COMMUNITY POLL:
What Do You Think About the SFUSD Strike?
你對SFUSD行使價有何看法？
This poll is anonymous.
The SFUSD teachers union walked away from the offer over the weekend and announced they would strike Monday, the strike has continued today (Tuesday). We want to know your thoughts. Here is a link to a Chronicle article and some of the content of the article in case you cannot access:
Superintendent Maria Su said in a statement just before midnight Saturday that she was “deeply frustrated and disheartened” that an agreement was not reached and that her team was ready to negotiate Sunday “for as long as it takes.”
“The SFUSD bargaining team continued to provide additional creative solutions that directly respond to UESF’s stated priorities, and are based on the recent neutral fact-finding report,” she said.
Su said the district’s offer increased to meet the union’s demand for a two-year contract and a 6% raise over that period, which was the recommendation in an independent fact-finding report.
Curiel, however, said the raises came with concessions, including cutting paid teacher sabbatical leaves as well as the additional prep periods for Advanced Placement teachers and department heads.
Su has said that given the district’s fiscal crisis and ongoing pattern of overspending, there needs to be a way to help pay for the salary increases.
The San Francisco Unified School district and its teachers union have failed to agree on key issues after negotiating for most of the past year.
Currently, sabbatical leaves — which are available to teachers after seven years in the district — cost San Francisco schools $5.4 million per year for 50 full-year leaves and 12 half-year leaves. The AP prep periods cost $6.5 million for 64 teachers with more than one AP class and $1.5 million for 60 department head prep periods, according to district data.
That equals $13.4 million spent on 186 educators and for compensation that is not common in other districts.
Each 1% salary increase for the nearly 6,000 teachers in the union is expected to cost about $7 million annually, district officials said.
Union leaders continued to demand permanent, fully funded family health care, while the district has made several offers, including an annual health benefit allowance of $24,000 per year, which would cover the cost of an employee plus one dependent for Kaiser. The district currently covers employees’ health care costs, but family coverage can cost up to $1,200 and is expected to increase.
The labor group has argued that San Francisco teachers pay more for health care than other local districts, yet the district pays not only for current teacher health care, but also the lifetime health care coverage for retirees. That costs more than $37 million annually and is a relatively rare benefit among labor groups.
Many teachers recently took early retirement, which resulted in the district avoiding layoffs, but many, if not most, will remain on the district’s health care plan for free and for life.
“While SFUSD deeply values its educators, the district is also grappling with a dire fiscal reality,” district officials said in the statement.
The district has been battling a budget deficit for several years, requiring $114 million in cuts this year, but continues to overspend. This year, city schools are expected to spend $52 million more than they are getting in revenue, and next year, officials anticipate a deficit of $32 million.
The district remains under state fiscal oversight, with appointed trustees able to veto any school board spending, which includes the approval of any labor contracts.