SFUSD facing fire fiscal situation amid looming teachers’ strike

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco Teachers Union announced they are on the brink of a potential strike after failed negotiations with the school district.

For the last 11 months, the San Francisco Unified School district has been negotiating with the United Educators of San Francisco. On Wednesday afternoon, the fact-finding report from a state-appointed third party that outlined SFUSD’s and the union’s proposals failed to bring both sides together.

In a statement, the United Educators of San Francisco said the report “did not go far enough” and threatened to strike with over 5,000 educators voting yes last week to a potential strike.

PREVIOUS REPORT: San Francisco teachers vote to authorize strike for 1st time since 1979

“The recommendations here alone will not solve the stability crisis in our district. But, we are happy to see validation of what we already know- that SFUSD can and must stabilize staffing and special education programs for our students,” said United Educators of San Francisco President Cassondra Curiel.

Laura Dudnick, SFUSD’s spokesperson, said the district agreed to several changes despite facing a $100 million budget deficit for next year.

“What we have offered a 6% pay increase over the next three years, so 2% each year for all our labor partners and UESF as well as fully funded family healthcare which was a priority we heard from the union, so we want to be able to work with them,” said Dudnick. “Any offer that we make we need to be able to afford for the next three years. We have set aside some money in our reserve for one time emergency uses that are approved by the board of education for those purposes, so we cannot use our reserves to fund ongoing expenses like salaries.”

SFUSD could lose millions of dollars a day if a strike is confirmed.

MORE: SF teachers rally outside of district HQ for better contract: ‘We are ready to strike if necessary!’

The San Francisco Parent coalition is concerned of where all the 50,000 SFUSD students will go.

“We have been trying to prepare parents and families ahead of time. We have been crowdsourcing ideas. We have parents even reaching out to each other in this neighborhood to create childcare pods. Can you watch the kids on the first day and a couple hours the other day, said Emily de Ayora with the San Francisco parent coalition.

The school district and teachers’ union will meet to negotiate on Thursday.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie release a statement following the news of the potential strike saying in part:

“As mayor, even though I don’t oversee our school district, I’m deeply committed to making sure our kids get a world-class education-with safe public schools where kids can learn and educators are well supported. It is crucial that our schools remain open. Every day in the classroom matters. I have been in regular contact with both the school district and the teachers union, and I am urging them to keep talking so kids can keep learning.”