San Francisco (March 20, 2023) - The San Francisco Board of Education unanimously approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) on March 7, 2023 which paves the way for the district to distribute one-time retention bonuses to paraeducators in San Francisco’s public schools.
The City of San Francisco Board of Supervisors (BOS) allocated $3,000,000 to SFUSD through the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families (DCYF) to fund a one-time paraeducator retention stipend to all SFUSD paraeducators in active employment status at the time the funds are distributed. The approximately 1,600 eligible paraeducators should expect to receive the stipends in their March 22, 2023 paycheck.
“We are extremely grateful to the Board of Supervisors, and especially Supervisor Ahsha Safai, and our union partners for their efforts to help secure these bonuses for paraeducators,” SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne said. “As a former classroom teacher and principal, I know that paraeducators play a fundamental role in supporting school communities. This incentive helps SFUSD to attract and retain talented professionals in service of our students and families.”
“We wanted to recognize the hard work that paraeducators do to ensure a well-rounded and quality education for SFUSD students,” said District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safai. “I would like to thank the San Francisco Board of Education for their timely and unanimous approval of these retention bonuses to help our educators make ends meet.”
“On behalf of the Board of Education, I want to first extend my gratitude to paraeducators, who show up every day to support staff, students and families. I commend our paraeducators' commitment and dedication, which exemplifies what it means to go above and beyond in public service,” Board of Education President Kevine Boggess said. “Many of our paraeducators come from the same communities as their students, so they have the knowledge and experience to support our students' needs. And, thank you to Supervisor Safai for his leadership in securing these funds to support our paraeducators, and to United Educators of San Francisco for advocating on behalf of paras and teachers every day.”
"These retention bonuses are a significant step in the right direction in addressing the ongoing staffing shortages impacting our students and classrooms. We appreciate Supervisor Safai working with us to address the challenges our paraeducators experience when living paycheck to paycheck in one of the most expensive cities in the world," said Teanna Tillery, UESF Vice-President for Paraeducators. "We also look forward to working with district management to negotiate a competitive living wage in our current contract negotiations."
Paraeducators are crucial to ensuring that schools function properly. They provide general and special education instructional assistance, ensure school sites are safe as security aides and room monitors, and help to engage our parents and school community as community relations specialists.
In 2022, the Board of Education approved a 6% raise for teachers and paraeducators for the 2022-23 school year.
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