BC
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The following questions were asked by UESF members who attended townhalls on Oct 25 & Oct 26. If you have additional questions not covered below please email ask-uesf@uesf.org.
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QuestionResponse
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What is the status of the non-monetary asks in the negotiations? Namely, class sizes, caseloads for Sped. teachers.For special education please read the following which is included in our TA document:
Special Education Working Group/Reopener
○ The biggest win for special education is the working group that will feed into a
reopener beginning Feb.1 2024. The language we agreed on is: “Within thirty (30) days of ratification of this agreement, the parties shall form a working group consisting of up to eleven (11) District representatives and up to eleven (11) Union representatives to develop recommendations regarding special education workloads by no later than February 1, 2024. The working group shall meet during normal work hours at least once per month. Union representatives shall be granted a reasonable amount of release time without loss of compensation to attend working group meetings. The parties shall reopen negotiations over special education workloads by no later than February 1, 2024, with the goal of reaching an agreement that can be implemented by the start of the 2024-2025 school year.” The working group and reopener will also include issues related to job protections for nurses and social workers. A job audit was agreed upon for these roles as part of the working group.
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What are the reasons why some of the items on our proposed contract dropped--specifically referring to priority placement for teachers?Specific to the Priority Schools Assignments, please see the following also included in our TA doc:
○ We were not able to win the proposed language in our contract. The current board
policy stands and is outlined in Board Policy 5101. Educators do have limited priority school assignment but not to the degree UESF had proposed. Testimony shared during the negotiations made it clear that the Board was not well communicated by district management nor was it properly implemented by district processes. The District stated a shared “interest in having the school assignment process support recruitment and retention of staff members and as such will recommend an amendment to the policy by December 15, 2023.”
○ In addition District management has already amended the current application for priority school assignments to include identifying employee applications from the beginning of the process
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Will there be info. sessions/teach in's for the pay increases so that we can get guidance on how to check our specific paychecks and make sure that we are getting the correct compensation?We ask that UBCs reach out to ask-uesf@uesf.org to invite officers to your site to discuss the TA. Next week, all members will recieve a flyer with the TA and this document of FAQ to inform them of the major wins. In today's email, we did send the salary schedules and are listed here:
Classified: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gS-KObTet0EIYKGxL_jVEufM0uynxahCTzL1C-8B6E4/edit#gid=0
Certificated: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yDQjWbZqAYspOnYl0y5iKM4SsTfg-g-KyIytqTLyWp0/edit#gid=0
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When will the TA take effect? When and how will the salary increase show up in our paychecks?The TA will be implemented if ratified by UESF membership and approved by the Board of Education. Then the district can implement and we can begin to enforce it.
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Is there any guarantee that our (those of us with dependents) contributions to our healthcare won’t greatly increase again in 2025 which could effectively while out any salary increases we will make? The cost of healthcare is determined by the City and County. They will determine if there are increases to premiums. As with this contract campaign, UESF will start the campaign by surveying ALL members to determine the priorities for the 2025 contract campaign. The best way to gaurantee healthcare is a priority is by talking to members, informing them of the need to address this in bargaining.
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Will stipends like the QTEA be eliminated?No we did not change the QTEA language. The stipends that were won were additional stipends
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Please explain how the language changing meeting time happened. For decades, we were limited to '2 faculty meetings per month' and now that language has been eliminated. This means that the 8 hours of meetings per month can ALL be directed/scheduled/planned by Admin. At high school sites with a 6 period day, my rough math says that we have approximately 80min per week available outside of our classes and duty-free prep. Instead of protecting our time to confer with students, call parents, and serve immediate student needs, we will now have LESS time. How does this create 'the schools that students deserve'?The 8 hours include faculty meetings and the site-based meetings as defined in the language below. Previously tk-5 had a 6 hour limit plus two faculty meetings (that had not time limit). NOW, all sites TK-12 will have a total 8 hour limit to site-based meetings including faculty meetings. The site-based meetings are defined as : 7.2.6.2.1 Improving curriculum, instruction, and assessment in all classrooms (e.g., Instructional Leadership Teams, Grade Level Teams, and Department Teams).
7.2.6.2.2 Supporting teachers unit members through opportunities for their professional growth (e.g., site-based and other non-District-wide professional development).
7.2.6.2.3 Planning with non-classroom teachers, as well as support staff, paraprofessionals/paraeducators, teacher librarians, and itinerant teachers assigned to the site.
7.2.6.2.4 Planning time for special education teachers, related service providers and general education teachers who have students in common, or who teach the same student(s)
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Haven't seen what, if anything, will change for non-core para subs. Safe to assume they get the $30/5%? Do they get any longevity increase? Anything else? Thank you!Classified substiutes will be moved up to 30 dollars and hour and receive a 5 percent raise in the second year.
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What is the next step if the the tentative agreement is not approved by the members? UESF is mobilized to organize the YES vote. The bargaining team presented what was considered the best agreement to the membership. Given how representative the team is, we know this agreement represents the membership. If the agreement didn't pass, we would have to go back to the bargaining table knowing that there are very limited funds to bargain over.
