San Francisco unified schools teacher strike: Classes canceled on Friday
San Francisco teachers strike to continue on Friday
The San Francisco teachers strike will continue on Friday, making it one full school week of no class for students as negotiations between the union and the district continue.
SAN FRANCISCO - Classes will be canceled on Friday at all San Francisco Unified School District schools as the teachers' strike continues, officials say.
The latest
What we know:
It will mark a full school week that as many as 50,000 students in the district have not been in class as negotiations between the labor union and the school district continue.
SFUSD officials issued a notice early Thursday evening to say schools would be closed to students on Friday, Feb. 13 and reminded that next Monday and Tuesday, schools will be closed to observe Presidents Day and Lunar New Year.
As for Wednesday, Feb. 18th's status, the district said they will keep the community posted in a forthcoming announcement.
Tense negotiations
The Herbst Theater on Van Ness Avenue has been the center of these tense negotiations. Meanwhile, on the streets, teachers pounded the pavement to get their message out as the strike dragged into a fourth day.
Thousands of San Francisco teachers came together at the Embarcadero Plaza, calling it the ‘SFUSD Figure It Out Now Rally and March.’
The teachers then took to the streets, marching to San Francisco's City Hall.
Meanwhile, the teachers union also held a rally at the building where negotiations are taking place, with teachers union president Cassondra Curiel saying she's proud of the efforts on the part of her bargaining team and teachers on the picket lines.
The sticking points seem to still be centered around pay, health benefits and special education policies. The union president expressed frustration with the lack of progress at this point.
"Our big bargaining team has waited patiently for the district to figure it out. How are they going to commit to the improvements to our district that we know our students and educators desperately need?" said United Educators of San Francisco President Curiel.
Late night talks
SFUSD said that both sides had negotiated to 1:30 a.m. on Thursday. The district said that SFUSD had delivered a proposal to the union on the latest offer on wages, health benefits and special education plans.
The district continues to point to a projected $100 million shortfall and structural budget deficit as reasons it cannot responsibly meet the current request from the teachers union. Those requests include an 8% raise and fully-covered family health care.
The district did not hold a press availability Thursday morning as they had the previous three days of the strike, instead releasing a statement reading in part: "We are awaiting UESF’s counteroffer. The SFUSD bargaining team, comprised of veteran and expert professionals, are ready to meet with the union's bargaining team to continue negotiations. SFUSD continues to work around the clock to come to an agreement that honors our educators and is also fiscally responsible."
We await more details on where the negotiations stand. For now, the district has posted a family resource page with information on learning, food, childcare and other district support resources.
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