Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1515721
HTEC members took to the streets last October to rally for fair pay for all staff across High Tech High's 16 sites. South Bay Educators United DOWNTOWN COLLEGE PREP San Jose 70 certificated members across four sites Educators at Downtown College Prep blazed trails in 2020, when they organized virtually and won their union, South Bay Educators United (SBEU). Then the tough work began, sitting at a bargaining table where everyone was learn- ing on-the-fly how to negotiate. After a year, SBEU notched major victories for transparency in the charter school network's finances and decision-making, as well as negotiating hours, workload and working conditions, and a guar- anteed teacher voice on important issues. "When sweeping changes are made without teacher input, it's a gamble on how it will affect the learning community," says Rodriguez, an instructional coach. "It was all reactive before, but now we can get ahead of it to minimize the harm to our community and maximize what has been effective." Bargaining is currently underway for an equity-based salary schedule as well as a fair evaluation process. SBEU is already tapping into the vast resources of the CTA family, col- laborating with a member from Chula Vista Educators for ideas on creating their new evalu- ation process. " That has saved us so much time and pro- vided models, so we don't have to start from scratch," Rodriguez says. High Tech Education Collective HIGH TECH HIGH San Diego County 430 certificated & 300 ESP members across 16 sites In only a few short years, High Tech High educators won their union, grew it to more than 700 strong by welcoming the charter network's classified employees, and won a historic first contract that will help stem chronic high turnover that impacts students and fam- ilies. Through their efforts, HTEC members scored massive victories at the bargaining table: personal time, sick days that roll over and accrue, a 10% increase in the pay scale, retention bonuses and a contractual right to substitute teachers. "We never had a right to subs — we used to have to teach all day without breaks," says HTEC President Hayden Gore, a sixth-grade humanities teacher. "If we want justice for our students, we have to fight for just working conditions." Gore says HTEC has built power across all 16 sites in San Diego County by organizing the old-fashioned way, one-on-one conver- sations in person and on the phone, making connections with each other and rising together to accomplish their shared goals. " That's our strength today," Gore says. "It's not that our social media is the best, or our website or emails. We're strong about the relational aspects of our union and that builds real solidarity." River Char ter Schools Teachers Association RIVER CHAR TER SCHOOL S Clarksburg 50 certificated members at two sites Forming their union in late 2021 to create a better and more stable future for educators at River Charter Schools, RCSTA won their first contract in May 2023 that includes landmark victories like class-size reduction, guaranteed pregnancy leave and basic Ed Code rights. RCSTA President Mary Gomes says a lot has changed for educators in a short time, going from a place where management made decisions without transparency or teacher input to one where educa- tors have a unified voice and a union contract. "Now, we have an equal seat at the table for years to come," says Gomes, a fifth grade teacher. "It's hard to put into words what it means for us." Gomes says RCSTA's victory is already having impacts for neighboring charter educators and their associations, raising the floor for working conditions and modeling how to fight and win. Next up for RCSTA: bargaining a successor contract and building a new legacy of respect in their schools. "We're looking forward to figuring out who we are as RCSTA and making sure our members know CTA is here to support us all," Gomes says. 26 cta.org Feature