The current protracted economic crisis may feel old and far too familiar, but it never seems to stop bringing bad news, especially for public education. With a looming projected budget gap of at least $113 billion over the next two years, the Board of Education (BOE) of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) voted back in late February to deliver about 900 pink slips to teachers in order to meet the legally required deadline for notification of potential layoffs. While it is typical that not all those receiving that first notification will be laid off, the number is higher than it’s been in a long time. Because of the magnitude of the number of positions potentially affected and the impact on students and schools, the teachers’ union (United Editors of San Francisco, or UESF) and the SFUSD began negotiations recently to see what kinds of accommodations and strategies could bring that unbelievably high number down.

One of the most discussed options mentioned over the past few months is the use of furloughs, meaning the elimination of school days, which would reduce costs by reducing staff paychecks, but which would also reduce learning time for students. This option, along with others in an action plan put forth by Superintendent Carols Garcia and staff, was discussed at a series of budget community meetings organized by the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) to the BOE and Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco and attended by SFUSD staff who provided information about the situation and answered questions.

In these sessions, community sentiment about furloughs was explored, surfacing