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"content": "\u003cp>While San Francisco public schools will avoid teacher layoffs thanks to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">hundreds of buyouts \u003c/a>offered this spring, the district’s work to make significant budget cuts as painless as possible has left schools needing to fill about 150 classroom positions before next fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to tentative budget documents district officials plan to present to the school board on Tuesday evening, the early retirement plan will save the district more than $7.5 million through educator buyouts, and layoffs in the administrative central office total more than $28 million in spending reductions, although those numbers could change since the district temporarily reopened buyout applications in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the staffing changes also leave the district with classroom vacancies to fill and strict limits on how to fill them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The efforts that the leadership took to close the deficit in the ‘easiest pill to swallow’ way … [mean that] right now there are hundreds of positions because of the shuffling [that] need to be filled this spring,” said Meredith Dodson, the executive director of advocacy group San Francisco Parents. “But the state is preventing them from doing any external hiring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sfusd\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a>’s hiring process comes at the end of a whirlwind school year marked by a botched school closure plan, a new superintendent and public scrutiny tied up in the city’s contentious election cycle. This year, the district must make $114 million in budget cuts to avoid state takeover after years of overspending, and it has faced mounting pressure to do so without cutting teachers or classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039959 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Meredith Willa Dodson from Decreasing the Distance speaks during a rally to reopen San Francisco Unified Schools at City Hall in San Francisco on March 13, 2021, on the first anniversary of school buildings being closed. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Because of the budget shortfall, SFUSD has been under heightened state oversight since last May, including a hiring freeze that requires state advisors to approve any district plans to bring in new staff. Earlier this month, the California Department of Education partially lifted that freeze, allowing SFUSD to begin hiring eligible internal employees for classroom positions after they were affected by layoffs in the central office or cuts to other special assignment roles and offering renewals to temporary teachers on one-year contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Dodson said that if the district is not allowed to recruit candidates from outside, whether those vacancies get filled fully depends on where teachers want to work — and if they choose to remain at SFUSD at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is the challenge of a principal being like, ‘Wait, it’s the end of the year, I need to fill my school for the next year,’ and they’re not being allowed to,” she told KQED. “It’s really bad, especially for those high priority, high need schools, [that] are typically the schools that are harder to staff.”[aside postID=news_12039737 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/OaklandSchoolChildren-1020x696.jpg']Even if the district is allowed to begin hiring externally and fills its classroom roles, it is still set to have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031347/san-francisco-schools-may-cut-staff-face-backlash-over-new-hiring-limits\">hundreds fewer staff members next year\u003c/a> and lose some of its most experienced teachers to early retirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dodson said parents are especially worried about “the cuts in para[educators], the cuts in counselors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t have counselors with hundreds and hundreds of kids on their caseload; they’ll never be able to meet with them all,” she said. “And then, of course, paras [serve] our kids in special education who need that additional support. There are a lot of concerns about some of those cuts that we’re seeing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Maria Su recently said SFUSD is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036914/more-sfusd-layoffs-to-target-central-office-bringing-budget-gap-closer-to-zero\">within $10 million\u003c/a> of balancing this year’s shortfall, but the district isn’t out of the woods financially in the long term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is forecasting deficits in the tens of millions in each of the next three years. Those projections would spend down the majority of SFUSD’s restricted and unrestricted fund balances and wipe out its rainy day reserves, and they don’t reflect any salary increases that could be negotiated with employee unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district said some of the excess spending it plans to do in the next few years allows it to utilize one-time money in its restricted fund, but it will need to make more reductions as that money is spent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Fiscal Stabilization Plan has a significant positive impact on our financial forecast, but additional steps will be necessary to achieve sustainability in the long term,” according to district documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dodson said the district’s new leadership is making strides in the right direction, but without better collaboration with the state, long-term problems will continue to loom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to see the state giving San Francisco Unified a little more carrot and a little less stick,” she said. “If they don’t allow principals to hire to fill classrooms, then the state is as much responsible as our district for denying kids a quality education.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The efforts that the leadership took to close the deficit in the ‘easiest pill to swallow’ way … [mean that] right now there are hundreds of positions because of the shuffling [that] need to be filled this spring,” said Meredith Dodson, the executive director of advocacy group San Francisco Parents. “But the state is preventing them from doing any external hiring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sfusd\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a>’s hiring process comes at the end of a whirlwind school year marked by a botched school closure plan, a new superintendent and public scrutiny tied up in the city’s contentious election cycle. This year, the district must make $114 million in budget cuts to avoid state takeover after years of overspending, and it has faced mounting pressure to do so without cutting teachers or classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039959 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/052_SanFrancisco_ReopenSchoolsMarch_03132021_qed-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Meredith Willa Dodson from Decreasing the Distance speaks during a rally to reopen San Francisco Unified Schools at City Hall in San Francisco on March 13, 2021, on the first anniversary of school buildings being closed. