Know Your Rights: Salary Advancement

Know Your Rights: Salary Advancement

With a high cost of living in San Diego and teacher pay that continues to lag behind other professionals, it’s important to ensure you are getting all the compensation you are entitled to! 

Do you know your hourly rate for additional pay beyond your contracted duties, and your eligibility for additional stipends? Did you know that you have access to free professional learning that can advance you on the salary scale?

Learn more in our new Know Your Rights flyer!

 

Additional opportunities in Special Education

Considering adding a Special Education credential? The recent Supplemental Early Retirement Program (SERP) agreement includes a pathway to credentials to offset the number of Ed Specialist vacancies that occur due to the SERP by reimbursing unit members – including Visiting Teachers – for the cost of obtaining an Ed Specialist credential while they continue working.

See more Know Your Rights flyers and resources here!

by Sara Kennedy

Bargaining Update - February 27, 2025

As SDEA members begin negotiations for our next contract, we’re not just bargaining for a stronger local contract. We’re also uniting our efforts with more than 30 other unions across the state to demand better funding for public education.

In our first bargaining session, SDEA members on the Bargaining Team focused our proposals on improved educator pay and stability for our students and communities. Read more about our 19 proposals below, and see the entire list of articles we proposed.

Almost all of our proposals come with price tags, so starting with conversations about pay is important - and not just because we live in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

Future & Retroactive Raises:

We proposed three raises for SDEA members: 

  • A 2% raise for our current school year, retroactive to July 1, 2024. Last year, we agreed to revisit wages once the state budget was finalized. Now that we have the numbers, we can push for the best possible raises, including retroactive pay for this current school year. 
  • A 4% raise beginning July 1, 2025 and another 4% increase as of July 1, 2026, which would apply to salary schedules for all unit members.

Besides proposing these percent wage increases, we proposed that members get credit for a wider range of experiences when initially placed on the salary scale. We also proposed more equitable pay for additional work beyond contracted duties, so that all members are compensated for all their work. We proposed a stipend for Bilingual and Dual Immersion teachers to compensate educators for the additional work of dual language settings and to incentivize the hiring of educators who reflect our students’ diversity. Additionally, we have proposed a significantly higher $4000 stipend for Special Education teachers to incentivize filling persistent vacancies and compensate educators for consistent work outside regularly contracted hours. (This is only one small part of our planned proposals for Special Education Staffing - the majority of proposed changes to SPED will be to Article 29, which we plan to present in March.) 

Read all proposed changes to Article 7: Wages and the Salary Schedule & Rules in Appendices A-G, to see the relevant changes for your position.

Benefits & Leaves:

We proposed a variety of improvements to benefits and leaves to meet the needs of members and their families and to ensure our District can retain educators throughout a variety of life changes, including an increase of up to 12 days of personal necessity leave that can be used each school year. We additionally proposed up to 14 weeks of expanded and more flexible leave for pregnancy, increased partner/adoption leave, and priority enrollment in before- and after-school programs for SDEA members’ children. Read all proposed changes to Article 9:Benefits and Article 10: Leaves.

Visiting Teachers:

Visiting Teachers are full members of our bargaining unit and receive all negotiated percentage raises outlined in Article 7 (Wages.) We are pushing for meaningful improvements to Visiting Teacher pay in particular, considering that the District recently reverted to the contracted daily rate following the expiration of temporary COVID-era increases. Our proposals include increased rates for long-term and Special Education assignments, and the addition of a "Contracted Visiting Teacher" role that would be eligible for benefits. Read all proposed changes to Article 32: Visiting Teachers and Appendix D: VT Salary Schedule & Rules.

We’ve seen our schools destabilized by bare-bones staffing, the unnecessary chaos of threatened layoffs and fall transfers, and federal policies that target our most vulnerable students and communities. We submitted a variety of proposals to bring stability to our school communities, including:

  • NO layoffs during the term of this contract. We simply can’t afford to talk about cuts when our schools are already understaffed. Read all proposed changes for Article 19: Layoff & Reemployment.
  • An expanded Equity article that builds in extra protections and supports to counter ongoing threats to our most vulnerable students and educators. Read all proposed changes for the repurposed Article 35: Equity and Support for Students and Communities.
  • An agreement to advocate together with district leadership for increased state and federal funding for our schools. Read all proposed changes for Article 34: Revenue for Public Education.
  • Revised discipline procedures so that the District disciplines members only for just cause and through clear and progressive steps. Read all proposed changes for Article 33: Discipline.

An ongoing commitment to maintaining safe and clean school facilities. Read the proposed adjustment to Article 11: Safety.

