Voices Against Privatizing Public Education

3 days ago

Florida now close to dealing death blow to public worker unions
www.yahoo.com/news/articles/florida-now-close-dealing-death-100834339.html
James Call, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida
Tue, March 3, 2026 at 2:08 AM PST

A labor union bill backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Koch-backed Freedom Foundation that opponents say represents “the final nail in the coffin” for Florida unions is headed for the Senate floor.

Teachers, nurses, electricians, plumbers, doctors and sanitation workers packed a committee room March 2 to testify against the measure. Meantime, Education Commissioner Anastasios "Stasi" Kamoutsas was seen huddling with four district school superintendents who testified for the measure. The Fiscal Policy panel ultimately voted to send it to the Senate floor on a 10–8 vote.

This year's measure (SB 1296) fundamentally changes the rules for how public sector unions are certified to represent workers. The bill mandates labor unions must have approval of 50% plus one of all workers in the bargaining unit, including those who do not vote to maintain certification.

In a 3-hour hearing, workers argued that the 50%-plus-one requirement creates an unfair standard not employed in any other kind of election. It effectively counts non-votes as “no” votes and makes union certification more difficult.

Sen. Jonathan Martin stands for the pledge of allegiance during opening day of the Florida legislative session Tuesday, March 4, 2025..jpeg
Sen. Jonathan Martin stands for the pledge of allegiance during opening day of the Florida legislative session Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, the bill’s sponsor, said his intent is to make union leaders more responsive.

“It forces the union presidents, the union leadership, to go out and say, ‘Guys, give me the vote. I know you haven’t shown up in the past. I know you don’t normally care but let me tell you why I can help you.’ And then if they fail, the voters can hold them accountable,” Martin said.

The measure is modeled after laws in Wisconsin and Iowa where government workers must recertify their unions annually through a majority vote of the entire bargaining unit. The requirement creates a bureaucratic bind for labor: To avoid decertification, unions there focus on voter turnout in the union elections over other issues and organizing.

“What this bill does is try to destroy a teachers' union and to cut the right for free public education. And that we cannot do,” Sen. Mack Bernard, D-Palm Beach, said.

Although the measure covers all public sector unions, or 1.17 million workers, with teachers making up about 156,000 of the total, Martin this legislative session has focused on public school teachers.

The Florida Education Association and United Faculty of Florida have long been thorns in the side of Republicans. The classroom teachers and university professors opposed initiatives that expanded parental rights in schools, restricted how sex, gender, and equality are discussed in the classroom, and the availability of vouchers to pay for private schools and home schooling.

The bill carried by Martin is part of the Freedom Foundation’s campaign to eliminate public sector labor unions. The Koch-backed free market think tank argues on its website that “government unions are a root cause of every growing national dysfunction in America.” The foundation helped write the measure.

Senator Shevrin Jones applauds as President of the Senate Wilton Simpson finishes his opening statement to the Florida Senate during the opening day of the 2022 Florida Legislative Session Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022..jpeg
Senator Shevrin Jones applauds as President of the Senate Wilton Simpson finishes his opening statement to the Florida Senate during the opening day of the 2022 Florida Legislative Session Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022.
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When Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, asked Martin if he shared its hostility to labor unions, Martin pivoted to criticism of Lee County teachers for suing the school district over an incentive program giving bonuses to high performing teachers who agreed to transfer to low-performing schools.

“What I saw in southwest Florida disgusted me. We had kids who have one shot at the American dream and teachers in Lee County getting in the way of those kids’ success and opportunity,” Martin said.

The measure is a follow up to the 2023’s SB 256 which requires 60% of union members to pay dues to maintain certification. That bill resulted in the decertification of more than 120 local chapters representing more than 70,000 public sector workers.

Sen. Corey Simon smiles as the FAMU Marching 100 are applauded for their performance of the National Anthem on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026..jpeg
Sen. Corey Simon smiles as the FAMU Marching 100 are applauded for their performance of the National Anthem on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.
Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, offered an amendment that once a union chapter is decertified it would effectively need 15% of the workers in a bargaining unit to become recertified. Martin accepted that amendment without reviewing it: “I’m sure it’s fine,” he told Simon.

“This bill needs work. It needs a lot of work,” Simon told Martin. “I’m going to vote up on this bill today … if I can get your word that we can continue to work through this process and get a bill that is a little bit more sensible.”

James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on him X: @CallTallahassee. … See MoreSee Less

Florida now close to dealing death blow to public worker unions

www.yahoo.com

A Florida bill backed by Gov. DeSantis and the Freedom Foundation could make it harder for public sector unions to certify.

