At a San Diego Unified board meeting earlier this month, speakers lined up to decry layoffs proposed by district leadership amid its continued budget crisis. More than 200 positions were set to be eliminated. These were what’s known as classified staff — everyone from custodians to classroom aides to secretaries and more.
Throughout the public comment period, many attendees remained standing in a show of support. Then Kyle Weinberg rose to speak in opposition to the layoffs. As he walked to the podium, dozens of people sat down.
Some in the room felt Weinberg had not only contributed to a growing divide in the district’s labor sphere, but that the raises he’d helped secure for teachers were to blame for the layoffs. It was a striking rebuke for Weinberg, who for eight years, has led the San Diego Education Association, which represents district teachers. It all comes as he runs for a third term atop the district’s most powerful union…