What can schools afford? Teacher strikes and funding priorities

San Francisco teachers strike over: tentative agreement reached

A tentative agreement between the San Francisco Unified School District and the teachers union was reached on Friday.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Teachers unions across California are pressing for higher pay and improved health benefits, while school districts cite tight budgets and rising costs. As at least nine districts have authorized strikes and others weigh school closures and layoffs, students and parents are left wondering how the decisions will shape their schools’ futures.

Those tensions were the focus of an EdSource roundtable Thursday that brought together educators and officials from across the state, including a teacher in Sacramento County and a school board member in San Diego.

Panelists acknowledged frustration with state funding formulas and limited budgets but framed teacher compensation and classroom investments as complementary goals.

"If you're working for what's best for our students, cutting teachers is absolutely not the answer," said Sabrina Bazzo, vice president of the San Diego Unified School District board, which recently reached a tentative contract agreement with teachers.

Michael H. Fine, chief executive officer of the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team, said districts with healthy reserves and realistic financial projections can weather fluctuations in state funding. Still, he cautioned that districts should not lose sight of their purpose.

"Our mission isn’t to save money," Fine said, adding that issuing layoff notices can undermine morale and distract teachers from their work. "You get a pink slip on March 15, the rest of the year’s morale is pretty darn low."

What teachers want

Teachers feel district budgets "have basically been balanced on their backs for years," said David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association. About one-third of the union’s members report living paycheck to paycheck and delaying needed health care, he said.

Teachers are "demanding that today’s dollars should be spent on today’s students" rather than saved in district reserves, Goldberg said.

Brittoni Ward, a teacher in the Twin Rivers Unified School District and president of Twin Rivers United Educators, said one colleague took on DoorDash deliveries after school to afford a home.

Her union has been negotiating for a year for a contract that ensures teachers do not "have to decide if they can buy groceries or go and get the EpiPen that they need for their child," she said.

Ward also called for smaller class sizes and more support for English learners, foster youth and other vulnerable students.

"We need to be doing so much more to put this money into the classroom to support these students," she said.

Balancing competing costs

Panelists largely agreed that competitive wages and benefits should be a priority, but noted that districts must balance other demands, including three-year accountability plans and rising liability insurance costs tied to sexual assault claims.

Fine said districts must be transparent with unions and communities about the true costs of contract proposals and the trade-offs required to fund them.

"We end up making these deals and agreeing to terms a bit in the dark," he said. "Some decisions require us to reprioritize. It’s as simple as that."

Special education pressures

Special education costs are adding to financial strain, panelists said. In some districts with declining enrollment, students receiving special education services make up a growing share of the population.

At the same time, shortages of qualified special education teachers have led some districts to hire contractors at significantly higher cost, Fine said.

He suggested districts explore creative approaches, such as funding current teachers to obtain special education credentials rather than issuing layoff notices.

At San Diego Unified, Bazzo said the district avoided a one-day strike centered on special education staffing and has reduced caseloads for some educators while still providing annual wage increases of 3% to 4%.

"And we’ve been able to do that at the same time," she said, "as providing 3-4% wage increases each year."