About Us
San José Teachers Association represents the more than 1,500 professional educators of the San José Unified School District. From preschool to high school, we are the teachers, nurses, counselors, and speech pathologists who serve the nearly 30,000 students in Silicon Valley’s largest school system.
Founded in 1941, SJTA has earned a national reputation for pioneering labor-management relations, which has helped build SJUSD into one of the preeminent large, urban school districts in the country. Our work has yielded landmark agreements on employee compensation, health benefit management, teacher evaluation, and school resource allocation.
We are actively engaged in the development of education policy at the local, state, and national levels in order to empower SJTA members to educate, inspire, and change lives through public education.
Our Mission
We are 1,500 dedicated educators who work at the more than 40 schools in SJUSD, from the San José International Airport to the Almaden Valley. We are powerful and passionate advocates for our students, for our district, and for public education.
The Representative Council is SJTA’s policy-making body. With more than 100 elected faculty representatives from all schools in SJUSD, the Council meets monthly during the school year to consider issues, set policy, approve budgets, endorse candidates, and coordinate SJTA’s work across school sites.