For Immediate Release: June 16, 2023
Contact: Amanda Hart, ahart@uesf.org
San Francisco Teacher’s Union Responds to Civil Grand Jury Report about Teacher Shortage
Calls on District and Elected Leaders to Step Up and Deal with Ongoing Crisis
SAN FRANCISCO— On Thursday, June 15, the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury released a report outlining how the shortage of credentialed teachers impacts our schools and students here in San Francisco. While this issue is not unique to San Francisco, or even California, the high cost of living, lack of affordable housing, and the disastrous EMPower payroll system debacle have added to the problem and made recruiting and retaining educators in San Francisco challenging.
The report cited long-standing issues, such as low pay and mismanagement, as the root causes for the lack of highly qualified teacher recruitment and retention. UESF has been tirelessly voicing and organizing to address these root causes for many years. In response to the report, UESF President Cassondra Curiel said, “As educators who love and care for our students, we will continue to urge our leaders on a local and national level to take this crisis seriously and partner with us to fix these solvable problems. We need SFUSD to do its part and negotiate a contract that meets the needs of our students and educators, but we also need our elected leaders to step up and prioritize funding public education and affordable housing. If we want to solve this crisis, each of us has a part to play, and we invite everyone to join us in advocating for the schools our students deserve.”
In the upcoming school year, SFUSD can demonstrate its commitment to addressing the recommendations made by the SF Civil Grand Jury by agreeing to the contract demands put forth by UESF. Any solutions to these issues must prioritize the input of educators and families. In the last few years, we have seen more and more families and students advocating for the quality public education they deserve. We can overcome any challenge public education faces if we work together.
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