TA Highlight: Equity
A Commitment to Equity in our Tentative Agreement:
Preparing to negotiate our next contract, SDEA members identified priorities in three main categories: Staffing, Pay, and Stability. Even in the time between identifying priorities and negotiating agreements, destabilizing threats to our students and communities have only increased. Our tentative agreement includes a new article focused on protections for educators, students, and communities. Article 35: Safe and Supportive Communities contains a variety of measures that make our schools more equitable for everyone, including:
- Release days for staff to attend immigration appointments if needed
- An immigrant family legal clinic and other supports for immigrant communities, in partnership with community organizations
- Protections for the use of educators’ preferred name and pronouns
- Gender neutral bathrooms at each school
- Free menstrual supplies in all bathrooms and locker rooms
- More support for District’s Restorative Justice Practices
- Improved implementation of Ethnic Studies
This new article continues SDEA members’ history of bargaining beyond just the basics. Our collective power can improve our own pay, benefits, and working conditions… but it is also a tool we can use to fight for the rights of our entire communities, and to advance a more just and equitable world.
Read more in the full Tentative Agreement on Article 35: Safe and Supportive Communities.
Other key wins in our tentative agreement:
- Concrete fixes for Special Education staffing
- 5% pay raise over 2 years - see what that looks like for you with this calculator
- Locked in fully-paid family healthcare (including Kaiser $10 co-pay)
- Side Letter for no layoffs
- No fall excessing at Title I schools – that’s 150 out of 175 schools!
- Restored Early Childhood Education Teacher stipend
- Seniority for summer school hiring
- …and more! See lots more information here.
Your votes: Your next contract AND your union leadership
Currently SDEA members are voting on two things: Their next union contract, and their next union leaders!
2025-2027 Contract Ratification |
SDEA Spring Leadership Elections |
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| 🗳️ What you’re voting on | Whether to ratify our new union contract and implement the tentative agreement | Who will represent you in union leadership positions (Officers, Board, CTA State Council, NEA-RA delegates) |
| 🗳️ How to vote | In person at your school or program’s union meeting, or at the SDEA office during business hours if you’re not assigned to a site (VTs, members on leave, etc.) | Online via Simply Voting, using the ballot sent to your personal email on March 9. |
| 🗳️ When to vote | Voting began on February 26 at meetings scheduled by each site or program’s representatives. All paper ballots are due to the SDEA office by March 23 at 5 PM. | Voting began March 9 at 6 AM and closes March 20 at 5 PM. |
| 🗳️ Resources | Attend your next union meeting and access a variety of resources online | See full timeline, information, and a voter guide |
- Only SDEA members can vote! Not a member? Join now!
- Questions? Reach out to the SDEA Elections Committee at sdeaelections@sdea.net or call (619) 283-4411.
TA Highlight: Improved Pay... What, Who, & When
Improved Pay in our Tentative Agreement: What, Who, & When
Preparing to negotiate our next contract, SDEA members identified priorities in three main categories: Staffing, Pay, and Stability. Here’s some of the ways that pay will improve for SDEA educators if we ratify our tentative agreement:
| What: | Who: | When: |
| A 5% raise over two years | All unit members (plus other District employees with “Me Too” clauses, like classified staff) |
These raises will be paid once the District receives the state funding owed to them. See more in the TA on Article 7, and calculate what that raise would look like for you here. |
| Monthly Penalty Payment for Ed Specialists Over Caseload Limits | Ed. Specialists:
Mild/Moderate/MMSN, Moderate/Severe/ESN, & Mild/Moderate/MMSN Special Day Class |
Current school year: The District is compiling a list of educators who qualify. If the agreement is ratified, payments will be made within one payroll cycle after the list is finalized.
Going forward: Payments will be issued the month after a caseload exceeds the contractual limit… to incentivize the District to address SpEd staffing quickly rather than saving money by overloading educators and then delaying grievance settlements. See more in the TA on Article 29 & more about the SpEd fixes in the TA |
| Pending Caseload Grievance Settlement Payments | Ed Specialists who were overloaded beyond caseload limits during the last two school years (2023–24 and 2024–25) | The District is preparing a list of impacted members. Once available, a unionwide message will be sent so members can review and appeal if needed. |
| Restored ECE TK Stipend | ECE Teachers assigned to a TK classroom | Retroactive to July 1, 2025 and moving forward, eligible teachers will receive the lead teacher stipend to help close the pay gap with Multiple Subject co-teachers. |
Looking for details on how this applies to individual situations? Check our FAQ first!
Your vote: On your next contract AND your union leadership!
