Schools will remain closed Thursday and encircled by striking teachers and supporters as San Francisco’s first educator walkout since 1979 ends its third day.
The tone projected by district staff and Superintendent Maria Su at press events today was sharper than before. Her frustration with union representatives boiled over on Wednesday morning.
Su said both yesterday and this morning that district staff and Mayor Daniel Lurie, who joined the union and the district at the bargaining table on Tuesday evening, expected to stay at the table “all night” until a deal was made. Su criticized the union for leaving late Tuesday before its members could review the district’s counterproposal.
On the teachers’ side, many hundreds flocked to Ocean Beach to create a human banner reading, “Strike for our students.” Teachers were expected to hold another mass rally on Thursday. It could turn into a victory march if a deal is made tonight, or another call to stay the course.
Until then, Mission Local has reporters around the city, covering strike actions.
Long night of negotiations ahead
District spokesperson Laura Dudnick said at 4:30 p.m. that “some progress has been made,” but that the three main sticking points remain: Wages, salaries and special education. Those are the costliest proposals.
Dudnick stressed, yet again, that the district will be at the table “all night” until a deal is made. At 11 a.m this morning, the district presented a counter offer it drafted last night, and later that afternoon, the union presented its own counter. The district is still reviewing that proposal, and will likely present yet another counter in the coming few hours.
The superintendent was not present for the district’s press conference.
Outside the War Memorial Opera House, the union held its own 5 p.m. press conference with hundreds of supporters wearing red union T-shirts and banging drums. Several members of the Board of Supervisors, including Myrna Melgar, Connie Chan and Alan Wong stood alongside them.
“Where are you superintendent?” shouted a high school student into a megaphone. “We’re supposed to have millions of dollars for a rainy day fund,” he said, referring to the district’s $111 million dollar emergency fund. The union has pushed for the district to dip into its reserves to fund its proposals.
“Well,” the student said, looking up at the sky, “it’s a rainy day.”
Members of the union’s bargaining team stood on stage as their supporters erupted into applause. “This is the energy that tells us to keep going!” said teacher Michelle Cody. “And we will keep going.”
—Marina Newman
Where do negotiations stand?
The district has offered a 10-percent wage increase for “classified” employees, like paraeducators who are not teacher-certified; the union had sought 14 percent.
Copies of the proposals viewed by Mission Local show that the two parties went back and forth throughout the night negotiating on wages, healthcare, the special education workload model and contracting.
For teachers, or “certificated” employees, the district stuck to its offer of a 6 percent wage increase over two years, provided that teachers pause sabbatical leave through June of next year and cut prep time for advanced placement classes.
On healthcare for dependants, the district slightly increased its prior proposal of 75 percent coverage, offering instead to cover 80 percent.
It also offered a “special working group,” instead of its previous offer of a pilot program for better-resourced special education classes, to “examine key issues impacting special education services and working conditions,” with an annual stipend of $5,000.
The district rejected the union’s request to ensure baseline staffing at all schools and a demand to use an online platform to document behavioral incidents involving students.
Both the union and the district stressed the need for “urgency” this morning, with each criticizing the other for their lack of it.
“The district continues to show a lack of urgency to reach an agreement that centers on our students and their needs,” read a statement published by the union this morning. “We know there is more work to be done.”
The union has repeatedly stressed that it will not back down from its demand for fully funded family healthcare and a wage increase of 9 percent for teachers (certificated employees).
On Tuesday, Superintendent Su stated that it would be “impossible” to meet these demands with one-time funds from the district’s reserves, which she says could push the district into financial instability.
But this morning, when asked if the district is considering dipping further into its reserves as the strike continues, Su responded, “We are considering all possibilities.” Lurie offered a similar answer on Tuesday night when asked if the city may provide funds.
—Marina Newman and Joe Eskenazi
Students march to War Memorial Opera House
After a failed attempt to march to the school district’s closed headquarters at 555 Franklin St., a band of students, signs in hand, changed course and made their way to the War Memorial Opera House down the street at 3:30 p.m., where negotiations were taking place.
Expecting an audience with Superintendent Maria Su, the students were instead greeted by head of communications Hong Mei Pang.
They were not happy. “If I’m going on a date with a girl, I don’t send another guy in my place,” said Adam Hrizi, 16.
Chairs were placed in a circle, conversation-style, as the students faced off against Pang, who insisted that the superintendent was in the midst of bargaining with the district’s team, and didn’t have time to sit with the students.
“Do you guys even like students?” a young girl asked as a crowd of supporters cheered.
