Parents and community send literacy petition to SFUSD Superintendent and Board of Education

On October 21, 2022, SF Parent Coalition hand-delivered to SFUSD’s Central Office the following literacy petition, signed by 250+ parents, teachers, and supporters, calling on the district to urgently commit to providing high-quality, research-based early literacy instruction to our students. Following the petition’s delivery, parents and community members filled out and mailed handwritten postcards to the Board and Superintendent at an in-person film screening of the documentary ‘The Right to Read,’ co-hosted with community partners SF Education Fund and Decoding Dyslexia CA at the SF Public Library.

October 21, 2022

Dear SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Wayne and Board of Education Commissioners,

San Francisco community groups, parents, students, educators, and leaders call for a citywide commitment to improve literacy, especially for marginalized populations.

Years of evidence from student outcome data clearly show that San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) students are not reading and writing at grade level. Our public school system is failing at its basic promise to create literate citizens. We have extreme gaps in literacy outcomes for English Language Arts (ELA). In 2019, only 21% of SFUSD’s Black students, 18% of SFUSD’s English learners, and 17% of SFUSD’s students with disabilities met state literacy standards. (Source: CAASPP/State assessment data)

SFUSD is undergoing an expert-led TNTP curriculum audit that is shedding light on the gaps in our literacy materials and instruction, but parents and community need the District and School Board to take swift and decisive action to implement the changes recommended by the audit:

  1. Commit to an explicit vision: to deliver research-based literacy instruction across all schools and classrooms
  2. Invest in high quality instructional materials: proven to work with all students
  3. Take urgent action: to avoid further literacy loss 

We urge SFUSD to make high quality reading and writing instruction a top priority. Its 50,000 students deserve an equal opportunity for literacy.

Signed,

SFUSD Parents, Educators, Students, and Supporters:

Kristy Adams

Syed Ahmad

Daphne Alden

Maria  Altamirano 

Allen Arieff

Anne Arnhym Yanito

Amy Beck

Emily  Beckman 

Lynne Beeson

Angela Bennett

Dana Beuschel

Nilesh Bhandari

Chanel Blackwell

Kate Blumberg

Barbara Bodager

Adam Borelli

Virginia Boster

Sarah bourne

Dan Bowermaster

Seth Brenzel

Abby Bridge

Martha Brooder

Shaelene Brown

Autumn Brown Garibay 

EG  Brubaker

Wesley Brubaker

Sheila Brunsell

Nancy Bui

Ashley Burciaga

Cindy Burg

Beth Burkhart

Spencer Burns

Lorena  Campozano

Kelly Carámbula

Tina  Carney

Jason Cauthen

Lian Chang

Carolyn Chatham

Christa Christa

Emilie Chu

Annie Chung

Jitka Citron

Amanda Clarke

Scot Conner

Zoe Corbyn

Christine Cordaro

Evan Coughenour

Tony Crisera

Joseph  Custodio 

Emila Damjanovuc

Adam Davis

Chelsea de Goede

Justine Della Fave

Joseph DiMento

Stephen Dodson

Meredith Dodson

SIOBHAN DOLAN

Leah Dorazio

Marisa Downs

Fennel Doyle

Naty Duenas

Denise Dunning

Alan Dunton

Lisa Edsall Giglio

Yvette  Edwards

Glenn  Edwards 

Tina Engberg

Stephanie Falkenstein

Rebecca Fedorko

Peter Fish

Allegra Fisher

JAIME-ALEXIS FOWLER

Jessica Franklin

Amanda  Fried

Kendra Frost

Kira G

Andrea Garfield 

Max Garrone

Jayson Gatdula

Nathan Gheen

Ronit Glickman

Sue Gonzalez

Lori Gray

Sarah Green

kimberly green

Anthony Greene

Marissa Guerrero

Sonia Gulati

Sara Hall

Amanda Hamilton

Susan Hamilton

Jessi Harrison

Chloe Hartman

Burcu Hasdemir

Courtney Helland

Kyle Helland

Alison Henry

Mareike Herriger

Jennie Herriot-Hatfield

John Hinman

Kit Hodge

Samantha Hogg

Fabienne Hollinger

Harsha Hooli

Sarah Howard

Dawn Isaacs

Madhavi Jagdish

Carrie Johnson

Emily Johnston

Meg Kammerud

Gerald Kanapathy

Ana Kapor

Klingensmith

Katherine Kimi

Kean H. Kelly 

Jeffrey Kessler

Rachel Keuler

Daniela Kleiman

Angela Kleine

Amelia Knieper

Kimberly Knowles

Melissa Koenigsberg 

Subir Kumedan

Staci Lambright

Megan Lane

Kate Lazarus

Peter Lee

Laurance Lee

Larry Lee

Kimberly Lee

Orlando Leon

Leslie Leslie

Woodward Abbey 

Levantini 

isabella levaux

Rachel  Levy 

Xiao Yan  Li

Autumn Looijen

Beth Lovett

Jacob Loya

Debby Lu

Beth Lucey

Beryl Ma

Thomas Maffai

Jinan  Mahmoud 

Salina Marley

Jennifer Marshall

Emily Matthews

William McCarthy

Paul McLean

Steven Merrill

Molly Mitchell

Leyla Momeny

Caroline Monroe

Sarah Montoya

Todd Moore

Gale Morrison

Michelle Mourad

Rebecca MurrayMetzger

Tomio Nagano

Hope Neighbor

Lila Nelson

Julia Nemchuk

Lindsay Nofelt

Niklas Nordlund

Brittny O’Connor

Sandra  Ospina 

Nelli Oster

Jennie Ottinger

Robin Pam

Christina Pappas

Tarja Parssinen

Melissa Partin

Emmanuelle Pease

Tarrah Pollaro

Megan Potente

Alex  Potente

Gianluca Potente

Natalia Potente

Terrry Potente

EJ Potente

brenna powell

Amanda Powell

Kalpana Ramakrishnan

Nicholas Reavill

Niki Revolt

Rex Ridgeway 

Susannah Riebli

Allyson Ritger

Jacynth Roberts

Melanie  Roberts 

Emily Rodda

Glamis Rory

Bianca  Rowden Quince

Kate Rusche

Viviane Safrin

Jennifer Sam

Ibone Santiago

Trojaola

Kimberly Sarquis

Jamie Schechter 

Erica Schultz

Thea Selby

Glenda Sell

Christina Share

Kathleen Shepherd

Fion Shih

Lori Silk

Veena Singh

Rhea St. Julien

Jennifer Stanley

Katrina Steffek

Tyler Sterkel

Sarah Stettler

Laura  Stonehill 

Andrew Strickman

Emily Suddath

Eiko Sugano

Mary Szczepanik

Jessica Tashjian

Lila Tavelli

Brenda Taylor

Jane Theodore

Tasha Tormey

Marie Torre

Marlene Tran

Jesse turner

Yesenia Umana 

Rebecca Walsh

Cynthia Wang

Christine Wang

Morris

Tim Weidner

Devon Weidner

jennifer white

Samantha Grant Wiesler

Celia Wiley

Ron Willa

Melissa Willa

Laura Wolfram

Julie Wong

Mabel  Wong

Susan Wong

Alex Wong

Anne Woodward

Teresa Wu

Rebecca Wyte

Diane Yap

Clifford Yee

Rahul Young

Daniel Zaheer

Cynthia Zuniga

Marnie Adore