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SFUSD teacher strike next week
this evening, members of SEIU, a sister union to my union, United Educators of San Francisco, announced that they will strike next week.
SFUSD teacher strike next week
Hi Friends & Supporters,
The impending school district strike looks more and more like reality - Of course, I will not cross a picket line, and have full & complete student support.
For some of us, this means a couple of days or weeks of no work and pay, but that's a sacrifice some of us are willing to take.
See you on the line or on the streets!
Peace,
Nancy
Sonarist wrote:
11/10/2005
hello everyone,
its me, armon. this is why i will be going on strike next week:
this evening, members of SEIU, a sister union to my union, United Educators of San Francisco, announced that they will strike next week. SEIU is comprised of co-workers of ours who we teachers see everyday. They clean our classroooms, serve lunch to our students, and among other things, remove asbestos from our schools. On average, SEIU workers work four to five hours a day within SF schools. As I understand it, they are striking for the following reasons.
1. The district only pays these workers three out of every five hours they work to avoid contributing costs to their health care.
2. The district refuses to provide health care coverage to their immediate family members. Despite the rising cost of health care these days, the SEIU membership in SF is small enough that Superintendent
Arlene Ackerman's severence package-- $375,000-- would have been enough to cover these costs for the year!
3. Negotiations have come to an impasse, and without striking, SEIU will be forced to accept the district's last offer which leaves them no room to bargain for a sustainable future. I have to say this again, and I never use caps. THIS IS ABOUT PROVIDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR WORKING PEOPLE, PREDOMINANTLY PEOPLE OF COLOR, WHO HAVE CHILDREN WHO ATTEND OUR SCHOOLS.
4. When compared to SEIU workers in other districts in California, these workers by far have the worst offer ever handed to members of their union in any other district in over one-hundred other districts. As one teamster from another union told me recently, "If this were our union, we'd spit in their faces before we accepted an offer this insulting." therefore, i and many of my brothers and sisters in UESF will be joining SEIU on the picket lines when they annouce their strike next week. we will not cross. we will not
work.
there's more:
my own union, UESF, while not announcing a strike of their own, is very likely to do so in the near future. for this reason, solidarity within and among sister unions is very important. this is a very tough time,
especially when I consider what some people are thinking right now: "The economy sucks. There is a war. Everyone's thinking about their paycheck. Of course those teachers want to strike." NO. THIS IS NOT ABOUT TRYING TO SQUEEZE BLOOD FROM A TURNIP! please consider the following:
1. Over the last five years the district has received a 15% increase in funding from the state. This money was designed specifically to pass on to school district employees as a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). UESF members have only received 2% of the 15% COLA. If you consider that San Francisco Unified is dead last among large California districts in total budget spent on salaries and benefits for employees, along with the fact that San Francisco Unified spends 8.75% of its budget on professional consultant services-- 3rd highest amongst 13 largest school districts in Califronia-- no wonder "school district negotiators say there is no money available for wage adjustments for teachers and paraprofessionals." [ http://www.uesf.org/facts.html] We are a very "top heavy" district, with adminstrators paying large salaries to other administrators to make thier jobs easier! Just last month the San
Francisco Unified School District received $1.8 million in state lottery funds (See SF Examiner 10/7/05). According to the California Lottery, 77% of these funds are usually spent on salaries and benefits for instructors. For the 2004-2005 School year, SFUSD received more than $6.3 million, about $468,000 more than was projected. Yet, none of that money has so far been spent on a salary increase for teachers. [ http://www.uesf.org/facts.html]
2. Superintendent Arlene Ackerman is one of the highest paid administrators in the country. Despite her repeated claims of district poverty, Ackerman got herself a raise to $250,000 a year, and a generous housing and transportation allowance. On top of that she will receive and unprecedented $375,000 simply for quiting at the end of the school year.