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SPED teachers were angered when we once again were pushed to the back-burner and our needs were not addressed. SPED teachers are suffering big-time & we need more advocacy by our union leaders to retain staff (certificated/classified) and supports for the most vulnerable children. Why was SPED needs not addressed during the last bargaining session when a TA was reached with the district? What does the February group/meetings look like and what will be discussed? How will you get input from veteran SPED teachers?SFUSD district management refused to make meaningful movement to ensure caps for caseloads and lowering, which was our proposal. Reducing caseloads is a very costly proposal. In order to truly win caps and limit caseloads, we would have to be able to focus a good amount of cost on those proposals, and reduce our compensation wins. The highest priority of membership was raises and we had to keep that in mind. We did win a reopener starting on Feb.1 which is important. It was the same thing OEA won in their recently concluded contract struggle. We will be able to negotiate working conditions for special education educators as well as nurses and social workers. The bargaining team has a high number of special education educators. We discussed and prepared strategy with a high focus on special education educators. We were not able to win a lower caseload but we will focus a great deal of effort on the reopener.
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I saw that you eliminated the two tier pay system for subs. I didnt see that this applies to EED OST sub teachers and also pre-k sub teachers. Please explainIt should. We have to confirm a shared understanding with the district before we can distribute that.
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Is there any language to protect TSA's from being re-assigned indiscriminately?There is not. All representatives were asked to bring langauge representing their respective units.
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What happens if the membership does not ratify the TA? Do we go back to the bargaining table?UESF is mobilized to organize the YES vote. The bargaining team presented what was considered the best agreement to the membership. Given how representative the team is, we know this agreement represents the membership. If the agreement didn't pass, we would have to go back to the bargaining table knowing that there are very limited funds to bargain over.
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"7.2.8 Preparation time within the workday" - An 8 hr 'limit' per month on meetings seems to mean MORE meetings at 6 period/day HSs with only Wed early release. This could potentially mean every single Wed early release becomes a meeting instead of only 2 a month for faculty meetings. Is there something in the language that would prevent this? We'd have no time to support students, collaborate with colleagues on things WE (not admin) feel are important, etc.Yes the UBC can come to an agreement with the administration. The site-based meetings are not just faculty meeitngs but PD and other meetings as described in article 7. The schedule needs to be agreed on with the UBC so it does not need to be a faculty meeting every wednesday.
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What is happening with the Empower SF faulty system?The Superintendent has stated they plan on looking for an alternative system.
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What is UESF and/or the district doing to advocate for more funding for the district so we can address these deficits?UESF is always looking for more funds for this District. Just last year, we supported and mobilzied for the support of Prop. G funds as well as advocating for community schools funding from the State of CA. It is up to the District to balance the budget. Our union will continue organizing our members to bring in more resources to SFUSD. The plan to align contracts of all major unions to put pressure on the State of CA for fudning is now in place for 2025.
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With the EmPower debacle still happening, how are we suppose to track/ensure we are getting the appropriate raise?The first tasks is to get this ratified. All members who would like to apply these raises ASAP should be advocating for the passge of this agreement. UESF officers will use this momentum to demand the TA get implemented before the end of the December.
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Why did we decide to deal rather than strike?The goal is always to come to a strong deal and not to strike. The strike vote showed we have power and unity which is what forced the District to agree to a historic TA.
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How were the increases in Healthcare costs taken into account?The cost of healthcare is determined by the City and County. They will determine if there are increases to premiums. As with this contract campaign, UESF will start the campaign by surveying ALL members to determine the priorities for the 2025 contract campaign. The best way to gaurantee healthcare is a priority is by talking to members, informing them of the need to address this in bargaining.
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If the TA goes through, how will the retroactive pay show up? Will we get a lump sum up from July 2023? Is there a ballpark on about when we would see that?The first tasks is to get this ratified. All members who would like to apply these raises ASAP should be advocating for the passge of this agreement. UESF officers will use this momentum to demand the TA get implemented before the end of the December. Once we have a set date for when the raises will be applied, we will communicate to members via the Friday email so that they know exactly when and how the "lump sum" shows up to a paycheck.
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Contract adjacent... but it affects our bottom line conpensation: How and when does the district report healthcare rates to UESF? Kaiser is going up a chunk this year and it would be good to know in advance if it is going up again during the life of this contract. The cost of healthcare is determined by the City and County. They will determine if there are increases to premiums. As with this contract campaign, UESF will start the campaign by surveying ALL members to determine the priorities for the 2025 contract campaign. The best way to gaurantee healthcare is a priority is by talking to members, informing them of the need to address this in bargaining.
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Why were most SPED questions put off to a table in January, and what can we tell SPED educators who feel upset?For special education please read the following which is included in our TA document:
Special Education Working Group/Reopener
○ The biggest win for special education is the working group that will feed into a
reopener beginning Feb.1 2024. The language we agreed on is: “Within thirty (30) days of ratification of this agreement, the parties shall form a working group consisting of up to eleven (11) District representatives and up to eleven (11) Union representatives to develop recommendations regarding special education workloads by no later than February 1, 2024. The working group shall meet during normal work hours at least once per month. Union representatives shall be granted a reasonable amount of release time without loss of compensation to attend working group meetings. The parties shall reopen negotiations over special education workloads by no later than February 1, 2024, with the goal of reaching an agreement that can be implemented by the start of the 2024-2025 school year.” The working group and reopener will also include issues related to job protections for nurses and social workers. A job audit was agreed upon for these roles as part of the working group.
