San Francisco Board of Education

In October 1849, John C. Pelton opened a school in a Baptist church in San Francisco. It was funded by voluntary donations and tuition, with poor children able to attend for free. In 1850, the city council adopted an ordinance making it free public school for all children, a first in California. In September 1851, the school was reorganized under an ordinance providing for a San Francisco Board of Education and a superintendent.[1]

With Japanese immigration to the United States increasing in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Board ordered Japanese American and Korean American students attending public schools to transfer to the "Oriental School", which serviced Chinese students, in 1905. This drew ire from the Empire of Japan and forced Theodore Roosevelt to intervene, who was wary of Japan's recent victory in the Russo-Japanese War. After Roosevelt realized that this was a matter of immigration and that the ordinance affected only 93 students, he brokered the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907, whereby the students would be allowed into the schools and the Japanese government would stop issuing passports for laborers to the United States, after initially failing to persuade the Board to rescind their decision.[2]

On April 18, 1906, the morning after the 1906 earthquake, members of the Board of Education, including Aaron Altmann, David Oliver, Thomas F. Boyle, and Lawrence F. Walsh, Superintendent Alfred Roncovieri, Secretary E. C. Leffingwell, along with and all employees of the Department, reported at the repair shop of the Board of Education at corner Pine and Larkin streets to rebuild.

The group spent the next two days guarding SFUSD property, checking up on teachers, and ensuring that all of their employees had proper shelter.

Out of a total of 74 school buildings controlled by the SFUSD in 1906, 29 were destroyed by fire, and many of the remainder were seriously damaged by the severity of the earthquake. The Girls' High School, located at Scott and O'Farrell streets, was totally wrecked by the temblor. Mission High School, located at Eighteenth and Dolores streets was badly damaged as well.[3]

The Oriental School was also opened after the 1906 earthquake to solely serve children of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese descent.

Arlene Ackerman arrived in SFUSD in mid-2000 and immediately began cleaning up the financial affairs of a school district marred by fiscal scandal under her predecessor Bill Rojas. Her efforts resulted in arrests of alleged perpetrators who had been looting school-district coffers,[4][5] as well as the exposure of alleged schemes impacting other school districts nationwide.[6]

But a faction on the school board and in the community—far-left "progressive" and Green Party members—soon became hostile to Superintendent Ackerman.[7][8]

Her critics claimed that Ackerman had opposed efforts by the City's Youth Commission to address sexual assaults in the public schools and that Ackerman ordered staffers to not talk to the press.[9] Due to her efforts to maintain fiscal discipline in an era of tight finances, Ackerman's relations with the teachers' union, United Educators of San Francisco, became strained.

Ackerman remained popular with community and parent leaders.[10] The San Francisco Chronicle editorialized in support of Ackerman. "Her understated but firm demeanor -- and her focus on the classroom -- is producing results," the Chronicle said in an editorial. "A school superintendent needs all the support he or she can get. What she doesn't need is sniping and second-guessing from elected officials whose job is to set broad policies, not micromanage the superintendent's daily conduct. Tensions between school board members and superintendents come with the territory. But in San Francisco, those tensions had gone far beyond the limits of acceptability. Three board members in particular -- Eric Mar, Sarah Lipson and Mark Sanchez—need to start working with Ackerman, not fighting with her virtually on a daily basis.” [11]

Ackerman won national acclaim for initiatives she implemented in San Francisco's schools, including extra support for low-performing schools; the "weighted student formula," in which funding followed each student in different amounts depending on the student's needs; and "site-based budgeting," which gave schools (as opposed to district bureaucrats) far more control over their own budgets.[12]

Toward the end of her tenure, Ackerman was given a large, controversial raise, of which included a salary of $250,000, a $4,000 monthly housing allowance, and a $375,000 severance package, by a 4-3 vote.[9] Ackerman could trigger by quitting whenever she wished, even though it was clear that her days were numbered. Eventually, the Board of Education was sued over the contract. Ackerman stated that the cost of her legal defense would cost the SFUSD more than her severance package was worth.[13]

Ackerman left the district in mid-2006 after six years .[14] Ackerman's interim successor was longtime SFUSD administrator Gwen Chan, who retired rather than pursue the superintendent's post on a permanent basis. Carlos Garcia was hired to replace Chan. Garcia has kept a low profile and has maintained good relations throughout the district, but many in San Francisco continue to resent the Green/Progressive attacks that drove Ackerman out.

