San Francisco Unified teachers’ strike ends after tentative agreement reached

A tentative agreement has been reached between the San Francisco Unified School District and the United Educators of San Francisco, both sides announced Friday morning, ending a teachers’ strike that began earlier this week.

The agreement on a two-year deal was reached around 5:30 a.m., following a 13-hour bargaining session. Campuses and administrative offices are open to staff on Friday, but remain closed for students.

Classes are set to resume on Wednesday, following the Presidents’ Day holiday on Monday and the start of Lunar New Year on Tuesday.

“I know that this has been a really difficult week and I cannot wait to welcome all of our students, all of our families, back to school on Wednesday, February 18th,” superintendent Maria Su said at a news conference Friday morning.

On Monday, about 6,000 teachers began walking the picket lines, after an agreement was not reached over the previous weekend. It was the district’s first teacher strike since a 1979 walkout that lasted six weeks.

Sticking points on a deal were wages, healthcare for dependents, along with assistance for special education staff.

The union said the agreement includes fully-funded healthcare that includes families and what they described as “immediate relief” for special education staff in the form of caseload reduction. Classified employees will also receive an 8.5% raise over two years, while teachers will receive a 5% raise over two years.

Other terms of the agreement include sanctuary protections and limitations on the use of artificial intelligence.

“By forcing SFUSD to invest in fully funded family healthcare, special education workloads, improved wages, sanctuary and housing protections for San Francisco families, we’ve made important progress towards the schools our students deserve,” union president Cassondra Curiel said in a statement. “This contract is a strong foundation for us to continue to build the safe and stable learning environments our students deserve.”

At a briefing Friday morning, the superintendent said the addition of family healthcare was historic and was possible through the use of a special parcel tax.

“We cannot bring down the cost of housing or the price of groceries. but we can do our part to honor our educators and staff and their families,” Su said.

The superintendent also addressed the district’s path to fiscal stability, as the district remains under state oversight and is facing a $100 million budget deficit in the upcoming school year.

“We stretched our resources to the limit to get this agreement done. We still have a long way ahead of us where difficult choices remain. So while we have a deal today, we still need more support in the future,” Su said, urging the state to change how it funds local public schools.

Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement from his office, “Our kids deserve schools where they can thrive, with educators who have the tools and support they need to best serve our kids. And all of our families deserve a fiscally stable school district that will be able to do the same for generations to come. This agreement is evidence that when we work together, we can all get closer to that goal.”

It was not immediately known when union members would hold a ratification vote on the agreement. The agreement would also need to be ratified by the Board of Education.

SFUSD serves nearly 50,000 students in more than 120 campuses.