Breaking: San Francisco teachers end 4-day strike with late-night deal

"The San Francisco teachers' strike, the city's first in nearly half a century, is over. The teachers union and the school district reached a tentative agreement early Friday morning. The union announced the deal at roughly 5:30 a.m. after an all-night bargaining session. Students will be back in classrooms Wednesday. Schools had already been closed for Friday. Monday and Tuesday of next week are school holidays."

"The biggest sticking points were all resolved. The teachers won their marquee ask: fully funded dependent healthcare. For teachers with families, this ameliorates costs that often stretched to perhaps 20 percent of take-home pay, eating up recent wage gains. It's a concession that one teacher on the bargaining team who pays around $1,500 a month for his children's healthcare described to Mission Local as "life changing.""

"The fully funded family healthcare comes at the expense of raises below the teachers' initial ask. Rather than the 9 percent raise the union desired, teachers will instead receive 8.5 percent over two years. "Certificated" staff like paraeducators, who are paid less, will get 5 percent over two years. Special education teachers will get "immediate relief" in "caseload reductions," the union announced."

The San Francisco teachers' strike ended after a tentative agreement reached early Friday following an all-night bargaining session. Students will return to classrooms Wednesday; schools had been closed Friday, with Monday and Tuesday already scheduled holidays. The agreement secures fully funded dependent healthcare for teachers with families, reducing costs that sometimes consumed about 20 percent of take-home pay and offset recent wage gains. Salary increases were set at 8.5 percent over two years rather than the union's 9 percent demand, while certificated staff receive 5 percent over two years. Special education teachers will receive immediate relief through caseload reductions. The strike was the city's first educator walkout since 1979.

Read at Mission Local