Right now, these pay improvements are tentative as part of our tentative agreement. To actually implement these changes, SDEA members need to VOTE! Currently there are two votes in progress:
| 2025-2027 Contract Ratification | SDEA Spring Leadership Elections | |
| 🗳️ What you’re voting on | Whether to ratify our new union contract and implement the tentative agreement | Who will represent you in union leadership positions (Officers, Board, CTA State Council, NEA-RA delegates) |
| 🗳️ How to vote | In person at your school or program’s union meeting, or at the SDEA office during business hours if you’re not assigned to a site (VTs, members on leave, etc.) | Online via Simply Voting, using the ballot sent to your personal email on March 9. |
| 🗳️ When to vote | Voting began on February 26 at meetings scheduled by each site or program’s representatives. All paper ballots are due to the SDEA office by March 23 at 5 PM. | Voting began March 9 at 6 AM and closes March 20 at 5 PM. |
| 🗳️ Resources | Attend your next union meeting and access a variety of resources online | See full timeline, information, and a voter guide |
- Only SDEA members can vote! Not a member? Join now!
- Questions? Reach out to the SDEA Elections Committee at sdeaelections@sdea.net or call (619) 283-4411.
Our voices at the state level: Extend Prop 55!
Remember, the reason for all the contingency language about when we get our raises and the reason we’re always fighting for the basics is because of bigger picture education funding. That’s why it’s critical to extend Proposition 55. Without it, California public schools face $14.6 billion in cuts which would disappear overnight if Prop 55 isn’t extended.
To be clear, Prop 55 is an extension of the personal income tax rates voters already approved in 2016, and it only applies to couples earning over $700K. This existing funding stream is what has been supporting our schools… and we can’t afford to lose it!
SDEA reps have been collecting signatures at union meetings, and union educators across the state are doing the same. We can’t win local improvements while losing statewide funding!
🗳️ Vote. Sign. Participate.
Being part of a democracy means that YOU have a voice: Negotiating and voting on a contract, deciding on who represents you, and prioritizing how our public resources are used. Like any democracy, our union is stronger when everyone participates! Show up. Talk to your colleagues. Vote. Participate.
TA Highlight: Some Basic Rights
In our tentative agreement, we won some basic rights!
After over a year of organizing and showing up, SDEA members reached a tentative agreement that tackles some big issues like Special Education staffing and raises. We also secured important everyday protections that make a real difference at work:
- The right to bathroom breaks: For the first time, our contract will guarantee coverage for bathroom breaks. Before, it was up to administration to decide whether to plan for coverage. If we ratify the tentative agreement, schools will be required to have a coverage plan, and violations can be enforced through our grievance procedure instead of filing a Labor Code complaint. When our rights are easier to enforce, those rights are stronger.
- The right to clean, cool air: Previous air quality bargained during an earlier COVID-19 era has expired… but our need for clean air has not! If ratified, the District must provide air filters for classrooms without working HVAC systems and regularly inspect and service those systems. Functioning air systems aren’t optional, whether that’s filtered air during flu season or working air conditioning in a heat wave.
- Speaking of working HVAC systems, we also won the right to streamlined repairs: Maintenance requests used to bottleneck at central PPO (which had over 60,000 requests as of January, just for this school year!) Under our new agreement, simple fixes can be handled at the site level, with central PPO stepping in when needed.
Read more in Article 8 and Article 11.
Other key wins in our tentative agreement:
- Concrete fixes for Special Education staffing
- 5% pay raise over 2 years - see what that looks like for you with this calculator
- Locked in fully-paid family healthcare (including Kaiser $10 co-pay)
- Side Letter for no layoffs for the term of the contract (June 30, 2027) – a historical win!
- No fall excessing at Title I schools – that’s 150 out of 175 schools!
- Restored Early Childhood Education Teacher stipend
- Seniority for summer school hiring
- Protections for immigrant and LGBTQ+ educators and students
- …and more!
Many resources are available to help you understand this tentative agreement before voting, including highlights, a detailed summary of changes, the full agreement language, and answers to frequently asked questions: Click here for Tentative Agreement Resources.
Now it’s time to VOTE!
Right now all these wins are a tentative agreement… because to actually implement these changes, SDEA members need to VOTE! Voting will take place in person at a union meeting at your school or program, and began on Feb. 26.
Our contract covers all certificated educators, but only SDEA members get to vote to ratify it. Not yet an SDEA member? Join now online!
Members on leave and Visiting Teachers can vote at the SDEA office (M-F, 8AM - 5PM). All ballots are due to the SDEA office on March 23 at 5PM. If you don’t know when your next union meeting is, talk to your site rep!
Letters in Solidarity: When We Get Strike-Ready, We Win!
Today, February 26, 2026, we were set to be on strike as SDEA union educators for our students with disabilities, to fight for the special education staffing that our schools so urgently need. While we would prefer to be in our classrooms with our students, we were ready to strike if absolutely necessary. But as we all know since we are teaching our students today in the schools that we love, we didn’t have to strike because 2 weeks ago at 11 pm as The Clock Was Ticking to come to a deal, our SDEA Bargaining Team settled the Special Education Caseload Overage Unfair Labor Practice and arrived at a tentative agreement on our entire next contract!
