SFUSD Teachers Union Overwhelmingly Approves Contract Deal

San Francisco’s teachers union overwhelmingly voted to ratify its new two-year contract on Friday, two weeks after the tentative deal ended a four-day strike.

United Educators of San Francisco, which represents 6,000 teachers, classroom aides, counselors, social workers and other staff, voted 92% in favor of the $183 million deal.

The contract includes a commitment from the district to fully fund family health care beginning next year and boosts wages for some of the district’s lowest-paid workers.

“San Francisco educators have overwhelmingly approved the contract that we know will help stabilize our schools and our communities,” union President Cassondra Curiel said.

“This is a historic win. It’s a win for our members … it’s a win for our school district and broadly for public educators throughout the Bay Area and California.”

The vote comes as some other Bay Area districts narrowly avoid their own work stoppages. Early Friday, the Oakland Unified School District reached a tentative agreement with its teachers union to avert a looming strike, and Berkeley also secured a deal earlier this week.

“We’re really happy, proud of them and looking forward to hearing about many more districts doing the right thing and making sure that our schools are fully funded,” Curiel said.

Under the new deal, SFUSD will begin to cover the full cost of health care premiums for educators with dependents. Union leaders have said that previously cost members up to $1,500 per month.

The contract also grants an 8.5% wage increase over two years to security guards and paraeducators, who work as classroom aides. Teachers and other credentialed staff, including social workers and counselors, will see 5% raises in that time.

It isn’t without pushback from some members, including a group of Independence High School teachers, who urged fellow educators to vote against ratification, citing a lack of concrete special education reforms and lower raises for credentialed staff than the union had proposed.

The 5% increase they’ll get over the next two years fails to keep up with the federal cost-of-living adjustment for 2026.

After the deal, the district has also warned that it will add another burden onto its already thin budget. SFUSD is looking to cut $100 million in ongoing expenses this spring, not considering the additional costs of the labor deal.

This week, the school board approved dozens of layoffs, and more reductions are expected in the coming months. Superintendent Maria Su has said workforce reductions and possible school closures are “on the table.”

“We stretched our resources to the limit to get this agreement done,” she said after signing the tentative agreement. “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.”

But the union has said the district’s narrative about its budget is untrue, accusing officials of manufacturing a crisis while building up a significant reserve fund.

Curiel said Friday that the city’s strong support for striking teachers shows that “our community members support our public schools being as best as they can be.”

“That puts us in stark conflict with any initiatives that attempt from any direction to cut positions, to cut programs from schools, to eliminate schools,” she said. “We and our many, many supporters … are ready to step up to the plate and to fight for the schools our students deserve.”

The contract still needs to be approved by SFUSD’s school board before it becomes final.