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How does this compare to deals won in LA and Oakland?OEA TA: https://www.ousd.org/cms/lib07/CA01001176/Centricity/Domain/3524/OUSD%20Summary%20of%20Tentative%20Agreement%20with%20OEA.pdf
UTLA TA:
https://utla.net/app/uploads/2023/04/TA-SUMMARY-Final2.pdf
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Some people's steps on Empower are incorrect (help tickets have already been submitted). What can we do to ensure that we will be paid correctly IF this TA is approved?Email Frank Lara, Executive VP at flara@uesf.org with your ticket number.
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Wondering about class sizes. Is there a new limit?There is not a new limit to class sizes. If we want to fight for class size limits or reductions, we would have to prioritize that over a raise or other cost proposals. It is expensive to lower class sizes. Make sure that when we are preparing for campaign 2025 to make sure your voice is heard if you think this is a high priority. There is also a one year pilot on capping 4/5 combination classes.
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The district has created too many administrative positions which is why we have no money. How is the district being held accountable for poor budgeting and fiscal mismanagement, especially as it relates to how many administrators/downtown positions it employs?That is up to us and our organizing!
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There was talk that our grounds for a ULP strike were deemed too weak by the lawyers. What could have been done differently to make a ULP strike possible? How is Empower not a ULP? Do we need to be filing grievances differently, or work with lawyers more strategically?The goal is not to strike but to get a strong deal. We work very closely with our legal team. While we are still in a legal process over Empower, at this moment, it is not related to bargaining.
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1. Can you tell us where to find the High Potential school list?
2. I looked at the salary schedule. I don't see SLPs listed...which column is that?
For the HPS list, search "SFUSD QTEA Stipends" in Google to get the link to the list.
For the new stipends, see the TA doc which states:
11.11.2.1 In the interest of providing a skilled and qualified certificated school district
nurses and school social workers, beginning with the 2023-2024 school year the District
shall designate offer school district nurses, school social workers and special education
teachers (RSP and SDC) as hard-to-fill areas of special need or significance for the
2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025-2026 school years. For the 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and
2025-2026 school years, the District shall offer a hard-to-fill stipend of one thousand
dollars ($1,000.00) per year.
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How can we say that they don't have any money left when the district is paying outside people to do psych evaluations and paying an incredible amount of money for Empower. Where did that money come from? The District does have many milliions in "one-time funds." Our whole proposal had a cost of $190 million. This was pushign the limits of the District budget for ongoing expenditures. The deal we won costs $187 million. As has been stated, the amount is unprecedented.
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Please confirm that Tier 1 DTD Substitutes currently getting paid $238.14 per day will receive $78.187 more per day retroactive to July 1, 2023.DTD subs currently being paid the Tier 1 rate as listed here will now be paid $316. 33 retroactive to July
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Why C10 has one more pay step than other category paras?
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Is there anything about our backlogged grievances?No. The District does have to adhere to our contract and we use the legal avenue to force them to. Grievances are currenlty being heard. But there is a backlog.
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In this agreement do elementary educators get the 25 minute prep time that we were fighting for?No. We were not successful in increasing the minimum time to 25 minutes. It is currently 20 minutes. But elementary educators get 195 minutes of duty free prep time every week.
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Why did we rush this when 97% of people who voted were ready to have leadership call a strike vote?The goal is always to come to a strong deal and not to strike. The strike vote showed we have power and unity which is what forced the District to agree to a historic TA.
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What did the union use to determine our initial asking raise?The bargaining team studied salary schedules, the finances of the district, current and historical audits and more to come up with a package that was meaningful and equitable. Our first proposal went beyond the boundaries of what we thought they could potentially afford and what we have agreed to is at the outer limits of affordability.
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why not differentiated pays for S10 and C10?The focus was on raising individual members pay not comparing their scales. Given most units were moved to a $30 min. and then had raises of 4% for steps 1-5 and 3% for Step 6-8, the other schedules became the same.
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Why did we choose to drop so much in our pay raise when there was no additional health benefits proposed?The agreement to drop from $10,000 to $9,000 for the certificated members was an act of solidarity from the bargaining team to reinstate steps for classified members which meant a major increase to their pay. ALL members got meaningful raises given that the lowest percentage rate for certificated members was 7% which is larger than any other singler year increase.
Regarding the cost of healthcare is determined by the City and County. They will determine if there are increases to premiums. As with this contract campaign, UESF will start the campaign by surveying ALL members to determine the priorities for the 2025 contract campaign. The best way to gaurantee healthcare is a priority is by talking to members, informing them of the need to address this in bargaining.
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Was there any talk of adding advisory specific language to the contract for middle schools?That did not come up in the bargaining survey or team as an article to bargain for.
