Ventura Unified Education Association (VUEA) and Ventura Education Support Professionals Association (VESPA) educators are at risk of facing devastating cuts to their healthcare coverage, resulting in hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket costs per month or pricing them out of health benefits altogether. Many educators would be facing a pay cut as a result of Ventura Unified School District's (VUSD) proposal to place a hard cap on benefits. For decades, educators in Ventura have had fully paid healthcare as part of their total compensation. This means healthcare was never a question, and taking care of themselves and their families was a given. Now, all of this could go away.  

VUEA and VESPA believe the cost of healthcare should be shared in a way that recognizes that employees have different salaries and different abilities to absorb rising costs. Instead of being equitable based on how much someone earns, VUSD administrators want educators to pay hundreds of dollars per month regardless of salary. This causes incredible harm to those who cannot afford healthcare in the early years of their education careers.

Together, VESPA and VUEA are saying NO to cuts and NO to the hard cap on healthcare benefits that would push educators out and cause a retention and recruitment crisis in the district. Educators are fighting for a contract that provides fair and equitable compensation for the work they do each and every day to support their students.

This historic moment of classified and certificated educators fighting together in solidarity reflects a shared commitment to advocating for the needs of Ventura communities.

Please sign this petition if you stand with VESPA and VUEA!