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In 2008, when the financial crisis hit district budgets hard, ABC Unified\u2019s union and district leaned into strong relationships they had been cultivating for nearly a decade. The district invited the public to review and discuss various budget scenarios, and the union engaged in extensive discussions with district finance leaders and their members. <\/p>\n
Ultimately, the union\u2019s furlough proposal saved ABC Unified $6 million and prevented layoffs. The district and union found a solution that was good for kids, respected and valued teachers, and acknowledged financial realities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This type of partnership may seem impossible in San Francisco right now. But collaborative relationships between districts and unions are not only possible \u2014 as ABC Unified has demonstrated for years \u2014 they are quite common across California, especially among districts that are part of the California Labor Management Initiative<\/a> (CA LMI).\u00a0<\/p>\n \nThis 100% SF journalism needs your support. We can’t do this work without you.\n<\/p>\n Since the private nonprofit CDE Foundation<\/a> began this initiative in 2015, nearly 200 districts across the state have participated, with the goal of fostering positive union-district relationships that strengthen our public schools and better serve our students. <\/p>\n Several Bay Area districts have participated, including San Jose, where the teachers union president is a member of the superintendent\u2019s cabinet<\/a>; and St. Helena, where the union-district partnership<\/a> helped the district navigate wildfires and other crises.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Frisc encourages submissions of opinion and commentary from diverse perspectives. Please email your idea to hello@thefrisc.com with the word COMMENTARY in capitals. The opinions we publish are not necessarily those of The Frisc, but they are of San Francisco.<\/p>\n When unions and districts join LMI, they learn collaboration strategies alongside peers from across the state and receive coaching. Perhaps most important, union and district leadership do this work in a room together \u2014 likely a rare opportunity outside of bargaining \u2014 engaging in dialogue and building trust.<\/p>\n Better outcomes for kids<\/p>\n Collaborative union-district relationships are not unique to California. Both major national teachers\u2019 unions, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA), have put out reports<\/a> that encourage union-district partnership. NEA\u2019s version<\/a> even cites research that suggests better union-management relations lead to better outcomes for kids.\u00a0<\/p>\n This makes intuitive sense: As former ABC Unified superintendent Gary Smuts told AFT researchers<\/a>, \u201c[We] all have a fixed amount of energy. We can use that energy to push together or pull apart.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In other words, when the adults in charge no longer put so much energy into fighting, they can focus on the work that improves outcomes, like instruction, professional learning, attendance, and student safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n No matter how you felt about the recent strike, we can all agree that the San Francisco Unified School District needs to improve student outcomes<\/a>. So why not start by hitting the reset button on union-district relations? Lucky for SFUSD and UESF, registration is still open<\/a> for CA LMI\u2019s 2026 Summer Institute in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The union, the district, and the broader SFUSD community don\u2019t have to agree on everything. But, as districts like ABC Unified, San Jose, and St. Helena demonstrate, we can disagree without resorting to personal attacks. <\/p>\n We can disagree without protesting outside the home of a public servant<\/a>. We can disagree without misrepresenting or obscuring facts<\/a>. We can disagree and still get to a strong contract without disrupting student learning.<\/p>\n \nKeep up on SF’s big civic issues. Join the list!\n<\/p>\n Joining the CA LMI won\u2019t immediately fix relations between the union and district. It will take time, as well as courage and commitment, to build trust between leaders of these two entities. After all, the vast majority of UESF members voted to strike. <\/p>\n But if Superintendent Maria Su and UESF president Cassondra Curiel are serious about serving kids, not just adult interests, then they should have no problem committing to a collaborative partnership through the CA LMI and beyond.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, we are all on the same team: Team Kid. Now is the time to show it.<\/p>\n Before you go…<\/p>\n Reporting like this is only possible because of reader support. Donations help us hold San Francisco accountable \u2014\u00a0and keep our stories free for San Franciscans.<\/p>\n You can fund our next story. Become a Frisc supporter today.<\/p>\n \n\tMore from The Frisc…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imagine a school district experiencing financial challenges. Its staff is contemplating cost-cutting measures, including layoffs. During contract negotiations,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[7,405,94014,65326,101,103,102,33193,104,106,105,15254,86,46621,74565],"class_list":["post-202578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-california","tag-government","tag-labor-management-initiative","tag-organized-labor","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-san-francisco-unified-school-district","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-sfusd","tag-strike","tag-uesf","tag-united-educators-of-san-francisco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Frisc_avatar_B-Anthony-Lazarus.png\"){kind=avatar}
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SFUSD-HQ-555-Franklin-22enroll-here22-sign.jpg\")
An \u2018Enroll Here\u2019 sign hangs from a balcony at SFUSD headquarters. (Photo: Lisa Plachy)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"SFUSD](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Beach-Chalet-soccer-and-windmill-2017.jpeg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n