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Do site based meetings include the Wednesday PDs?Yes
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We were informed by our UBC that, from what it seems, there was never any intention to go through with a strike. If we could have won more, why did we go through the trouble of a strike authorization vote if it was never going to be taken seriously?The seriousness of our capacity to strike was seen by the District. We have also reported the capacity of this organization to strike if necessary. We now have almost 100% coverage of UBCs, we met every single goal for the field including having over 1,000 more members casting a strike vote when compared to the last time we had such a vote in 2014. UESF is not going back and building on this momentum. We won a historical deal and need to begin preparing for the next contract in Spring of 2024.
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I saw the bit about quarantine leave in the presentation. Does that mean if educators contract COVID, they do NOT need to use their PTO/sick days? Is there a limit to the quarantine leave per year?The new language only applies for when the national, state or local law mandates isolation and quarantine. That is not the current laws around COVID.
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Is there anything about class sizes?There are a few wins like a pilot of capping 4/5 combo classes at 28.
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How is it equitable for more experienced teachers to get a lower percentage raise than less experienced teachers?Equity invovles assisting those with more needs or that require more support. For both units, the first year lifting the floor meant that members with less years got a higher percentage raise. In the second year, the raises are the same. Overall, expereinced members still recieved more money in raises. Unprecedented raises were applied to all.
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HI Thanks for all your hard work. 2 Questions:
1 so for Subs when you say there won't be 2 tiers will there will be $30.00 extra per day if you stay at the same assignment for 10 days or more?

2. Had you at all discussed retro raises from our last expried contract? Just affects a lot of us who either retired or who are veteran teachers. Did tha tcome up. Like adding money to the base for 2020 2021 2022? 		Yes the 10 day bonus stands. We cannot negotiate retroactive into a prior contract.
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I do not see the pay scale for Classified S20D on the list. Any help is appreciated.You would fall under Schedule 913 which has a header of S10W. They are the same range.
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Was the NBCT stipend bargained away? Or will NBCTs still receive that 5K per year?No. This wasn't changed. It just isn't in the TA language because it wasn't addressed.
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How do we make sure the contract is implemented this school year?Via your UBC. Once this TA passes, UESF will be switching its organizing to train members on enforcing the contract.
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the protection for poor management decision is a review team that can grant staff a workday to deal with errors, correct?From the summary in the TA doc:
As a result of the Empower disaster and decades of poor management decisions in
payroll in SFUSD, we were able to ensure that within 30 workdays of a confirmed
District error on a member’s salary, SFUSD must provide payment and statement of
correction. If the issue is nonpayment, SFUSD commits to 70% of payment as soon
as possible, but no later than 30 workdays.

In addition, UESF and SFUSD establish a team to review and process any payroll
related issues in order to escalate member payroll issues. This team will also address
requests for release time and any penalties owed to unit member.
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How do we make the strike vote more convenient for members to participate? Can we change the bylaws so we can vote at multiple sites or online? Members can change by-laws by joining the by-laws and constitution committee. There are rules to how any change would occur. But there are conversations as to how to make this organization more capable of mobilizing members. Online voting doesn't build power like one-to-one interactions which is why it is not a prefered method.
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When will we be able to see the Tentative Agreement that the district and UESF has agreed upon?It was sent out in todays email and you can view again here:
https://uesf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Final-TA-Language-3.pdf
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Is there a way to get a red or black hoodie instead of navy?Sorry, the store only offers limited options.
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Answers regarding benefits are unsatisfactory. Current benefits are and remain hostile to families. To enroll in PPO I will pay 60% of my net pay each month. SF City employees pay significantly less for the same benefits. Why do we have no power to negotiate what is *significant* to employees with families? This is front and center for any economic package. The current TA is a result of a bargaining campaign that began with a survey of 3,000 members in October 2022. At that time, healthcare was not a priority. The closing of this TA took 8 months. The announcement of healthcare cost increases was only announced in September 2023. Addressing the rising healthcare cost could not be part of this bargaining campaign. As was stated before, UESF will start the campaign by surveying ALL members to determine the priorities for the 2025 contract campaign. The best way to gaurantee healthcare is a priority is by talking to members, informing them of the need to address this in bargaining.
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Please put the email in writing, of where we can request a member to come to our siteask-uesf@uesf.org
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Is there a cap for the number of students with IEPs in co-taught classes?No
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Will we ever get compensated for the horrors of EmPower and the outrageous taxes we had to pay on our tax returns last year? We should be compensated for the years of problems that cost us for over a year.The fallout from the Empower disaster is currently being mediated in a legal hearing under PERB. We hope to get a positive decision.
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Is the district agreeing with UESF, are we all on the same page? Are there any misunderstandings that you know of right now?Yes. Full speed ahead!
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1) Is the $1000 stipend for social workers for ALL SWs/nurses or new? 2) How is the certified 19% calculated-5% last year 5% next and the $900 was what percent? 19% is an average. Everyone makes a different salary therefore every person's percentage is different. For certifcated - $9k this year, 5% next year
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Where does this duty free prep time come into play? Many early Ed teachers are required to stay during specials. Specials are relief time. They cannot be utilized to create duty free prep time.
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Is the Hard to Fill stipend still going to be given to SLPs like in past years? Or is it just SpEd teachers, nurses, and SSW now?"For the HPS list, search ""SFUSD QTEA Stipends"" in Google to get the link to the list.
