SD teachers celebrate deal to save jobs with district
Educators, district officials and community leaders Thursday celebrated a tentative forged by the teachers union and San Diego Unified School District to save nearly 1,500 jobs and keep class sizes manageable next year.
School board President John Lee Evans said the deal represents a new spirit of collaboration between labor and management. What’s more, he said the deal reflects the “rational and reasonable” demeanor of teachers union president Bill Freeman. Freeman’s style, Evans said, is a stark contrast to that of former labor leader Camille Zombro, a former union president who was ousted as vice president of the organization in a recent election.
“We could not have negotiated this deal two years ago,” Evans said.
The agreement calls for a third and fourth year of furloughs. If state voters reject Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative come November, the school year could be cut by a total of 19 days — a month’s worth of education.
“A shortened school year, as painful as it may be, causes less harm to our students than eliminating 1,500 teachers and having class sizes sky
Now that the San Diego Education Association and the San Diego Unified School District have hammered out a deal, its up to 7,000 teachers to decide whether to accept it or reject it. The union will put the agreement up to a vote Sunday throughout Tuesday. If it receives more than 50 percent approval, the school board will vote to ratify the pact next week.
The district staged its celebration on Thursday at Central Elementary School in City Heights, which would lose more than half its teachers to layoffs if the tentative agreement is rejected.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson congratulated the union and district on the deal a statement he issued Thursday.
“The teachers and school district officials of San Diego deserve our appreciation for stepping up to the plate in a big way to make kids their top priority. It should serve as an example to us all that teachers and staff gave up well-earned pay raises to avoid layoffs and keep class sizes manageable in service to their students. In these tough economic times, the needs far outstrip the dollars we have available – even for something as fundamentally crucial as our public education system.”