Delaware State Education Association

Summer break is a great time to hone your craft, expand your skills and strengthen your union muscles!

Registration is now open for Lead and Learn 2026, DSEA’s two-day summer learning conference on the University of Delaware campus in Newark.

Union educators from across Delaware will spend July 16-17 learning new skills and techniques to reach students, manage their personal wellbeing, achieve their career goals, and build a stronger union. The keynote addresses from incoming DSEA President Tameka Mays on Thursday and Delaware Education Secretary Cindy Martens on Friday also will help you get your inspiration back for the start of the new school year!

Registration is free for DSEA members. You can attend one or both days. Clock hours are available. And meals will be provided!

Click here to register today: https://bit.ly/4fWCv8J

UNION VICTORY FOR ESPs!

Thanks to the advocacy of union educators, Senate Joint Resolution 14 has cleared the Delaware General Assembly and is now headed to Governor Matt Meyer for his signature.

Sponsored by Sen. Dan Cruce and Rep. Kim Williams, this bill directs the Delaware Department of Education to conduct a comprehensive study of the wages paid to ESPs across Delaware – a critical step toward delivering parity, fairness, and relief to some of the hardest working and most overlooked educators in our public schools.

Every public school worker deserves a living wage. Yet, far too many of Delaware’s paraprofessionals, custodians, food service workers, school secretaries, transportation workers, and other Education Support Professionals are having to take on second jobs just to make ends meet.

Just like teachers and administrators, our ESPs deserve raises that keep pace with the rising cost of housing, healthcare, groceries, and other household expenses!

Thank you to all of the union ESPs who testified before the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee in March and met with state lawmakers in May to support the passage of this bill. Your work helped to lead the way for every single state lawmaker to vote yes on SJR 14!

Together, we are stronger! Together, our voices are being heard!

Congratulations to the Seaford Education Association for holding a successful end-of-year celebration at The Benjamin earlier this month!

Thank you to SEA President Victoria Williams-Lake and all 230+ union teachers, specialists, paraprofessionals, transportation workers and custodians in the Seaford School District for your hard work this year. Have a great summer!

Is your local doing something exciting you would like to share here? Drop us a line by emailing [email protected]!

Your union membership can help you and your family save money.

Use the MyDeals mobile app to find stores in your area offering discounts to DSEA members. There’s even a handy map to help you find deals wherever you are.

You can download the MyDeals app by clicking one of these links:

Apple Store: https://bit.ly/3XBdhBW
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3zmoJJM

You’ll need your DSEA membership number to create an account. You can find your DSEA membership number by visiting mynea360.org, emailing [email protected], or by calling the DSEA Office at (866) 734-5834.

DSEA offices are closed today in recognition of Juneteenth.

First established as a state and federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth commemorates the day that more than 250,000 slaves living in Texas learned they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation a full 900 days earlier.

Although Juneteenth is celebrated when most public schools are on summer break, all students deserve to be taught about this important moment in American history.

Click here to access background reading, short videos, and book recommendations from NEA that educators can use to help include Juneteenth in future history lessons: https://bit.ly/3HLv7Oh

DSEA offices will reopen on Monday, June 22.

Union educators joined clergy members, civic leaders, and community members at a rally outside Legislative Hall this week to demand action on legislation that will help protect the rights of our students and their families.

No child should be forced to choose between attending school and losing a parent.

Yet many Delaware students missed significant time in the classroom this year because they feared ICE showing up at their bus stop or school parking lot. Others struggled to focus after a parent had been detained. And some are still fighting to survive after every adult in their household was taken into custody.

That kind of trauma doesn’t impact just one child. It harms an entire school community.

That’s why DSEA has partnered with ACLU of Delaware,Latin American Community Center, Sussex Help, and other groups who are asking our state lawmakers to pass legislation to prevent local police agencies from helping ICE conduct immigration enforcement at our schools, churches, and hospitals.

El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!

SOLIDARITY ALERT

More than 100 food service workers in the Brandywine School District are taking their fight for fair wages directly to their school board.

Surrounded by “lunch ladies” from across the district, Brandywine School Nutrition Association President Bonnie Hayes this week addressed her local school board for the first time in her career after talks to extend their current 2-year contract stalled over the district’s offer of literal nickels and dimes.

After the district’s offer of a 5-cent raise was rejected, administrators upped their proposal to 10-cents – less than half the hourly raise Brandywine provided a few years ago and a fraction of what food service workers recently negotiated in neighboring New Castle County school districts.

“At the same time, you’re telling us you plan to cut our hours, eliminate substitutes, and force us to let food sit out overnight when deliveries come in late,” Bonnie told the school board. “That might help your bean counters. But, here in the real world, it makes serving safe, healthy meals to more than 10,000 students every day virtually impossible.”

DSEA stands with BSNA!

Together, we are stronger! Together, our voices will be heard!

Union educators cheered the State of Delaware’s FY 2027 spending plan introduced Tuesday by the chairs of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.

The operating budget bill and one-time supplemental bill include significant investments in Delaware’s public schools, including pay increases for active educators and retirees, as well as a substantial down payment on the education funding reforms recommended by the Public Education Funding Commission.

“This legislation marks a major step forward in Delaware’s ongoing effort to build a 21st century public school system where every student has an opportunity to succeed,” said Delaware State Education Association President Stephanie Ingram.

“Rep. Kim Williams, Sen. Trey Paradee, and Governor Matt Meyer deserve tremendous credit for delivering a spending plan that values the hard work of public school educators and finally begins shifting our schools away from a broken funding system that has failed our students and their families for far too long,” she said. “While more work will be needed in the years ahead, I am thankful for every educator, parent and community member whose advocacy and commitment brought us to this moment. I encourage our state legislators to honor that work by voting yes on Senate Bill 335 and Senate Bill 336.”

Click here to read more about the pay raises and allocation for education funding reform contained in this year’s budget bills: https://bit.ly/4a6f3lL

Congratulations to the Colonial Food Service Workers Association and the Colonial Transportation Association for signing new contracts last week!

CFSWA President Susan Jones and Vice President Joanne Johnson inked a 3-year deal for more than 100 food service workers in the Colonial School District, while CTA President Lynne Pascale and Negotiations Team member Renee Moultray signed a 3-year contract for more than 110 bus drivers and bus aides.

Both locals were represented by bargaining teams largely made up of union members at the table for the first time, making their success especially sweet.

Thank you to the Colonial School District for reaching agreements that honor the dedication of Education Support Professionals who feed our students and ensure they safely get to school and back home again each and every school day!