For the new stipends, see the TA doc which states:
11.11.2.1 In the interest of providing a skilled and qualified certificated school district
nurses and school social workers, beginning with the 2023-2024 school year the District
shall designate offer school district nurses, school social workers and special education
teachers (RSP and SDC) as hard-to-fill areas of special need or significance for the
2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025-2026 school years. For the 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and
2025-2026 school years, the District shall offer a hard-to-fill stipend of one thousand
dollars ($1,000.00) per year."
This means that SpEd teachers will get an additional $1000 from the QTEA stipends which is determined on a yearly basis by the District.
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Why were certificated salaries lowered (10 k to 9k)?? Yes, classified salaries went up by why at OUR expense?? Why isn't the money coming from somewhere else? SFUSD spent millions on Empower and to fix it. There is money. We have done a DEEP dive into SFUSD finances. It was lowered from $10k to $9k because the Bargaining Team chose to give that money to our classified union siblings.
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To quote your answer above “ Equity involves assisting those with more needs or that require more support.” How do you address the fact that teachers with children are really getting the short end of the stick here? We are statistically not new teachers so we aren’t getting this large percentage increase, yet our health insurance is increasing astronomically next year (and probably the year after). My expenses are much higher than I was as a brand new teacher. Where’s the equity in that? And please don’t copy and paste your response from before, I already read that. Raising Healthcare costs come from Kaiser themselves. They have proven to be a greedy corporation - nurses and other health care workers went on strike a few weeks ago. The rise in healthcare cost came in the middle of bargaining and there was no knowledge this was coming.
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Is it possible that we could get a worse contract if this TA is not ratified?Based on the cost of this proposal, the assessment of UESF is that there is not much money left to win anything significant to justify a strike that would disrupt the entire city. Strikes are important and should be used to make important advances. For this campaign, while we showed our capacity to mobilize thousands of members, we won a historic agreement without having to further organize ourselves for a strike.
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Are sabbaticals protected under the agreement?Yes. They were not brought up in bargaining.
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What if you're a coach/mentor for both a teacher on emergency credential/new teacher mentors/a seasoned teacher who is working towards getting their credential, would you get two stipends ($2100 and $1400)?

See below that is on the tentative agreement.

$2100 Stipend for Induction coaches and $1400 stipend for new teacher mentors.

Thank you.
Yes as long as that is not the job to which you are assigned.
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There are several PDs available through the year. CTA just recently had a PD on SpEd. Sadly, no UESF member attended. My question is will this TA provide Paras the availability to attend these PDs with compensation? Many are held either afterschool, or on Saturday. Glad that you attended the CTA SpEd conference. The affiliates provide excellent PD opportunitis to attend many conferences and scholarships for those that choose to participate. It is clear that paras want and need PD's. This new langauge is incorporated : Classified contract:

Article 9.10
9.10 Unit members shall have the option of attending up to two (2) hours of faculty meetings and/or site-based professional development per month, inclusive of regularly scheduled UBC meetings held during meetings, provided that their attendance does not interfere with their regular duties each month. Unit members shall be paid at their regular rate of pay for time spent at such activities. Such time shall not be deducted from unit member’s QTEA professional development allocation.
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Will any of the stipends be paid retroactively since we've been working without a contract?Most stipends don't get paid until January. So they would likely be paid in time with the new increases. This is why it is improtant to ratify the vote and push for the implementation of the TA before December.
69
Will the new paid PD at the daily contractual hour be applicable to a paraeducator conference on 12/9 and 4/27 which are both Saturdays? Also, will it be a 7 hour professional development day like we use during preservice week? The first question would be determined by the district.
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Why wasn't COLA pushed in this TA? Is the return of a COLA component part of future bargaining? Based on the assessment of our affiliates, both state-wide and national, it is not advisable and highly unlikey to be agreed to, to have automatic COLA listed in a contract. If that was the case, whenever COLA is negative, our pay would be equally negative. Additionally, state funding doesn't include enough contributions that pay for full COLA.
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If the TA is not ratified will another survey be taken about our priorities? No, we cannot open new articles. That process is decided before bargaining starts.
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Teachers later in their careers are older and statistically have much higher life expenses so can you explain why it is equitable to give newer teachers a higher percentage raise?
The BT is a diverse representative group of over 70 committed volunteer members. Both new and vetran educators in all classfications are represented. The BT met every Monday and many weekends since early Spring and had many conversations using data. The BT had experts from AFT/CFT at all the sessions and used all tools available to make the best recommendation on compensation. The BT along with the compensation committees reviewed, and analized SFUSD budget and our units statistical data. Based on finances and the fact that one of the main goals was to fully staff sites to ensure that every student has a classroom teacher and that teachers get their prep time instead of subbing for unfufilled positions, it was determined that a flat raise would be the most equitable to stabilize our workforce and profession. The average raise will amount to 19.4% not inclusive of the 6% that was won in 2022-2023.
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I wish folks at Mission could have been at the bargaining meetings. I know we didn't have much participation in our Union in the past, but not including schools based on participation is only going to isolate those very schools.We are happy to work with Mission HS to get more particiaption in the various leadership structures. We will begin the process of the next bargaining campaign in Spring of 2024. Mission HS can expect to see the same "structure tests" for the next campaign and will have representation if your site/work area is organized. Again, UESF staff and officers are here to support. It is very exciting that Mission HS has a strong UBC and is ready!
