As teacher frustrations continue to mount over NSD’s budget priorities, hundreds of National City Elementary Teachers Association (NCETA) members and their supporters held a solidarity rally on February 28, to insist district officials provide teachers and students the supports necessary to be exceptional in the classroom. News media were on hand as parents, students, and educators demanded accountability from the school board and spoke for nearly 2 hours in favor of the NCETA’s bargaining proposals.

NCETA teacher Tamlyn McKean explained, “The NSD Governing board are the trustees of the community. They are supposed to ensure that the school district invests in programs that support National City students. The trustees have failed to recognize that the primary program that impacts student learning are the teachers in the classroom.”

The NCETA and NSD have a third mediation session scheduled for March 12. According to NCETA President Christina Benson, “Our members are fired up. We will not accept the status quo; we will not accept less than our students deserve. It is time for the NSD to realize that you can’t put students first when you put teachers last.”