Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1530930
district's restrictions on protected union speech. "is allowed us to use the enforcement part of bargaining to tell people that the district was breaking the rules," Díaz says. "As educators, this matters to us — fairness and being able to rely on rules." In October 2024, an administrative law judge found that the school district had indeed failed to bargain and infringed on the rights of educators with the ban on flags, ordering TVUSD to rescind both policies (which they had yet to do as of press time, Díaz says). Díaz says TVEA members are ready to continue focusing on w hat matters — fighting for th e school s all Tem ecula students deserve. "We want to work with our community partners to improve the state of special education in our district and support stu- dents with IEPs to help them meet their goals," Díaz says. "We want to help educators do their jobs without stress. Our big campaign is to get to issues that matter now." e lengthy and ongoing fight to defend their public schools from extremists means TVEA has an active and engaged mem- bership willing to fight for each other and their students. Díaz says it's important for local leaders to talk to their members and work toward wins that matter to them. "We've been focusing on bargaining and working conditions and developing our site reps so we can represent our members," he says. "e site conditions matter the most and if you're mak- ing a difference at the sites, members will be more likely to join your efforts on an association level." A Marathon for Justice: Sac City teachers win big after five years "It was a long journey, and it means a lot," says Nikki Milevsky, president of Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA). "Our evil superintendent tried to decimate our child development department, and we caught him." SCTA leaders were persistent about the fight for justice for members who were wrong fully terminated five years ago, win- ning a massive settlement in September 2024 for 18 teachers: $50,000 each for a total of $900,000. A 2021 PERB ruling found Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) had illegally laid off child development teachers and replaced them with employees from another public agency, directing the district to negotiate with SCTA over back pay. In 2019, SCTA organized with community partners to save the laid-off teachers, pleading with the school board to change their minds. " We organized members, parents and students to come to school board meetings. We brought a lot of In 2019, Sacramento City TA organized with parents and community to save the child development teachers' jobs, then turned to PERB, which found the district had acted illegally. What is PERB? The California Public Employment Relations Board is a state agency that oversees collective bargaining and labor relations for public employees, including public school employees. PERB enforces labor laws for these workers, ensuring that their rights to organize and engage in collective bargaining are protected. PERB handles disputes related to unfair labor practices and issues rulings on labor relations between public agencies and the unions that represent their employees. PERB also provides guidance on labor law compliance and aims to pro- mote stable and constructive relationships between public employers and employee organizations. 25 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 5