United Educators of San Francisco treasurer Geri Alamanza dressed as Cruella de Vil at United Educators of San Francisco teachers union rally at the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024.
UESF president Cassondra Curiel: “That’s wild, to tell families ... that suddenly their students’ academic trajectory is changing as a result of the district trying to tighten its belt,”
San Francisco school board President Matt Alexander gained enough votes to qualify for one of that body’s four open seats in figures released Monday by the Department of Elections.
United Educators of San Francisco treasurer Geri Alamanza dressed as Cruella de Vil at United Educators of San Francisco teachers union rally at the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024.
San Francisco’s teachers union continues to push back against potential school closures, with organizers saying that the district’s directives to pause the process can’t be taken for granted.
Teachers and parents rallied Wednesday at a United Educators of San Francisco demonstration outside The City’s school-district headquarters at 555 Franklin St.
UESF president Cassondra Curiel: “That’s wild, to tell families ... that suddenly their students’ academic trajectory is changing as a result of the district trying to tighten its belt,”
Craig Lee/The Examiner
Union President Cassondra Curiel told The Examiner that the rally was planned before the Board of Education directed new Superintendent Maria Su last month to pause the resource-alignment initiative — which included closing about a dozen schools and cutting staff positions by the beginning of the 2025-26 academic year — in the wake of former Superintendent Matt Wayne’s resignation.
“The high feelings of anger and distress during the process, even prior to being paused, really directed us to maintain this rally as a space to let out [union members’] feelings and their experience,” Curiel said.
The San Francisco Unified School District initiated the controversial process at Wayne’s direction amid an ongoing state audit. United Educators of San Francisco said it still opposes school closures, maintaining that they would be harmful to students and school communities.
Last month, district officials published the list of around a dozen schools that it identified as options to close, merge or repurpose by August 2025. Curiel said the list’s release and following communication from the district left teachers, especially those at identified schools, “frustrated and shocked.”
“What [teachers] did see from the district, both the email, the district list itself and presentations [to school communities] really seemed to be sending mixed messages,” she said. “It didn't look like a consistent plan was being implemented at all, and it left a lot of questions for school communities overall.”
Some of the schools identified for closure are recently upgraded facilities, Curiel added, and the district proposed filtering students from closed schools “to a building that hasn't had the opportunity to be renovated yet,” she said.
Neither Su nor the Board of Education has committed to keeping all schools open. the district, now under new leadership, must deliver a balanced budget to the California Department of Education by mid-December. The submission must demonstrate how SFUSD will eliminate its unrestricted general fund structural deficit from 2023 through 2026, according to district officials.
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San Francisco school board President Matt Alexander gained enough votes to qualify for one of that body’s four open seats in figures released Monday by the Department of Elections.
Craig Lee/The Examiner
The union’s rally Wednesday called to spare schools and make cuts elsewhere to regain fiscal solvency, specifically within the district’s central administrative office. Union members have the support of Board President Matt Alexander, whom they endorsed for reelection.
“We are under state oversight, and there is less revenue coming in from the state,” Alexander said. “That does not mean we need to slash our schools.”
Alexander — who, as the former principal of June Jordan School for Equity, headed a school identified in the closures plan — approached The City’s Board of Supervisors to conduct an independent analysis of central-office spending.
The Budget and Legislative Analyst’s Office found that SFUSD spent 25% of its budget on central office administration, up seven percentage points from the median share of 12 comparably sized districts.
“Thanks to that report and the pressure from [the union], we’ve reduced our central office spending to 20%, still [two percentage points] above our peer districts,” Alexander said.
Lisa Richardson, a Family Liaison at Malcolm X Academy, another school identified for closure, told The Examiner that she’d like to see “cuts at the top” before the small school is reconsidered, if at all.
“The people that are on grounds with students every day are the ones that are most important in those students' lives,” she said. “We don't want [anyone to] have to lose their job, but sometimes we have to start at the top, because it's those people that are making all the money, and we're doing all the work, and that's not fair.”
Despite the turmoil over recent months, Richardson said she’s hopeful since Su was appointed and school closures have been paused.
“I feel that at least someone's listening and we're gonna take that win for right now, and just keep our morale high,” she said.
