SF teachers overwhelmingly authorize their first strike in a half-century
St. John Barned-Smith, Jill Tucker
Though any potential walkout would be more than a week away, teachers and the San Francisco Unified School District remain stuck at the negotiating table over high turnover, pay and benefits, and other issues after nearly a year of bargaining, union officials said.
More than 5,200 educators – or 97.6% of the city’s teachers – voted in favor of a potential walkout and strike, mirroring the union’s preliminary vote in December when more than 99% of its members voted in favor of a strike.
The move comes as SFUSD has been buffeted by challenges in recent years, including a budget deficit so bad if forced a state takeover, the disastrous rollout of a $34 million payroll system that resulted in error-filled paychecks, and plunging enrollment. The district only recently pulled out of the worst financial category assigned to public agencies for the first time in four years.
District officials and union negotiators have been bargaining for much of the last year, but dispute issues such as health benefits, contractual pay raises, more resources for special education students, and codifying San Francisco’s sanctuary protections in its contract.
Union negotiators also argue that despite those financial headwinds, district officials recently voted to put $111 million dollars into a rainy-day fund, cash that union members believe should be directed back to classrooms and school sites.
The last time San Francisco teachers struck was in 1979. Forty-seven years ago, teachers walked out after demanding a raise of 15.7% over two years and that the district rehire more than 1,000 teachers who had been fired after the passage of Proposition 13, the 1978 property tax revolt.
The strike ended more than a month later when the two sides met at City Hall and signed an agreement giving the teachers a 15.5% raise over two years and rehiring about 700 teachers.
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San Francisco nuked their school district by:
- Going full nutso during COVID and not returning to the classroom antil August 2021 – 15 months after initial lockdowns.
- Going full awokening and nuking algebra / merit admissions at Lowell.
- Focus on the dumbest things possible (school renamings instead of instruction improvements).
All of this is the result of the SF School Board membership being a stepping stone political role towards higher office – which means that union captured junior democrat aspirants strive to grab a seat and then act as a union lapdog.
