San Francisco teachers’ strike enters 3rd day as negotiations continue
By Tim Fang
San Francisco Unified School district teachers returned to the picket lines Wednesday, as a strike over wages and benefits enters its third day.
At a news conference Wednesday morning, ahead of an expected meeting with the United Educators of San Francisco, superintendent Maria Su made an urgent plea for an agreement to be reached.
“We are prepared and committed to getting this agreement done today. We all must act with urgency, we all must get together to get this done,” Su said.
Su described the district’s latest offer as “generous” and at the same time “fiscally responsible.”
“With our current proposal, we are putting money back into pockets of our educators, with a significant increase in compensation and healthcare benefits. This is about putting real money back into the pockets of educators. This is an investment in educators and their families in San Francisco,” she added.
At the news conference, Su said both State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and Mayor Daniel Lurie urged both sides to get a deal reached.
Union president Cassondra Curiel said in a statement Tuesday night that the district’s negotiators had moved on issues involving sanctuary schools, housing protections, classified compensation, artificial intelligence and contracting out services.
“The administration told us for the past 11 months none of this was possible. Clearly it is — when we stand together,” Curiel said. “The time is now for SFUSD to fully funded family healthcare, address special education workloads and provide fair compensation for certificated staff that will stabilize our schools and end this strike.”
On Tuesday evening, Mayor Daniel Lurie said he met with the head of both the union and Su.
“They gave me an update on the progress that has been made today, and I made it clear – they can and they need to get this done. Every day in the classroom matters for our children,” Lurie said in an update posted to his social media. “Getting our schools open is the top priority, and we can do that while supporting our educators and keeping the school district on the path to fiscal stability.”
Lurie said the city would continue to provide support for impacted students.
About 6,000 teachers represented by the United Educators of San Francisco began walking the picket lines Monday, after the district and union were unable to reach an agreement over the weekend. Sticking points on an agreement include wages, healthcare for dependents, along with assistance for special education staff.
More than 50,000 students attend 122 schools in the SFUSD.