3. A CTA analysis found that at $53,843, the average teacher salary in San Francisco ranks 10th out of 13 largest California districts, despite San Francisco being the most expensive place to live in the state. (Keep in mind that half of us, including me, make AT LEAST $10,000 less than this figure.) [http://www.CTA.org]
4. San Francisco Teachers are amongst the lowest paid in the nation and in the state of California. When comparing salaries throughout the entire country, the National Center for Policy Analysis found that San
Francisco teachers earned the second worst salary in the nation at an adjusted $32,663. Another study, by the California Budget Project, also found that San Francisco is the most expensive place to raise a family in the state. That study found that a family of four must make nearly $80,000 a year to afford basic
needs.
5. Our district is currently either refusing to adopt, proposing to take-away or eliminating many important provisions which make our jobs safe and healthy, including: built-in preparation periods during the school day, rights of members to have a voice at work through the Union Building Committees, sabbaticals, important health and safety provisions, requirement to keep schools clean from rodents and insects, protection from and removal of asbestos at schools, and other important provisions [ http://www.uesf.org/facts.html].
So, please, please let everyone you know KNOW...
during the last strike of 1979, 60% of san franciscans didn't send their kids to school because they supported us. now, we need you. everyone you know needs to know that there is a battle on in SF. it is NOT the have-nots vs. the have-nots. THE MONEY IS THERE. THEY HAVE IT. please tell
everyone you know that we are making a stand. its going to hurt us. its definitely going to hurt me, because i was just evicted and have payed rent twice this month. but that's nothing compared to teachers who are being payed through grants who will be striking with me without health insurance, or teachers who are worried that the district won't hire them next year because of their probationary status.
please tell everyone you know. it's on. for real.
every san franciscan who hears a story in support of the imminent teacher strike brings us that much closer to surviving one more year as a profession perpetually on the verge of a break-down.
every parent who can afford to keep their child home during the strike that does so will bring us that much closer to forcing the district to respect all its workers.
PLEASE MENTION THE STRIKE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.
thanks,
Armon
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It is long overdue that there be a school strike. Teachers are are required to have a college degree and should start at $80,000 per year. No one should make less than $20 per hour, especially on union jobs. The reason labor barely squeaked to victory on November 8 is that labor has not been fighting; it has been kissing the capitalist Democrats' ass, and that is certain political death. If you do not win your demands in 1 week, you should expand the strike to a citywide general strike. We have to stop the economic decline and the growing fascism and promotion of religion in the schools. We also have to demand that all schools be as good as Lowell High School, that the entrance exam to Lowell be eliminated as having a private school in a public school system is insulting and should be illegal, that all schools have sufficient and modern textbooks, adequate heat and ventilation, all physical facilities in top shape and no rats or roaches. The only answer labor has to the reactionary testing and the decline in the school system is to strike, and you can be sure we will all support you.
Where can UESF members find 'official' strike news posted on
the net? From what I gather, SF Indymedia seems to be the
only source. Who are your news sources? UESF sources haven't heard or received a word of an 'official' strike, yet.
the net? From what I gather, SF Indymedia seems to be the
only source. Who are your news sources? UESF sources haven't heard or received a word of an 'official' strike, yet.
"Teachers are required to have a college degree..."
Not only a college degree. We also have to take ten teaching credential courses for the preliminary certificate (and more to get a clear cert.), pass a subject-matter competency test (the social studies test consists of 120 multiple choice questions and nine one-page essays) that costs more than $300, get a clearance from the Justice Department (finger printing, etc), and must contend with an unending array of bureaucratic demands. Once landing a job, a reasonably dutiful teacher works approximately 60 hours/week (prepping and grading takes many hours over and beyond time in the classroom) and many find themselves paying out of pocket to ensure that their classes are stocked with something-approaching adequate resources for their students.
Not only a college degree. We also have to take ten teaching credential courses for the preliminary certificate (and more to get a clear cert.), pass a subject-matter competency test (the social studies test consists of 120 multiple choice questions and nine one-page essays) that costs more than $300, get a clearance from the Justice Department (finger printing, etc), and must contend with an unending array of bureaucratic demands. Once landing a job, a reasonably dutiful teacher works approximately 60 hours/week (prepping and grading takes many hours over and beyond time in the classroom) and many find themselves paying out of pocket to ensure that their classes are stocked with something-approaching adequate resources for their students.
