SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Thousands of educators in San Francisco say they are ready to strike if they aren’t able to reach an agreeable contract with the district soon.
This comes as educators fight for higher wages, better health care benefits and more.
“When we fight, we win,” yelled one woman on a megaphone.
Hundreds of San Francisco public educators packed an entire city block Tuesday, rallying outside of district headquarters with the signatures of more than 4,100 teachers.
MORE: SF students return to school as officials address payroll issue, budget and immigration enforcement
“If the district makes us, we’re preparing to strike,” said Cassondra Curiel, president of the United Educators of San Francisco.
“Right now, the district has said they’ll give us a 2% raise, but they are cutting back on a lot of our prep time, so they’re taking away a lot more right now than they would be giving us with a 2% raise,” said Ana Remstedt, who teaches at Lincoln High School.
The district has prided itself on not closing schools this year, but is making extensive cuts instead. In a statement to ABC7 News SFUSD said: “Facing another round of major budget cuts this coming year, SFUSD has offered UESF a 4% raise over two years by redirecting funds from sabbaticals and extra prep time for AP teachers-programs that benefit a few staff-to provide raises for all educators.”
That, however, is well below what teachers want. Salary and cost of living adjustments are also only part of it.
“My wife and I are both teachers in the district, and we pay over $1,200 dollars a month for dependent health care for our family,” said Ryan Alias, who is an English teacher at Balboa High School.
MORE: SFUSD educators hold protest as some still missing back pay ahead of new school year: ‘Unacceptable’
Educators want the district to cover health care for their dependents, their actual kids at home — something that they say is offered for higher-ups in the district.
“They seem to think that the status quo is just fine. The class size that they have are far too large, and our teachers are burning out because the amount of work that we are having to do with little and less and less every year,” Alias said.
“We got cut resources for multiple years in a row. The district is planning to go again. We don’t see how cutting to the bone is gonna get our students any more,” Curiel said.
As to when a strike could happen, that is unknown, but it will only be seen if mediation is unsuccessful.
Copyright © 2025 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.