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You took the liberty of prioritizing classified wages and this is a good thing. You have not been willing to take liberty to advocate for special education in meaningful ways. Isn't it true that you made choices that you felt compelled to make (and did not limit yourselves to survey results alone)?By "you," it can be assumed you mean the bargaining team of 70 members that represented over 80 sites. The special ed proposal was the most challenging due to the District's disorganization. We did make a very important win and will now have to organize to push for a strong agreement with this issue in February. Pelase read the langauge again here:

Special Education Working Group/Reopener
○ The biggest win for special education is the working group that will feed into a
reopener beginning Feb.1 2024. The language we agreed on is: “Within thirty (30) days of ratification of this agreement, the parties shall form a working group consisting of up to eleven (11) District representatives and up to eleven (11) Union representatives to develop recommendations regarding special education workloads by no later than February 1, 2024. The working group shall meet during normal work hours at least once per month. Union representatives shall be granted a reasonable amount of release time without loss of compensation to attend working group meetings. The parties shall reopen negotiations over special education workloads by no later than February 1, 2024, with the goal of reaching an agreement that can be implemented by the start of the 2024-2025 school year.” The working group and reopener will also include issues related to job protections for nurses and social workers. A job audit was agreed upon for these roles as part of the working group.
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I’m not receiving emails with information. How can I make sure my email is listed for updates? You can sign up for our weekly email communications here: https://uesf.us16.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=70340ab02617e8a6573c4d45b&id=e767ddb2d6
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I was told there was an email today, but I did not receive it. How do I make sure I am receiving up to date communications?There is a button on our web page to sign up. https://uesf.org/
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Question from high school teacher: what meetings fall within definition of site based meetings? It is a little murky in the contract. Site based meetings are meetings like grade level, dept. CCT, IEPs, SSTs are not considered site based meetings
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After the breakout room discussion, I'm hearing a disconnect between the rank & file and Union leadership in terms of what we thought would happen after 97% affirmed a strike vote authorization. What people seem to be asking in a variety of ways is: why was this leverage not maximized? We could've held the bond hostage. Why didn't we push the District harder?The goal is always to come to a strong deal and not to strike. The strike vote showed we have power and unity which is what forced the District to agree to a historic TA. The Officers and staff are only one layer of the union. This bargaining team had 70 members representing 80 sites and work areas played the most critical role in making a decision on where this campaign would go. Additionally, for the first time ever, we have over 100% coverage of UBCs at sites and work areas that are in regular conversations with the various leadership bodies. Given the high level of participation, it can be assumed there is regular communications/understanding of the rank and file that informs the work of the union.
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I have many para, who is confused with the number in raise for those going into out 5th, 6th or 7 year. how that look like The steps for classified are maintained with 4% increases for Step 1-5 and 3% for Step 6 (at 8
years) and Step 7 (at 11 years). The longevity rate is now 1% increase at year 5, 2%
at year 10, 3% at year 15 and 4% increase at 20 years.
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for the 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, Is this for when u worked 5, 10, 15, 20 yrs, u get 5% increase and so on.The steps for classified are maintained with 4% increases for Step 1-5 and 3% for Step 6 (at 8
years) and Step 7 (at 11 years). The longevity rate is now 1% increase at year 5, 2%
at year 10, 3% at year 15 and 4% increase at 20 years.
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My question wasn't answered. 7.2.6.2 doesn't say 'meetings are planned in coordination with UBC, so, my site is worried that the new language gives them the power to monopolize all CPT meeting time. As a HS with a 6* day, we only have Wednesday afternoons for collaboration and PD, and currently Admin controls 3/4 of these meetings. We're sunk...This language in the contract has not changed and remains: 7.2.6.1 Site-based meetings shall not exceed six (6) hours per month for all TK-5 teachers,
exclusive of faculty meetings but including at least two (2) hours per month for grade
level planning time. These six (6) hours shall be considered part of the work week
described above. Teachers shall provide input and suggestions into the agenda for one (1)
such hour of grade-level planning time based on the site’s academic goals.
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What is this Billion Dollar bond I’m hearing about? And how could that affect the districts funding for raises? There is a potential bond going to the March ballot in SF. It is for facilities. It does not impact raises.
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What is the plan if the SPED sidetable negotiations stall and the District does not agree to SPED caseload adjustments by the end of the school year? What leverage does the Union have?We already have a plan for bargaining in February specifically for Special Education.
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Can you share the results if this bargaining survey from 10/22? I don’t recall asking you to prioritize raises for new teachers over experienced teachers. If that’s not where that came from how was that decision made. And I don’t agree with your thoughts on “equity”. I have kids to feed/clothe/house and now pay insane insurance premiums for unlike many new teachers. We will look for the email that was sent to members last year. Please connect with your certificated and classified colleagues about this issue as well. Additionally, there are over 70 bargaining team members representing over 70 sites. It's another good place to ask questions to better understand. The BT is a very diverse group that includes all levels of tenure including veteran educators with kids.
