If teachers in the San Francisco Unified School District go on strike next week, amid an impasse with the district over a new contract, it will be the first time in 47 years that this has happened — which, one could say, suggests a resolution to the impasse is still likely to come.

San Francisco teachers took the first of two legally mandated votes in early December to authorize a strike — and the vote was overwhelmingly "yes," with 99% voting in favor, out of 2,400 union ballots cast. The second vote is wrapping up today, as Mission Local reports, and a reported 4,700 votes have been cast this time.

Cassondra Curiel, the president of the teachers' union, tells Mission Local, "We’re anticipating folks are voting 'yes,'" and she called the turnout "historic."

Unions tend to express some bluster as negotiations come down the wire, suggesting their leverage, and that may be what is happening here.

The union last week reportedly rejected a three-year deal dubbed a "stability package," which included a 6% raise spread over three years. The union is also seeking contract language protecting undocumented students and those from mixed-status families, and a reduction in case loads for paraeducators.

The union is seeking 9% raises for certified teachers, spread over two years, and 14% hikes for paraeducators. And union vice president Frank Lara tells Mission Local, of the district, "We are living in different realities."

The SFUSD, meanwhile, is facing a $113 million budget deficit, and an ongoing pattern of declining enrollment — which has also deeply impacted other districts, including Oakland's. That led to a controversial October 2024 proposal to shutter or consolidate 11 schools — a proposal that threw the district into turmoil, and led to a shakeup that brought in a new superintendent.

That superintendent, Maria Su, emailed district families and staff on Friday informing them that negotiations were at another impasse. She floated the possibility that, if a strike occurs, it will mean the school year will likely need to be extended so that student lesson schedules can be completed.

"I am very much committed to meeting our legal obligations to providing 180 days of school for our students,” she said in a video message, posted below. “If necessary, we may extend the school year to ensure that that requirement is met.”

Lara and Curiel both tell Mission Local that while the district tends to cry poverty, they have significant reserves that could be tapped to address the needs of educators.

"They’re sitting on hundreds of millions of reserves,” Curiel tells Mission Local. "Just this December, they moved over $100 million into an extra savings account."

Any strike would not begin before a "fact-finding" process concludes, and that will not be complete until February 4 at the earliest.

The SFUSD has managed to stave off strikes on many occasions in the past, and the last time the union went on strike — for six whole weeks! — was in 1979.