Voices Against Privatizing Public Education

1 week ago

SFUSD’s $183M Price Tag For the Teachers Deal Has Numbers Missing
The strike is over, but both sides still have math homework. The district says a fuller accounting is coming soon.
thefrisc.com/sfusds-183m-price-tag-for-the-teachers-deal-has-numbers-to-fill-in/
by Taylor Barton
February 25, 2026
A woman gesturing behind a microphone.
Superintendent Maria Su answers a board member's question at the Feb. 24, 2026 Board of Education meeting. (Courtesy SFUSD)
The San Francisco teachers’ strike ended 12 days ago, students returned to schools last week, and union members are voting this week to approve the deal their leaders struck with the San Francisco Unified School District.

The union, United Educators of San Francisco, won many key demands, including fully funded family health benefits. Those benefits, plus pay raises and other items, will cost $183 million, according to the district.

To cover those costs and avoid adding to the district’s budget deficit, there’s been talk of deep layoffs. They haven’t materialized yet. At last night’s Board of Education meeting, the board approved a worst-case scenario of 42 school staff pink slips, mostly classroom aides — a much lower number than in previous years, and which could improve in the next few months.

“It is up to the district to figure out how to continue funding these ongoing, permanent wins,” said Jodie Sheffels, a George Washington High math teacher and union bargaining team member.

Update, 2/27/26: The union announced that its members approved the contract with 92 percent of the vote.

Despite the deal, the two sides still don’t see eye to eye about the bottom line. Through the long months of bargaining, the union and its allies, like school board member Matt Alexander, have insisted the district has much more money to spend than it says. The district has countered those claims, saying that at least half of what looks like a $400 million surplus is in fact dedicated to areas like special education and can’t be moved around. But the district has also decreed other funds off-limits, like its $111 million rainy day reserves, only to dip into it to get this contract deal done.

To cover the contract costs, SFUSD has publicly identified only two pots of money so far, both of which are already in the district’s accounts: the rainy day fund and a city parcel tax stream that SF voters approved in 2008. It’s not clear how they add up to $183 million.

SFUSD Superintendent Maria Su said last night that in two weeks the district will release its formal funding plan.

“The plan will depend on multiple factors including final enrollment numbers, other labor agreements, and updates to the state budget,” said spokesperson Laura Dudnick.

Adults and a few children walking on a sidewalk, holding red signs and chanting
Striking teachers and some smaller supporters form a picket line outside the Chinese Immersion School’s Haight-Ashbury campus on the first day of the four-day teacher strike. (Photo: Alex Lash)
Given the union’s suspicion about SFUSD’s ledger, those details aren’t likely to settle longer-term disputes — and those disputes are coming back around in a year when the two sides start negotiating the next contract, which starts in the summer of 2027.

When asked how much emergency money it would use, or whether there are other reserves to draw from, Dudnick said the answer is pending.

SFUSD can’t craft the plan without oversight from the California Department of Education, whose advisers have veto power over district fiscal decisions. Here’s a deeper look at the district’s options.

Where cuts could come from

Personnel accounts for more than 80 percent of SFUSD’s budget. While announcing the deal on Feb. 13, Su said cuts to staff have “always been on the table,” because the district is supposed to reduce a $100 million deficit over three years — a projection that came before the strike and the new contract. SFUSD wants to prove to state education officials that it can balance its budget and take back full control of its finances.

But for now, school staff cuts don’t seem to be a major piece of the puzzle. With the school board vote last night, SFUSD began its yearly ritual of sending out pink slips that may or may not be real. The state requires potential layoff notifications by March 15 for the following school year, with final tallies coming in May. Many staff often keep their jobs, in part because the state budget outlook improves through the spring.

“This is unfortunately something we’ve come to expect from this very dysfunctional state budgeting system,” said Guadalupe Elementary social worker Maggie Furey.

Even if the 42 layoffs on last night’s agenda come to pass, they’re not enough to cover a $183 million tab. They are meant to address a different shortfall — the loss of state dollars connected to SFUSD’s shrinking student body.

State funds, which account for most of the district’s revenue, are tied to enrollment. And according to the Chronicle, this year’s enrollment is 48,306, more than a thousand fewer than expected. It continues a years-long decline; last year the district had 48,902 non-charter students, according to state data.

As soon as someone resigns, that’s one less person to issue a layoff notice.

SFUSD says it’s paying to fully cover premiums for union members’ families starting in July 2027 with city tax money it receives every year. (These taxes and other city funds make up about 25 percent of the district’s budget.)

The tax originated with a 2008 ballot measure known as QTEA meant to bolster teacher pay. Union bargaining team members say that their paychecks won’t change. “The QTEA going towards health care is what the district called ‘excess from previous years,’” said Sheffels.

There’s another catch: QTEA expires soon. To renew the funding, voters must approve an extension at the ballot in 2028. At least a few teachers aren’t happy about the arrangement. “It’s committed us to more bargaining and legal maneuvers, and using our health care as a justification to do other cuts,” said AJ Johnstone, who teaches social studies at Independence High.

Central office cuts?