Another student was there to support his “big sister,” who is a teacher at Hillcrest Elementary School. “She’s overwhelmed and overworked,” he said. As he grew quiet and his voice broke, his fellow students sitting around him nodded in support, urging him on. “She just needs help.”
Throughout the nearly 15 minutes students spoke to Pang, she nodded politely, quietly muttered “yeah,” and reminded the students to keep their language respectful.
“Maybe we can set up a time for you to meet with her another time,” allowed Pang. “How ‘bout tomorrow?” asked a student, to excited nods of affirmation from the others. Being as schools will remain closed on Thursday, they may have time to meet with the superintendent yet.
—Marina Newman
Teachers form human banner at Ocean Beach
Around 12:50 p.m., thousands of people decked out in red were congregated at Ocean Beach. Some were holding American flags, some were playing instruments and some had picket signs. There were even a few Santa Clauses.
Although it looked random and crowded from eye level, from above, the group spelled out ‘For Our Students Strike.”
Children, off from school, played in the sand. Teachers, on strike, chanted and sang. It was raining hard and, at one point, the wind grew stronger, blowing raindrops into people’s eyes.
Shortly after, the group disbanded and left the beach, ready to go to the War Memorial Opera House, site of the ongoing negotiations, for a 5 p.m. action.
—Sophia Rerucha
Early start at Hoover Middle School
At 7:45 in the morning, roughly 15 teachers, counselors and paraeducators gathered in front of Herbert Hoover Middle School at 14th Ave. and Santiago St., bundled up from the fog and the light rain, picket signs in hand.
By 9:30, the group had ballooned to over 50 people, including a few students. The sun was shining and the sound of supportive vehicle horns reverberated down the streets.
Educators gathered for the third day of the citywide district strike. Some were from neighboring Clarendon Elementary School, but most were from Hoover. By mid-morning, the crowd grew to around 100.
“I feel energized,” said a paraeducator from Hoover. The educator, who preferred to stay anonymous, said they teach four classes on top of special education classes.
They noted that the district often encourages a DIY solution to providing support to students, putting the responsibility on teachers. The educator feels that striking teachers’ demands have been a long time coming.
“We have no excuse for not being the best public education system in the state,” they said.
At one point in the morning, a security guard, who said they were hired by the district, came up to the group and asked if they needed anything. Educators were confused, as no one had come to check up on them since the strike began.
“The school district is paying for private security guards but they can’t just pay us a living wage,” said Max Raynar, an educator from Clarendon.
Raynar grew up in the city and attended SFUSD schools his whole life. Yesterday, he attended negotiations and afterwards, went to the Dolores Park rally. As he was walking through the park, he saw teachers who taught him, and even his own students, in the crowd.
“I came out from the bargaining and cried,” he said. “It was beautiful.”
Chants were led by Jeykel Mairena, an eighth grade U.S. history teacher at Hoover.
“They have money for everything,” he said. “We are not asking for much at the end of the day. All we’re asking for is a fair contract.”
Around 9:20 a.m., an educator read a negotiation update from the union bargaining team. The mention of California education superintendent Tony Thurmond’s support of the strike led to cheers from the crowd.
“All of your support means so much, and is what’s keeping us going,” said another member of the bargaining team and educator at Hoover, signaling to the crowd.
Several educators said the support from the community, whether it be honking horns from 48-Quintara bus operators, parents or Hoover alums, shows them how important and basic their demands are.
As educators picketed, a rainbow spread over the Sunset.
“The rainbow is our ancestors smiling for us,” said Raynar.
—Sophia Rerucha
Excellent capturing the teachers needs for a contract that gives fair benefits for educing our children. I vote pay them their Dues!!!!!!
“Educing our children”?!?!?!? This is EXACTLY what I’m talking about. Your teachers are not even teaching SPELLING successfully! San Francisco is Idiocracy Central. That movie was so prophetic about California.
As a public school parent with one child in college who went through the district and another currently in 8th grade, I am (as are so many others) beyond frustrated with the current situation. I am absolutely sympathetic to the teachers’ need for better working conditions and pay package, but to strike right now honestly doesn’t make sense to me. I have already seen parents leave the district because of (understandable) frustration with things like renaming of schools, extended school closures, and emphasis on theoretical over true equity. A strike right now will invariably leave a terrible taste in everyone’s mouth right as school decisions for the fall are coming out. Those who can will be that much more likely to leave the district for the Independent and Catholic schools. This will just decrease the amount of money coming in to the district, and thus decrease the money available to the teachers. Perhaps the union thinks that this improves their chances of getting the deal they are looking for, but as a parent, I can tell you that the secondary effects are incredibly problematic.
