san francisco — Thousands of San Francisco public school teachers went on strike Monday, the first walkout by public school teachers in the city in nearly 50 years.
The strike comes after teachers and the district failed to reach an agreement on higher wages, health benefits and more resources for students with special needs. The San Francisco Unified School District closed all 120 of its schools and said it would offer independent study for some of the district’s 50,000 students.
“We are facing an affordability crisis,” Cassondra Curiel, president of the San Francisco United Federation of Teachers, said in a statement Sunday night. “Family health care premiums of $1,500 a month are driving quality teachers and support staff out of our district. We said this week that enough is enough.”
Teachers from the union joined the picket line after last-minute negotiations over the weekend failed to produce a new contract. Mayor Daniel Lowry Democratic U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco urged the two sides to continue talking instead of closing schools.
Union leaders plan to hold a news conference Monday morning about the strike, and an afternoon rally is scheduled at San Francisco City Hall. Negotiations were scheduled to resume at midday on Monday.
The union 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.
Educators also want the district to enact policies to support homeless and immigrant students and families.
The union is asking for a 9% raise over two years, which would mean an additional $92 million annually for the district. They say the money could come from reserve funds that could be directed back to classrooms and school sites.
San Francisco Unified District, facing a $100 million deficit and under state oversight due to a long-running financial crisis, has rejected the idea. Officials responded with a 6% pay increase over three years. The offer also includes bonuses for all employees if there is a surplus by the 2027-28 school year, San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Maria Su said Friday.
A report by an impartial fact-finding commission released last week recommended settling for a 6% increase over two years, largely siding with the district’s arguments that it is financially constrained.
The union said San Francisco teachers receive some of the lowest contributions toward health care costs in the Bay Area, prompting many to leave. Su said the district offered two options: the district paying 75% of Kaiser’s family health coverage or offering a $24,000 annual allowance for teachers to choose their own health care plan.
Lowery, who helped reach an agreement that ended a hotel workers union strike after he was elected and before he took office, said city agencies were coordinating with the district on how to provide support to children and their families.
“I know that everyone involved in these negotiations is committed to schools where students thrive and our teachers feel truly supported, and I will continue to work to ensure that,” Lowry said in a social media post on Sunday.