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.
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 it’s 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deficits and chaotic fiscal management, including an initial plan to save money by closing schools two years ago that was revoked after a parent backlash.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.
“Every adult playing games. But the children always lose. Exhausting,” wrote one parent on a Facebook group for public school parents.
The union and school district will meet at the negotiating table again on Monday at noon.
