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Teachers union presents State of the Union: rising early‑career workforce, heavy unpaid workload and calls for sustained PD
Summary
The Santa Barbara Teachers Association presented survey results showing 571 educator responses, a large cohort of early‑career teachers, and high unpaid work hours (71% report 5+ unpaid hours/week). The union recommended prioritized support staff, sustained PD, and annual agendaized reporting.
"Seventy‑one percent of folks spend five hours or more outside of their contracted hours," Kim Tilton, SBTA executive board member, told the board during the union’s 2026 State of the Union presentation. The union’s longitudinal survey of 571 educators (81% of staff) showed continuing pressure on teachers from workload, student behavior, and uneven professional development.
Tilton framed the district’s staffing shifts — a growing share of early‑career teachers and a hollowing of the midcareer cohort — as a structural factor behind rising stress and unmanageable workload. The union’s analysis linked the workforce profile to time spent on lesson planning and unpaid hours; 71% reported 5+ hours per week outside contracted time and lesson planning was the single largest unpaid time‑sink.
Survey results identified top supports teachers want: more support staff (paraeducators, counselors, behavior specialists), stronger site leadership and protected collaboration time (paid prep/collaboration), and professional development designed with sustained, multi‑year commitments rather than single‑year trainings. Tilton argued that short, one‑off professional development cycles chip away at progress: "Longevity is what allows educators to actually change and build over time," she said.
Union speakers proposed concrete adjustments: teacher‑led front‑end input into PD design; targeted staff to support high‑needs students; alignment of PD to district priorities; and making the State of the Union an annual, agendaized item to track year‑to‑year change. Board members asked detailed questions about how to gather front‑end input, how to prioritize sites or subgroups, and whether pilot scheduling or intervention approaches could be standardized across campuses.
Trustees and presenters converged on next steps: keep the State of the Union reporting on the board calendar, use union data to inform bargaining and professional development planning, and explore targeted supports for early‑career teachers and site administrators.
Provenance: Presentation and Q&A throughout F1 and ensuing discussion (Kim Tilton SEG 1470–1530; data and workload discussion SEG 1706–1721, SEG 1808–1820).