You mean I'm not the only one working 60 hours? (Just kidding. I mean, about being the only one - the parking lot at work is almost always full when I'm there.) And I've spent a little over $200 on classroom supplies this month, alone.
Teacher on the Peninsula in solidarity.
Teacher on the Peninsula in solidarity.
Please stop spending any money on supplies. You certainly do not make enough to itemize deductions on your income taxes. The children can go home to their parents who can complain to the school board and to the legislators, demanding more money be spent on schools. The children are not yours. You are not there to feel sorry for anyone; you are there to do your job as a teacher. If the supplies or anything else is not appropriate for education, the children can go home and tell their parents, who made the decision to have children, and the parents can complain to the school board and legislators until the schools are serious places of education.
The San Francico teachers are working without a contract. When the classified employees go on strike, so should the teachers. In the future: No contract, no work.
As to working overtime, stop doing it. You can have the children read while you correct tests. Stop assigning homework; you can suggest to the children to do the problems/questions at the end of the chapter in the textbook or whatever you use as basic lessons, but you do not have to grade them. If the only way the children can learn is with a weekly quiz, make the quiz last a half hour or less so you can grade it in the classroom, while the children read the next lesson. If anyone tries to disrupt the classroom, kick them out of the classroom. I am sure you have procedures for this.
In Berkeley, for a while they had a "work to rule" effort, and teachers finally stopped volunteering for charity rackets (appearances at any and all events outside of the classroom). YOU SHOULD ALWAYS WORK TO RULE.
You are not appreciated for working 60 hours a week, spending money on supplies, or doing anything that is not in your job description. You do not even get paid enough to be a teacher, much less do anything else. Please spread these basic class conscious lessons to all teachers, go on strike as soon as the contract expires, and stay there until you get the $80,000 a year, the supplies and the secure physical environment necessary to define your workplace as a school and not a hellhole.
The general public is either not aware of the horrors of the public school system or has been allowed to be pampered by your 60 hour weeks and providing supplies. The wake-up call must be given immediately. The general public must run screaming to their stinking legislators, whom they routinely re-elect for no good reason whatsoever, and demand they spend the money on schools, not prisons, and that they raise the progressive income tax on the rich, those who make over $200,000 a year, not lower it, which they have been doing it.
ON STRIKE, SHUT IT DOWN. No more 60 hour work weeks. No more homework assignments. Keep testing to a minimum, preferably just a midterm and final. No more providing supplies to the schools. Do not feel sorry for a society that clearly has contempt for education. If they want serious schools, they have to pay for them. You will also be contributing to the prison abolition movement and the peace movement by following these principles, as the money for schools must come from transferring the prison & military budgets to education and social services, as well as taxing the rich.
The San Francico teachers are working without a contract. When the classified employees go on strike, so should the teachers. In the future: No contract, no work.
As to working overtime, stop doing it. You can have the children read while you correct tests. Stop assigning homework; you can suggest to the children to do the problems/questions at the end of the chapter in the textbook or whatever you use as basic lessons, but you do not have to grade them. If the only way the children can learn is with a weekly quiz, make the quiz last a half hour or less so you can grade it in the classroom, while the children read the next lesson. If anyone tries to disrupt the classroom, kick them out of the classroom. I am sure you have procedures for this.
In Berkeley, for a while they had a "work to rule" effort, and teachers finally stopped volunteering for charity rackets (appearances at any and all events outside of the classroom). YOU SHOULD ALWAYS WORK TO RULE.
You are not appreciated for working 60 hours a week, spending money on supplies, or doing anything that is not in your job description. You do not even get paid enough to be a teacher, much less do anything else. Please spread these basic class conscious lessons to all teachers, go on strike as soon as the contract expires, and stay there until you get the $80,000 a year, the supplies and the secure physical environment necessary to define your workplace as a school and not a hellhole.
