The San Francisco teachers union announced Thursday evening that the school district had conceded on a major sticking point: Fully funded healthcare for dependents. The move will potentially be balanced by lower wage increases.
It is a major victory for the union. The two sides have been stuck on wages, family healthcare and special education, the costliest proposals in the contract talks. The move by the district brings the two sides closer to striking a deal as the teachers strike enters its fifth day.
Schools will remain closed Friday. Because Monday is President’s Day and Tuesday is Lunar New Year, students won’t be back in the classroom until Wednesday of next week at the earliest.
The parties began bargaining again on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. after receiving back-and-forth proposals, and were still in talks as of 9 p.m.
Superintendent Maria Su joined the talks. Randi Weingarten, the longtime leader of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest unions in the country, was in town supporting the teachers.
Here are points in contention:
- The United Educators of San Francisco, the teachers union, wants 100 percent family healthcare coverage, a 7 percent raise for teachers, a 9 percent raise for “classified” staff (paraeducators and others), and more support for special education.
- The San Francisco Unified School District is offering full family healthcare coverage, a 4 percent raise for teachers, 9 percent for “classified” staff, and a pilot program for special education.
Both sides have expressed urgency to strike a deal. Mayor Daniel Lurie has posted regular updates urging talks to continue, though he only concertedly involved himself last week on the cusp of a walkout that has been brewing for months.
In other strike-related coverage:
- How much do teachers make, on average, compared to city workers? Much less, our analysis found.
- Families are scrambling for childcare as the strike goes on.
- Read dispatches from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the strike.
Mission Local has reporters across San Francisco, bringing you live updates.
Unions wins fully funded family healthcare
At 8:28 p.m. the United Educators of San Francisco provided an update on the district’s latest proposal, and it was a big one: fully funded healthcare by Jan. 1, 2027 — a significant win for the union.
It comes at the cost of higher wages for classified and certificated employees, however. The district’s wage proposal last night remains on the table: a wage increase of just 9 percent for classified employees, including paraeducators and technicians, and just 4 percent for teachers.
The district’s counterproposal on special education, the third major issue for the union, remains to be seen.
—Marina Newman
Mayor Lurie’s public health policy chief sits down to talks
Nearing 6 p.m., City Hall leaders came in and out of the War Memorial Veterans Building, where negotiations were underway.
Some headed to a charity fashion show on the second floor, wearing tuxedos and other fancy dress. Others went a bit further up, to the fourth floor, where the bargaining teams were heads down in the latest proposals.
Kunal Modi, the city’s policy chief in charge of public health, walked into the building at 5:30 p.m. He is likely here to work with the district on family healthcare, a major sticking points: Educators want full coverage for their families, the district is offering 80 percent.
Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, entered at 6 p.m. The national union president has been offering advice to labor.
Tonight, both sides will tackle the major issues left: wages, healthcare, and special education.
—Marina Newman
Union back at the bargaining table
At 2:30 p.m., members of the teachers union bargaining team filed into the War Memorial Opera House. Union officials said they arrived at the building at 10 a.m. and began to prep their materials but were not invited back to the table until four and a half hours later.
So they joined a rally down Market Street, marching to City Hall, along with thousands of picketers who overtook the street.
It figures to be a long night. Earlier today, the district checked in with the school board, which encouraged the district to come to an agreement. At 3:30 p.m., according to the district, the parties began bargaining.
—Marina Newman
American Federation of Teachers head enters the ring
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, spent last night with the union’s bargaining team until approximately 2 a.m, she said today. The American Federation of Teachers is the parent organization behind the United Educators of San Francisco and one of the biggest unions in the country.
Weingarten traveled from New York to San Francisco to lend the teachers her ear. Though she could not disclose the details of said advice, the move has likely put significant pressure on district officials.
It’s the second time Weingarten has been in San Francisco this week. Weingarten most recently stood alongside educators at Monday’s rally at City Hall and, this morning, she commanded a crowd of teachers, supporters, and students on the steps of Mission High, gripping a megaphone and bellowing into the mic.
“I was there until two in the morning, that’s 5 a.m. for me,” she said. “We waited and waited and waited, do I need to go on?” she said, referring to the district’s counterproposal. Weingarten looked up at the crowd of union members as they booed in unison.
As Weingarten spoke, trucks and cars driving down 18th Street honked their horns every 30 seconds. One driver reached out of her car to wave at the teachers and put up a fist.
“What the union is trying to accomplish here is fundamental to having a better life,” Weingarten told Mission Local. “All of my accolades and praise are owed to these teachers for taking this on,” she said. “What they want is the American dream.”
—Marina Newman
The question of the district’s late-night proposal
One question has become a major source of friction on Thursday morning between the union’s bargaining team and the district: whether the district did or did not formally submit its own counterproposal.