For years, the union has decried central office expenses as out of proportion to what similar sized districts spend. In April, the district slashed 205 administrative positions, including 75 vacant jobs. The district will announce central office cuts, if any, next week.

Another savings route could be early retirement. Nearly 400 teachers took that option last year.

A woman in a red jacket speaks at a podium. Behind her are a group of people holding signs..jpeg
UESF president Cassondra Curiel announces that the teachers union will go on strike on Feb. 6, 2026. (Photo: Taylor Barton)
“We haven’t accounted for any resignations or retirements for next year,” the district’s head of human resources Amy Buster Baer said last night. “So as soon as someone resigns, that’s one less person to issue a layoff notice.”

Temporary staff and contractors might also be a target. The new teachers contract calls for less reliance on non-union special education contractors, which KQED projected would cost the district $42 million this year.

“It’s really expensive to have contractors instead of full-time employees,” said Furey. “We want to make sure that we’re all being good stewards of these public dollars.”

However, SFUSD must provide services to disabled kids by federal law, and outside contracts supplement the gaps that SFUSD can’t fill.

Temps and closures

In a closed session before last night’s public meeting, the school board also approved 328 potential “releases” of certificated employees — mainly temporary classroom teachers. But officials hinted that many of the positions are safe. Nearly 300 of the positions are temporary, often filling in for teachers on leave, and many work in special education, jobs the district needs and that the board voted to protect from cuts last night. “In the case of temps, we have to notify … the whole class of employees,” said deputy superintendent of business operations Chris Mount-Benites.

District staff and school board members insist that school closures won’t yield short-term savings. But closures and mergers are almost certainly coming back to the table after a failed attempt in 2024.

“We’re seeing a consistent decline in enrollment year after year,” said Su at Visitacion Valley Elementary last week. “We can’t provide that high quality education that our students deserve if we do not have enough students to make a school community successful.”

In a plan released in December, Su proposed $3.2 million in savings from “site consolidations” by the 2027-28 school year, with “three sites/programs per year for three years.”

Where could SFUSD find more money?

According to the Chronicle, the new teachers contract will add roughly 15 percent to the budget in the first year, with no extra revenue on the horizon.

Funds from the city’s Department of Children, Youth, and their Families, which supports SFUSD with afterschool programs and more, are already spoken for. “I haven’t been in conversations with the school district about supporting their overall budget,” said DCYF director Sherrice Dorsey-Smith. The agency is already paying extra to reimburse its nonprofit contractors for extra work they did during the four-day strike.

Strike signs on Market Street
SF public school teachers’ new contract includes pay raises, family health benefits, and special education support. (Photo: Taylor Barton)
Longer-term, SFUSD might get more flexibility in how it spends its city funds. But it will require City Charter reform, which Mayor Daniel Lurie and allies want to put on the November ballot.

There’s also likely to be less state funding this year, not more, given SFUSD’s enrollment drop. For future years, Su and other superintendents are lobbying Sacramento to change how it funds school districts based on attendance and poverty levels. Any changes will take time — not in time to fund the current contract.

Doubting the figure

Many union members say the need for cuts or more revenue is a red herring; they think the district is inflating the $183 million price tag for the contract. “It’s not that we believe they have a magical pot of money,” said Rebecca Johnson, a Lowell High social studies teacher and UESF bargaining team member. “We just don’t believe the financial situation is as dire as they make it sound.”

It’s not just union members. SFUSD parent Paul Gardiner and data analyst Philippe Marchand, who write about district data on the SFEDU
Union members acknowledge they didn’t get everything they’d asked for. Some, including AJ Johnstone and others at Independence High, say they won’t vote for the agreement because the bargaining process “wasn’t democratic enough.” It’s unclear how many others will join them, although they recognize the rank and file will likely approve it by a wide margin.

“No one person or group is going to have everything solved by this one contract,” said UESF bargaining team member Furey. “It is about building each time.” … See MoreSee Less

SFUSD’s $183M Price Tag For the Teachers Deal Has Numbers Missing

thefrisc.com

The strike is over, but both sides still have math problems. The district says a fuller accounting is coming soon.

