As strike looms, SFUSD is already undermining vulnerable students

"The likelihood of a teacher strike, perhaps as soon as early February, is alarmingly high. It figures to be a rotten time for every public school child and parent. But some of the school district's hardest-up families are already feeling the stress. The M.O. of the strapped San Francisco Unified School District is to view personnel as walking dollar signs in need of cutting. Perhaps not coincidentally, the district is, both overtly and covertly, paring back its newcomer programs for recent immigrants."

"There are, according the district, fewer newcomers than in recent years - a decline from 1,856 in 2022-23 to 1,326 in 2025-26. A reduction is plausible: Well before televised mayhem in the Twin Cities, the number of desperate immigrants either able or willing to come to the United States was on the wane. But it's hard to say the district is having the necessary budget and staffing discussions with newcomer students and families and the educators who serve them."

Teacher strike likelihood is alarmingly high and will disrupt public school children and parents, with disadvantaged families already feeling pressure. San Francisco Unified is treating personnel as budget targets while cutting newcomer programs for recent immigrants. The district reports newcomer enrollment falling from 1,856 in 2022-23 to 1,326 in 2025-26. Some reductions may reflect broader migration declines, but district budget and staffing discussions with newcomer students, families, and educators are lacking. Several moves have been rapid and unilateral: monolingual Spanish-speaking parents at Mission Education Center were told their children would be moved within hours without staff notification; Visitacion Valley’s newcomer program was initially eliminated then partially restored.

Read at Mission Local