San Francisco teachers begin first strike in nearly 50 years | San Francisco
Thousands of public school teachers in San Francisco went on strike on Monday; this was the city’s first public school teachers’ strike in nearly 50 years.
The strike came after teachers and the district failed to reach an agreement on higher wages, health benefits and more resources for students with special needs. The San Francisco Unified School District closed all 120 of its schools and said it would offer independent education to some of the district’s 50,000 students.
“We are facing an affordability crisis,” Cassondra Curiel, president of United Educators of San Francisco, said in a statement Sunday night. “$1,500 monthly family health premiums are driving excellent teachers and support staff away from our district. This week we said enough is enough.”
Unionized teachers were joining the picket line after final negotiations over the weekend failed to reach a new contract. The city’s mayor, Daniel Lurie, and California’s US representative, Nancy Pelosi, had called on the two sides to continue talking rather than closing schools.
Union leaders planned to hold a news conference about the strike Monday morning, and a rally at San Francisco City Hall was planned for the afternoon. Negotiations were scheduled to resume at noon on Monday.
The union and the district have been in talks with teachers for nearly a year demanding fully funded family health care, pay raises and special education, and the filling of vacancies affecting services.
Teachers also want the district to enact policies to support homeless and immigrant students and families.
Teachers and the district have agreed on stronger shelter policies, but they remain far apart on pay.
The union wants a 9 percent raise within two years. SFUSD, which is facing a $100 million deficit and is under state oversight due to a long-running financial crisis, has said it cannot afford those increases. Teachers say the money could come from reserve funds that could be directed to classrooms and school sites.
The authorities responded with a 6% wage increase paid over three years. On Friday, San Francisco Unified School District superintendent Maria Su said the proposal also includes bonuses for all employees in the event of a redundancy by the 2027-28 school year.
A report released last week by a nonpartisan review panel recommended compromising a 6% increase over two years, largely backing claims that the district is financially constrained.
San Francisco teachers receive the lowest contribution to health care costs in the Bay Area, forcing many to leave, the union said. Su said the district offered two options: the district paying 75 percent of family health insurance at Kaiser or the district offering teachers a $24,000 annual stipend to choose their own health plan.
Lurie, who brokered a deal ending the hotel workers union strike after he was elected and before taking office, said city agencies are coordinating with the district on how to support children and their families.
“I know that everyone involved in these negotiations is committed to schools where students thrive and our educators feel truly supported, and I will continue to work to ensure that,” Lurie said in a social media post Sunday.
The last time teachers went out was in 1979, more than six weeks before classes start again, Mission Local reported.
