Parent op-ed: Striking SF educators are fighting for all of our kids
This op-ed was written by SFUSD parent Andrea Pereira. On Strike! is proud to print this compelling argument for why parents should support the striking educators.
School district parent: “Striking educators are fighting for all of our kids!”
This op-ed was written by SFUSD parent Andrea Pereira. On Strike! is proud to print this compelling argument for why parents should support the striking educators.
As a parent with two kids at Sunnyside Elementary School, I salute the educators who will do whatever it takes to secure fully-staffed schools and stable learning conditions for my kids. They are sacrificing pay to safeguard our children’s future in this very uncertain time for families like mine.
Billionaires and the federal government have intensified their attacks on working people. The wealthiest few have become richer and richer while the rest of us struggle to buy groceries and make rent. The billionaire-backed Trump administration is funneling money to ICE and promoting terror in our schools and communities. Just a week ago on January 30th, hundreds of thousands of students and workers around the country walked out in solidarity with Minnesota and to stop ICE terror. Now, United Educators of San Francisco is showing us what it means to stand up and fight for our rights. The union is fighting not only for decent working conditions, but also for sanctuary language in their contract. Parents, students, and community members are ready to have their back and are joining them on the picket line.
Let me be clear: the working conditions of our educators are the learning conditions of our children. Our educators don’t want to strike, they want to be in the classroom with their students. The educators are not just fighting for themselves, they are fighting for all of our kids.
San Francisco’s educators have tried so many times to win the schools our students deserve. You might remember Prop. 15, back in 2020 when educators tried to end the corporate exploitation of property tax loopholes to fund our schools. We would have reclaimed $12 billion every year for our schools and communities this way, but the ultra-rich opposition spent over $73.1 million to defeat the proposition. The truth is, California legislators have divested and underfunded public education for a long time. Most of these elected officials have never set foot in a classroom.
For the past few years, and in the current contract negotiation, the school district has continually referenced a “deficit” that they need to cover. We’ve all been told that the district must balance its budget or else risk state takeover. But when we look at the numbers, we find that they are in the practice of grossly underestimating their revenue and overestimating their expenditures. This year alone they added $111 million to their reserves, while saying they need to make cuts. Parents are sick of this narrative of instability and the district’s constant threats that they will close our schools, lay off our valuable educators, and disrupt our communities. Educators know the conditions of our schools better than anyone else. We trust them.
My kids and I will be walking the picket line, with our homemade signs, supporting the educators on strike. Their missed instructional time will be for the long-term benefit of their schools. And they will be receiving yet another valuable lesson from their educators: they will get to see with their own eyes what it looks like when we come together to fight for what’s right for working people, for our communities, and for the public education they deserve.