In November 2006, the Board voted 4-2 to eliminate the JROTC program altogether in the entire city within two years,[15] stating that "armed forces should have no place in public schools, and the military's discriminatory stance on gays makes the presence of JROTC unacceptable."[16]

In December 2007, the School Board decided to continue JROTC for one more year so the JROTC task force could continue its search for a replacement program without punishing the current JROTC students.[17] A non-binding measure called Proposition V was placed on the November 4, 2008 general ballot in San Francisco that supported the reinstatement of the JROTC program in the City. The proposition passed. In May 2009, the school board voted to reinstate the program.[18] In June 2009, the San Francisco School board voted 4 to 3 in favor of reinstating physical education credit for students enrolled in JROTC.[19]

In 2018, the Board created a task force to study the names of schools within the SFUSD in the wake of Charlottesville car attack.[20] The 12-person committee was assembled in 2020 and recommended 44 names that were associated with the European colonization of the Americas, slavery in the United States, exploitation, racism, or abuse for renaming. Early estimates priced the entire process to at least US$1,000,000. The Board approved the list for consideration in January 2021, with schools offered to submit replacement names up until April 2021. Commissioner Mark Sanchez, has stated that although he does not anticipate all 44 schools to be renamed, those on the list "should be prepared."[21][22]

Critics have called the effort amateurish and wasteful—citing the absence of historians on the committee, an inadequate amount of public input, and the US$1,000,000 price tag during a budget deficit estimated to be at around US$75,000,000 as primary issues. Mayor London Breed, State Senator Scott Wiener, and Supervisor Hillary Ronen have called for a refocusing on school re-openings during the COVID-19 pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area rather than the renaming effort.[21][23]

Proponents of the renaming argued that it was necessary "given the country’s reckoning with a racist past" and that students shouldn't attend schools named after slaveholders such as George Washington or racists like Adolph Sutro or colonizers like Junípero Serra.[21][24] Board President Gabriela Lopez has affirmed that the Board can focus on both "dismantle racist symbols and white supremacy culture...and other pressing matters."[25]

The decision making process has drawn international attention.[26][24] The most controversial school on the list was Abraham Lincoln High School, with members of the committee noting Lincoln's sentencing of 38 indigenous warriors to death after the Dakota War of 1862 as a point of contention. Opponents have countered by stating that Lincoln also pardoned 265 warriors despite mounted pressure from a Republican-majority Congress.[27][28] Some commentators have also expressed confusion about the exclusion of certain names such as Cesar Chavez, who has called undocumented workers "wetback" and other pejoratives, and the inclusion of others, including a school named after El Dorado.[27][28]

On February 3, 2021, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced that, on February 11, he will sue the Board of Education, SFUSD, and Superintendent Vincent Matthews for violating state law by not having a plan to "offer classroom-based instruction whenever possible". The lawsuit was the first of its kind, wherein a civil action is filed by a city against its school district over COVID-19 school closures, within the state of California. The suit is supported by Mayor London Breed, who has criticized the Board for focusing on renaming 44 SFUSD schools during the pandemic. Both the Board and Matthews have criticized the suit, calling it wasteful and inaccurate.[25][29][30][31]

The November 6, 2018 election for the Board of Education has drawn an unprecedented 19 candidates[52]—the most in any Board election in at least 20 years[53]—in part because two sitting commissioners, Shamann Walton and Hydra Mendoza have announced they will not seek re-election. Walton is running for a seat on the Board of Supervisors[54] and Mendoza has decided not to seek a fourth term[55] after the passing of the late Mayor Ed Lee. Instead, Mendoza has taken a position as deputy chancellor for community empowerment, partnerships and communications for the Department of Education in New York City, leaving the board at the end of September.[56] On October 15, 2018, Mayor London Breed appointed candidate Faauuga Moliga to fill Mendoza's seat for the remaining three months of her term.[57]

The remaining incumbent, Dr. Emily Murase, missed the filing deadline and became ineligible to run.[58] She has subsequently announced that she will spend more time with family and pursuing leisure activities.[59]

In addition, commissioner Matt Haney is also seeking a seat on the Board of Supervisors[60] and, if successful, will step down from the Board of Education. His seat would be filled by a mayoral appointee. Some have suggested that the Mayor should appoint whichever candidate receives the fourth highest number of votes while others wonder if Mayor Breed would appoint Emily Murase.

On September 10, 2018, Candidate Josephine Zhao withdrew from the race amid allegations of racist and transphobic remarks made in Cantonese.[61][62] Her withdrawal, however, came after the deadline to do withdraw so she will still appear on the ballot and on October 13 supporters of Zhao were canvassing at the district's annual enrollment fair.[63] There are two transgender candidates running for office, Martin Rawlings-Fein and Mia Satya; if elected, either would be the city's first.[64]

On November 6, 2018, San Francisco residents chose three new members for the Board from among nineteen candidates:[36]

The winners were Alison Collins, an African-American mother and educator, Gabriela López, a Latina immigrant and classroom teacher, and Faauuga Moliga, a behavioral therapist and the first Pacific Islander to hold a citywide office.[65]

Phil Kim, a charter school administrator and former teacher, took third place, followed by Michelle Parker who was endorsed by London Breed.[66] Given that board member Matt Haney won his election for the Board of Supervisors,[67] Mayor Breed had to appoint someone to fill his seat. It was unclear as to whether she will select Kim for his 4th place showing, Parker whom she endorsed, or board member Emily Murase. On November 14, 2018, the Bay Area Reporter published an editorial pushing for Mayor Breed to appoint Mia Satya to the open seat,[68] offering a fourth option. On January 22, 2019, Mayor Breed appointed Jenny Lam to fill Matt Haney's seat on the board. Lam, who had been the Mayor's education adviser for the prior three months, is a social justice advocate as well as a parent and a second generation Chinese-American.[37]