SF teachers and paras take a stand for the schools their students deserve
Hundreds of members of the United Educators of San Francisco delivered more than 3,800 petition signatures to the San Francisco Board of Education on Tuesday in support of a contract bargaining platform that includes calls for pay raises, better working conditions, and fully staffed schools.
Like many school districts across the state, SFUSD is facing a severe staffing shortage that is pushing educators and classified staff out of the district and seriously impacting students. For over a year, they have been dealing with a payroll fiasco in SFUSD that continues to underpay its employees. At a time when the SFUSD is already struggling to attract and retain educators in one of the most expensive cities in the world, UESF members are trying to make sure that they can pay their rent and feed their families.
UESF members’ core set of demands are what CFT members from throughout the state want: Pay raises for certificated educators and paraeducators; improved working conditions; more health and well-being supports for students; fully staffed schools; respect; and protections from the impact of poor management decisions, such as the payroll debacle.
UESF President Cassondra Curiel testified at the Board of Education meeting about what educators will be fighting for during their upcoming contract negotiations, which are set to begin next month.
“When 70 percent of the UESF membership signs on to a platform of bargaining must-haves, it shows incredible unity. The Board of Education must take seriously our unwavering commitment to our students and to great public schools,” Curiel said.
Efforts to criminalize educators and librarians are out of step with parent priorities
State legislation has been introduced in more than a dozen states that would change state obscenity laws to allow for prosecution of librarians or educators by amending or repealing the types of institutions that have a defense from prosecution.
As the EveryLibrary Institute explains in its 2023 policy brief “Opposing Attempts to Criminalize Libraries and Education through State Obscenity Laws,” efforts by lawmakers to repeal exemptions are “intended to make the normal practices of education—including health and sexuality instruction, librarianship, and the circulation of books with information about sex or sexual themes—subject to prosecution under obscenity laws.”
This is particularly concerning given efforts by conservative activists and lawmakers to redefine obscenity to include age-appropriate sex education or discussions about sexual orientation or gender identity.
While a new AFT poll points out that this type of culture war agenda is widely out of step with what the majority of parents want for our schools, we nevertheless must continue to push back on attempts to ban books, intimidate educators, and limit what can be taught in our schools. Our students deserve no less from us.
CFT Convention set for March 17-19 in San Francisco
Hundreds of CFT members and guests from throughout the state will gather in San Francisco next month for the 2023 CFT Convention. The biennial convention is the highest governing body of the CFT, and an opportunity for leaders and rank-and-file educators and classified professionals to organize and inspire one another.
The theme of this year’s convention, United for Justice. United for Education, reflects our continued commitment to building the schools our students, and our communities, deserve.
