San Francisco teachers walked off the job Monday for the first time in 50 years — sending the parents of 50,000 students scrambling for childcare as staffers took to the picket lines for better pay and benefits.
The strike by the United Educators of San Francisco, the union representing public school teachers, shut down all of the city’s 120 schools.
Thousands of educators protested outside school buildings, some holding signs reading, “On strike for safe and stable schools” and “On strike for fully funded family healthcare.”
City officials advised working parents to send their kids to libraries or local nonprofits to keep them occupied.
“I am very mad, and we are all very mad,” said Casey Coleman, who has children in San Francisco public schools.
The union is asking for a 9% raise over two years and fully funded health care for dependents — costing $92 million per year for the salary bumps, according to a fact-finding report. Teachers argue that money could come from reserve funds.
SFUSD faces a deficit of $100 million and is under state oversight for its longstanding deficits and chaotic fiscal management, including an initial plan to save money by closing schools two years ago that was revoked after a parent backlash.
School officials countered with a 6% wage increase over three years, plus bonuses, if the district has a surplus by 2028.
Mayor Daniel Lurie, who spent much of the weekend hyping San Francisco’s comeback at Super Bowl parties, made a last-ditch plea Sunday for both parties to continue negotiating for three days. That request was rebuffed, The San Francisco Standard reported.
Frustrated parents fumed over having to juggle working from home and watching their kids because of the unprecedented strike.
Coleman said she and fellow parents were taking turns watching their children in groups so that some could continue to go to work, and they expected the strike could go on for several days.
“Every child deserves an education, and we can’t live in a city where the only way to get it is through private school,” Coleman said.
Coleman argued that San Francisco teachers need higher pay to survive in ultra-expensive San Francisco and pointed the finger squarely at local and state officials for allowing school funding problems to get to this point.
Given the country’s broader political dysfunction she argued ensuring a good education is more important than ever.
“It’s a rock and a hard place,” Coleman added, referring to the impasse between the district and teachers.
“Who is responsible? When the district says we can’t pay, where does the state come in, and California come in, and say ‘we’ve got to do something else?’”
The union and school district will meet at the negotiating table again on Monday at noon.
