So far this year, two major strikes have hit California school systems -- in San Diego and Oakland -- over declines in wages and cuts in programs. PNS's network of youth reporters asked students at eight Bay Area high schools, vocation programs and juvenile halls what their key demands would be if they went out on strike for better schools. The vast majority list the same demand -- more teachers who care. PNS associate editors Andrea Lewis and Nell Bernstein compiled the results of the surveys; additional reporting by Jose Luis Padilla.

SAN FRANCISCO -- If students were to follow the example of more and more teachers in California and strike for better schools, what would their number one demand be?

A survey of over 200 students in high schools, vocational training programs and juvenile halls across the San Francisco Bay Area reveals an overwhelming consensus: better teachers. Or, as one student in the girls' unit of San Francisco's Youth Guidance Center puts it, "teachers who won't leave you alone."

"We need teachers who truly involve themselves," the YGC resident adds. "My teachers would just say, 'Do that page."' Another complains that she was passed out of the seventh grade after missing half the year. "I know hella people who barely know how to write their names," insists a third. "Get teachers who will help them learn."

Across the Golden Gate Bridge at Redwood High, a public school in well-to-do Marin County, students are equally adamant about needing more time and attention from caring adults at school. Nazar, 17, wants "more emphasis on understanding problems of students by faculty, and more treatment available at school." Rebecca, 18, demands "a counseling department with more of a safety net for failing students."

Other Redwood students emphasize fairness and accountability. "No teacher tenure," asserts James, 17. "This would keep teachers from getting old and out of touch." Amanda, 18, wants "a review of grading procedures. Some teachers grade much differently from others, making the grading system at the school unfair." And Jason, 17, says he'd strike for "surveys where students get to comment on teachers, and someone of higher authority than the teacher reads the comments."

At San Francisco's Hilltop Academy, a school for teenage mothers, Pepper, 17, says she'd like to "explain to the teachers that everyone can have a (different) opinion and still be right, because everyone is a person." Theresa, 18, adds that she'd strike to have "no men in the school."

Down the coast at a boys' ranch for male juvenile offenders, teens serving one-year terms tick off a stark list of strike demands to improve teaching at their on-site school. "Most of the teachers are not teaching," complains James. Stephen, 16, says the biggest problem is "teachers being scared of their students. When that happens, they're not teaching to the best of their ability."

In Oakland, a district serving a majority of low-income, inner-city students, teachers have been on strike for over three weeks demanding smaller class sizes and higher pay, leaving students to attend "strike schools" in churches and rec centers, or stay at home. Many students resent the interruption. "The strike's stupid, it's just making us waste our time instead of preparing to graduate," says Esperansa Corona, a senior at Oakland's Fremont High. Wesley McAffee, a tenth grader at Castlemont, said he'd go on strike "to make the teachers stay in school and stop striking."

But most Oakland students interviewed agree that the teachers' strike may help force improvements in the quality of their education. "We'd strike for the teachers, "says Corona, "They deserve more pay and less students in classrooms, and that way they can teach us better and we could learn more."

"Being from this community, we don't get as many opportunities as others, and when it comes to our educational needs, we always get shortchanged," observes Ayesha McMickin, a senior at Castlemont High, whose priority is "more funding for our school." Gabriela Marquez, another Castlemont student, wants "better supplies, like paper, computers and software -- and a safer environment." Tiffany, 17, would strike for "safer bleachers. You can't even sit on ours, they're so dangerous. And for French books, because I'm taking French and we don't even have any text books to learn from." And James, 18, says he would "strike for more funding, because I played football and I had to wear a size large helmet when my size is medium. And our grass hasn't been watered. We need money. That's the bottom line."

Daisy, 17, a Castlemont senior, looks at the big picture. Students should join teachers in demanding smaller classes "so we'd be able to get a decent education. And start affirmative action in elementary school so we won't get tracked into classes based on the color of our skin."