Calif teachers' demands over SPED caseloads "pushing them out of the profession"

 Feb 24, 2026, Ed Source: Special education has become a flash point in negotiations ...

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Special education is now a central issue in negotiations with teachers across the state, including San Diego, San Francisco and West Contra Costa.

This comes as special education staffing shortages reach “crisis” levels at the state and national levels.

Negotiated agreements include provisions to recruit special education teachers or to retain current teachers with reduced caseloads or stipends.

When more than 90% of San Diego Unified School District teachers voted to authorize a strike, it wasn’t just about pay increases or health care benefits — it was about special education caseloads that some teachers say are pushing them out of the profession.

Salary and health care are still central at the bargaining table, but the working conditions of special education teachers have become a major point of friction in labor negotiations with teachers this school year. It was also a sticking point for high-profile teacher strikes in West Contra Costa and San Francisco.

The role of special education at the bargaining table is different in every district in California, said Naj Alikhan, senior director of marketing and communications for the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).

“While issues at the table are different around the state, it is fair to say that the cost of serving our students with special needs is a cost pressure that is impacting everyone,” said Alikhan. 

The friction over special education comes as a growing number of students qualify for special education.  In California, 15% of students qualified for special education in 2024-25, up from 13% in 2018-19. Special education caseloads are emerging as a major bargaining issue as districts try to reconcile rising student needs with diminishing funds.

“Special education staffing shortages are a statewide and national challenge at a crisis level,” said Veronica Coates, chair of SELPA Administrators of California, in a statement. Schools have been struggling to hire staff to serve “increasing numbers of students with complex needs, while the pipeline of credentialed professionals, including candidates coming through higher education programs, has not kept pace.” . . .

The caseloads of special education teachers were a part of agreements reached after teachers in the San Francisco Unified and West Contra Costa Unified school districts went on strike. In San Francisco, some special educators will have their caseloads reduced and others will receive pay when their caseloads exceed contractual requirements. In West Contra Costa, where teachers argued that the district relied too heavily on outside contractors to provide special education services, special education teachers will see an additional pay boost and a retention bonus as a result of their contract.

The San Diego Education Association averted a strike planned for Thursday. The impetus for the strike authorization — the union’s first in 30 years — was the filing of an unfair labor practice charge last December over special education teachers’ caseloads.

Those caseloads were “unsustainable and causing special education teachers to leave the district or even leave the profession due to being burned out,” said Kyle Weinberg, union president.

The tentative agreement offers monthly stipends to teachers whose caseload exceeds contractual limits — and settles grievances from prior years. The agreement gives special education teachers of students with less extensive needs five days a year to catch up on caseload management, while a substitute teacher covers their classroom. Special education teachers whose students have more extensive needs will be given $4,000 annual stipends. It also offers a pathway to free credentials for teachers, so that special education vacancies can be staffed internally.

Overall staffing levels are a key issue in the California Teachers Association’s statewide We Can’t Wait campaign that involves over 30 local unions, some of which have chosen to focus on the growing caseloads of special education teachers because they can see the effects of it in their own classroom, said Sarah Darr, a speech and language pathologist and campaign organizer for San Diego Unified. . . .

 “It’s not enough money. It’s not enough money to provide all of the resources that our students and families need,” said Bagula, who went to Sacramento with board vice president Sabrina Bazzo to advocate for more funding, particularly for students with disabilities, according to a release from the district. . . .