[This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Last update: Monday 4:34 p.m.]
San Francisco teachers are on strike. The city’s public school district did not reach an agreement over the weekend with the United Educators of San Francisco, which represents about 6,000 teachers and other school staff.
Despite pleas from Mayor Daniel Lurie and Rep. Nancy Pelosi Sunday, the union made good on its threat to walk out Monday, brushing off last week’s state labor board report that called for a 10-day cooling off period.
The two sides returned to the bargaining table around 3 p.m. today, hours later than originally planned. SFUSD officials said this morning they expected UESF to bring a counterproposal.
As of 4 p.m., there was no word on the negotiations, but district spokespeople said that Superintendent Maria Su got directly involved in the bargaining session, which they said was a “highly unusual” move.
Whatever the outcome of today’s talks, SFUSD has already announced that schools will be closed Tuesday. It plans to inform families by noon each day about the next day’s status.
Roughly 50,000 students cannot go to school, even for supervised camps and other programs, because school principals and janitorial staff have walked out in support of the teachers.
“Every day this strike continues has real consequences,” Superintendent Maria Su said at a press conference this morning. “Students are losing instructional time. Families are scrambling to take care of their children, to arrange childcare. Many of our most vulnerable students are losing access to food, mental health supports, and connections to their school community.”
The district has posted a long list of resources, including food providers and open gym space, for families who need support during the strike. At today’s briefing, SFUSD spokespeople said 1,000 students used community programs for childcare, some of which also provide meals.
Priority access was given to sixth graders and younger at ExCEL off-site programs, which already have relationships with the district. Food providers also served about 2,350 meals to students today.
The main sticking points of the strike are wages, health benefits, and workloads for special educators. The union wants a 9 percent raise (4.5 percent each year for two years) for certificated employees, such as teachers with credentials, and a 14 percent raise (7 percent each year for two years) for classified employees, such as paraeducators who help teachers in class.
SFUSD recently increased its offer to 3 percent raises this year and next year, which falls in line with a compromise recommended last week by the state labor board.
A benefits gap
The district provides free health care benefits for union members which extend into retirement. But the union wants full benefits for dependents as well. It rejected SFUSD’s offer to pay either 75 percent “at the Kaiser rate” or an allowance of $24,000 a year per union member. At a rally this morning, UESF president Cassondra Curiel said the union will continue to demand 100 percent premium coverage.
The union also objects to SFUSD’s proposal to pay for the extra benefits with existing funds drawn from parcel taxes that SF voters approved in 2008 and 2018 to boost teacher pay and more. The union calls it a “take-back.”
SFUSD also wants to pay for raises with other concessions like larger class sizes and less money for paid leave. “We know that these things are very important to our educators,” SFUSD spokesperson Laura Dudnick said this afternoon. “But at the same time, we have to look creatively at solutions so that we can afford the raises and healthcare benefits.”
The sides also remain apart on the union’s demands for less burdensome caseloads for special education teachers. The district has offered to test a pilot program in five schools through 2028.
On other points — protections for immigrant and homeless students — the district said over the weekend it has accepted the union’s demands. The city’s policy on sanctuary schools is now in the union’s contract. “In order to take that away, they have to go through 6,000 of us,” said Curiel.
The union said this morning the district will provide educator training for potential encounters with ICE agents at schools. District officials have said in recent weeks that these issues fall outside the scope of collective bargaining. (The state labor board agreed.)
The labor board’s report, which is not binding, backed the district’s insistence that the new contract must not worsen its financial outlook. The report estimated that UESF’s proposal for fully staffing schools would cost the district $82.1 million more per year than the district’s proposal.
SFUSD faces a deficit of $102 million, and it has tied pay raises to cost-saving concessions of larger class sizes and cuts to paid leave and extra teacher prep time for Advanced Placement courses.
Looming over the negotiations is the state’s education department, which partially controls SFUSD’s finances. State watchdogs can veto budget decisions — including labor contracts — that the district cannot afford.
The labor board report sided to some extent with this view. It encouraged a “conservative approach” to pay raises and said the union “has not met its burden of proof that the district has more non-restricted resources at its disposal,” a nod to the union’s charge that SFUSD has more money available than it’s letting on.
In an effort not to lose state funding attached to student attendance, the district is asking students to sign independent study contracts. It also says it won’t use the funding to pay contractors or other non-SFUSD staff in lieu of striking district employees.
School board member Matt Alexander joined the union at the Mission High rally, calling them the “salt and light” of the earth. The school board is, in effect, the superintendent’s boss. She is the only district employee that the board has authority to hire and fire. The board also must ratify union contracts.
When asked to comment on Alexander’s support, Curiel said, “Elected board members should be a part of our process actively. We vote for them. Their job is making sure that they keep the district accountable.”
The school board voted in recent years to issue joint announcements through the board president. The current president, Phil Kim, posted yesterday on Instagram that “the Board of Education strongly urges UESF to rejoin the District’s bargaining team, return to the table, and continue the conversation. The Board firmly believes that a solution can be reached — and that it is within reach. Honoring our educators and achieving fiscal solvency do not have to be in conflict.”
Editor Alex Lash contributed to this report.