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The new language says, "There shall be no limit to the number of year-for-year credit for verified
outside teaching in full-time permanent or probationary teacher, temporary, categorical,
emergency or long-term substitute status."
I started at SFUSD in 2021 with over 20 years experience and I was put on year 11. Will I be able to get year-for-year credit now?		The contract is only retro to July 2023. We couldn't argue for a past case in the new contract.
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Our site has built so much momentum getting strike ready - what do we do now that we aren't striking? Amazing question! Time to flex that power at the sites! Contract enforcement is CRITICAL. REview the contrac together! Shared decision making and power is EVERYWHERE in the contract and not used enough! Organize to have strong SSCs! Site budgets come out end of Feb! So many opportunities! WE will also be starting to bargain for Special Education soon, so another opportunity to organize!
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I saw two questions before mine that the year-for-year credit on the pay scale would only be retroactive to July 2023 and past cases can't be argued. I believe the intent for this was to attract more experienced teachers, but wouldn't this potentially cause current experienced teachers who aren't being retroactively given their years to just quit and rejoin the district to get the credit back, or look to elsewhere? The first option seems like a time sink for the same result, and the second option would be what this solution was intending to avoid (experienced teachers leaving).There are many reasons someone leaves or stays. This contract offers historic raises which now makes SFUSD pretty attractive when compared to other Districts close by. The new contract now makes it clear to anyone thinking of coming to SF that their years will be respected. The new provisions of this contract only become enforceable retro to July 2023.
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What would the next steps be if the district is still not willing to budge on sped issues like caseload, after the February side table meetings? The organizing plan has us maximizing pressure as necessary in February. There will be several meetings starting in November where we will see how collaborative the District is being on our positions. Given it is a reopener, we have a similar approach to bargaining like we did in the full TA. We will continue updating members on the progress of those tables immediately after the sessions and also organize UBCs at sites and work areas to make sure there is pressure to come to a strong agreement.
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Does the 8 hour limit on site based meetings include CPT time in block schedules? Meaning, if we are being asked to meet for 2 hours a week for CPT that would count toward the 8 hour monthly limit.No. We were not able to include CPT in the list of site-based meetings HOWEVER, CPT is not ascribed a number of hours required by the contract.

There are two references to CPT in the contract. 7.2.1.2. describes Common planning time (including teacher librarians, support staff, paraprofessionals/paraeducators, and itinerant teachers to the extent that such personnel are not scheduled to provide other services at that time), shall be used for the following types of activities: team planning, student study teams, parent conferences, curriculum development, faculty meetings, special education/general education team planning, and other professional activities, such as instructional coaching and additional site-based professional development. And in 7.2.9 CPT is included in the following description. "Time for common planning time, site-based meetings, after school parent events, student events, and all other meetings shall be considered part of the workweek described above. This time shall be scheduled with the concurrence of the UBC, except in case of emergency. Site administrations and UBC’s are encouraged to complete the year’s schedule within the first two weeks of the school year."

Site based meetings and prep time (both are described in article 7) do work in conjunction with CPT. There is a cap on site-based meetings. There is a requirement for duty free prep time. CPT is described and is part of the work week but has no set amount of time. So it needs to be scheduled during unassigned teaching time

There is now an 8 hour cap on site-based meetings, including faculty meetings. Site-based meetings also include improving curriculum, instruction, and assessment in all classrooms (e.g., Instructional Leadership Teams, Grade Level Teams, and Department Teams); Supporting teachers unit members through opportunities for their professional growth (e.g., site-based and other non-District-wide professional development); Planning with non-classroom teachers, as well as support staff, paraprofessionals/paraeducators, teacher librarians, and itinerant teachers assigned to the site and planning time for special education teachers, related service providers and general education teachers who have students in common, or who teach the same. This means that admin can direct teachers to be in these types of meetings for 8 OR LESS hours, not more.

There is also an amount of duty free prep time that every secondary teacher gets. Within the workday, high school and middle school teachers shall have a duty-free preparation period equal in length to a teaching period, plus an additional thirty (30) minutes of duty free preparation time during common planning time each week, or the equivalent each month. For 5 instructional periods there is a prep period equal in length PLUS 30 minutes a week or 120 minutes a month. That is protected time that the admin cannot direct. Times beyond that during which teachers are unassigned duties is NOT prep time.According to article
"
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Why did the bargaining team not try to ask for more sick days? For certificated staff? Classified won two additional floating holidays. Changes to their floating holidays hadn't happened since the 90s. For certificated, there was no indiciation the surveys that this was a priority. Most educator unions have 10 sick days. There was a new article written for "quarantine leave," which is applied whenever national, state or local laws mandate isolation or quarantine. This is not the case for COVID at the moment.
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Is replacing Empower with a better tested payroll system part of the contract?The BOE and Superintendent have mentioned that they are researching payroll systems however that is up to the district.
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Are SLP salaries included when you say 19% average increase for certificated staff? It just doesn't seem accurate to me because base salaries are higher so was wonderingThe 19.4% is the average a member will receive in the next two years. Check out the certificated contract salary for your step.
