Planned one-day teachers’ strike next month would shutter San Diego schools

San Diego Unified says it will close schools Feb. 26 for one day after teachers authorized what would be their first strike in decades over special education workloads — part of a statewide union push for schools to boost staffing.

The action comes as the county’s largest school district and its teachers union work to negotiate a new contract, even as contract talks have stalled in other California districts, including one in San Diego County.

In San Diego Unified, bargaining is still ongoing. School board President Richard Barrera said he was optimistic that progress would be made before the strike date.

District leaders have been pushing for more money for special education, last month urging Congress to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act. That more than 50-year-old federal law, intended to fund special education, has never been fully funded. 

But Kyle Weinberg, president of the San Diego Education Association, said Thursday that yearslong underfunding of education by the state and federal government makes local investment even more important.

“Contract violations are not an acceptable funding strategy,” he said at a news conference.

In an unfair labor practice charge filed with the California Public Employment Relations Board on Dec. 17, the union said special education teachers had been assigned caseloads higher than t...