Who was at the bargaining table?<\/p>\n
At about 3 p.m., SFUSD Director of Communications Laura Dudnick led a press conference instead of Superintendent Su, when parties returned to the negotiating table at roughly the same time.<\/p>\n
Dudnick addressed allegations that the district wasn\u2019t in the negotiations, made by union officials at a Civic Center rally. <\/p>\n
Dudnick said the district representatives were in a nearby room in the War Memorial Opera House, where negotiations are taking place, waiting for the union negotiators to say they had reviewed the counterproposal. <\/p>\n
When district negotiators were told the union was ready, they walked back to the bargaining table and resumed negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that every day that students are not in school, it\u2019s a day of missed learning and missed connections with their peers and teachers,\u201d Dudnick said. \u201cWe want this strike to end.\u201d<\/p>\n
District awaits a counteroffer<\/p>\n
As negotiations between SFUSD and the union continued, the superintendent played down potential issues of disagreement. <\/p>\n
Su said she was awaiting the union\u2019s counterproposal.<\/p>\n
While noting that SFUSD is operating with a structural deficit and remains under state oversight, Su said the district\u2019s bargaining team is ready to remain at the table \u201cfor as long as it takes\u201d to finalize a deal \u2014 overnight, if necessary.<\/p>\n
![\"Protesters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770685930_109_-S3840x2560-FPNG.png\"\/)
Educators rally outside Mission High School. | Source: Noah Berger for The Standard<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery minute counts,\u201d she said. \u201cI do not want a prolonged strike.\u201d<\/p>\n
Su said the two parties have been negotiating for nearly 11 months and have reached tentative agreements on most contract articles, including ensuring sanctuary district protections. Pressed by reporters on whether healthcare premiums and wage increases remain the primary sticking points, Su declined to specify, reiterating that negotiations are ongoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe provided our counteroffer on Saturday,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re waiting to hear what their counter to our counter is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rally for the teachers <\/p>\n
At a City Hall rally starting at 1 p.m., speakers including union leaders, California Teachers Association President David Goldberg, and District 9 supervisor Jackie Fielder addressed a crowd of hundreds. <\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these people have the chutzpah to ask you to wait three days,\u201d Goldberg said, referring to last-minute efforts by Mayor Daniel Lurie, Nancy Pelosi, and state Sen. Scott Wiener to delay the strike. \u201cYou\u2019ve been waiting 50 years! Decades of disinvestment.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the speeches went far beyond the strike and contract demands. Goldberg asked why the region\u2019s ultra-wealthy didn\u2019t focus on public education, rather than Mars exploration. Fielder spoke against ICE and called for the protection of students and schools from federal agents. All the while, supporters wearing red (\u201cfor ed.\u201d) pumped their signs in the air and cheered.<\/p>\n
Art director Leslie Foster and her son Julian, a third-grader at Francis Scott Key Elementary, joined the rally to support SFUSD teachers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope the teachers can get back so we can go back to school,\u201d Julian said, holding a small green bottle of bubbles.<\/p>\n
Foster added that she\u2019s hopeful the strike will end soon, and heard that negotiations didn\u2019t begin in earnest until Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really hope that Maria Su and the district give the teachers everything they want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kate Solimine shepherded her two kids, both students at Sutro Elementary, and a group of their friends through the crowd. All the children had blue lips from eating frozen treats, but their reasons for being at the strike varied:<\/p>\n
\u201cSupport our teachers!\u201d said one.<\/p>\n
\u201cScream at Daniel Lurie!\u201d said another.<\/p>\n
Solimine\u2019s analysis identified a broader systemic issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everyone who opts out of public education is to blame for the problems in public education,\u201d she said, referencing San Francisco\u2019s high rate of students in private school.<\/p>\n
Negotiations stall out<\/p>\n
