San Diego Unified Teachers Call Off February 26 Strike After Tentative Deal Targets Special Education Staffing

Strike plans halted as district and union reach tentative agreement

San Diego Unified School District schools are set to remain open on Thursday, February 26, after the San Diego Education Association (SDEA) canceled a planned one-day strike tied to special education staffing concerns. The cancellation followed a tentative labor agreement reached between the district and the union representing teachers and other certificated educators.

The planned action had been framed by the union as an unfair labor practice strike centered on chronic understaffing and workload levels in special education. Union leaders had previously set February 26 as the strike date after a strike authorization vote earlier this school year.

What the tentative agreement changes for special education

At the core of the deal are changes aimed at strengthening support for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and reducing administrative overload for education specialists. The tentative agreement adds five days of non-classroom time for education specialists to handle case management tasks, assessments, and family collaboration.

The agreement also reinforces caseload controls and provides a mechanism for compensating special education teachers when caseloads exceed contractual limits. Under the new structure, overage payments are designed to be automatic and issued monthly—an operational change intended to address complaints that compensation has not consistently arrived on a predictable schedule.

• Additional intervention counselors to support students’ social-emotional needs across campuses
• Expanded support structures for students served under IEPs
• Dedicated non-classroom days for education specialists focused on compliance and case management
• Automatic monthly stipends tied to caseloads that exceed contractual caps
• Incentives to recruit and retain special education teachers, including credentialing support and targeted stipends for hard-to-fill roles

Compensation and benefits provisions

The tentative deal includes a 5% wage increase framework, along with language tying some compensation elements to the resolution of a statewide school funding issue. The agreement also maintains full health benefits for employees, spouses, and dependents, a longstanding focal point in many district labor negotiations.

Operational impact: calendar adjustments and pending votes

With the strike canceled, the district indicated it would not proceed with a previously planned make-up instructional day on March 9. The tentative agreement is expected to proceed through ratification votes, with the school board scheduled to vote next week and union members voting on a timeline extending into late March.

The canceled strike would have marked the district’s first teacher strike in decades, underscoring the intensity of the dispute over special education staffing and workload conditions.

Why special education staffing has become the central issue

San Diego Unified has set internal special education caseload targets below state maximums, but the dispute has centered on whether staffing levels have been sufficient to consistently meet those standards in practice. The tentative agreement’s emphasis on enforceable caseload mechanisms, predictable overage compensation, and additional planning time reflects a shift toward compliance-focused workload management in special education—an area governed by legally binding service requirements for students.