Voices Against Privatizing Public Education

1 week ago

Six Vital Lessons From Minnesota’s General Strike
www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/minneapolis-minnesotas-general-strike-ice-border-patrol-trump/
Minneapolis organizers weigh in on how to make the movement go national.
\editorSCHUYLER MITCHELL
Associate Editor

Every few months you likely notice something: people on Instagram calling for a general strike.The posts will appear suddenly evincing urgency but sparse in details. Their provenance is usually obscure. But the message is always clear. To resist Trump’s authoritarian agenda Americans need to unite in a national economic blackout.The cyclical nature of the posts can be frustrating but the impulse is born from a hopeful place. General strikes have a rich history in the United States. A wave of citywide strikes in the 1940s proved so threatening to the prevailing order that Congress passed the Taft–Hartley Act banning unions from striking in solidarity with workers at other companies. For the past few decades the general strike has seemed more like the fanciful hope of the anarchist bookstore poster than a real possibility. Online much the same has happened. Modern-day social media calls for mass strikes have rarely translated to collective action in the material world.Then came Minneapolis.On January 23 roughly 75000 people flooded the streets on a workday in sub-zero temperatures demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leave Minnesota. Hundreds of businesses and cultural institutions in the Twin Cities closed their doors one in four Minnesota voters either participated in the shutdown or knows a loved one who did according to Blue Rose Research. A motley coalition led the charge: labor unions racial justice groups faith-based organizations.“There is no one figurehead that’s going to save us from authoritarianism. What I’m seeing every day here is thousands of people finding the way to plug in and do what they can.”The remarkable success of Minnesota’s “Day of Truth and Freedom” as it was billed by organizers inspired student groups at the University of Minnesota to call for another day of action. One week later on January 30 tens of thousands of protesters across all 50 states took to the streets. Students held walkouts on high school and college campuses. Many businesses in major cities either closed for the day or committed to donating their proceeds to immigrant advocacy groups. More than 1000 organizations signed on in support of the “national shutdown.” “We want to bring it to the national stage and see it happen all over the country” Austin Muia vice president of the University of Minnesota’s Black Student Union told my colleague Nate Halverson. “We want everyone to feel that solidarity that we felt last week.”While the day of action on the 30th was an impressive start it ultimately manifested more like a mass protest. A general strike requires a substantial portion of workers organized across multiple industries to halt economic activity in pursuit of a shared goal.The US economy largely functioned as usual. That means there’s still a lot of work to be done. But as Trump’s federal agents continue to occupy US cities—raiding workplaces wrenching apart families and shooting protesters dead in the street—the momentum for a national general strike is undeniably growing. Advertise with Mother JonesLast week I spoke with five organizers involved in the Day of Truth and Freedom. We discussed the tactics they used to organize a labor stoppage in the Twin Cities and what strategies the rest of the country can employ to replicate Minnesota’s success. Here are six key takeaways from those conversations.1) A general strike needs to involve both organized labor and a broad coalition. Labor unions were vital for executing the Day of Truth and Freedom. They mobilized thousands of people to stop work across sectors—both those in their unions and those who aren’t in them.Devin Hogan president of OPEIU Local 12—whose members include roughly 2000 clerical workers and paraprofessionals—told me that unions bring experience in spearheading collective action. “We’ve seen our labor movement so organized over the years” he said and so even if others were nervous “we knew that this could be pulled off basically without a hitch.”An event two years ago provided an example for how local labor leaders could coordinate mass action. In 2024 various unions across industries in Minnesota arranged for their contracts to expire at the same time increasing their leverage and bargaining power. Local units are now “organized in a way that allows them to basically all be ready to go on strike if they need to” said Hogan “and also bring in the broader labor movement.” Advertise with Mother JonesOther union leaders told me similar stories of working across the movement. As a hospitality union composed largely of women people of color and immigrants UNITE HERE Local 17 has been hit particularly hard by the ICE occupation in Minnesota. President Christa Sarrack said at least 17 of the unit’s members have been detained since December. She said organizing collectively was crucial to protect workers. “We’ve been working together closely with lots of other unions for years” Sarrack said. “It can’t be any one union…We just had to take that risk and really believe in what we were doing and know that at the end of the day if something happened it was worth it.”While organized labor provided a foundation both Hogan and Sarrack highlighted the importance of unions working in coalition with a broad range of community groups to broaden the reach.“It was very helpful to have faith leaders as part of the coalition from the start because when we’re talking to employers we’re not saying ‘Oh this is just unions doing union stuff.’ Instead it was faith leaders cultural organizations and labor unions all working together for this goal” said Hogan. “I’m glad to see the participation of clergy across various religions seeing this as what it is—as a righteous fight.”Minnesota organizers continually looked for people with different skillsets and positions that could help build the movement. Advertise with Mother Jones“We’re looking at our own communities to see where the pillars of power are represented. Do we have people in the press? In our churches and synagogues? Do we have people in major corporations?” said Rev. Dana Neuhauser a Methodist deacon who serves on the steering team of MARCH (Multifaith Antiracism, Change & Healing). “There is no one figurehead that’s going to save us from authoritarianism. What I’m seeing every day here is thousands of people finding the way to plug in and do what they can so the work is distributed and broad and growing deeper.”2) Ask your employers to close.Officially of course unions can’t call for general strikes. So Minnesota labor leaders tried something different: They asked their employers to close.