San Francisco Unified schools remain closed due to historic teachers' strike over pay and health care

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco’s first teacher strike in nearly 50 years is continuing.

In a press conference Tuesday evening, district officials said schools will remain closed on Wednesday as key contract demands still haven’t been met.

Mayor Daniel Lurie joined negotiations for a short period of time on Tuesday between the San Francisco Unified School District and the United Educators of San Francisco, emphasizing the urgency of reaching a deal.

“This is about our children. It’s about making sure our educators are taken care of and our district has a path to fiscal stability,” Mayor Lurie said.

The mayor expressed optimism, noting that “a deal can and will get done,” though he declined to share details of the talks.

District spokesperson Laura Dudnik said negotiators are committed to staying “as long as it takes” to reach full agreement.

“We are two days into this strike and the district’s negotiators have moved on issues including sanctuary schools, housing protections, classified compensation, as well as limits on AI and contracting out services. The administration told us for the past 11 months none of this was possible. Clearly it is — when we stand together,” said UESF President Cassondra Curiel. “The time is now for SFUSD to fully funded family healthcare, address special education workloads and provide fair compensation for certificated staff that will stabilize our schools and end this strike.”

Members of the roughly 6,000-strong teachers employed by SFUSD hit the picket lines again and are holding a rally and march at Mission Dolores Park.

While there has been progress in negotiations, the union says some of its key demands still haven’t been met.

The school closures have been difficult for families.

“We have a lot of kids in this district that rely on school for meals,” said Emily de Ayora, with the SF Parents Coalition. “We have a lot of parents in this district who have told us they don’t have a place for their kids to go. They can’t just skip work and stay home with their children.”

The District

SFUSD’s Superintendent Maria Su said they are making progress as the strike continues, yet the main issues at stake are still health care and wages.

“We have a few remaining articles that we need to close today,” Superintendent Su said on Tuesday. “Healthcare, salaries, and special education work. Our proposal needs to be aligned with the recommendations of the third party neutral fact-finding report. Under my leadership, SFUSD is on course for fiscal recovery. We do not want to derail that really hard work that we as a community have done.”

Superintendent Su said they did reach an agreement for AI regulation, housing, support for educators and special education contractors. The district is facing a $100 million budget deficit for next year.

On Monday, thousands of educators rallied outside of City Hall. San Francisco educators said they want 4.5% increase in wages each year for two years. Initially, the district offered 2% raises for the next three years, but now it has offered 3% each year for two years.

The Teachers’ Union

The United Educators of San Francisco said this strike has been necessary but also difficult.

“I’m one of their safe people at those school sites,” said Lizbett Calleros, an SFUSD social worker, “So it is really hard, but we believe that their safety is what matters the most, and I’d rather be here fighting for a future that we can all show up for, instead of having them risk not having a high school counselor, not having a social worker, not having somebody that they can actually lean on.”

Though deals have been made, services to special needs students and fully funded dependent healthcare are still main sticking points.

“For those of us who do have dependents, we supposedly got this historic raise a few years ago, but I didn’t see it at all on my paycheck because my dependent healthcare went up in the same year. So, it was like I never even got a raise,” said teach Katrina Cubilo.

The school district has said it is trying to avoid further cuts to schools, but the union said the district can afford to pull from its reserves.

“Our union has worked really hard at looking at the budget, they’re not going to just make this like wild proposal, and think that we’re just gonna get this,” Calleros said. “These are really smart people. They’re educators. And so they’ve really crunched the numbers.”

The educators say the support from the parents and community has been overwhelming.

The SF Parents Coalition said it supports the educators getting a fair deal but wishes it could be done without a strike.

“We really want the kids in school. Both sides of this negotiation are really smart people, and I know they can get this deal done while the kids are back in the classroom,” de Ayora said.

The educator’s union said after more than 11 months of trying to reach an agreement, a pause on the strike would not make the school district act faster.

“Homework was due at midnight and they’re coming at 11:59 scrambling. They had so much time to come to the table. This process isn’t an overnight process,” Callero said. “We have been working without a contract for over a year, and they’ve been coming to the table asking for a fair contract, and we’ve been declined. They’ve been putting it down. (Superintendent) Maria Su hasn’t come to the table until recently. We had to go through impasse.”

The SF Parents Coalition said it has sent a letter signed by 500 families to both sides urging them to negotiate nonstop until a deal is reached.

The students

The strike has already disrupted classrooms and extracurricular activities. Student athletes like Lincoln High senior Fred Davis say the impact is personal. Davis, captain of the basketball team, saw his Tuesday night game canceled and fears missing a Thursday night game as well as senior night on Friday.

“I prioritize my education a lot. Like I want to go to college next year. I want to go,” said Davis. “I have goals, like I want to play basketball in college next year. And I feel like when you’re education is like the biggest thing for like even me as a senior, like when it’s getting taken away.”

Local coaches worry prolonged disruptions could mirror the pandemic shutdown. Randy Bessolo, President of the Bay Area Basketball Coaches Association, said postponed games could be rescheduled if a quick settlement is reached.

“If this drags on, they may have already played their last game. That’s not how you want to end your high school career,” Bessolo said.

Both sides acknowledge progress, but until a deal is finalized, thousands of students remain caught in the middle of the historic strike.

Bay City News contributed to this story.

San Francisco Unified schools remain closed due to historic teachers’ strike over pay and health care

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