San Diego Unified strikes deal with teachers on new contract, avoiding strike

San Diego Unified School District and its teachers union have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract as well as a deal to avoid a one-day strike over special-education staffing.

The agreements announced Friday would resolve two issues — a year of bargaining that went months past the last contract’s end, and an unfair labor practice charge the union filed late last year over special education teachers’ caseloads.

In particular, the district and the San Diego Education Association have agreed on contract language that would guarantee special education teachers an automatic monthly stipend whenever they exceed caseload caps.

“This compensates educators for their time, but even more significantly, it financially incentivizes the district to actually fix staffing issues and provide the support that students and educators need,” the union’s bargaining team told members in an email just before midnight Friday.

Superintendent Fabiola Bagula said Friday that the district was pleased and appreciated families’ patience and flexibility during the process.

“These negotiations, while at times tense, yielded an outcome that will stabilize our educator workforce and ensure all students are supported in the classroom,” she said.

A strike, which had been planned for Feb. 26, would have been the union’s fi...