About 6,000 public schoolteachers in the San Francisco Unified School District went on strike Monday.
The Associated Press reports that the strike comes after teachers and the district failed to reach an agreement over higher wages, health benefits, and more resources for students with special needs. The San Francisco district has closed all 120 of its schools and said it would offer independent study to some of its 50,000 students.
Last-ditch negotiations over the weekend failed to result in a new contract.
Lily Perales, a history teacher at Mission High School, said many union members can’t afford to live in San Francisco anymore.
“Too many of my colleagues have been pushed out of the city because of the high cost of living, and with our current contract it’s not enough,” she said from a picket line Monday.
The union and the district have been negotiating for nearly a year. Teachers are demanding fully funded family health care, salary raises and the filling of vacant special education positions.
The union is asking for a 9% raise over two years, which would cost an additional $92 million per year for the district.
The school district faces a $100 million deficit and is under state oversight because of a long-standing financial crisis, has rejected the union's proposals. It has countered with a proposed 6% wage increase paid over three years.
A report by a neutral fact-finding panel has recommended a compromise of a 6% increase over two years, largely siding with the district’s contention that it is financially constrained.
