On Tuesday, October 13, the SFUSD Board of Education voted 5-2 to replace the almost universally despised enrollment lottery system. United Educators of San Francisco has called for a predictable, equitable enrollment system since we launched the San Francisco Public Education Pledge over two years ago.
The pledge, which many elected officials and political figures in San Francisco have signed, reads “I pledge to prioritize creating a new enrollment system that increases student enrollment, assigns families to schools reasonably close to where they live, produces the socioeconomically diverse and racially integrated schools most San Franciscans want, and offers alternative options for students who need them — with a minimum of anxiety and stress.”
The current lottery system allowed for a mismanaged enrollment process that has, rather than addressing the needs of our most oppressed students and communities, increased segregation and inequity. SFUSD management has not been held properly accountable for meeting the needs of Black and Brown students. Educators know that under enrolled schools with high turnover and a growing number of combo classes do not serve our most vulnerable students. The lottery system pitted families against each other. It destabilized our school communities, as a single office at 555 Franklin dictated enrollment and budgeting practices that were based on artificially capped, poorly managed enrollment numbers.
The decision to direct SFUSD staff to propose a neighborhood based enrollment system, with options to apply for certain programs like language pathways or K-8 programs, moves us in the right direction toward a predictable, equitable enrollment system. Our struggle for a quality public education experience for all students in all San Francisco neighborhoods must continue.
SFUSD leadership has an opportunity to achieve the schools our students deserve. Fixing the enrollment system is only a small part of the overall picture. No single enrollment process will address our city’s growing inequities, and SFUSD district management must be held accountable for the continued fight for the schools our students deserve, schools that are stable, fully funded, and fully staffed. The many issues over the last 6 years provide plenty of reason to believe district middle management will avoid accountability in implementing systems that truly meet our students’ needs in every school.
UESF members went on strike for sanctuary, healthcare, special education, and housing for SFUSD families, and we were told the resources didn’t exist. Over and over again, even after we won our demands that ended the strike, some tried to make people believe it wasn’t possible. Nothing could be further from the truth. SFUSD management has acknowledged its financial stability, and had that financial stability before educators voted to strike. But neither the Board of Education leadership nor the Superintendent has offered a vision for using all the resources at our disposal.
San Francisco public schools are deeply popular. Every day, educators and families invest their time, energy, and resources to ensure our school communities are thriving, stable, and working to meet the needs of EVERY student.
As tech billionaires, mega developers, and private equity firms continue to buy up San Francisco and drive housing prices skyward, our families are being pushed out or having their finances stretched thin. Now more than ever, our public schools need to be welcoming places that let educators focus on academic excellence, support our students’ well-being, and keep quality educators in every school. District leadership needs to stop squandering opportunities to increase enrollment by investing the resources to meet the needs of all our families.
UESF has experience in building unity. We won the historic strike and brought back the San Francisco we all love. We won with the overwhelming support of our students, families, and sibling unions. We won despite the lack of leadership by the Board of Education, District management, or the Mayor. Your unity with your coworkers is our real strength! At every site, that unity will be needed to navigate the coming years of program changes. Our goal must be to have every school fully enrolled and fully funded so all of our students in San Francisco have an excellent, equitable public school experience. Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions, and that is why we will continue to fight for the schools our students deserve.
