SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — After a long negotiation process, San Diego Unified educators and employees have a new contract. They're saying it's one of the strongest union contracts in the state.
Teachers, counselors, and librarians are ecstatic about the upcoming changes.
“I have goosebumps thinking about it," said Tina Luu, a Culinary Arts Teacher at Hoover High School. "This is a huge win for us.”
Luu is one of them. She has been a teacher in San Diego for 27 years now, but this past year has been hard for her.
“Just trying to maintain a semblance of life outside of school to pour into our kids when we’re here, that’s been hard, that’s been real hard,” Luu said.
Luu says inflation has challenged school employees. This new contract between the San Diego Education Association and the school district covers many of their concerns.
“We got support for parents, nurses, special needs, P.E. teachers and coaches, and counselors," Luu said. "All of these things that are so needed to open the doors and do our work.”
The ratified, three-year contract includes a 10% pay raise starting from last year. A 5% raise for the upcoming school year. And the option to negotiate another raise in the third year.
“If we can remove some of those challenges and allow them to show up as their full selves without worry, I think our students benefit, I know our students benefit,” said Lamont Jackson, Superintendent of San Diego Unified.
It includes fully paid family healthcare and additional maternity leave. It also states no K-3 class should have more than 29 students. For 4-6, it's 35 and for 7-12 it's 36, with added requirements of more counselors and nurses.
Another relief comes to special needs classes with new positions for speech pathologists and school psychologists.
“Guess what’s going to happen? Increases in educational achievement which is only going to benefit our city and our county,” Jackson said.
