The educators’ union, UESF, has been negotiating with the district for 8 months. We want student support  so we can adequately provide the targeted programs for our students, fully staffed schools, educators and students suffer when there are teachers and paras vacancies, and improved working conditions we need increased preparation time, paraeducator collaboration time, lower class sizes and manageable caseloads for special education educators. In addition, we want contract language that protects us from the impacts of poor management decisions and provides ways to resolve the issues like the disastrous payroll system that continues to negatively impact us. Lastly we want a living wage so that educators can stay in San Francisco. We are also fighting for the schools our students deserve.

At this point, there is no strike date set. If an agreement is not reached, we will share it widely with you. Stay in contact with your child’s teacher to get the most updated information.  

 If UESF has to go out on strike to win for our students and educators, the length of a strike will depend on educators, parents and the community supporting UESF’s demands! The more that educators and the community work together to show the district and school board that their proposals are unacceptable, the quicker we will be able to end the strike and get back to working with our students.

During a strike, unqualified replacement “teachers” may be at your child’s school. The school district collects money for student attendance, even if they’re just showing movies all day in the cafeteria or auditorium. As a parent or guardian of your child, you’ll have to decide if you want your child in this environment. A strike is most powerful when students do not attend school because this puts financial pressure on the district to negotiate with teachers or lose more money from the state.

We also want students to have their basic needs met during the strike. We care deeply about our students and want them to continue to have access to food -- since we know many of our students rely on free breakfast/lunch at school -- and a safe place to be during the strike.

We are currently working to identify a variety of community organizations, parent leaders and teachers who will step up to support the strike. We are seeking the support of churches, libraries, and recreation centers throughout San Francisco who will pledge to offer their facilities to students as ‘Solidarity Schools’ during a strike. For students who do not need full-day supervision but do need food, we need help in planning for food distribution points. Talk to teachers at your school to support them making plans with nearby facilities! We also need you as a parent to help us coordinate childcare and safe spaces with other parents at your school. Talk to other parents in your kid’s class or school in order to coordinate!

The District may tell you that your child will have an “unexcused” absence in the event you keep your child out of school, but it has been our experience that there is no negative impact to students of honoring the picket line, and the teachers’ Union will support parents to ensure that missing school during a strike should not affect grades, graduation, or college acceptances.

This depends on your school site. Talk to the after school program director to learn about their plan for a potential strike. Some after school providers will change schedules or locations to be in solidarity with teachers.

Talk to your child’s teacher! Some may send home workbooks,  create packets, or share digital resources that your student can use during a potential strike.

Talk to your child’s teachers. If they don’t know the answers to your questions, they can refer you to a teacher leader on campus.