Public schools across San Francisco will be closed on Monday as teachers are readying to hit the picket lines in the city’s first educator walkout in nearly half a century.
Negotiations between the San Francisco Unified School District and the United Educators of San Francisco started in March, but reached an impasse by October. The two sides only returned to the bargaining table last week after teachers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
Talks continued over the weekend with some 100 teachers meeting with the district’s four-person bargaining team and Superintendent Maria Su at the War Memorial Veterans Building on Saturday.
After hours of back and forth, the district agreed to strengthen its sanctuary school policy, but the two sides failed to come to an agreement on anything else.
The union and district are scheduled to return to the bargaining table on Monday at noon.
Schools will not open until there is agreement, but there’s little telling how long that will take. The last time teachers walked out, in 1979, it was more than six weeks before classes resumed. On Sunday, Mayor Daniel Lurie and Rep. Nancy Pelosi made last-minute appeals urging teachers to postpone the strike for three days. “Frankly, I’m frustrated,” Lurie said on Sunday evening when no agreement was reached.
“We have made it very clear that our demands … do not come at the cost of concessions or takeaways,” read a statement published by the union on Sunday afternoon.
What are the sticking points in negotiations?
The union is asking for a 9 percent salary increase over the course of two years in addition to fully funded healthcare for dependents, changing the workload for special education teachers and increasing staffing to reduce class size. Other asks include strengthening the district’s sanctuary school policy, which the district conceded to on Saturday, and support for unhoused students.
Over the course of 11 months and 12 bargaining sessions, the district has maintained that it does not have the money to cover these demands.
It says it is staring down a projected $102 million deficit. The union contends there is money to spare.
The union is asking for the district to dip into its $429 million reserve, which the district has in part agreed to by toying with the idea of funding increased salaries and benefits with a local parcel tax.
But much of this money is restricted and cannot be used for ongoing costs. The district argues that doing so would put it in a precarious financial position.
A state-mandated neutral third party released its report on Jan. 23 and largely sided with the district.
The report argued that a wage increase of 9 percent is well above the state average and would exceed the city’s cost-of-living adjustment. Fully funded family health benefits, it argued, would likely not be approved by the state, which retains oversight over the district. Those benefits, it said, were “simply not an option.”
But the fact-finders also found that the district could offer more. It proposed a six percent increase over the course of two years instead of the district’s offer of a two percent increase over three years. Its plan, the report said, would be “more likely to pass state scrutiny.”
On Thursday, the district’s bargaining team presented an updated offer to the union: partially funded dependent healthcare and a 6 percent wage increase over the course of two years in exchange for educators forgoing sabbatical leaves and limits on class sizes.
Class sizes in San Francisco are an average of 21 students per teacher, slightly higher than the state average at 20 students per teacher.
On special education caseloads and support for unhoused students, the district refused to change the contract language, but offered some committees and working groups to better support students. That offer was promptly rejected.
The union presented a counteroffer on Saturday with minor concessions, but maintained its ask for fully funded dependent health care and a 9 percent raise. The district made some concessions as well: a partially funded healthcare program, a pilot program at five schools testing the union’s proposed work model for special education, and a six percent raise.
On non-compensated asks like support for unhoused students, the district says it’s “close.”