Over 6,000 educators in San Francisco are in their third day on strike, with hundreds of picket lines across the school district drawing extensive community support. The walkout centers on demands that have culminated over several years, including:
- Fair wages
- Fully funded healthcare
- Sanctuary school protections from ICE operations
- Emergency housing services for students and families
- Expanded special education services
Throughout the last year of contract negotiations, and in prior disputes, district officials have insisted that the union’s demands cannot be met because of a projected “deficit” in the education budget. But analysts and union representatives, like Angela Su, dispute the claim.
Last year’s 111 million USD allocation to the reserve fund is “5 times higher than the state’s recommended reserve for economic uncertainties,” Su argued, in a dissent to a state report on the district’s finances. This “shows there are funds that can be spent on students and educators now and in future years.”
Parent-teacher solidarity
Despite generous reserve funds, families and educators feel like they are repeatedly warned of instability and hear constant threats of school closures, educator layoffs, and disruptions to public education.
“The working conditions of our educators are the learning conditions of our children,” Andrea Pereira, a parent at San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), told On Strike! newspaper*.*
Pereira said she supports the strike because the union is “doing whatever it takes to secure fully-staffed schools and stable learning conditions” for her two children. In this “very uncertain time” for families like Pereira’s, she says sacrificing pay to make change in public education warrants the support of all parents and residents.
“Striking educators are fighting for all of our kids!”
Executive Vice President of United Educators of San Francisco, Frank Lara, explains that the union’s demands are centered around the needs of the students and that’s why they are so widely supported. Demands like full resources for special education, protections from ICE, and for any closed school sites to remain public property and accessible to families are key parts of this struggle.
“We’re seeing a moving level of support and enthusiasm from the community, which is so motivating for our members. We are fighting for the schools our students deserve.”
Over 1,000 small businesses in the area have also shown their support by putting up posters reading “S.F. Stands With Striking Educators! Our Students Are Worth Fighting For!”
San Francisco ignites a statewide teachers movement
The educator’s strike in San Francisco is seen as the beginning of an escalating statewide labor movement for the future of public education. Several major school districts are facing identical structural issues. A cost-of-living crisis driving reduced enrollment and funding, which districts respond to with threats of layoffs and school closures. Educators, on the other hand, are fighting for more funding because of the higher living costs. Across the state they are demanding higher salaries, healthcare benefits, more resources and support staff, and smaller class sizes.
For several years now, the California Teachers Association (CTA) has been driving a “We Can’t Wait” campaign, actively encouraging local union chapters to coordinate contract expiration dates, negotiations, and key demands across cities.
San Francisco’s strike is widely seen as historic. It is the first teacher-only walkout in the district since 1979, when budget cuts sparked a nearly seven-week strike that won significant salary increases and other benefits.
This strike is unfolding within a rapidly shifting political landscape in the United States. Following Minnesota’s general strike on January 23 and the nationwide shutdown actions that followed on January 30, discussions around cross-industry economic stoppages have gained wider visibility in public and labor debates. The scale, community support, and statewide coordination of the SF strike reflect the growing willingness of workers to escalate collective action. Across the US, growing attention is being paid to what broader strike coordination could look like in the period ahead.
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