Welcome Back!
We hope the school year is settling in well for everyone.
Thank you to the bargaining team, zone captains, bargaining support teams, and members that came out to fight for a strong contract that includes competitive compensation, commitment to racial equity work, and increased supports to teach the whole child. The SEA team is working hard to complete the final contract language. Stay tuned.
At our first meeting of the new school year, the SEA Board of Directors confirmed our ongoing commitment to building an anti-racist organization; we will be engaged in this work throughout the year.
In November, we will be voting on 4 school board seats. This year's election is critical as we continue to build an education system that focuses on students furthest from educational justice. Please visit the SEA website for more information and contact your Building Rep.
Fall always brings new opportunities as we begin to build community within our classrooms and schools. In that spirit, SEA members are launching the new Lincoln High and Magnolia Elementary schools.
Ashley Myers, Computer Science Teacher and Building Rep. at Lincoln said, "It's exciting to be part of a new school with teachers from across the district."
Through our collective knowledge, skill and passion, we're moving our district forward for all of our students, members, and community.
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Meet the New SEA Executive Director!
YVETTE DE LA CRUZ
Since the age of 19, when she helped to organize her workplace at the Social Security Administration call center in Auburn, Washington, Yvette De La Cruz has been an advocate for workers' rights.
She is a union activist, labor advocate and professional labor educator. Yvette brings her passion for using education and training as a method to advance the rights of workers to her advocacy work, most recently as UniServ Director with the Pilchuck UniServ Council in Everett, WA, supporting the Monroe, Mukilteo and Skykomish Education Association locals.
She has been active with several unions, having held both elected and staff positions with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), an elected position with the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild (WBNG-CWA), and staff positions with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the national AFL-CIO in New Mexico, Oregon, Washington State, and Washington D.C. Additionally, she served as an Adjunct Professor at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland and as Project Coordinator with the Global Union Federation, Public Services International in Ferney-Voltaire, France.
Yvette earned her master's degree in Labor Policy and Globalization from the Berlin School of Economics and the University of Kassel and her bachelor's degree in Labor Studies from the National Labor College.
Yvette is excited to be taking on this position as Executive Director of the largest EA locan union in the state, and looking forward to working with SEA members, activists, leaders and staff to continue to grow our union and be strong advocates for our students and public education.
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NEW CBA FAQ's
- Green Days are now Racial Equity Days - Work on these days to follow racial equity action plan to be developed utilizing template created by SEA Center for Racial Equity and SPS Department of Racial Equity Advancement (DREA). Template to be developed and made available ASAP.
- SEA and SPS leadership will collaboratively develop a template to be used at the school level in order to communicate what PD/PLC work staff are engaged in on early release days. Template to be developed and made available ASAP.
- SAEOP can use yellow/collaboration days for mentorship meetings and or Zone area meeting and trainings.
Members now have 4 personal days!
2 sick days have been converted to personal days making for 4 personal days and 8 sick days total for SEA members. Current contract language still dictates the use of personal/sick time. Unused personal days will be converted to sick days at the end of the year.
Joint SEA/SPS CBA Meetings
Meetings for SEA building reps to attend with their building/program administrator.
ALL TIMES 4:15-5:45PM. *SEA building reps will be paid extra time to attend.*
Tuesday, October 15th - Greenwood ES, Library
Thursday, October 17th - Garfield HS, Auditorium
Tuesday, October 29th - Sacajawea ES, Cafeteria
Tuesday, November 5th - Rainer Beach HS, Library
Thursday, November 7th - W Seattle HS, Lunch Room
Tuesday, November 12th - Cleveland HS, Room 1201
Thursday, November 14th - JSCEE, Auditorium