Hi UESF. This week has been very challenging, not only for the school communities listed for mergers and closures, but for all of us as union siblings. We all have friends, families, co-workers across all of SFUSD so when one of us is harmed, we all feel the impact. The level of disruptions the poorly managed Resource Alignment Initiative has caused is completely unacceptable. UESF has stated since the beginning that closing schools harms students. We have listened closely to the District’s justification for moving forward with this plan and have expressed our concerns directly to the Superintendent and his cabinet for months. As we are visiting school sites targeted by the infamous list, we are making clear UESF’s position that moving forward with the already mishandled implementation of RAI is irresponsible, and we are prepared to organize with our members and school communities to stop the RAI and ensure the stability of this District.
The forces promoting school closures claim that this move is necessary to stop an imminent state takeover. This is myth making at its finest. We want to repeat, using the threat of state takeover as a justification for the terrible disruption happening now is incorrect at best and ultimately neglectful. The most recent audit showed movement in the positive direction and the new practices being imposed internally on the District’s budget will continue to improve. This doesn’t mean that management won’t have to make further cuts. But Management, in a surprising move, projected cuts to student services at school sites while a central office, bloated with unrepresented management will remain intact? They still have not uprooted management responsible for decades of negligent errors. We are drawing the line and will be clear with the District, the union will not be quiet as this culture of a lack of accountability and incompetence continues to disrupt our school communities.
The entire focus of the District should be on auditing and readjusting their internal budget accounting and controls, the immediate correction of their position control, the evaluation of central office programs to dramatically reduce the need for non-essential management positions and holding the Enrollment Center accountable to provide an understandable and welcoming process for families BEFORE any changes trickle down to school sites. This alone will stabilize schools. These are the actual “tough decisions” needed to offer SFUSD a “brighter future.”
Expecting under-resourced, under-staffed and under-supported school sites to pay for the District’s mismanagement ends now. We are connecting with UBCs across the District, we are connecting with families, electeds and coalition partners across our city. Expect more to come from union headquarters in the coming week.
Take care of yourself this long weekend. And take some time honoring the legacy of native resistance that continues to inspire and offer hope of being able to heal and thrive despite impossible odds. We have each other, our union, and with our students, families, and communities, we will fight for and win the schools our students deserve.
