san francisco — Connor Hott has been juggling virtual business meetings with arts and crafts projects for his two daughters as his family tries to weather a teachers strike in San Francisco with no end date in sight.
Hott’s job in the construction industry allows him to work from home, but, like many parents in the city, he and his wife were scrambling to plan activities for their children amid the uncertainty of a strike that left nearly 50,000 students out of the classroom.
“The biggest concern for parents is actually the timeline of everything and trying to prepare for how long this could last,” Hott said.
The San Francisco Unified School District’s 120 schools were scheduled to remain closed for a third day on Wednesday, after about 6,000 public school teachers closed. He went on strike Increase wages, health benefits, and more resources for students with special needs.
Some parents take advantage of after-school programs that offer full-day programs during the strike, while others rely on relatives and each other to help with child care.
Hott said that he and his wife, who works evenings in a restaurant, plan to have their daughters, ages 8 and 9, at home for the first week of the strike. They hope to organize playdates and local outings with other families. They do not yet know what they will do if the strike continues for a second week.
“We didn’t try to jump on all the camps and things right away because it can be expensive, and we might be lucky with our timeline a little more than some of the other people who were affected,” Hutt said.
The United Federation of Teachers of San Francisco and the district have been negotiating for nearly a year, with teachers demanding fully funded family health care, salary increases and filling vacancies that affect education and special services.
Teachers on the picket lines said they knew the strike was difficult for the students but were out to provide stability for the children in the future.
“This is for the betterment of our students,” said Lily Perales, a history teacher at Mission High School. “We believe our students deserve to learn safely in schools and that means fully equipped schools. That means retaining teachers by offering them competitive pay packages and health care, and it means fully funding all the programs that we know students need most.”
Superintendent Maria Su said Tuesday that there was some progress in negotiations Monday, including support for homeless families, training teachers in artificial intelligence and establishing best practices for using AI tools.
But the two sides have not yet agreed on wage increases and family health benefits. The union initially requested a 9% raise over two years, which they said could help offset the cost of living in San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the country. The district, which faces a $100 million deficit and is under state oversight due to a long-term financial crisis, rejected the idea. Officials responded with a 6% pay increase over three years.
On Tuesday, Sonia Sanabria took her 5-year-old daughter and 11-year-old nephew to a Church in the Mission District that offered free lunch to out-of-school children.
Sanabria, who works as a chef in a restaurant, said she stayed home after work to take care of the children.
“If the strike continues, I will have to ask for leave from my job, but it will affect me because if I don’t work, I won’t make money,” Sanabria said.
She said her elderly mother helps with school drop-offs and pick-ups, but leaving the children with her all day is not an option. Sanabria said she gave them reading and writing assignments and worked with them on math problems. Sanabria said she makes plans for the children day by day and expressed her support for the striking teachers.
“They are demanding better wages and better health insurance, and I think they deserve it because they educate our children, take care of them and help them have a better future,” she said, adding: “I just hope they reach an agreement soon.”