The district today declined to hold the morning press conference it has held daily at the War Memorial Opera House. Instead, it published a statement reading that it had submitted a counterproposal on wages, healthcare, and special education at 1:33 a.m.
“As of 8:00 am today, we are awaiting UESF’s counter offer,” the statement read. “The SFUSD bargaining team, comprised of veteran and expert professionals, are ready to meet with the union’s bargaining team to continue negotiations.”
The teachers union contends it never received it, and is still waiting for the district’s proposal. It also never received an invitation to go back to the bargaining table this morning, union officials stated.
Cassondra Curiel, the president of the United Educators of San Francisco, said on Thursday morning, standing in front of a 100-odd crowd from the union’s bargaining team, that the union was told by the district at 1 a.m. that “they didn’t have anything” to submit. The district did not respond to requests to view said proposal by publishing time.
According to the district’s timeline, it submitted its proposal to the union at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, and the union responded at 2:30 p.m. But after that, union officials said they waited at the bargaining table for over six hours while a member of the district’s bargaining team entered the room sporadically, asking to give them “10 more minutes.” By one in the morning, union officials said, they were told they “wouldn’t have anything that night.”
At present, the union has been forced to lower its initial ask of a 9 percent wage increase for teachers to 7 percent in order to get the district to agree to fully funded dependent health care. The district has in turn lowered its offer of a 6 percent wage increase to 4 percent — if teachers give up prep time and pause sabbaticals.
SFUSD employees do receive healthcare after retirement, and union members say the district has proposed eliminating this benefit in order to meet the union’s demands. That is not an option, say union officials.
Ryan Alias, an English teacher at Balboa Highschool and a member of the bargaining team, said he and his family currently pay approximately $1,500 a month for healthcare for their children. If they had that money in their pocket, he said, “it would be life changing.”
—Marina Newman
Matt Haney hits the picket line
Assemblymember Matt Haney, one of San Francisco’s two State Assembly representatives, stood with teachers Thursday morning.
He walked the picket line at Jose Ortega Elementary School in Ingleside, holding a union-made sign reading “Students need fully staffed, stable schools.” Wearing a grey suit, he stood on a wooden block, megaphone in hand, and urged the strikers on.
Lakeshore Elementary
At 9:55 a.m., parents, educators and children from Lakeshore Elementary were stationed on the corner of Middlefield and Lake Merced Boulevard, greeted by honks.
Evan Litt, 8, was with his mother Janelle.
“I like my teachers and I’d like to keep the Maker’s Space in our class,” he said.
“My brother and sister used to go here,” he added. His mother confirmed, and said the school is “magical.”
In a group of other 8-year old boys, Evan spoke with his friends about the strike.
“I don’t know, our moms planned it out,” one of them said about being on the picket line Thursday.
Elementary-aged children pranced around the lawn in front of the school, hanging around with their friends, potato chip bags in their hands and sunglasses on. Some kids threw a football, and 2000s pop artists, like Backstreet Boys and Usher, blared from a speaker. Protestors danced, blew whistles and cheered.
Siblings Nate, 8, and Skylar, 10, are students at Lakeshore. They were with their mother too.
“I like my teachers,” said Nate. He says he and his sister have been staying with their aunt while their parents go to work during the day. Their mother works as a nurse at UCSF, but was able to make it out today.
“I’ve been keeping up with what’s going on through updates from the teachers,” she says. “I’m here to support.”
—Sophia Rerucha
Lowell High
At 8:15 in the morning, educators were stationed at two different spots around Lowell High School: Lake Merced Blvd and the school’s main entrance.
On the fourth day of strikes, union members circled the main entrance and sang “Hey Su” — aimed at Superintendent Maria Su — in the tune of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” with slight lyrical changes.
“Hey Su, let’s open schools,” the crowd sang. “All we want is to make them better, remember to negotiate in good faith, then you can now make it better.”
Walking the picket line were two high schoolers on the track team.
“These teachers are awesome,” said Chiara, a junior at Lowell. “They do so much and they answer all of our stupid questions. The least I can do is show up for them.”
Last night, students attempted to have a meeting with Superintendent Su, but were directed instead to her head of communications, Hong Mei Pang.
Sinan, a 14-year old freshman and member of Arab Youth Organizing, said he was at the War Memorial Opera House, where the two sides have held talks, last night.
He asked Mei Pang about dipping into the school’s “rainy day fund” to pay teachers. He says she was unresponsive. “She just sorta looked at me,” he said.
Tristan is a freshman at Lowell. He said he came not only to say hello to teachers he knows, but to show his support.
“This is still work,” he said, referring to the strike. “It might not be as hard as teaching, but they’re still working through the rain, like yesterday at Ocean Beach.”