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Because of the budget shortfall, SFUSD has been under heightened state oversight since last May, including a hiring freeze that requires state advisors to approve any district plans to bring in new staff. Earlier this month, the California Department of Education partially lifted that freeze, allowing SFUSD to begin hiring eligible internal employees for classroom positions after they were affected by layoffs in the central office or cuts to other special assignment roles and offering renewals to temporary teachers on one-year contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Dodson said that if the district is not allowed to recruit candidates from outside, whether those vacancies get filled fully depends on where teachers want to work — and if they choose to remain at SFUSD at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is the challenge of a principal being like, ‘Wait, it’s the end of the year, I need to fill my school for the next year,’ and they’re not being allowed to,” she told KQED. “It’s really bad, especially for those high priority, high need schools, [that] are typically the schools that are harder to staff.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Even if the district is allowed to begin hiring externally and fills its classroom roles, it is still set to have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031347/san-francisco-schools-may-cut-staff-face-backlash-over-new-hiring-limits\">hundreds fewer staff members next year\u003c/a> and lose some of its most experienced teachers to early retirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dodson said parents are especially worried about “the cuts in para[educators], the cuts in counselors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t have counselors with hundreds and hundreds of kids on their caseload; they’ll never be able to meet with them all,” she said. “And then, of course, paras [serve] our kids in special education who need that additional support. There are a lot of concerns about some of those cuts that we’re seeing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Maria Su recently said SFUSD is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036914/more-sfusd-layoffs-to-target-central-office-bringing-budget-gap-closer-to-zero\">within $10 million\u003c/a> of balancing this year’s shortfall, but the district isn’t out of the woods financially in the long term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is forecasting deficits in the tens of millions in each of the next three years. Those projections would spend down the majority of SFUSD’s restricted and unrestricted fund balances and wipe out its rainy day reserves, and they don’t reflect any salary increases that could be negotiated with employee unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district said some of the excess spending it plans to do in the next few years allows it to utilize one-time money in its restricted fund, but it will need to make more reductions as that money is spent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Fiscal Stabilization Plan has a significant positive impact on our financial forecast, but additional steps will be necessary to achieve sustainability in the long term,” according to district documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dodson said the district’s new leadership is making strides in the right direction, but without better collaboration with the state, long-term problems will continue to loom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to see the state giving San Francisco Unified a little more carrot and a little less stick,” she said. “If they don’t allow principals to hire to fill classrooms, then the state is as much responsible as our district for denying kids a quality education.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sfusd\">San Francisco’s schools\u003c/a> superintendent said a plan to cut hundreds of positions in the district’s central office, while preserving classroom teacher roles, will bring the district within $10 million of bridging a hundred-million-dollar deficit by the end of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Top administrative staffers will be included in the second round of employee cuts that Superintendent Maria Su is set to present to the Board of Education on Tuesday. In addition to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031347/san-francisco-schools-may-cut-staff-face-backlash-over-new-hiring-limits\">counselor and paraeducator layoffs\u003c/a> announced earlier, Su said the reduction of 205 administrative roles is necessary to ensure that every classroom in the district has a certificated teacher next fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There will be no layoffs to our teachers because we value and know how important it is to have a teacher in every single classroom,” Su told reporters on Monday. “But of course, this does mean that we still need to move forward with certain other positions. We will be laying off central office staff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 100 staffers in the central office will be laid off, and 30 more roles will be eliminated after employees took the district’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">early retirement buyout\u003c/a> earlier this year. Su said the district plans to promote internal employees to fill some of the roles left vacant by high-level retirements. The remaining 75 positions affected by the cuts are currently vacant and will not be filled. The district said the plan will save it $34 million a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents and union leaders have long called for cuts to what they say is a “bloated” and dysfunctional central office and accused the district of spending too much money on positions that don’t serve students. Su, who has led the district for six months, said that in the past, about 25% of district spending went toward the administrative arm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036911\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036911\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Francisco Unified School District Administrative Offices in San Francisco on April 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The cuts will reduce that to 16%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are taking a thoughtful, multi-pronged approach, balancing the budget carefully while doing everything we can to minimize the impact on students and our staff,” Su said. “Everything we do is guided by our belief that every dollar should support student success and that strong systems create the foundation for thriving schools.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frank Lara, the vice president of the union representing SFUSD teachers, told KQED that the union is optimistic about her proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think it’s about time that a superintendent took the matter seriously and is making the level of cuts that [she is] presenting to the board,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Lara, past central office cuts have overwhelmingly affected lower-level staff and union members, while Su’s plan consolidates more upper-management roles.