Happy Friday, UESF members! The following message carries a lot of importance and urgency. We hope that you will discuss this during your UBC time with all of your colleagues. If you are a member of our school communities, this message is also very important for you to hear and check in with your school staff to understand more.
While thousands of educators and families picketed last week for fully staffed schools, stability, and improved educator pay as part of the We Can’t Wait campaign, SFUSD has yet again hit a critical roadblock. As they announced cuts to central office and met with the community in town halls, district management has said they are trying to ensure that classrooms are staffed. And it is clear to us now that a single obstacle is in the way: state fiscal advisor Elliott Duchon.
UESF has tirelessly worked to hold District management accountable to its employees and its students well before there was ever a fiscal advisor. We have pushed for the District to not only meet its financial obligations, but in doing so to also create a thriving place to work and ultimately provide the quality education our students absolutely deserve.
We have pressured SFUSD to fully staff and stabilize our schools. The legacy of decades of financial mismanagement cannot be ignored. We applaud the proposed reduction of a bloated central office. We recognize the intention to make sure our students have fully staffed classrooms. We have seen a start to rooting out a culture of fraud and a lack of accountability. And much more is needed to budget responsibly and center the needs of our students.
Back in February, UESF gave our assessment of the pending staffing crisis whereby attrition, the proposed cuts to out of classroom positions, the reorganization of central office and SERP would lead to a disruption of over 1,000 UESF represented positions. The crisis is now here. As you have seen in the news, hundreds of layoff notices were initially approved and then rescinded as we said they would be. But our counselors and paraeducators who remain laid off should be rehired immediately given that there are plenty of open positions due to site funding for them. Having to go through “a reduction in staffing exercise” being imposed by a single individual is absurd, and is at the expense of needed workers for our students.
As we enter the month of May, UESF’s assessment has proven to be true. We now confront the reality of hundreds of vacancies that could be filled right now with educators who have been working at our schools on temporary contracts, with people who want to work in SFUSD. There are currently over 400 vacancies. Consolidations have been finalized, with only a handful remaining, and voluntary transfers are currently underway. We can all work together to start the 2025-2026 school year fully staffed, but a lone unelected and inexperienced state advisor is holding our schools hostage.
We cannot emphasize enough the danger this advisor is placing on the future of our students’ education. At a national level the Trump administration and unelected billionaire Elon Musk are slashing public education and starving public institutions of resources, while lining their own pockets. Here in San Francisco another unelected individual, charging the district tens of thousands of dollars monthly is obstructing the schools our students deserve. UESF stands committed to overcoming this obstacle. We ask that educators and our communities stand ready to take action as needed to fight for fully staffed classrooms and schools!
At yesterday’s May Day rallies across the country, we showed the power that workers have in demanding and creating better conditions for ourselves, our families and our communities. We have power and will use it to fight and win the schools our students deserve. Have a great weekend and stay connected for more of your union actions.