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What are the total #s of certificated classroom educators, #s of paras and others involved with this TA? Please breakdown the different groups who are getting the various raises. There are over 70 educators who were selected by their sites to be on the bargaining team. Every single classification was represented. For classifications like EED where there weren't enough representative the President appointed additional members to ensure that alll members were represented. All bargaining unit members are receiving a raise. In 2023-2024 all members will get a $9,00 raise and in the second year members will get a 5% raise broken up into the fall and January. You can review the salary schedules for Certificated and Classified.
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Is there a place we can submit our SPED priorities? What incentive does the district have to negotiate for SPED caseload limitations, etc if this TA is approved? Also, can anything be done about the district continually hiring OTs, SLPs, etc as contractors rather than direct hires? It obviously weakens the union. Some members of our executive board have been researching the contract workers. We agree that we need to hire OTs, SLPs from to work for SFUSD and be invested in our district. This new raises will allow SFUSD to recruit and retain those specilized professionals. The BT researched and choose to prioritize SPED priorities through a side table. This is common practice. The side table tiwll sopen in February. In the meantime the SpED BT members will conintue to research and prioritize SpEd. We all know that SpED is part of all o f our works an we are all invested in ensuring that protections are in place at our work sites. In addition we are working with families who are advocating for SpED supports to strengthen our work in the side table.
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WHEN DO THE CLASSIFIED WAGE INCREASES BEGIN/WILL BE RETROACTIVE TO WHEN?The raise will be retroactive to July 2023. The TA must be approved by our membership first then the BOE approves it before it can be applied to our salary.
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Many educators are still not being paid on time and are often missing full paychecks, or going months without pay. Delays in onboarding have also resulted in many schools losing teachers who have waited 2+ months to be confirmed through HR. We are losing experienced and valuable educators, especially in special education (where many of these openings are). What protections are in the contract to support teachers who are not paid or not onboarded correctly? (I know it says they will be paid within 30 days - however, that does not seem appropriate for staff missing the entirety of their paycheck.) If this is not part of the contract, what can we do NOW to stop this as soon as possible?UESF maintains regular meetings with various bodies in SFUSD to resolve these pay matters as quickly as possible. Most of the issues can be resovled within a week. Major issues of pay have subsided significantly since timesheets became automatic. The problems with onboarding have to be corrected for next year, but there was an improvement compared to a year ago when we filed 200 grievances. If you have a current issue of pay, please file a ticket and email Frank lara, the Executive VP at flara@uesf.org to get it escalated.
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*THANK YOU ABOVE ALL!!! I appreciate all of the work you have done! That said these are a few questions from my colleagues and I…
1. Do SLPs still get the hard to staff stipend? Is there an additional 1,000 on top of our existing hard to fill stipend - I no longer see SLPs represented at all.
2. Is there a list of hard to staff schools? How is this list determined?
3. Are we now required to have a full day long meeting per month? Or is it just a designated day in which meetings of any length may occur.
4. Do SLPs get a stipend for mentoring new SLPs? Like the new teacher mentoring stipend?
5. Congrats on lowering class size for 4th and 5th… let’s work for lowered DIS provider caseloads and language in the contract for additional help when we are over caseload!
6. How is our healthcare cost determined? Ours is really high compared to that of other public employees!		They officially changed the name from Hard to Staff to High Potential. The list is compiled in the Spring by the district with feedback from the union. The current schools are listed in the SFUSD website. The SLPs are on the same salary schedule as the psychs. The meetings can be determined by your UBC and adminstrator.
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Does the Big Bargaining Team feel there were any missteps in their bargaining? Anything you think you could have done better?We formed a very innovative team that is now a model across the country. The President is now getting requests from union siblings across the country to share out learning. The Contract Action Team was brought in as observers in August and our hope is bring them to the table immediately. As soon as this TA is approved we are starting our organizing for 2025! We plan to bargain for the common good which will allow us to fight for protections for our students similar to how OEA, Boston, Chicago and UTLA have done. We are also excited to work with some of the largest educator union across the state throug the California Alliance for Community Schools. Many of our contracts are set to expire in June 2025.
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As a content specialist, I don't believe I receive the SpEd stipend I received when I was a classroom teacher. I attend as many IEP meetings as classroom SpEd teachers, I'm involved in assessments, developing BIPs, provide SEIS support, and many other SpEd specific tasks for 30 schools. I've been a SpEd teacher for more than 25 years. Content Specialists are few in the district. How do I NOT get SpEd stipends? It's grossly disrespectful. One more reason for me to consider leaving.
Can you submit a help ticket and share with flara@uesf.org. All SpEd educators are entiled to a Hard to Fill stipend that was won in 2008 as a parcel tax called Prop A. The entire BT and executive officers value all educators. In bargaining there were many testomonies from SpEd educators including psycologist, SLPs, OTs, RSP, SDC and SpEd paras sharing the valable contributitions and needs of our students.
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Can we see a breakdown of the wins the district gets from this deal? What are they saying in their meetings right now?Are you asking if concessions were made? You can read the how the TA lanaguage was adjusted by reading the raw information under the "agreed upon langauge" in each section of the TA doc: https://uesf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Final-TA-Language-3.pdf
Based on the District's own communciation, this was a historic agreement where we made major wins. The task now is to actually enforce the contract.