2/11/25 Newsletter
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| We wish we could sugarcoat it, but SFUSD’s budget has arrived—well, part of it?—and it’s looking as bad as we expected. Even the district’s proposed baseline budget, with its questionable headline choice, ‘Keeping the Lights On,’ leaves SFUSD with a $60 million deficit. We’re worried that this could put aspirational goals—like the district’s vision for improved student outcomes in math, literacy, and career/college readiness—at risk. A lot of parents’ eyes glaze over when we start talking about the budget. We get why. The budget is huge, hard to understand, and a complicated beast to try to fix. But it’s also critical to the kind of educational experience SF’s public school students receive. SFUSD’s budget must tie to a vision of student success. We dive into this further below, but don’t forget to mark your calendar for our sister arm’s (SF Parent Coalition’s) monthly meeting this Thursday 2/13 from 12-1pm via Zoom (RSVP). Parent leaders will share information about School Site Council leadership (the important bodies that decide the annual budget for each school) and then we’ll be joined by Superintendent Maria Su who will answer your parent questions about implications of budget changes this year. |
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| Though SF Parent Coalition’s volunteer-led Budget Leadership Team, we’ve been diving into the latest documents from SFUSD. The district’s incomplete budget update, especially at this point in the school year, raises real concerns. The staffing model still lacks detail and transparency, and SFUSD’s budget priorities appear to be more about bare minimum compliance than about student success. There’s no analysis shared along with the latest proposal, which makes it hard to understand what schools are going to look like next year. SFUSD’s headline of “keeping the lights on” is not an educational vision. Every budget should reflect SFUSD’s vision for our schools and our students, even during years when we need to make severe cuts. That vision is currently lacking. Below are two slides from SFUSD’s presentation planned for tonight’s Board of Education meeting: |
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| Our Budget Leadership Team has highlighted some concerns:Staffing Model: It is still unclear how these decisions are being made. It looks like there will be cuts to social workers and more combined classrooms, but no specifics, or clear explanation. Major changes like moving towards more split-grade classrooms have no corresponding information or strategy about how SFUSD plans to support teachers to make these shifts.Principals weren’t involved in developing the model—yet they’re the ones who understand best how funding impacts schools.SERP (Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan): If all 300 eligible teachers take it, only 200 positions would need to be cut—but we still don’t know where things stand, and schools are starting to develop their ’25-26 budgets.Lack of Clarity: Can schools spend additional sources of funding to address school priorities for student success from the top two tiers of the pyramid? Budget Accuracy: The district’s numbers still don’t add up, and overall, we can’t plan well or fix our budget without better financial controls.Tonight, SFUSD will paint a bleak picture of the baseline budget for our schools. California Education Code only requires minimum staffing levels at schools (whereas social workers, assistant principals, etc., are “extras”), and it seems like we’re moving full speed ahead towards that barebones state minimum. We understand that SFUSD needs to make difficult fiscal decisions and we understand the importance of regaining and retaining full local control of our schools–our primary budget advocacy focus this past year. At the same time, we are also very worried seeing a budget that does not tie to a vision of student success. Parents are demanding a clear, student-centered vision tied to every budget decision, and greater transparency on how these decisions are made. Cindy Chen, a parent leader with SF Parents and Starr King Elementary SSC Chair, put it best: “Student impacts need to be jointly considered with financial cuts being considered, so that we (Board commissioners, families, principals, students, etc.) are at least aware of the implications — particularly in the longer term, and for our more vulnerable populations.” Budget cuts don’t happen in a vacuum; they have real implications for our students. We’re curious to learn tonight what is the range of budget scenarios SFUSD might be preparing for, what would each scenario look like for our schools, and how does SFUSD plan to make it work–from best case to worst case scenario. Join us tonight in-person at 555 Franklin St. for the 2/11 Board of Education meeting to join us in asking these questions and more. We’ll be there at 6pm (30 minutes before the meeting starts); keep an eye out for SF Parents staff: Michael, Geri, Lila and Giovanna. Here’s our Cheat sheet for the meeting. |
| Sign Up for A Parent Leadership WorkshopThere’s no time like the present to begin exercising your parent leadership muscles. Have you been involved at your own school as a classroom volunteer or part of a PTA, but curious about other ways to influence positive changes across our public school system? Then this SF Parent Action workshop is for you. Come explore other ways to get involved and be an education leader, from joining your School Site Council, a district advisory body, a city commission or committee, or even running for the Board of Education! What You’ll Gain:Learn how to take your school involvement to the next levelUnderstand how to join task forces, advisory councils, and district decision-making groupsDiscover ways to influence policies and improve student outcomes across S.F.Upcoming Dates and Special Guests: March 12th, 6:30-8:30pm, with former commissioner Jenny LamApril 15th, 6:30-8:30pm, with current commissioner Supryia RayMay 8th, 6:30-8:30pm, special guest TBD! Interested? SIGN UP for a workshop here! ✅ We’ll follow up shortly with more details and look forward to guiding you along your parent leadership journey to influence more equitable, education public schools across San Francisco. Finally, before we close out this week’s newsletter, we hope to see you at SF Parent Coalition’s next Parents Night Out on Thursday, February 20th (at ANINA, 482 Hayes) at 7pm. We’ll be joined by special guest, Board of Education President Phil Kim! More details and RSVP here. Join us to connect with other SFUSD parents, share your hopes for the future of our city’s schools, and explore how you can help drive meaningful change for our kids. In community,Meredith & the Team P.S. Exciting news from our end: Our team is growing! Ever consider what it would be like working with a passionate team of education advocates and supporting parent leaders across San Francisco to advocate for thriving public schools?! Check it out: |
| Founded in the summer of 2020, SF Parent Action is the sister arm of SF Parent Coalition. SF Parent Action advocates for policies and elected officials who put the needs of San Francisco’s public school students first. Our mission is to empower public school parents in San Francisco to advocate for policy change and local candidates who support public school families and students. www.sfparentaction.org Questions?Contact an SF Parent! hello@sfparents.org |