Stay Informed:

In Solidarity,

SDEA’s Bargaining Team

Kyle Weinberg, SDEA President, Laurie Bailon, Restorative Justice Teacher, Bell MS; Carly Bresee, Ed. Specialist: Moderate/Severe, Perkins K-8, Sarah Darr, SDEA Secretary, WCW Campaign Organizer & Senior 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, and Sara Holerud, Organizer

by Sara Kennedy

NEA Representative Assembly: SDEA members running as State Delegates

The National Education Association Representative Assembly (or NEA-RA) is the highest decision-making body within the NEA, and is the world’s largest democratic deliberative body. Every year, RA delegates debate the vital issues that impact American education and establish policy for the year ahead. It’s more important than ever that SDEA educators are represented. 

All SDEA members should have gotten an email to personal email on file with CTA, with the subject “2025 NEA RA State Delegate Election.” Please exercise your democratic right to vote and consider voting for SDEA candidates who are running as state delegates for NEA RA:

  • Paula Carmack
  • Jared Enyart
  • Shaquanna Haile
  • Meghann Hughes
  • Kimberly Allard
  • Maria Miller
  • Vinita Rajah
  • Norma Reyes
  • Maria Romano
  • Sarah Darr
  • Monique Barrett
  • Kisha Borden
  • Shane Parmely
  • Augustus Phiasivongsa
  • Stacy Williams
  • Molly Beth Stewart

The 2025 NEA Representative Assembly will be held in Portland, OR, from July 2-5, 2025. 

Note: The views and opinions expressed are those of the candidate and not necessarily those of CTA and NEA.

by Sara Kennedy

VEBA Dependent Eligibility Audit - 2025

Every five years, SDUSD is required to verify that all dependents (including spouses and domestic partners) enrolled in our healthcare plan are eligible for coverage. VEBA manages our healthcare benefits and will be conducting this audit, so keep an eye out for a letter - the District has let SDEA leaders know that it will be sent soon. This audit is important to keep your family’s benefits, so make sure to respond by following the instructions you receive!

by Sara Kennedy

Fixing elementary prep time issues: Agreement reached

Scheduling elementary prep time has been more complex this year, with the contractual right to at least 180 minutes of prep time every two weeks and the addition of VAPA teachers funded by Prop 28. The Joint District-SDEA Elementary Preparation & Enrichment Committee has been working to address these challenges. 

This year SDEA members have reported a variety of issues, including:

  • Not enough prep teachers allocated at some sites
  • Vacancies even when prep teachers are allocated, leading to missed prep time
  • Fully staffed sites struggling to reschedule missed prep due to holidays or other disruptions

Recently this joint committee agreed on a solution:

  • Visiting Teachers will cover any missed prep time before the end of the school year. They may follow pre-planned PE lessons, eliminating extra prep work for educators (so that they can use prep time to actually prep!). If you are owed prep time, reach out to your site administrator to start this process now!
  • When a site is fully staffed, a schedule analysis will help determine whether enrichment teacher allocation adjustments are needed at sites with ongoing scheduling challenges.

This will ensure that all educators can receive their full prep time, including make-ups, as intended.

by Sara Kennedy

Letters in Solidarity: This is Why - We Can't Wait.

If we don’t act now, on behalf of our students, educators and schools when will the time be right?  We can’t wait any longer.

We can’t wait – for adequate school staffing. 

We can’t wait – for our schools to have sufficient resources.

We can’t wait – for schools to be safe and stable.

We can’t wait  - for Washington to get its act together or for the next election.

We can’t wait  - California’s students deserve better.

Although we live in the fifth largest economy in the world, California ranks in the bottom half of states for per-student funding. It’s unacceptable that in the “Golden State,” with its vast wealth and resources, we struggle to fully staff our schools. It is shameful that four out of five educators cannot afford to live near their school and the pay gap between educators in California and other professions grows ever wider. This is why San Diego Unified has an educator recruitment and retention crisis. 

There are 93 schools in our district where special education teachers have student caseloads that exceed contractual limits. We are stretched thin and are unable to get our students the support they need. Burned-out educators and underserved students deserve real solutions. 

This is why SDEA is coming together with union educators across the state to organize the We Can’t Wait campaign. On February 4, we joined our colleagues in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, Anaheim and two dozen other school districts across the state to kickoff bargaining for our shared demands. We are calling on our districts to prioritize resources for our students and calling on the state to improve school funding so that California regains its status as the national leader in public education.

77,000 educators, in 32 California school districts, serving 1 million students, are joining with parents, students and communities, raising common issues, refusing to accept excuses, for the first time aligning shared demands and union contract expiration dates, driving a hard bargain with our districts and the state government, can force change -- now. 

This month, SDEA members will be joining classified staff, families and community organizations for walk-ins at every school to support our bargaining team and stand up for our shared priorities. Ask your school’s elected SDEA leader for more information on our next collective action! Especially with the looming threats of cuts by the new federal administration, it’s even more urgent that we unite with local allies and education unions across the state to coordinate our campaign for fully staffed schools, improved pay, and stability for students and communities.

