Statement from UESF President Dennis Kelly on Negotiations with the SFUSD and the Board of Education Meeting Tonight
After a 17-hour marathon session that ended at 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday, no significant progress was made in negotiations between the United Educators of San Francisco and the San Francisco Unified School District.
The failure of the superintendent to deal positively or consider a compromise aimed at preserving classroom instruction and student services means that the school board will take final action on layoffs tonight without a negotiated agreement. This almost certainly means that the district will send out a far higher number of layoffs than if they had worked to resolve this issue at the bargaining table.
Despite meeting with Superintendent Carlos Garcia, his chief deputy Richard Carranza and the mediator and apparently making progress, the district’s last written proposal contained no guarantee on saving a single paraprofessional job, while demanding more money than they had claimed previously. The have also rejected almost all of the union’s proposals on working conditions.
UESF bargaining team members sincerely regret the posturing and arrogance of the district that has prevented the achievement of a settlement prior to this evening’s Board of Education meeting at which time the final layoff numbers will be announced.
UESF’s goal in all of this has been to preserve the quality of education in classrooms and to preserve needed student services and supports. We worked to put money on the table and offered modified language on working conditions in an effort to achieve an agreement.
The question we have now is the same one we had at the beginning of this process – what will it take to preserve these jobs and the quality of education in our schools?
Dennis Kelly
President, UESF
