Newsletter – March 27, 2026

Dear SFUSD Champions and Supporters,

Before you read on to learn about what’s happening at SFUSD, be among the first to RSVP for SF Parents’ spring virtual event on April 23rd – Let’s Shake the Trees: How to Actually Fully Fund SFUSD.

Click here to learn more, RSVP, and submit a question. We’ll host a moderated discussion with Superintendent Dr. Maria Su, Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, Phil Halperin of the Silver Giving Foundation, Chief of Health & Human Services for San Francisco Kunal Modi, and local campaign expert Jill Golub of BMWL. Walk away informed, empowered, and ready to take action with SF Parents to go after alllllll the money for our schools.

The literacy advocacy community–that includes SF Parents–received troubling news on Tuesday evening. SFUSD staff reported that the district is significantly off track with its literacy goals in getting students to read at grade level. Overall 3rd grade reading proficiency dropped from 53.1% proficiency in the fall to 51.8% in January. The school board expressed concern about a clear gap between the articulated implementation strategy and what is actually happening across schools and classrooms. Nearly two years into adoption, only about 67% of K-5 classrooms are consistently using the literacy curriculum. This means that a third of SFUSD’s K-5 students may not be getting the same critical foundational, high-quality instruction as their peers.

Through our SF Kids Can’t Wait campaign, we’ll be amplifying our concerns about this and pushing SFUSD towards 100% implementation across schools and classrooms. Every student has the right to read. Do you want to apply your parent leadership and advocacy skills to help? Email Geri@sfparents.org to get involved.

The K-5 math program rollout is experiencing similar challenges: nearly one year in now, just 47% of evaluated classrooms demonstrated strong instructional practices with the materials. We’d like to see more of the community sounding the alarm bells calling on SFUSD to ensure high-quality instruction is delivered consistently across every classroom in the district. Inconsistent curriculum use across classrooms is a factor contributing to gaps in student outcomes, raising important questions about how the district supports–and holds schools accountable to–using approved materials effectively.

Extension of the 2025-26 school year: The school board approved a revised 2025-26 calendar, adding five instructional days to the end of the school year to account for missed learning days due to the strike. While some families proposed creative solutions to spread make-up hours over Early Release Wednesdays or full days over the next school year(s), these ideas did not gain traction with SFUSD and UESF (the teacher’s union) decision makers.

Enrollment declines across the state: A recent piece in the 74 Million highlights a growing challenge across California: even as student enrollment declines, districts are facing rising costs driven by new labor agreements while staffing levels remain unchanged. Because school funding is tied to enrollment, this mismatch is contributing to budget pressure in districts across the state, and helps to explain why districts like San Francisco are facing deficits, cuts, and/or labor tensions right now.

City advocacy update: Locally, conversations about school funding are accelerating. SFUSD recently shared updates with families on the district’s ongoing financial challenges and the need for long-term solutions, reinforcing what many parents are already seeing: the current system isn’t sustainable without changes at both the city and state level.

Join us at our April 23rd Virtual Town Hall, Let’s Shake the Trees on School Funding, where state, city, and district leaders will join parents, teachers, and community advocates to discuss real solutions to fully funding our schools.