Let’s fix this.

Now is the time. We can’t wait.

 

by Sara Kennedy

Local & Statewide Solidarity: We Can’t Wait!

SDEA members are spreading the word!

In January, SDEA members passed out multilingual flyers to families to let them know about what we are bargaining for, and to ask for their support!

We let the SDUSD Board know: We can’t wait to fully staff our schools!

At the SDUSD Board Meeting on January 28 , SDEA members, classified colleagues, and community supporters showed up to demand two things:

SDEA and CSEA members spoke up about the daily student impact of understaffed Special Education programs, and then walked into the board meeting in solidarity chanting “We Can’t Wait!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYyVMC1sXmY

We officially shared our “Sunshine” proposal: We’re ready to bargain!

Along with a rally to specifically highlight the Special Education staffing crisis, this was the meeting where SDEA presented a “Sunshine” proposal - the official beginning of bargaining our next contract, where we share which parts of the contract we intend to bargain over.

While a “Sunshine” is designed for bargaining teams to plan out their negotiations, this document can also help SDEA members connect our bargaining platform (built by members through our input across our sites and programs!) to specific articles of our existing contract.

We aren’t alone in our fight!

While SDEA has a history of solidarity among our members, we know that what educators are facing today is bigger than just San Diego. So often when we ask for what our students and educators need, we’re told there isn’t enough money in the budget. Schools already lack the staff and resources they need, and are now facing additional threats to federal funding. SDEA members need to continue urging San Diego Unified to invest every available resource to support our students, but the reality is that we need to pressure the state, too. Even with the largest economy in the country, California spends less per student than most other states - and it’s our students who are suffering the consequences.

That’s why SDEA is joining over 77,000 union educators in over 30 districts across California to say: We Can’t Wait! It’s time to finally invest in the schools our students deserve.

While each union will negotiate with their individual districts, we are all aligning our proposals in three shared categories:

  • Fully staff our schools
  • Improve educator pay
  • Stability for students & communities

On Tuesday, unions held press conferences and actions across the state to announce the statewide campaign:

SDEA educators were joined by classified colleagues, National City educators, CTA board members, and community partners for a press conference on Tuesday to announce our statewide “We Can’t Wait” campaign.

Local news coverage of SDEA’s press conference at Perkins:

See all the unions involved in the We Can’t Wait campaign, and check out the #WeCantWaitCA hashtag on social media to see more!

More resources for our statewide campaign:

by Sara Kennedy

10-Point Program To Support Our Students & Communities

The new federal administration is threatening the well-being of our most vulnerable students (and the funding our schools rely on to support them.)

Read the 10-point policy recently adopted by the SDEA Board and representatives.

by Sara Kennedy

Resources to Support Our Immigrant Communities

 

Know Your Rights as SDEA members:

 

See an overview of the protections available in California law, our SDEA Contract, and District policies in our new Know Your Rights flyer about Protections for Immigrant Communities.

 

 

 

 

 

Important things for educators to remember:

San Diego Unified Resources:

Red Cards:

These cards from the ILRC are to inform citizens and non-citizens of their rights if an immigration official comes to their door.

Note: These are not for educators to distribute to students, for your protection. Check with your site rep for more information.

SDEA supported in printing 20,000 cards in English & Spanish to give to reps at the Feb 5 Rep Council. Representatives picked up cards to give to principals, who have directions from the District on how to utilize them.

Resources for Educators: 

Community Resources:

DACA - Frequently Asked Questions

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a policy that allowed certain individuals who met program requirements to request a grant of deferred action. 

See a variety of FAQs from AFT & uploaded by UTLA:

Keep in mind that things are changing quickly at the federal level. If you find that any of these resources are out of date or have broken links, please reach out to kennedy_s@sdea.net.

 

by Sara Kennedy

IFT Grants: Fund your classroom projects!

IFT Grant Applications Are Open! 

Apply now for the Institute for Teaching (IFT) Grant Program and bring your ideas to life for the 2025-2026 school year. 

  • Environmental Education Cohort (NEW!): Up to $5,000 (Environmental Educator Grant) or $20,000 (Environmental Impact Grant) for projects focused on environmental education, plus networking opportunities and an in-person convening! 
  • Educator Grant: Up to $5,000 for individual educators to impact a classroom or group of students. 
  • Impact Grant: Up to $20,000 for teams of two or more educators (three recommended) to make an impact across multiple classrooms or school sites. 

Applications close on March 31, 2025. Learn more and apply at cta.org/ift-institute-for-teaching. 

If you have questions, please email ift@cta.org.

See more scholarships and grants available to SDEA members here!

by Sara Kennedy