At 8 a.m. Monday, when the campus gates would typically open to students and staff at Lowell High School, nearly 100 educators were chanting and marching, blocking the school\u2019s three entrances. Underscoring the action, a boombox blasted out \u201cUnder Pressure (opens in new tab)<\/a>\u201d by David Bowie and Queen. <\/p>\n Rebecca Johnson was picketing at Lowell. The social studies department chair said she would rather be in her classroom than protesting outside of the school.<\/p>\n \u201cI love my job, and I am very sad that I don\u2019t get to do my job today,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n The United Educators of San Francisco and the school district were unable to reach a contract agreement after nearly a year of contentious negotiations, which escalated after the release of a neutral fact-finding report<\/a> that gave the union the green light to announce a strike.<\/a><\/p>\n Since then, the district and union have come closer on wages and an agreement on increased protections for immigrant students, but little else.<\/p>\n They remain at an impasse<\/a> over the union\u2019s demands for higher wages, increased capacity for special education professionals, and fully funded family healthcare. The district says its dire budget situation<\/a> and its appointed state fiscal monitor are limiting its options. <\/p>\n The strike proceeded despite last-minute appeals from prominent figures, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Mayor Daniel Lurie, who on Sunday called for a cooling-off period.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy that people are involved,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cBut it was a little late for us to adjust.\u201d<\/p>\n Matt Alexander, a school board commissioner and former SFUSF teacher and principal, spoke on the steps outside Mission High School, saying he\u2019d seen \u201ca ton of progress\u201d in negotiations. <\/p>\n \u201cI think this could have been avoided,\u201d he said after hugging UESF President Cassondra Curiel. \u201cIt\u2019s been frustrating to me. I don\u2019t really understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n Teachers picketing outside Mission High chanted \u201cHousing is a human right\u201d and \u201cImmigrants are welcome here.\u201d Amid a chorus of trumpets and drums, they yelled that public schools are \u201cunder attack.\u201d<\/p>\n Educators rally outside Mission High School.\u200b<\/p>\n A protest on the bridge at Webster over Geary.<\/p>\n At a press conference outside Mission High School, Curiel reiterated that teachers would strike until they receive an acceptable contract, with fully funded family healthcare, better wages, and additional support for special-education students.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has taken over 10 months of sounding this alarm, asking nicely, and hearing unfulfilled promises to get to this point,\u201d Curiel said. \u201cWe will continue to stand together until we win the schools our students deserve and the contracts our members deserve at every single school site \u2014 until we close this deal.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked how conversations with Lurie had gone ahead of the strike, Curiel was vague. \u201cThey\u2019ve been conversations,\u201d she said, inspiring laughter among educators standing behind her.<\/p>\n When pushed for details, Curiel said she had been to Lurie\u2019s office and picks up the phone when he calls.<\/p>\n \u201cHe supports our demands,\u201d Curiel said. \u201cHe\u2019s working to make sure that the agreement that we get meets the needs of the people of this city.\u201d<\/p>\n Phil Kim, president of the Board of Education, said he has been taking unpaid leave from his staff job at the Human Rights Commission since Thursday so he can spend more time handling the strike situation. <\/p>\n Kim, who\u2019s running for reelection in June, said he respects the union\u2019s right to strike and believes that educators deserve more support and better pay. <\/p>\n \u201cI am focused on supporting the district and UESF in reaching a resolution as soon as possible,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s important that we come together and remain at the negotiating table until we reach an agreement, so that we minimize disruptions as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniel Lurie speaks<\/p>\n Lurie made his first public statement since the strike began Monday morning outside the Tenderloin Recreation Center on Ellis Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lurie said he has made the War Memorial Building available for negotiations between the district and the union. He emphasized that he is a facilitator of discussions and is not at the table himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not in the weeds in the negotiations; I don\u2019t think that\u2019s my role,\u201d the mayor said. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve heard from both sides is that they made productive strides on Saturday, which I think was the first time in months that that happened.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he spoke with UESF leadership Monday morning and has made himself available to both sides.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy role is to make sure that we get to an agreement between these two parties,\u201d Lurie said. \u201cThat is what I want for our children. I want that for our parents. I want that for our educators. And I want that for the school district.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked if he supports the union\u2019s demands \u2014 as Curiel stated \u2014 he demurred.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I support is both sides getting to an agreement,\u201d he said, declining to take a position on the union\u2019s requests.<\/p>\n Lurie said he has made himself available over the past weekend and continues working \u201ctirelessly 24\/7 to facilitate an agreement that educators can agree to and that the school district can agree to.