San Diego Unified, educators, reach agreement to retain, attract new staff San Diego Unified, educators, reach agreement to retain, attract new staff
By SDCN Editor
San Diego, CA–The San Diego Unified School District, the San Diego Education Association, and the California School Employees Association Paraeducators Chapter 759 have reached tentative agreements on three-year contracts for teachers and paraeducator staff.
All the associations reached an agreement Friday, following months of collaborative negotiations.
In addition to other agreements, the deals provide professional development opportunities for educators, additional staffing, lower class size caps for K-3 classrooms, a fair compensation package, and maintain health care benefits for employees.
“This agreement is the culmination of a common goal to provide the best educational experience possible for students, teachers, and staff,” said Superintendent Dr. Lamont Jackson. “It allows us to retain teachers and paraeducators within San Diego Unified and to continue to recruit from across the state.”
A key component of the agreement is a 10% pay increase for the 2022-23 school year, retroactive to July 1, 2022, and a 5 percent increase in the 2023-24 school year effective July 1.
Other highlights include increased maternity, partner, adoption leave, and Juneteenth as a recognized District holiday (including any corresponding holiday pay).
“We worked collaboratively with our partners to reach an agreement that will support the success of all our students who are still recovering from the effects of the pandemic,” said Sabrina Bazzo, president of the San Diego Unified Board of Education. “These agreements allow us to recruit and retain the best and brightest to serve our students while also recognizing the hard work of our educators and paraeducators.”
The tentative agreements with the San Diego Education Association and Paraeducators are pending ratification by all parties, school officials said in a news release.
These tentative agreements were reached in the spirit of mitigating the impacts of staffing, attracting and retaining employees, and acknowledging the continued additional duties of staff related to the lingering effects of the pandemic.
“This tentative agreement on our new union contract represents a real investment in our educators, students, and our school communities,” said San Diego Education Association President Kyle Weinberg. “It will help retain and recruit the educators our students deserve, invest in Community Schools and expand after-school opportunities for our students, provides needed support to our Special Education students and staff, and so much more. The work we did will move our district forward so we can recover, rebuild, and rise together.”
A separate tentative agreement with Paraeducators, in part, provides support to students before, during, and after school, and additional time for collaboration and preparation with educators.
“I am relieved to know that our San Diego classified paraeducators have been heard in their struggle to make ends meet while still serving our students,” said California School Employees Association San Diego Paraeducators Chapter President Issel Martinez. “We hope that this agreement and historic raise is the beginning of a process of inclusion for all classified professionals in San Diego Unified. We work face-to-face and pour into our students day in and day out. This increase will help our paraeducators continue to put food on the table, pay their rent, and keep themselves and their families healthy while giving all of their talents and passion to help our San Diego students thrive.”
