Education
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How Budget Cuts and PTA Fundraising Undermined Equity in San Francisco Public Schools

02.03.2014
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PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRIVATE MONEY: Parent fundraising for elementary education in S.F. skyrocketed 800 percent in 10 years. The largesse saved some classroom programs, but widened the gap between rich and poor.
In an era of shrinking public investment in schools, parents have struggled to hold the line one school at a time. Since the pre-recession year 2007, elementary school PTAs in San Francisco collectively managed to more than quadruple their spending on schools. 
With this money, some schools have been able to pay teachers and staff, buy computers and school supplies, and underwrite class outings and enrichment activities. These expenses, previously covered by the taxpayers, are increasingly the responsibility of parents.
But school district finance data, PTA tax records and demographic profiles reveal an unintended byproduct of parents’ heroic efforts: The growing reliance on private dollars has widened inequities between the impoverished majority and the small number of schools where affluent parents cluster.
Part of a special report on education inequality in San Francisco. A version of this story ran in the winter 2014 print edition.

Education
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Debate in 2014: Use State Windfall for S.F. Schools to Aid Poorest Students, or Raise Teacher Pay?

02.03.2014
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New state dollars will begin flowing into the San Francisco Unified School District in the fall — and policymakers and activists have already begun arguing over how to spend them. Should the San Francisco Board of Education use the $22 million from a new funding scheme to increase teacher salaries districtwide? Should it hire more classroom aides? Or should it adjust its decade-old equitable funding policy that gives a leg up to schools with many children from poor families?
Part of a special report on education inequality in San Francisco. A version of this story ran in the winter 2014 print edition.

City Hall
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S.F. Board Watch: Supervisors Take Aim at Bottled Water

12.19.2013
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Bottled water is the latest bottled beverage in the line of fire after Supervisor David Chiu proposed controlling its sale in San Francisco.The proposal comes soon after another proposal to tax soda, which will likely appear on the ballot next November. In other news: The city moves forward on protections against harassment by landlords, and the Board of Supervisors approve a land swap with the school district to create more below-market-rate housing.

City Hall
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City Construction Course Offers Job Placements, but Excludes Many Who Could Use a Hand Up

12.17.2013
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Rigorous screening limits candidates, who are groomed for union apprenticeships
San Francisco offers a free 18-week training course through City College that takes low-skill, out-of-work city residents and sets them on the path to construction trade careers. But while the instructors try hard to be inclusive, some city residents who need the program do not satisfy the minimum qualifications, including a high school equivalency degree. For those who matriculate, unions are able to find job placements for 85 percent of graduates, with the help massive construction boom that has raised demand for trade laborers to levels not seen in a decade.
SAN FRANCISCO’S WORKFORCE REBOOT is the cover story in the fall 2013 print edition of the San Francisco Public Press. Check back for updates on other stories.

Community
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Alumni, Veterans Struggle to Preserve City College of San Francisco (Video)

08.12.2013
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Students, faculty and alumni at City College of San Francisco are grappling with the school’s loss of accreditation and its struggle to retrieve its status before it expires in the summer of 2014. Watch the video of a panel discussion that included a faculty union representative, alumni, journalists and veterans, voicing their perspectives on the effects of the school’s closure, and how it might be rescued. The panel’s host was the new Veterans Community Media Center  in San Francisco.

Education

City College Still Risks Losing Accreditation Even After Local, State Measures Pass

11.07.2012
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The passage of local and state education measures Tuesday added $11 million to the budget of City College of San Francisco for next year. But the school still faces a loss of accreditation if it fails to balance its budget responsibly. The school now must confront a $15 million budget gap, and according to state Proposition 30, also needs to meet an enrollment target. That’s going to be particularly hard, given the demand from the outside accreditation team that City College slash unusually high salaries and benefits. Other instructions from the Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, and from the state’s Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team, include improvements in governance, student learning outcomes and fiscal management.

City Hall

Countdown to accreditation: City College makes changes despite criticism

10.01.2012
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Once lauded for being the largest community college in the nation, City College of San Francisco has recently come under fire in an accreditation crisis that threatens its future. Ever since the commission placed City College on “show cause” status in July — meaning the college might have to close if it does not improve — tensions between the board of trustees and the community have stalled progress on the ongoing crisis. City College submitted its first accreditation report last week, detailing steps it will take to meet the commission’s standards.