San Francisco teachers reach tentative agreement with district.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Gentle Blythe, 415-241-6565
Teachers Union and District Reach Tentative Agreement
(San Francisco) August 1, 2012 - The United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) signed a tentative agreement today, three weeks prior to the start of the school year on August 20. The union's Executive Board voted by a 2 to 1 margin to recommend the agreement for ratification by the union's membership.
"I really appreciate everyone's hard work on this agreement. When the tide turns in this budget crisis someday, this contract is something we can talk about building on, and I, for one, am looking forward to that day," Superintendent Richard Carranza told the UESF bargaining team.
UESF President Dennis Kelly commented that, "What we accomplish together makes the difference; the things we do together define what is worth doing."
Within the mediated agreement, the school year will be restored to 179.5 school days, up from the 176 school days of the past two years and almost a return to the standard 180 days. If ratified, all employees would take 1.5 furlough days, with a half day taken the last day of school and one day taken in lieu of a third paid professional development day.
UESF and SFUSD have agreed to additional furlough days should neither of the proposed tax initiatives get passed by voters in November.
"What stands out about this agreement is that, even in the midst of an ongoing economic crisis for public schools in California, we worked together to find a way to make student learning come first by restoring the school year," said Superintendent Carranza. "However, our ability to keep schools open for our children completely hinges on the voters of California passing either or both tax initiatives, Prop. 30 and Prop. 38. Without this, we'll have to institute as many as 5 additional forced closure days for the upcoming school year and up to 10 additional days for the 2013-14 school year."
Dennis Kelly pointed out "that the union advocated for the half-day and non-instructional day closures to preserve learning time and to make a statement about the importance of extricating children from the vice of state fiscal failures."