[aside postID=news_12031802 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241023-SFUSDSUPERINTENDENT-13-BL-KQED.jpg']“We can see that it’s actually coming out of where it should,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Su has repeatedly said no classroom teachers will be laid off as part of the significant spending reduction, she noted that all 114 teachers currently on special assignments — usually district veterans who focus on specialized small group instruction, reading intervention, or other targeted services for struggling students — have been asked to return to the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of those special positions will be eliminated, or at least remain vacant until the district fills 92% of its base staffing needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Su’s plan for the central office also includes a new executive office structure meant to eliminate some of the “silos” she noticed between departments after taking over the superintendency last fall. Her plan shrinks her executive staff from eight to four positions and merges other high-ranking roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two top business and operations positions will be combined, and four positions heading educational services for different grade levels will be merged into two. The largest number of central office positions being cut are in curriculum and instruction, student and family services\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12008939\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12008939\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Signs cover the fence in front of Spring Valley Science Elementary School in San Francisco during a press conference on Oct. 10, 2024, to push for city intervention in SFUSD’s school closure plans. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>and technology. Human resources and early education will also lose more than a dozen roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the district works to make $114 million in budget reductions, it is also shelling out nearly $30 million over four years to implement a new payroll system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though not ideal, Su said it’s a necessary expense after the district \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11908196/sfusd-teachers-protest-missed-paychecks-and-payroll-glitches-at-headquarters-overnight-sfusd\">tried and failed\u003c/a> to implement a new system in 2022 and 2023, which left employees with missing or incorrect paychecks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That cannot happen under my watch. It will not happen,” Su said. “It is unconscionable that it did happen, and we cannot allow that to be the case moving forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fiasco \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sfusd-payroll-scandal-empower-teacher-pay-18698224.php\">cost the district $34 million\u003c/a> and a lot of trust from staff and families. Last March, the district committed to pivoting to Frontline, a payroll system used by more than 60% of districts across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does take us a lot of money to stabilize the current system,” Su said. “However, when we do pivot to the new Frontline system, I believe that the amount will significantly reduce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district is on track to present a balanced budget by the state’s deadline at the end of June, Su said, but the process will continue to require “lots of difficult decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“SFUSD is committed to ending our habit of deficit spending and avoiding future state oversight,” Su said Monday. “We have been living on a credit card and this cycle is not acceptable. Our students deserve better. Our staff deserves better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San Francisco’s schools superintendent is set to present a plan to cut 205 central office positions, including top administrative staffers, to the Board of Education on Tuesday.",
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"title": "More SFUSD Layoffs to Target Central Office, Bringing Budget Gap Closer to Zero | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sfusd\">San Francisco’s schools\u003c/a> superintendent said a plan to cut hundreds of positions in the district’s central office, while preserving classroom teacher roles, will bring the district within $10 million of bridging a hundred-million-dollar deficit by the end of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Top administrative staffers will be included in the second round of employee cuts that Superintendent Maria Su is set to present to the Board of Education on Tuesday. In addition to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031347/san-francisco-schools-may-cut-staff-face-backlash-over-new-hiring-limits\">counselor and paraeducator layoffs\u003c/a> announced earlier, Su said the reduction of 205 administrative roles is necessary to ensure that every classroom in the district has a certificated teacher next fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There will be no layoffs to our teachers because we value and know how important it is to have a teacher in every single classroom,” Su told reporters on Monday. “But of course, this does mean that we still need to move forward with certain other positions. We will be laying off central office staff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 100 staffers in the central office will be laid off, and 30 more roles will be eliminated after employees took the district’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">early retirement buyout\u003c/a> earlier this year. Su said the district plans to promote internal employees to fill some of the roles left vacant by high-level retirements. The remaining 75 positions affected by the cuts are currently vacant and will not be filled. The district said the plan will save it $34 million a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents and union leaders have long called for cuts to what they say is a “bloated” and dysfunctional central office and accused the district of spending too much money on positions that don’t serve students. Su, who has led the district for six months, said that in the past, about 25% of district spending went toward the administrative arm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036911\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036911\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250418-SFUSD-06-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Francisco Unified School District Administrative Offices in San Francisco on April 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The cuts will reduce that to 16%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are taking a thoughtful, multi-pronged approach, balancing the budget carefully while doing everything we can to minimize the impact on students and our staff,” Su said. “Everything we do is guided by our belief that every dollar should support student success and that strong systems create the foundation for thriving schools.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frank Lara, the vice president of the union representing SFUSD teachers, told KQED that the union is optimistic about her proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think it’s about time that a superintendent took the matter seriously and is making the level of cuts that [she is] presenting to the board,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Lara, past central office cuts have overwhelmingly affected lower-level staff and union members, while Su’s plan consolidates more upper-management roles.