What’s in the tentative agreement? In the tentative agreement, there’s some huge wins for not just special education but for all educators and students in our district that we can all be proud of. That’s why the SDEA Bargaining Team, SDEA Board of Directors and SDEA Representative Council, made up of 180+ elected educator leaders from schools and programs across our district, have all unanimously endorsed a YES vote on the ratification of our next contract.
Here are a few of the biggest wins:
- Concrete solutions to address Special Education staffing shortages like caseload overage stipends, annual $4000 stipends for ESN/Mod/Severe teachers, case management days for Mild/Moderate teachers and free SPED credentials for SDEA members who fill vacancies internally
- 5% pay raise over 2 years
- Locked in fully-paid family healthcare (including Kaiser $10 co-pay limit)
- No layoffs – a historic win!
- Continuing the path to ending the unnecessary chaos of Fall Excessing
- Restored Early Childhood Education TK co-teacher stipend
- Protections for immigrant and LGBTQ+ educators and students
And these are just the highlights! In the rest of this issue of the SDEA Advocate, you’ll find a summary of the tentative agreement, an FAQ and a salary calculator for your 5% raise to help you make an informed decision on your vote to ratify our next contract.
Reps at last night's Rep Council unanimously endorsing a YES vote!
How did we win all of this? We won the demands in our SDEA bargaining platform by coordinating our campaign with our We Can’t Wait union sibling locals across the state and getting strike-ready for the first time in 30 years in our district. When we achieved our goal of 90%+ SDEA union educators voting to authorize a strike for special education staffing, we left the district with no other choice but to shut down schools on the day of our strike because you can’t run schools without teachers! This gave our SDEA Bargaining Team maximum power 2 weeks ago to push the limits of what was possible because we had the full force of 6000+ mobilized SDEA union educators behind us. Because WHEN WE GET STRIKE-READY, WE WIN!
Legal Observation Trainings
Important opportunity from our community partners:
This March, access in person or online Legal Observation Trainings led by local attorneys and facilitated by County leaders.
Across the country, immigration enforcement actions have raised serious concerns about accountability, civil rights, and transparency. Trained community members can lawfully document public enforcement activity to help ensure the law is followed and rights are protected.
When community members are prepared to observe responsibly:
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Facts are preserved
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Civil rights violations can be challenged
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Journalists have verified information
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Agencies know they are being watched
You do not have to hold office or be an attorney to stand up for due process. You can show up, witness, and document... calmly, lawfully, and responsibly. This training can help you understand how to do so.
🏢 In-Person Training
Where: SDEA Office – 10393 San Diego Mission Road, San Diego, CA 92108
When: Tuesday, March 3 at 6:00 PM
How: RSVP HERE. Space is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible.
💻 Virtual Training
When: March 17 at 3:00 PM
Where: Online via Zoom
How: RSVP HERE
Time to Ratify: Our 2025-27 Contract
We won some big improvements:
After sixteen intense bargaining sessions and nearly a year of relentless organizing, our SDEA bargaining team recently reached agreement with the District:
✔ An agreement to settle the Special Education caseload overage ULP and call off our strike. If ratified, this finally breaks the cycle of years of grievances. Educators will automatically receive a monthly stipend when over contractual caseload limits – no more waiting months or years for relief. This compensates educators and financially incentivizes the District to fix chronic understaffing instead of saving money by leaving vacancies unfilled and educators overloaded. See more highlights of how this settlement addresses Special Education staffing.
✔A tentative agreement on our entire next contract… delivering improved staffing, pay, and stability for students, educators, and communities!
Click here to read our entire tentative agreement and click here to access resources to understand it!
Right now all this improved contract is tentative because to actually implement these changes, SDEA members need to VOTE! Voting will take place in person at a union meeting at your school or program, beginning Feb. 26.
Ratification timeline:
- Feb 12: Tentative agreement reached & strike called off
- Feb 26 – March 23: Site-based union meetings and in-person voting. Members on leave and Visiting Teachers can vote at the SDEA office (M-F, 8AM – 5PM)
- Mar 23: All ballots are due to the SDEA office on March 23 by 5PM
- Mar 24: SDEA Elections Committee counts ballots
Only members vote!
Our contract covers all certificated educators, but only SDEA members get to vote to ratify it. Not yet an SDEA member? Join now online!
Special Education Survey
Special Education data to help hold the District accountable:
We’ve won promises of more enforceable, sustainable Special Education staffing, but we know we need to hold the District accountable for fulfilling those promises. Your SDEA representatives are collecting information from educators about Special Education caseloads and supports: If you have a Special Education caseload or are a classroom teacher with students in your class who have IEPs, please take a few minutes to complete our Special Education Caseload Survey.