Cincia Liu, a 16-year old on the track team, went to Galileo Academy in Russian Hill this week to strike. Today is her first day on Lowell’s picket line.
In a low voice, she described feeling confused as to why the district hasn’t been able to meet teachers’ demands.
“The teachers care about me and support me,” she said.
—Sophia Rerucha
Everyone deserves to be paid a salary that can support their families. Teachers earn every cent educating, mentoring each child on a daily basis. Teachers are worth every penny they earn. Paid them.
Your bullet points and “where sides stand” graphic are misleading. The district’s certificated offer was contingent on *giving up* prep periods and AP classes. That’s a net loss for teachers. So, pay them less (and by less I mean less than inflation) for teaching more classes? No wonder UESF is saying no. I know you’re a decent newspaper, but please stick your head out the window and dig a little deeper, if you get the metaphor. Both sides are not equally to blame in this.
Think its important to note that the salary increase numbers are aggregate spread over several years. I believe the districts offer of 4% is over 2 years, not sure what the timeframe for UESF, but its not 7% for one year.
Sort of critical info, think that visual needs to be updated
Free lifetime healthcare for the families of employees seems excessively generous. I cannot think of any employer that offers that. Hopefully the plan itself is economical e.g. high deductibles, high co-pays, coverage caps etc., or it is an irresponsible concession.
I suspect this deal will hasten the inevitable job cuts and school closures needed to balance the books.
Half the kids in SFUSD cannot perform math at grade level and about half the kids can’t read at grade level.
Which of the Union’s demand will lead to better math and reading results for the kids?
Parent here — we support the teachers, but you could have done this over your summer break instead of using my kid as a bargaining chip.
zr, the irony is that the teachers claim that they are doing this “for the children”!
I guess matt Haney didn’t have any pro sports events to attend using corruptly misdirected campaign funds.
How are they going backwards? On Wednesday SFUSD’s offer for certificated salary was 6% over two years and now it’s 4%?
SFUSD is unique in that the city and county boundaries are the same, usually, an independent county superintendent of education oversees the budget. The lack of oversight by an independent & neutral entity allows the District to irresponsibly pay itself, spend on unnecessary programs, and otherwise report to itself, which led to the negative financial certification by the state in 2024 that they’re currently constrained by. I encourage people to research and publish for all to see how much the District employees pay themselves as well as the value of benefits they receive. It’s apparent that the reason the District is out of money is because they like to pay themselves a lot of money for doing…what exactly?
I also do not understand why the District offices have been closed during the strike. I would love to see a deep dive into the how much each District employee is paid (inclusive of benefits) and what exactly it is that they do. How many positions within the District are superfluous and/or severely overpaid? And why are they not working at the moment? And what difference has it made whether they’re working or not? I would support legislation that would introduce a neutral party to oversee the District’s decisionmaking and budget indefinitely, not just when they’re under oversight.
There’s no indication from any member of the District office that they care about school stability or their teachers’ ability to afford to live within city limits. I think they’re most interested in protecting their precious paychecks, benefits, and ability to rule over themselves absolutely without any sort of serious oversight.
To start, it’d be helpful if they began negotiating in good faith and showing up to the table. Where are they? What are they doing? It’s all very Wizard of Oz, and I, for one, as a parent of an SFUSD student, would love to know what’s going on behind the curtain.
Resolution 495-24 passed by the Board of Supervisors in October of 2024 sets forth a laundry list of errors & mismanagement by the District resulting in losses exceeding tens of millions of dollars. Don’t make our teachers, students, and families pay for the District’s incompetence and self-dealing. Here’s a link to the reso for reference: https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/r0495-24.pdf
Some may be cheering, but the arrival of Randi Weingarten does not bode well for the teachers. Their real power comes from their unity and the power of their picket line.
Weingarten is here to persuade them into accepting a compromise with promises to win what they are really fighting for on another day– a day that will never come.
I recently saw Weingarten’s book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers, proudly displayed in the window of the new pop-up bookstore on Powell Street. It is a perfect book for window-dressing.
I urge teachers to read the following critical review of it:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/11/13/doaj-n13.html
Weingarten is not the friend the teachers are expecting.
Teachers are in a powerful position right now. That is why every force is being brought to bear to clip their demands and shut their strike down ASAP.
UNION must not compromise on MENTAL RESET SABBATICALS FOR ALL STAFF!
Unfortunately caving to Union demands doesn’t make the children 4% or 9% smarter, the families of teachers healthier or the schools 9% cleaner – it’s a government worker shake-down of a ‘nearly-bankrupt’ district that is fast losing its better students to private education alternatives. How about a focus on results – merit and performance? Otherwise what are we really teaching the kids? Graft?