The California Teachers Association launched the operation a year ago with district unions that coordinated the expiration dates of their contracts. The goal is to make “a set of shared demands” at “the same time across the state,” the CTA said in a press release.
This week San Francisco and its 50,000 students paid the price. The United Educators of San Francisco went on strike Monday demanding a 9% pay raise over two years and health coverage fully paid for by the district, among other things. After keeping kids out school all week, on Friday they settled with the district for raises of 5% over two years and the full health benefits they demanded. Other staff will get pay hikes of 8.5%. The tentative agreement costs a reported $183 million.
San Francisco teacher salaries already start at about $80,000, and the average is $100,000. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget this year includes $149 billion for public schools, or about $27,418 per pupil. That’s up from $16,352 in 2019. Per pupil spending has grown about twice as fast as inflation owing to rich non-salary benefits. San Francisco teachers can retire at age 63 with a pension worth 85% of their final pay, plus free health benefits for life.