Your input helps SDEA leaders document the real workload and continue advocating for the staffing our students deserve… including the improvements promised in our recent agreement.
The link to the survey is in your Feb 24 Union Notes email! Please reach out to the SDEA office if you did not get that email.
TA Highlight: Fixes for Special Education
We won a settlement on our Unfair Labor Practice over Special Education staffing. So what does that mean?
For years, Special Education in San Diego Unified hasn’t had enough staff or resources. Educators organized. We filed grievances. We got strike-ready. And we forced the District to act! In exchange for calling off the strike, SDUSD agreed to settle three years of grievances and to implement a variety of concrete measures to address Special Education staffing. Here's a few of those measures:
See more details in the TA for Article 29: Special Education
Other key wins in our tentative agreement:
- 5% pay raise over 2 years
- Locked in fully-paid family healthcare (including Kaiser $10 co-pay limit)
- No layoffs – a historic win!
- No fall excessing at Title I schools – that’s 150 out of 175 schools!
- Restored Early Childhood Education TK Co-teacher stipend
- Right to coverage for bathroom breaks
- Protections for immigrant and LGBTQ+ educators and students
- …and more!
You can see more details in our highlights flyer and the full tentative agreement of each contract article in our proposal tracker.
Now it’s time to VOTE!
Right now all these wins are a tentative agreement… because to actually implement these changes, SDEA members need to VOTE! Voting will take place in person at a union meeting at your school or program, beginning Feb. 26.
Our contract covers all certificated educators, but only SDEA members get to vote to ratify it. Not yet an SDEA member? Join now online!
Members on leave and Visiting Teachers can vote at the SDEA office (M-F, 8AM - 5PM). All ballots are due to the SDEA office on March 23 at 5PM. If you don’t know when your next union meeting is, talk to your site rep!
We won a union contract… now we vote on it!
We did it!
Back in Fall 2024, SDEA members collectively decided on priorities for our next contract. After sixteen intense bargaining sessions and nearly a year of relentless organizing, our SDEA bargaining team reached agreement with the District late last Thursday.
Because SDEA members showed up and even got ready to strike, we won:
✔ An agreement to settle the Special Education caseload overage ULP and call off our strike. If ratified, this finally breaks the cycle of years of grievances. Educators will automatically receive a monthly stipend when over contractual caseload limits - no more waiting months or years for relief. This compensates educators and financially incentivizes the District to fix chronic understaffing instead of saving money by leaving vacancies unfilled and educators overloaded.
✔A tentative agreement on our entire next contract… delivering improved staffing, pay, and stability for students, educators, and communities! That includes:
- A 5% raise over two years
- Restored ECE TK co-teacher stipends
- Improved evaluation and discipline processes
- Protections for immigrant & LGBTQ+ students and colleagues
- More stable transfer process
- NO LAYOFFS!
We proved that when we say we’re ready to fight for our students, we mean it. And across California, 80,000 educators are organizing for better staffing, pay, and stability. Our local wins are part of that broader movement to secure the funding that our public schools deserve.
Click here to read all Tentative Agreements!
Shout out to Sarah Hillard at Millennial Tech for this drone shot of one of our parachutes at our Jan 27 rally
Big picture funding: Prop 55 and the fine print in our wages contract article
Our raises in contract Article 7 include contingency language for two reasons:
- First, we’ve successfully pushed SDUSD to invest in classrooms. That means that unlike other large Districts, they’re not sitting on huge reserves - in fact, they’re close to the legal limit in reserves!
- Second, with Governor Newsom threatening to withhold Prop 98 school funding, the District may not receive state dollars immediately.
The negotiations over these raises included a give and take regarding how much and when educators would get funds. By accepting contingency language in Article 7, we were able to secure raises above COLA while giving the District time to issue retroactive pay once state funds arrive.
That’s also why we must finish the job on extending Proposition 55. Without it, California public schools face $14.6 billion in cuts which would disappear overnight if Prop 55 isn’t extended. SDEA reps have been collecting signatures at union meetings - If you haven’t signed yet to extend Prop 55, reach out to your site rep now! We can’t win local gains while losing statewide funding.
We organized. We built to strike readiness. We won. Now it’s time to vote!
Ratification timeline:
- Feb 12: Tentative agreement reached & strike called off
- Feb 23 & Feb 24: Community town halls for families - originally scheduled to get the word out to the community about the strike, the meetings will now be about what we won in the tentative agreement, how we won it together and the next steps in our fight for the schools our students deserve
- Feb 26 - March 23: Site-based union meetings and in-person voting
- Mar 24: SDEA Elections Committee counts ballots and announces results
Let’s ratify the progress we fought for… and keep building our power!
Only SDEA members will be able to vote on this contract. Not a member yet? Join now!