- By James Salazar | Examiner staff writer
- Feb 11, 2026 (SFExaminer.com)
San Francisco public schools will remain closed Thursday for a fourth straight day as bargaining teams for San Francisco’s public-school district and its teachers union continue negotiating a new two-year contract.
San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Maria Su said at a Wednesday morning press conference that talks between both parties broke down the previous night when union leaders sent their negotiators home after receiving the district’s counterproposal just after 8:30 p.m. The offer addressed compensation, health-care benefits and special education concerns, Su said.
The United Educators of San Francisco have spent this week picketing after walking off their jobs on Monday for the first time since 1979. District and union representatives have been in negotiations since March, and their contract expired in July.
As talks have stalled, both sides have stressed urgency in coming to a new agreement and getting students back in their classrooms. Su said she was frustrated talks broke down Tuesday night without an agreement.
“Our students and parents and the entire school community and city deserve nothing less,” Su said at her press conference. “We can’t just keep putting forward proposals and not receive a counter. That’s not how this works.”
District and union bargainers remain far apart on health-care benefits. The district has proposed covering 80% of health-care premiums for up to two dependents, while union members are pushing for full coverage for families.
Teacher salaries have also been a point of contention. Union negotiators asked for an 8% raise over two years, while the district has proposed a 6% increase. Both sides are also still trying to come to terms on the recruitment and retention of special-education teachers.
Local and state leaders have stepped in to help smooth points of contention between SFUSD and UESF representatives. Mayor Daniel Lurie and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond joined talks Tuesday.
“Every day that our children are out of school is really impactful on our children and our working families,” Lurie told reporters Wednesday morning during a breakfast with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. “I love our educators. It’s why we need to get them back in the classroom.”
When asked to comment on negotiations stalling, Lurie said he didn’t “want to get into a blame game.”
“That is not my role,” he said. “My role is to make sure that we get both parties to the table.”
Other local unions and San Francisco residents have expressed solidarity with the teachers union. Supporters rallied Wednesday afternoon at Ocean Beach, showing their support for the teachers by making a human banner that called for an end to the strike.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten spent this week walking the picket line in solidarity with union members.
Weingarten said her organization’s members are supporting local teachers because what they “are asking for is righteous, because it’s what children and educators need.”
Labor talks are about “fully staffed, stable schools, sustainable working conditions, strong special education services and real protections for immigrant and unhoused students,” she said.
“This fight belongs to all of us,” said Chelsea Fink, a member of Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which is staging a sympathy strike alongside the teachers’ union. “Schools can’t function and students can’t thrive without the educators and staff who keep our schools running every day.”
As the strike has gone on, the distrit has agreed to adopt protections and policies for undocumented students and to support families experiencing housing insecurity by expanding a shelter program. District officials offered a 10% salary increase for paraeducators earlier this week, Su said.
Fink said she will support UESF until its members receive “comprehensive” health-care benefits.
“United, we’re seeing that change is possible,” she said.
Bianca Polovina, the president of International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers Local 21, said The City has “the means to strengthen our public schools.”
In solidarity with UESF, IFPTE Local 21 is calling “on the school district to make better choices for everyday San Franciscans, not for consultants,” Polovina said. “Fair public education is a right.”
SFUSD’s precarious financial situation has affected negotiations, Su said. The district will face a $102 million budget deficit for the 2026-27 school year and is in the process of moving out of state oversight. But as long as the district is under California’s watch, the state’s fiscal advisers would need to approve any agreement.
“We are on the right path to fiscal solvency, and so we need to be responsible with the deals,” Su told reporters Wednesday.
“Wherever we increase, we’re going to have to take the cut somewhere else. We’re looking at everything really carefully,” Su said. “At the end of the day, I want to make sure that we have schools that really will be able to support our students.”
In a statement, union representatives said they have seen “movement towards an agreement that will bring our students back to classrooms, and made a few important steps on that path. We know there is more work to be done.”
“What comes next is a matter of the district prioritizing classrooms, students and educators,” the union’s statement read. “Our families are watching and waiting.”
Su said she “absolutely” wants to reopen schools.
“I need our kids in the classroom. That is where they belong,” she said. “I cannot reopen schools unless we have staff.”
Whether or not the strike extends into a fifth day Friday, San Francisco’s public schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday due to the President’s Day and Lunar New Year holidays, respectively.
In the meantime, Weingarten said she and other supporters will spend the foreseeable future rallying for educators’ new contract.
“The solidarity is powerful,” she said.
Examiner staff writer Patrick Hoge contributed reporting to this article.
James Salazar
Neighborhoods & Culture Correspondent