\u201d<\/p>\n The mayor acknowledged that teachers made progress during negotiations Saturday but expressed frustration with a lack of dialogue Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lost a day yesterday,\u201d he said. \u201cI think they\u2019re not that far apart, but I\u2019ll let the two of them discuss that.\u201d<\/p>\n Affording San Francisco<\/p>\n In the morning chill, about 40 educators and students joined the picket line outside Gordon J. Lau Elementary School, the largest school in Chinatown.<\/p>\n Tina Leung, a speech-language pathologist, held a \u201cWe can\u2019t wait\u201d sign while leading chants. She underscored the importance of fully staffed schools and access to special-education services like specialized academic instruction, occupational therapy, psychological services, and counseling.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are fighting for safe and stable schools for our students and for our educators,\u201d she said. \u201cIn order to do that, we have to retain and attract educators.\u201d<\/p>\n More than 50 teachers and parents picketed outside Cesar Chavez Elementary on Folsom Street Monday morning. Spirits were high as the demonstrators, who arrived before 8 a.m., marched in a circle with union signs to a Latin pop and reggaeton soundtrack.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely historic, but it\u2019s not a good feeling,\u201d said Daniel Alonso, a fifth-grade teacher. Alonso, who has been teaching at Cesar Chavez for seven years, said the confusion among families reminded him of the pandemic.<\/p>\n School staff told parents starting Thursday that they should make child-care plans for this week.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m ready to go back,\u201d Alonso said. \u201cHopefully this pushes the district to compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n More than 40 educators and supportive families marched at John Muir Elementary School on Webster Street. Ashley Hughes, who is in her ninth year at SFUSD, said pay raises are key to keeping new educators in the district. Out of her training cohort of 20 teachers, only a few are still with SFUSD, she said. Hughes, 36, said she is barely hanging on. <\/p>\n She has lived with roommates most of her life and could afford her own place for the first time last year \u2014 in Oakland. If she could afford to live closer to John Muir, she said, it would benefit her students. She said she\u2019s contemplating getting a second job.<\/p>\n \u201cTo come into work and not stress about, is my money going to go to all these supplies that I have to buy?\u201d she said. \u201cAm I going to be able to afford retirement? Or to fix my car next month?\u201d<\/p>\n Michael Ungar has taught history at Lowell High School for more than a decade, long enough to watch the financial pressures on educators transform from manageable to crushing in one of the nation\u2019s most expensive cities. He\u2019s watched younger colleagues take second jobs, move farther from the city, or leave teaching altogether.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got 13 years of experience, and I still have to think twice about basic expenses,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s not how it should be for professionals with advanced degrees who are shaping the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n Ungar said the union\u2019s demands focus on bread-and-butter issues: salary increases that match inflation, affordable healthcare for dependents, and retirement benefits that allow teachers to leave the profession with dignity.<\/p>\n His planned lesson this week happens to be relevant: \u201cI\u2019m teaching a course in comparative government. We\u2019re really going into the structure of the Mexican government; we are studying democracies and authoritarian systems.\u201d<\/p>\n Gesturing at the picketers along the street, Ungar noted that \u201cthis is one of our freedoms, to strike and petition our government or certainly petition our local authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n Healthcare burdens<\/p>\n Lowell social studies teacher Erin Hanlon brought her infant son to the school, trading maternity leave for a few hours of solidarity with colleagues.<\/p>\n \u201cWe definitely need dependent healthcare. I can\u2019t afford to have my son on our insurance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sarah Carp, 49, an instructional coach at John Muir Elementary School, is charged with training the next generation of teachers. Through her roughly two decades teaching and working in SFUSD, she has paid out of pocket for healthcare for her kids. Now, with premiums on the rise, she and her partner, also an educator at SFUSD, pay $1,500 monthly for their three teenagers. Carp\u2019s take-home pay is about $6,000 a month, she said, forcing them to make choices about where to trim.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it was in the hundreds, it felt doable. Now it\u2019s in the thousands,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you have children, you want them to be able to join a soccer team, take piano lessons, buy boba with their friends. All of those are things we\u2019re considering cutting to pay for healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n Carp is hopeful the district backs the union\u2019s demand for better special-education staffing. She sees many of John Muir\u2019s students who have specialized education plans go without support.