“That’s really the biggest lesson I can share to the rest of the country: just ask” said Hogan. “You’d be surprised by how many people are willing to either close for the day or make arrangements to plan ahead for their ‘business needs’ while also letting as many people off as possible.” Once a few large cultural institutions agreed to close others followed suit. “That’s really the biggest lesson I can share to the rest of the country: just ask.”Hogan and Sarrack explained how they negotiated using a ladder of requests. First if employers refused to close organizers asked that unit members be allowed to take time off without penalty. Then they requested permission for employees to use paid time off. If businesses imposed limits on how many people could take off that day unions pushed to increase the cap. And then finally they asked employers to refrain from disciplining unit members who called in sick. Advertise with Mother Jones“Very very few of our employers were just not willing to negotiate” said Sarrack. “I think they also know that this is their workers’ safety too.” 3) Building community power takes time—so start now.Every person I spoke with emphasized that the Day of Truth and Freedom was made possible by Minneapolis’s decades of organizing history and the existing fabric of community groups. “There’s a very deep movement ecosystem in the Twin Cities metro area from unions to community groups to renters’ rights and worker centers” said Merle Payne executive director of Centro De Trabajadores Unidos En La Lucha (CTUL) a grassroots organization that fights for fair wages and better labor conditions especially among immigrant workers who can’t unionize. These hundreds of organizations Payne said enabled the people of Minneapolis to “take the anger of being pushed into a corner and channel it in a direction of mass peaceful resistance.”That ecosystem didn’t appear overnight. It was built often through previous tragedies. “Unfortunately we’ve had a lot of practice in Minneapolis responding to state-sanctioned murders of our neighbors” said Rev. Neuhauser. She pointed to the police killings of Jamar Clark Philando Castile George Floyd and others in recent years. Advertise with Mother Jones“I think with each of those inflection points we’ve gotten more skilled at building deep relationships so that we are nimble and ready to show up” she said. “The on-ramp to growing a resistance was shorter because of that muscle memory.”Hogan of OPEIU Local 12 also said that 2020 was a tipping point for building out organizing infrastructure. “We had Proud Boys and Boogaloos on the streets so we had to get to know our neighbors in order to stand watch and protect ourselves.”“Right now the thing that is going to win is community-led community-decided solutions.”Rod Adams founder and executive director of the New Justice Project—a Black-led organizing hub focused on racial and economic justice for low-income Minnesotans—told me something similar. “Every five years there is a moment where Minneapolis is center stage in America or global political news” he said. “It’s important for people around the country to learn how we got this way.” And he noted sustained mass political engagement has led to real legislative change. Adams cited a suite of progressive policies passed by the Minnesota legislature in 2023 including paid family leave voting rights for formerly incarcerated people and a new child tax credit. “Those are policies that have been worked on for 20 years by hundreds if not thousands of people” Adams said. “The thing that I say to the rest of the country is that right now is the moment to get organized.” Advertise with Mother Jones4) Effective organizing happens at the micro level.Okay so you’re not in Minnesota and you’re not in a union or in a community group. Now what? How do you actually get organized?“Get to know your neighbors” said Hogan. “Start with two or three people on your block and then just keep talking to people. And then that can turn into not only protecting yourselves from ICE but saying hey let’s all work together to show up at the next protest or event.”Those neighborhood connections proved vital for pulling off the Minnesota strike. While social media played a role in getting the word out much of the communication happened on the ground—whether among neighbors or labor unions inside congregations and local ICE rapid response networks or simply going from business-to-business asking them to close for the day. “We talked to dozens of Black businesses in North Minneapolis which is really the core economic hub here for Black Minnesotans” said Adams of the New Justice Project. Sarrack of UNITE HERE Local 17 said the regional labor federation went door-to-door with flyers. Advertise with Mother Jones“If your city is being occupied by ICE and there’s a rapid response group in your neighborhood join it. If there isn’t create one. If there is a mutual aid network join it and support it. If there isn’t create one” Adams added. “Right now the thing that is going to win is community-led community-decided solutions.”Building power at the micro level also means understanding the immediate needs of your community and strategizing accordingly. Since OPEIU Local 12 represents clinic workers for instance Hogan said that unit members had conversations with hospital employers about creating protocols for protecting the rights of undocumented patients in the event ICE shows up. Something everyone can do right now he said is demand their employer have a policy for when ICE enters their specific facility or detains a colleague.5) Offer ways to get involved for people who can’t strike. Organizers pointed to the range of ways that community members showed up on January 23 and throughout that week. While 75000 people marched down the streets of Minneapolis protesters demonstrated against ICE deportation flights at the Minneapolis–St. Paul airport. Roughly 100 faith leaders were arrested after kneeling on the road praying for immigrants who had been detained—including members of UNITE Here 17 Sarrack noted. A few days before that action a group organized by CTUL’s worker-leaders occupied the offices of developer DR Horton demanding that the company protect its employees against ICE raids on construction sites. Advertise with Mother JonesIn addition to asking folks to strike UNITE HERE Local 17 used the Day of Truth and Freedom to push out a mutual aid fundraising drive. When I spoke with Sarrack on January 29 she said the fund had already raised $100000 for members who are currently unable to work.Rev. Neuhauser said she saw a huge outpouring of donations of winter wear for protesters and clergy. “And then there are these community-based little glimpses of—I mean I don’t know how to describe it other than love” she said. People served hot beverages to marchers on the side of the road while businesses opened their doors just so people could come get warm. “One of my favorite things about what’s been happening in Minneapolis is the number of Somali aunties that show up to public actions with trays of homemade sambuses and cups of hot Somali tea” Neuhauser added.6) Understand how movements are connected so you can keep building power.The Day of Truth and Freedom may be over but the work will continue. “We’re in a different world than we were even a month ago. The possibility of what can be done is different” said Payne of CTUL. Advertise with Mother JonesHe noted that CTUL is using the momentum generated from the strike to demand workplace protections from large developers and visiting job sites to talk to workers about their rights. “There’s been silence from the largest business interests in the state since all of this is happening but this is impacting their bottom line” Payne said. “We see an opportunity to make our campaign significantly larger than we ever could have in the past…and drive a wedge between the largest business interests and the Trump administration.”Organizers all said they were encouraged by seeing people across the country march and strike in solidarity with Minnesota because it shows people understand their struggles are connected.“We are all under attack” said Adams. “If you don’t understand that you’re under attack you’re going to wake up one day and realize that you had an opportunity to stand up and now it’s too late.” … See MoreSee Less