As for the district, we have always loved our schools and our teachers while we have been beyond frustrated with SFUSD too many times to count. And that the Maria Su was not involved in negotiations until this past weekend?!? How can that be? It boggles the mind given the ramifications of a strike. It just feels like the two sides are so caught up in this fight that they have lost the big picture. It is not just that families and kids need the schools to be open today (we do) but that the district and the schools need to have a reputation of being both reliable and desirable for people who have options to choose that system over other alternatives.
Ultimately, a huge part of the problem is the overall decrease in enrollment seen in the public system. There are many contributors to this, but the district has certainly not helped. This strike is only going to make things worse. The two sides need to get it together and figure things out, for our sake as current families, but for the future of the teachers and the district as well. –Anonymous
Whyncha ask the district why they refused to bargain over the summer?
Thank you for your coverage that gives voice to our teachers!
Could you also go and interview folks that work in afterschool programs and are not able to work right now?
The district won’t open the schools; But schools are were afterschool programs run in the afternoon. These are non-profit organizations, with hourly staff that is currently going unpaid, and it seems no one cares, at least certainly not the district. Why don’t they let these programs operate during their regularly scheduled hours, letting families access the childcare they’ve paid for, and staff get the hours they need to get paid?
If the parents have already paid for the care, why aren’t the staff being paid regardless if the school is on strike?
Because the parents aren’t getting the service they paid for, and so are entitled to refunds.
These demands are just and needed and SFUSD has the reserves to pay for it in the short term. In the long term, we have to end this BS austerity mindset. If local and state governments cannot afford to adequately fund crucial social programs like schools, we need to raise more revenue TAX THE RICH! NO EXCUSES!
This is mind-blowing. California does not even have the LITERACY RATES and STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES for their teachers to be demanding more money. The teachers are running around on the beach for photo ops, what a joke! My advice to all parents is HOMESCHOOL your children. They will be better educated and less indoctrinated. The school system won’t be able to hold your lives hostage and your children will be better people for it.
If the city throwing in money from other departments is on the table let’s do it! Cut HealthRight360’s city money in half – that’s $40M right there.
I’m an SF parent with a child to soon enter kindergarten. We were going to enter the lottery (even though the system is mind-bogglingly complicated and stressful). But this strike convinced me to either go private or leave the city. I’m not the only one.
I’d like to see a story on why a lot of the elementary schools in the Mission have 85% of students unable to meet reading and/or math standards for 3rd grade.
No compromise on Sabbaticals!
I’m a parent of a SFUSD child in elementary school, and while I’m sympathetic to the teachers’ plight, I’m also frustrated with UESF and how they pull the wool over the eyes of well-meaning citizens. They’re playing hardball with the district with unrealistic demands, all while deflecting blame to bogeymen like “billionaires”.
The independent fact-finding report concluded that the money isn’t there, but somehow UESF convinced people that SFUSD simply has to dip into its “massive reserve” to magically make it all happen. That’s not how it works – the money has to come from recurring sources of revenue because these are recurring expenses, or we’re kicking the problem down the road.
They don’t want to talk about what the actual problem is, because the grim truth of the matter is that SFUSD is bloated with too many schools, too small classrooms, and hence too many teachers. At the same time, academic standards are being lowered, resulting in a doom loop where well-off parents put their kids in private schools while everybody else leaves the district by 9th grade. Meanwhile, under-enrollment directly lowers state funding, so what we’re left with is less money for more classrooms.
I can’t afford to put my kid in private school, or I would have done so already. I’m generally a believer in the public school system, but SF is dysfunctional. Who’s going to picket for the parents who can’t afford to take time off work or pay for pricey childcare options because UESF won’t budge one inch?
Thank you for covering the public educators story so respectfully! Ive been working with students with special needs here in SF for over 30 years! I don’t understand why not everyone is supporting us!We really do need better working conditions.
I want to support teachers but they are making it very hard .. do they even CARE
Strong showing at Randall and San Jose Ave . Lots of support and love …. They get .03 inches per hour of rain and all go running away … it was barely a drizzle . If it rained like that non stop . Would take over a full day to get 1 inch
Let’s not be fail weather protestors
Sending love to Chicago protestors who protested ICE in the snow . S.F teachers would be u set the covers taking a paid holiday break .
Ricardo, we have been at Randall and San Jose every morning, educators and students and families, for the past 3 days, rain or shine. Please join us! We didn’t run away from the rain, we ran into it. The entire picket moved to Ocean Beach for the massive STRIKE photo. Thousands of people in collective action! We will be at the War Memorial this evening. Hope to see you out there!