The general public is either not aware of the horrors of the public school system or has been allowed to be pampered by your 60 hour weeks and providing supplies. The wake-up call must be given immediately. The general public must run screaming to their stinking legislators, whom they routinely re-elect for no good reason whatsoever, and demand they spend the money on schools, not prisons, and that they raise the progressive income tax on the rich, those who make over $200,000 a year, not lower it, which they have been doing it.
ON STRIKE, SHUT IT DOWN. No more 60 hour work weeks. No more homework assignments. Keep testing to a minimum, preferably just a midterm and final. No more providing supplies to the schools. Do not feel sorry for a society that clearly has contempt for education. If they want serious schools, they have to pay for them. You will also be contributing to the prison abolition movement and the peace movement by following these principles, as the money for schools must come from transferring the prison & military budgets to education and social services, as well as taxing the rich.
I am a high school student attending an SFUSD school. I am concerned about the strike and am shocked by some of the comments here.
Asking teachers to do marginal work is NOT the answer. Please remember that students are not the enemy here; they should not be subject to your passive aggression. Giving them a substandard education will not help the teacher's union at all, and will actually negatively impact students' performances on standardized tests and hurt their chances for college.
At my high school, Teachers pay for their supplies (like whiteboard markers), and have a extremely limited copy-machine privileges. (Go over like 200 sheets and the teachers have to pay for it out of their own pockets.) Students also pitch in, paying "lab fees," and are encouraged to make donations in the form of cash or requested supplies. Donations will usually boosts a child's grade. Teachers and students shouldn't have to resort to this, but we are doing what we can to make sure students get a decent education. Without the supplies, teachers simply cannot teach. When teachers don't teach, students are denied education. Imagine being in a lab class without ANY lab supplies. This is clearly not right. Students should be #1 priority.
The problem isn't that legislators are unaware of the sorry state of public schools. Of course they know. The problem is unwillingness to compromise. Asking teachers to do a marginal job is deplorable. Kindly redirect your scorn to the legislators, where it belongs. So please, have your meetings, your talks, and your discussions WITHOUT jeopardizing students' education. Let's remember what's it's all about, folks.
Asking teachers to do marginal work is NOT the answer. Please remember that students are not the enemy here; they should not be subject to your passive aggression. Giving them a substandard education will not help the teacher's union at all, and will actually negatively impact students' performances on standardized tests and hurt their chances for college.
At my high school, Teachers pay for their supplies (like whiteboard markers), and have a extremely limited copy-machine privileges. (Go over like 200 sheets and the teachers have to pay for it out of their own pockets.) Students also pitch in, paying "lab fees," and are encouraged to make donations in the form of cash or requested supplies. Donations will usually boosts a child's grade. Teachers and students shouldn't have to resort to this, but we are doing what we can to make sure students get a decent education. Without the supplies, teachers simply cannot teach. When teachers don't teach, students are denied education. Imagine being in a lab class without ANY lab supplies. This is clearly not right. Students should be #1 priority.
The problem isn't that legislators are unaware of the sorry state of public schools. Of course they know. The problem is unwillingness to compromise. Asking teachers to do a marginal job is deplorable. Kindly redirect your scorn to the legislators, where it belongs. So please, have your meetings, your talks, and your discussions WITHOUT jeopardizing students' education. Let's remember what's it's all about, folks.
Anyone interested in organizing an impromptu flyering group for solidarity support? Let's show SFUSD that we are behind the teachers.
British Columbia teachers and labor/community groups showed the State that substandard wages and working conditions were unexectable for techers. You wanna fight Arnolds policies of gutting our schools and healthcare? Here's your chance.
IN THE EVENT THAT THE TEACHERS STRIKE, ALL OUT TO THE PICKET LINES!
British Columbia teachers and labor/community groups showed the State that substandard wages and working conditions were unexectable for techers. You wanna fight Arnolds policies of gutting our schools and healthcare? Here's your chance.
IN THE EVENT THAT THE TEACHERS STRIKE, ALL OUT TO THE PICKET LINES!
Looks like the strike isn't going to happen: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/baycitynews/a/2005/11/16/strike16.DTL&feed=rss.news
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