Six vital lessons from Minnesota’s general strike

www.motherjones.com

Minneapolis organizers weigh in on how to make the movement go national.

Voices Against Privatizing Public Education

1 week ago

State clears S.F. General Hospital for social worker’s killing on campus
missionlocal.org/2026/02/sf-general-hospital-stabbing-alberto-rangel/
California Department of Public Health found ‘no deficiencies’ after investigating Dec. 4 stabbing of Alberto Rangel
A young woman with long dark hair, wearing a white shirt and brown jacket, smiles at the camera against a plain light background..jpeg
by ABIGAIL VÂN NEELY
February 27, 2026, 4:00 pm

A state inspection found "no deficiencies" after social worker Alberto Rangel was killed at a San Francisco General Hospital clinic. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
A California Department of Public Health inspection found “no deficiencies” at San Francisco General Hospital following the lethal Dec. 4 stabbing of a social worker at Ward 86, an HIV clinic on campus.

On Dec. 9, four days after the social worker, 51-year-old Alberto Rangel, was killed, the state completed an “investigation of one Facility Reported Incident,” records show.

The investigation documented “no deficiencies” with state and federal requirements, according to a Feb. 9 letter from the California Department of Public Health’s Center for Health Care Quality obtained by Mission Local in a public records request. No plans for correction were suggested.

Mission Local logo, with blue and orange lines on the shape of the Mission District.jpeg
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It is unclear what the state’s investigation entailed, though the Feb. 9 letter states it did not include a “full inspection of the facility.” Spokespeople for the California Department of Public Health and San Francisco Department of Public Health declined to provide further comment. Generally, when investigating a complaint, California Department of Public Health surveyors review records, visit the facility, and conduct interviews.

Jessica Hoopengardner, a Ward 86 nurse who saw Rangel after he was stabbed, said she was never interviewed by the state. She felt that there had, in fact, been several “deficiencies” in the city’s response.

“We had no idea that there were panic buttons, that’s a huge deficiency,” she said. “There was no clarification around why a cop was only outside [one] doctor’s door, not protecting the entire building, that’s a huge deficiency.”

She wasn’t the only one with criticisms. In the days and months after Rangel was killed, healthcare workers told Mission Local that hospital management had repeatedly ignored their safety concerns prior to his death. They described a lack of metal detectors, security cameras, and emergency protocols as incidents of workplace violence rose.

In 2025, the number of complaints and reported incidents at San Francisco general hospital, which can be filed by patients, staff, or members of the public, was double the statewide average. The state recorded far fewer deficiencies.

Rangel’s friends and colleagues maintain that the city failed him by not having a plan in place to stop his attacker, who was a known threat. As one veteran practitioner put it, he “died from neglect.” … See MoreSee Less

State clears S.F. General Hospital for social worker’s killing on campus

missionlocal.org

A state inspection found “no deficiencies” at S.F. General Hospital following the lethal Dec. 4 stabbing of a social worker on campus.

