder for admin to require a doctor’s note for sick leave.

• See all SDEA’s proposed changes for Article 10: Leave Policies.

Transfers and Excessing

We proposed a variety of updates to Article 12 to codify and continue to build on the improvements piloted this past Spring, as we seek to entirely end the chaos of Fall Excessing. 

• We proposed that VAPA be itinerant rather than multiple assignment staff, which would address a variety of issues that have arisen.
• We proposed changes to make excessing more fair, like making it harder for admin to play favorites with indispensable services and extended day assignments, and tiebreaking procedures for excessing and for when multiple people want to volunteer to be excessed.
• See all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 12: Transfer Policies.

Staffing and class sizes

• We revisited the addition of a pilot program of 19 intervention counselors in each high school cluster.
• We proposed improvements to nurse staffing to end the unsustainable workloads created by inadequate health office staffing, ensuring legally mandated services are provided as well as protecting student safety and access to care. We also re-proposed language to ensure a full time nurse at specialized schools and to strengthen language around vision, hearing, immunization and itinerant nurses.
• We proposed class size caps for combo classes and protections for members assigned to combo classes.
• We proposed leaving the current language around class size and athletic periods. Members have brought up issues with the current limit for PE classes, which impacts sports programs. However, other members brought up the issue that removing those limits would allow administrators to dump giant class sizes on one person. By keeping status quo language, individual members and programs (for example, coaches) can still submit an exception through the contract waiver process in Article 24.3 (with a deadline of April 15.)
• See all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 13: Class Size.

Protecting the time of new members

In the interest of coming to an agreement, we’ve backed off on additional pay for NEO scheduled for during instructional days, since those are already paid days. However, we’re holding firm on educators being paid for the time they attend outside of work hours during the school year. See all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 5:Employee Organization Rights.

What’s Next?

With the District eager to settle, we’ve scheduled additional bargaining dates. Mark your calendar and wear red in solidarity on our upcoming bargaining dates: February 3, February 5, February 12, & February 26.

Most importantly, stay tuned for updates - watch for our emails, attend your union meetings, and keep showing up! Our solidarity and our collective power is what makes the difference.

See our tracker for all proposals exchanged so far and all tentative agreements, with links to read the full text of each.

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

by Sara Kennedy

Bargaining Update - January 15

At our eleventh bargaining session yesterday, we submitted counterproposals on wages, Special Education staffing, and a variety of articles related to stability. We adjusted many proposals to align with the conversations at the bargaining table, but in some cases we re-proposed the same language we previously shared if it was language that the District simply brushed aside without analysis. We can’t accept a summary rejection of our educator-created solutions, and we’ll keep pushing for the schools our students deserve.

We proposed a 7% raise for all unit members, across two school years: 3.5% for this 2025-26 school year and 3.5% next 2026-27 school year. We couldn’t accept the insulting 0% that the District brought to the table last session, and this week we’ve also seen that the Governor’s proposed 2026-27 budget includes projected increases in education funding. Read all of SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 7: Wages: 2025-2026 & 2026-2027, and see the Salary Schedule & Rules in Appendices A-G to see the relevant changes for your specific position.

At our last session, the District finally responded to our package of Special Education solutions to reject just about all of them. Yesterday, we tried again to share a package of solutions to address the ongoing Special Education staffing crisis. See all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 29: Special Education:

• We re-proposed a pay structure for all caseload overages, codifying caseload overage remedies since the District has been unable to follow our caseload limits and then been unwilling to agree to fair grievance settlements for years. (With this change, members would get paid automatically every time they went over caseload, and could file a grievance if they didn’t get that payment.)
• We re-proposed reimbursement for SPED credentials for employees seeking to get SpEd credentials in order to fill vacant SpEd positions.
• We re-proposed language to codify pay for initial assessments, whether or not staff is full time.
• We re-proposed caps on 504s for counselors.
• We re-proposed  ECSE instructional model contract language which would codify current practice in addition to prohibiting ECSE teachers from conducting ECSE assessments that the District has centralized educators currently doing this work
• We re-proposed new ways to improve proportional SLP caseloads and School Psych ratios

We accepted the District’s proposed ESN stipend, and re-proposed stipends for all SpEd teachers.

Yesterday we shared a variety of proposals that would make schools more safe and stable for students, educators, and communities.

• We reaffirmed that safe classrooms include clean, cool air: We proposed new language that would ensure classrooms without working HVAC systems would get air filters, and that loft-style classrooms could also receive air filters by request. We proposed protecting an existing District Board Policy regarding HVAC by adding it to our contract. (While Board policies can be changed unilaterally, our contract can’t be changed without bargaining with us!) We also proposed a more realistic process for requesting safety or environmental repairs, to streamline requests so the District can prioritize the most urgent requests.  Read all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 11: Safety Conditions of Employment.

• We reaffirmed our commitment to equity: Last session, the District rejected our entire proposal of a new Equity article, citing fears of retaliation by the Federal government. Yesterday we re-proposed the entire article. Read all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 35: Equity and Support for our Students and Communities

• Very close on Community Schools

• We proposed fairer standards for discipline: The District has already agreed with us that language about personnel files, complaints, and derogatory material belongs in our Discipline article and not in Evaluations, since evaluations should be about supporting educators, not punishing them. We are still trying to improve language to make our discipline process more fair, make it harder for administrators to unfairly discipline members without any evidence, and that prevents unsubstantiated complaints from ending up in personnel files.  Read all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 33: Discipline 

• We’re close to agreement on an updated evaluations process. As a reminder, we have a current agreement about improved evaluations for this year and next year, and what we’re discussing currently is how that language should look in our new contract, while leaving space for future tweaks if needed based on what we learn from testing out our improvements. Read all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 14: Performance Evaluation Procedures and Article 18 Peer Review & Enrichment Program (PREP).

Stay Informed:

Our next bargaining sessions are scheduled for January 29, February 12, and February 26. Mark your calendar and wear red in solidarity on bargaining days! See our bargaining proposal tracker to keep track of ongoing negotiations, and all past bargaining updates:

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

by Sara Kennedy