[This is a developing story. Latest update: Wednesday 6:30 p.m.]
Schools will remain closed Thursday, the fourth straight day. As night fell Wednesday, the two sides remained at the negotiating table.
The union said it made a counter-proposal to the district this afternoon; SFUSD spokesperson Laura Dudnick declined to comment on it and said the district doesn’t expect to have more updates this evening.
There were reports Tuesday of positive momentum to close gaps between the sides on pay raises, health benefits, and special education workloads.
Not so much today. Instead, the sides took a few public jabs at each other. At her morning press conference, Superintendent Maria Su didn’t hide her frustration at what she considered the union’s foot-dragging.
That prompted a union response that SFUSD has had nearly a year to negotiate. (The UESF contract expired at the end of June.) To press its case, SFUSD has posted a web page with a timeline of negotiations since late January.
The union also mustered two big rallies today, first with a “human banner” at Ocean Beach, then at Civic Center, where negotiations are taking place. A group of students also came into the War Memorial Performing Arts Center and asked to speak with Su. She didn’t oblige.
The remaining issues are contentious because they are all tied closely to the district’s budget. SFUSD faces a deficit of $102 million and remains under state oversight. California officials have veto power over financial decisions — including labor contracts — that they say the district cannot afford.
Su emphasized this morning that the district had “figured out a way to make sure that we can pay for” its offer, calling it fiscally responsible. She also said that any increases “will be really difficult” and must be balanced by cuts elsewhere: “Wherever we increase, we have to decrease on the other side.”
When asked if the district would have to resort to layoffs or school mergers to do so, as could happen in Contra Costa County, the superintendent said, “That’s the reality of where we are.”
SFUSD has increased its offer of raises for classified workers — mainly paraeducators who help teachers in classrooms — to 5 percent each year over two years. The union has been asking for 7 percent annual increases. A union representative said Wednesday afternoon that the two sides had not yet come to an agreement on classified pay.
The Chronicle reported Tuesday that the district’s paraeducator offer also includes a longer workday.
For certificated staff — mainly classroom teachers — the district is offering a 3 percent annual raise over two years; the union’s counter is 4 percent, down from 4.5 percent.
SFUSD wants to balance raises with cost-saving concessions of larger class sizes and cuts to paid leave and extra prep time for Advanced Placement courses and department heads.
The district also wants to pay for expanded health benefits with existing funds drawn from parcel taxes that SF voters approved in 2008 and 2018 to boost teacher pay and working conditions. The union calls the idea a “take-back.”
Documents shared by the union show SFUSD yesterday offered to cover 100 percent of benefits for one dependent, and 80 percent for a family with two dependents.
The district already provides free benefits for union members, and those extend into retirement. UESF president Cassondra Curiel said Monday the union will continue to demand 100 percent premium coverage for dependents.
The district feels that its balancing act is backed up by the state’s labor board, which tried mediating for weeks before the strike. The board’s report last week 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 criticism of the union’s charge that SFUSD has more money available than it’s letting on.
The report also estimated that UESF’s proposal for fully staffing schools would cost $82.1 million more per year than the district’s proposal. Paid sabbatical leaves and prep periods for AP teachers and department heads cost $13.4 million annually, according to the Chronicle.
What about special ed?
Chronic staff shortages have hit SFUSD’s special education classes particularly hard. About 7,500 students, 15 percent of the district, have a disability according to state data, and that number has been growing.
Last March, SFUSD reported that it employed nearly 500 teachers and more than 1,300 paraeducators to support this group. Teacher workload remains a sticking point in negotiations.
Su said Tuesday morning there was progress on the district’s reliance on special-ed contractors, which drives up costs and adds complications to families’ lives. The district leans on outside help, sometimes busing students to other counties.
The union has rejected SFUSD’s proposal of a pilot to test a rejiggered special-ed workload at a few schools. SFUSD countered yesterday with an idea for a joint working group. The union posted the proposal but hasn’t responded.
There has been some accord during the three strike days. Su said Tuesday there’s a “tentative agreement” on overnight shelters for homeless families. “We’ll establish a partnership with the city and with our educators to identify additional uses of facilities,” Su said. She did not say how many additional shelters this might mean.
SFUSD currently hosts one shelter. The union wants the district to find at least two more sites by the 2026-27 school year “with the intention of expanding further.”
The two sides also said Monday that the city’s policy on sanctuary schools is now in the union’s contract and that the district will provide educator training for potential encounters with ICE agents at schools.
Pandemic echoes
For the third straight day, nearly 50,000 students cannot go to school, even for supervised camps and other programs. School principals and janitorial staff have walked out in support of the teachers.
Advocacy group SF Parents Coalition said Wednesday it has sent more than 1,000 letters to the district and union from parents who want teachers to return to classrooms while they negotiate.
The district has posted a long list of resources, such as nonprofit food providers and open gym space, for families who need support during the strike. The district shared a second day of numbers about off-campus services. More than 1,400 students attended off-site programs Tuesday, most of them hosted by community organizations, and the various sites served more than 2,300 meals, about the same as Monday.
The meal count ticked up today, according to SFUSD, with another 1,500 provided by the district’s meal provider Revolution Foods.
SFUSD is also counting on students doing online independent study work during the strike. It’s not just for “learning continuity,” as the district puts it but also a proxy for student attendance, which will help the district appeal to the state for funding.
To get a clear count, SFUSD must wait for the strike to end and students to bring in their signed contracts from the study packets. The contracts are optional for students to sign.
State dollars, which account for about 70 percent of the district’s $1.4 billion budget, are largely tied to attendance.
Mayor Daniel Lurie was seen last night entering the bargaining room, Mission Local reported. School board member Matt Alexander and Sups. Connie Chan and Jackie Fielder have joined union rallies. And UESF said in a Tuesday announcement that California superintendent of public instruction Tony Thurmond, who is running for governor, had “let us know that he is with us.”
Thurmond is the head of the California Department of Education, whose advisors have veto power over the district’s finances. When asked this morning about Thurmond, Su said he had just told both parties, “Get this done.”
Editor Alex Lash contributed to this report.
Wait. The School district that didn’t come to the bargaining table for nearly a year says the union is dragging its feet?