Voices Against Privatizing Public Education

1 week ago

‘We can’t vote on hope’: West Contra Costa school board slashes hundreds of positions
West Contra Costa Unified School District facing a two-year $87 million budget deficit
www.eastbaytimes.com/2026/02/26/we-cant-vote-on-hope-west-contra-costa-school-board-slashes-hundr…
Sierra-Headshot.jpg
By SIERRA LOPEZ | slopez@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: February 26, 2026 at 4:49 PM PST | UPDATED: February 27, 2026 at 6:10 AM PST

RICHMOND — Another round of major budget cuts hit the West Contra Costa Unified School District, leaving nearly 200 district employees bracing for pink slips on the heels of a major contract win.

With a two-year $87 million budget deficit looming, district trustees agreed to reduce staffing by 324 positions. Of those, 186 are expected to be through layoffs and 138 from existing vacancies.

All departments, from administrators to gardeners and cafeteria workers to teachers and classroom aides, will be impacted by the reductions, approved by trustees during their Wednesday meeting.

School staff, students and community members packed the Lovonya DeJean Middle School multipurpose room to implore trustees to vote against the cuts. Students said they’ve benefited greatly from programs where cuts will be made, like music and theater or the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, a federally funded character building program the district matches.

Campus maintenance, food, security and support staff, represented by Teamsters Local 856, said their working conditions will become unsafe because of the reductions. Workloads will become untenable for all, they and educators agreed. The elimination of a glass glazier, someone responsible for replacing broken windows on campuses, would leave the district with one person qualified to do the job, a particular concern for Teamsters who noted sheets of glass are heavy and hard to move and install alone.

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United Teachers of Richmond President Francisco Ortiz questioned district spending, asserting it spent $8 million over what was approved in the last budget on things like conference travel. Some of that spending came from restricted dollars that had to go toward specific areas, said Jeff Carter, acting assistant superintendent of Business Services. Unrestricted travel has been frozen as of December 2025, Carter added.

The union, which represents about 1,400 educators, counselors and other education professionals, has also demanded the district cut from the roughly $117 million worth of contracts rather than in-house staff and services.

“Where’s the accountability for spending like drunken sailors in this district?” Ortiz said. “Priorities, that’s where you’re lacking at this point, and real accountability.”

The cuts follow a major contract win for both unions. Members launched a strike in December 2025 that landed them 8% raises over the next two years and 100% employer-funded health care by mid 2027, among other work condition improvements. The contracts are valued at about $90 million combined over three years.

Administrators warned that budget cuts would be likely if they were to meet union demands. They’d initially offered 0% raises when contract negotiations first began.

Financial instability and substantial budget cuts have long been part of the district’s story. It was the first in the state to declare bankruptcy in 1991, requiring a $28.5 million state loan that was repaid in 2012.

The district is still under threat of losing local control, meaning budgeting decisions would fall to the Contra Costa County Office of Education or state. Trustees have committed to reducing the budget by $127.1 million by fiscal year 2027-28 in a new fiscal solvency plan adopted Feb. 11. A previous fiscal solvency plan called for $32.7 million in reductions to be made between the 2024-25 and 2026-27 school years.

Dipping enrollment, a key factor for determining state funding, and rising labor and operational costs have led to revenue not keeping up with expenses, district office staff have routinely said. A total of 24,792 students are currently enrolled, compared to 28,247 pre-pandemic.

Having to make staffing reductions was not what the district wanted, but overpromising is what has led to Wednesday’s vote, Trustee Jamela Smith-Folds said. The district also plans to drain $28.5 million from a reserve fund and to borrow $39 million from a retiree health fund to help balance the budget in the coming years.

Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy argued that some cuts could be avoided if the district took into consideration an increase in funding that’s been proposed in the latest state budgeting process. But heeding advice from finance staff, Smith-Folds said the most prudent measure would be to replenish funds being used to cover existing budget caps.

“We cannot vote on hope,” Smith-Folds said.

Attempts by Gonzalez-Hoy and Trustee Cinthia Hernandez to remove some positions like music teachers from the list of reductions were unsuccessful but the board did agree to allow the Contract Review Committee to consider where contracts can be cut to fund music programming.

Those possible adjustments would come back before the board for a vote.

Retirement incentives will be offered to some qualified administrators and pink slips will be sent to impacted staff in the coming months and layoffs taking effect at the end of the school year. Some positions may be saved, depending on what grant funding is provided to the district.

Superintendent Cheryl Cotton said school community outreach workers will also be invited back after a new job description is written that will allow the roles to be funded with restricted funds. … See MoreSee Less

‘We can’t vote on hope’: West Contra Costa school board slashes hundreds of positions

www.eastbaytimes.com

All departments, from administrators to gardeners and cafeteria workers to teachers and class room aides, will be impacted by the reductions, approved Wednesday.

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Oakland school board divided as it approves 400 layoffs with no clear fiscal road map
www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/oakland-school-board-layoffs-vote-21939463.php
By Jill Tucker,
Staff Writer
Updated Feb 26, 2026 1:05 p.m.

Oakland Unified School District board members open public comment Wednesday on teacher layoffs. The board voted to eliminate more than 400 jobs next year to avoid insolvency.

