The State of SF Public Schools: Achieving Excellence, Making Hard Budget Choices, & Closing the Gap

On November 8th, 2023, San Francisco Parent Coalition gathered nearly 300 parents, teachers, students and community members at Lincoln High School for a public forum on The State of SF's Public Schools: Achieving Excellence, Making Hard Budget Choices, and Closing the Gap. The audience heard an engaging panel conversation with Mayor London Breed, Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne, Executive Director of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Dr. Maria Su, moderated by former School Board member Hydra Mendoza. There were introductory remarks by CA Assembly Budget Chair, Phil Ting.
San Francisco is a city that should boast world-class public schools where every student thrives. Many SFUSD children are thriving in our schools. But we know that opportunity isn't distributed equally, and our district has one of the largest test score gaps in the state. As we grapple with these longstanding inequities, we simultaneously face budget realities, declining enrollment, staffing shortages, and the overdue need to rightsize the ship.
It's a critical moment for parents, educators, staff and community champions to work together to address these challenges and make sure SFUSD is on track to being a district where every child receives an excellent, equitable education. What can San Francisco Unified do; What can the City of San Francisco do; What can we expect from the state and federal government in the near future? We believe SFUSD has the opportunity to be bold and tackle these challenges in a way that both supports our educators and maximizes our focus on student outcomes, tying even more resources to each student, not less. We can't afford to get this wrong, because SF's kids can't wait.