<\/p>\n Carp said she thought the last-minute demands from politicians for a three-day cool-off period to avert a strike missed the mark.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been a problem for years. It feels frustrating,\u201d Carp said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about it for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n Striking in support Kids were in attendance on the picket lines at Cesar Chavez, if not in their classrooms. Armed with chalk, they drew colorful messages featuring slogans like \u201cInvest in the schools our students deserve\u201d and \u201cWe can\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n At Lau, a handful of students joined the picket line. Caleb Douville, a fourth grader, stood alongside his mother, an SFUSD educator.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re out here protesting for teachers\u2019 fair rights and fair pay,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I can contribute a lot to the protest by being the only kid here.\u201d<\/p>\n Cody Tse, 16, a junior at Washington High School who graduated from Lau, said he planned to visit multiple locations throughout the day to support the strike.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really a group effort,\u201d Tse said. \u201cA lot of students have been going around telling classmates not to go to school even if schools open, just to support teachers, in spirit. If you go to school, it shows the higher-ups that schools can run without teachers, which they really can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Members of the United Administrators of San Francisco, which represents principals, assistant principals, program administrators, and supervisors, are striking in solidarity with United Educators of San Francisco, along with SEIU 1021, the union that represents clerks and custodians at the district. <\/p>\n Abby Matthews, an administrator at the district, has spent 16 years in education and she said the disparities in compensation have become impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve taught at schools where we didn\u2019t have basic supplies, and I\u2019ve taught at schools with every resource imaginable,\u201d said Matthews, who held a sympathy-strike placard as she joined the picket line at Lowell. \u201cBut no matter where I\u2019ve been, teachers have been underpaid for the work we do.\u201d<\/p>\n Matthews said her experience across the district has given her a unique perspective on the challenges facing educators. She described watching colleagues leave the profession or move to neighboring districts that offer better pay and benefits, while San Francisco struggles to retain experienced teachers. The current dispute reflects systemic issues that have been building for years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not asking for anything unreasonable. We\u2019re asking to be compensated fairly for our expertise and our commitment to these students,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just about one school or one contract. This is about whether San Francisco values public education enough to invest in the people who make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n A statewide movement![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770685931_168_-S3840x2560-FPNG.png\"\/)
Teachers picket outside of Lowell High School. | Source: Manuel Orbegozo for The Standard<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770685933_640_-S3840x2560-FPNG.png\"\/)
Cassondra Curiel, president of United Educators of San Francisco, speaks Monday. | Source: Noah Berger for The Standard<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770685935_522_-S3840x2561-FPNG.png\"\/)
Mayor Daniel Lurie said he supports the union and the district sitting down to negotiate an end to the strike. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades\/The Standard<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770685938_687_-S3840x2561-FPNG.png\"\/)
Chad Gaver, an English teacher, at a picket line outside of Lowell High School. | Source: Manuel Orbegozo for The Standard<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770685940_981_-S3840x5757-FPNG.png\"\/)
Erin Hanlon, a social studies teacher at Lowell, brought her son George Young to the picket line. \u201cI can\u2019t afford him on my insurance,\u201d she said. | Source: Manuel Orbegozo for The Standard<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770685942_384_-S3840x5120-FPNG.png\"\/)
Cody Tse, 16, a junior at Washington High School, picketed in support of teachers.
\n | Source: Han Li\/ The Standard <\/p>\n![\"Chalk](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770685943_161_-S3840x2880-FPNG.png\"\/)
A message in chalk outside of C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Elementary School. | Source: Max Harrison-Caldwell\/ The Standard<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/-S3840x2445-FPNG.png\"\/)
jj Munos stands by a banner over Geary St. during the first day of a San Francisco Unified School District teacher strike in San Francisco on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. . | Source: Noah Berger for The Standard<\/p>\n