San Francisco schools to remain closed Thursday as negotiations continue

SFUSD strike enters day three

Thousands of San Francisco educators continued to rally in Mission Dolores Park on Wednesday to demand higher pay and better benefits. Even as the strike continues, educators and district representatives agree there has been some progress.

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco schools will remain closed on Thursday while representatives from the teachers union and the San Francisco Unified School District continue to negotiate terms.

Meanwhile, thousands of educators rallied in Mission Dolores Park on Wednesday to demand a 9% raise and fully-covered family health care.

The district had previously offered teachers a 6% raise and a $24,000 benefit allowance to help cover health care costs, but at the cost of teachers sacrificing their retirement options.

Ongoing negotiations

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Laura Dudnick, the SFUSD Director of Communications, said the district had that morning presented a counter-offer to United Educators of San Francisco representatives, who shared the proposal with their caucus. The teacher's union presented its own counter-offer at 2:30 and the parties resumed negotiations.

Dudnick said the two parties are making progress and described the issues at hand as "very complex work."

"We have made progress, and the topics at the table today that are being discussed involved wages, healthcare and special education," Dudnick said. "We know that our educators deserve fair and competitive salaries. This is an expensive city, and we want to be able to provide them with competitive, fair wages. We also need to continue to make sure we are living within our means. We do not have unlimited money."

Dudnick said SFUSD is committed to continued negotiations with UESF representatives.

What teachers want

District representatives and teachers had, as of Wednesday morning, reached agreements on three issues: the use of artificial intelligence, services for families experiencing homelessness and steps toward putting long-term special education teachers in place.

"What is really the sticking point is that we need these things that we’ve demanded and that our teachers are saying that we need. But, we cannot make cuts to our contract," Nathalie Hrizi, the UESF's Vice President of Substitutes said. "What I’m saying (is) there are existing benefits and programs that they want to cut to fund the things we need."

The UESF president said administrators had said for the last 11 months that none of the stated demands were possible.

"Clearly it is (possible) — when we stand together," UESF President Cassondra Curiel said. 

"The time is now for SFUSD to fully fund family healthcare, to address special education workloads and provide fair compensation for certified staff that will stabilize our schools and end this strike," Curiel said.

Impacts

Asked how the district intends to make up for the days students are not in school, Dudnick said the district is "committed to providing the required number of days of instruction" as mandated by the state, and will explore ways to fulfill that obligation.

Dudnick said district staff is running cost estimates and expect the strike will lose the district about $7–10 million per day, but added that "we need to see what happens and see how long this takes, and then we'll be able to provide an update on that, later."

She praised district partners who have stepped up to help provide for students, and said that 1,100 students had attended after-school, community-based programs.

"Over 760 breakfast meals were served at 14 (San Francisco Department of Children, Youth & Their Families) sites, and 1,600 lunches at 30 sites," Dudnick said. "This afternoon we had over 1,500 meals delivered by our own meal provider to our community-based partners to make sure that we are expanding our access for our students."

Rainy day funds

The district has said it is facing a looming $100 million budget shortfall and structural deficit problem and has to make sound financial decisions.

"Under my leadership, SFUSD is on course for fiscal recovery. We do not want to derail that really hard work that we as a community have done," San Francisco Unified Superintendent Maria Su said. 

Teachers have said there is money to be found and that the district is saving money for a rainy day fund — a day they say has arrived.

If the district continues to save that money, educators say, SFUSD will become less attractive to families, and will lose viability in the years to come.

"Doing things now, investing in students and teachers now is 100% going to pay off," Hrizi said.

District representatives said they are ready to continue negotiations until a deal is reached to get teachers and students back in the classroom.

"We will continue to work around the clock to come to an agreement that honors our educators and is also fiscally responsible," Su said.