Oakland Unified School District board members open public comment Wednesday on teacher layoffs. The board voted to eliminate more than 400 jobs next year to avoid insolvency.

The Oakland school district pulled up to a crossroads Wednesday night, the school board deciding which way to go: Vote to eliminate more than 400 jobs next year or stay on the path toward a fiscal cliff.
Before the vote, Oakland Unified Superintendent Denise Saddler, her voice raised with emotion, warned the board that a no vote would mean the district would run out of cash next year and be unable to pay the bills, probably leading to a state takeover.
“It is an emergency,” she said. “I’ll tell you this: If we don’t make some decisions related to our budget tonight, we won’t be able to pay all the people on our payroll in the fall.”

The board voted to send out the layoff notices by the state’s March 15 deadline, cutting a wide range of positions to help backfill a $100 million budget deficit next year, saving an estimated $11 million.
Counselor Catherine Cotter, center, supports student Melayah Cleveland while student Ashley Vega speaks during public comment at the Oakland school board meeting.
Counselor Catherine Cotter, center, supports student Melayah Cleveland while student Ashley Vega speaks during public comment at the Oakland school board meeting.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
Board members Mike Hutchinson and Patrice Barry opposed the layoff notices for non-educators, saying there was no clear fiscal plan to back them. Barry abstained on layoffs for educators. Board members Valarie Bachelor, Jennifer Brouhard, Rachel Latta and VanCedric Williams, who are aligned and supported by the teachers union, supported the layoffs, as did Clifford Thompson.

The current deficit does not include the potential cost of contract agreements with the teachers union, which has authorized a strike and could take to the picket lines as early as next week. Some members, during public comment, threatened to strike until the cuts were reversed.

The layoff list includes social workers, counselors, English immersion teachers, literacy coordinators, technology staff, noon supervisors, reading tutors, custodians, college coaches, attendance specialists and administrative assistants, among others.
Information outlining educator recommendations was distributed ahead of public comment at Wednesday’s meeting.
Information outlining educator recommendations was distributed ahead of public comment at Wednesday’s meeting.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
The meeting was punctuated by anger and emotion as parents and staff questioned how the district got this point, with some encouraging a yes vote to bring more financial stability and others demanding a no vote, saying the list was “scattershot” and would remove critical staff from school sites.
“It feels like an attempt to retain local control at any cost,” said Cary Kaufman, president of the United Administrators of Oakland Schools, which represents principals, among others. “This is not stability, this is chaos.”
Kaufman said the public and staff were given little notice about the layoff list, administrators were not consulted about which positions to cut, and the list of staff identified for layoffs contained errors.
Some school board members echoed that concern, saying that they received the list only three days ago and that there had been no conversations or decisions by the board in terms of what positions to prioritize, what the impact would be on school sites or what dollar amount was needed in terms of layoffs.
Educators and supporters gather during public comment at the meeting Wednesday.
Educators and supporters gather during public comment at the meeting Wednesday.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
“These are big questions, and I do not have any of the answers,” Barry said. “I’m more uncomfortable than I would desire to be before a vote.”
Board member Rachel Latta, who supported the layoffs, agreed that there had been a lack of communication about the cuts.
“We haven’t presented a plan to tell people what schools will look like in August,” she said.
In addition to the layoffs, Saddler gave an update on the district’s effort to reach $100 million in cuts, which includes early retirement incentives, significant reductions at the central office and using one-time funds to cover some costs next year.
District officials are looking at closing off unused space in underenrolled schools to reduce utility, maintenance and custodial costs, which could save $1.6 million annually, they said.
Judy Green of the Oakland Education Association hands out signs during public comment at the school board meeting on Wednesday night.
Judy Green of the Oakland Education Association hands out signs during public comment at the school board meeting on Wednesday night.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
They also have proposed consolidating all transitional kindergarten classrooms into two to three regional “hubs” instead of having small, underenrolled classes across the district. This would save $1.5 million, officials said.
Other actions to close the deficit are planned, but it’s unclear how the district plans to achieve them. That includes a 10% reduction in special education spending to save $12 million as well as an additional 2% increase in student attendance, which would add $10 million in state revenue. … See MoreSee Less

Oakland school board divided as it approves 400 layoffs with no clear fiscal roadmap

www.sfchronicle.com

Calling the situation “an emergency,” Oakland’s superintendent urged the board to approve sweeping layoffs to help backfill a $100 million budget deficit and avoid insolvency.

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abc7news.com/post/oakland-unified-school-district-board-education-approves-hundreds-layoffs-amid-… … See MoreSee Less

Oakland Unified school board approves hundreds of layoffs amid $100M budget deficit

abc7news.com

In addition to the job cuts, OUSD is also looking for ways to trim the deficit — suggesting early retirement incentives and other ideas.