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We can see that it’s actually coming out of where it should,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Su has repeatedly said no classroom teachers will be laid off as part of the significant spending reduction, she noted that all 114 teachers currently on special assignments — usually district veterans who focus on specialized small group instruction, reading intervention, or other targeted services for struggling students — have been asked to return to the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of those special positions will be eliminated, or at least remain vacant until the district fills 92% of its base staffing needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Su’s plan for the central office also includes a new executive office structure meant to eliminate some of the “silos” she noticed between departments after taking over the superintendency last fall. Her plan shrinks her executive staff from eight to four positions and merges other high-ranking roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two top business and operations positions will be combined, and four positions heading educational services for different grade levels will be merged into two. The largest number of central office positions being cut are in curriculum and instruction, student and family services\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12008939\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12008939\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Signs cover the fence in front of Spring Valley Science Elementary School in San Francisco during a press conference on Oct. 10, 2024, to push for city intervention in SFUSD’s school closure plans. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>and technology. Human resources and early education will also lose more than a dozen roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the district works to make $114 million in budget reductions, it is also shelling out nearly $30 million over four years to implement a new payroll system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though not ideal, Su said it’s a necessary expense after the district \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11908196/sfusd-teachers-protest-missed-paychecks-and-payroll-glitches-at-headquarters-overnight-sfusd\">tried and failed\u003c/a> to implement a new system in 2022 and 2023, which left employees with missing or incorrect paychecks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That cannot happen under my watch. It will not happen,” Su said. “It is unconscionable that it did happen, and we cannot allow that to be the case moving forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fiasco \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sfusd-payroll-scandal-empower-teacher-pay-18698224.php\">cost the district $34 million\u003c/a> and a lot of trust from staff and families. Last March, the district committed to pivoting to Frontline, a payroll system used by more than 60% of districts across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does take us a lot of money to stabilize the current system,” Su said. “However, when we do pivot to the new Frontline system, I believe that the amount will significantly reduce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district is on track to present a balanced budget by the state’s deadline at the end of June, Su said, but the process will continue to require “lots of difficult decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“SFUSD is committed to ending our habit of deficit spending and avoiding future state oversight,” Su said Monday. “We have been living on a credit card and this cycle is not acceptable. Our students deserve better. Our staff deserves better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "san-francisco-public-schools-see-surge-applications-thanks-transitional-kindergarten-demand",
"title": "San Francisco Public Schools See Surge of Applications, Thanks to Transitional Kindergarten Demand",
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"headTitle": "San Francisco Public Schools See Surge of Applications, Thanks to Transitional Kindergarten Demand | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco public schools received the largest number of applications in more than a decade thanks to a statewide initiative to offer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989955/what-to-expect-when-enrolling-your-child-in-transitional-kindergarten\">a free year of prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds this fall\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district announced Monday first-round school assignments for the 2025–26 school year for nearly 15,500 applicants, a 10% increase in applications compared to last year, said Lauren Koehler, executive director of San Francisco Unified School District’s enrollment center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a bit of good news for a district facing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031347/san-francisco-schools-may-cut-staff-face-backlash-over-new-hiring-limits\">a major budget shortfall\u003c/a>, partly caused by declining enrollment trends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While applications for kindergarten, 6th grade and 9th grade went up, the biggest surge in applications was for transitional kindergarten, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/schools/enroll/student-assignment-policy/annual-assignment-highlights#77792\">according to district data\u003c/a>. SFUSD received nearly 1,990 student applications for TK, which is 673 more than last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California started adding TK to its sprawling public school system in 2022 and has been gradually accommodating more 4-year-olds based on their birth dates. Starting this fall, all kids who turn 4 by September will be guaranteed a spot in TK. SFUSD is planning to open 18 more classrooms to meet the demand, Koehler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>We’re all really excited about the expansion in TK because it makes [preschool] more affordable for many more families,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12030561 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-2-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To encourage families to enroll in TK, the district changed its assignment policy so that students can continue into kindergarten at the same school without having to reapply. That way, parents don’t have to contend with the assignment process two years in a row, and school staff can nurture students’ social and academic growth over the course of two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Koehler noted that 90% of TK-to-12th-grade applicants were assigned to one of their requested schools, almost 1,000 more students than last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So not only are we having more interest in our schools, we’re also able to assign more kids to schools that they prefer,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Families must accept or decline their assignments by March 27, and a new waitlist system allows them to get results without reapplying for their preferred school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though some families may decline their assignments, Koehler expects SFUSD’s overall enrollment to be slightly higher for the coming year than the current \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/about-sfusd/facts-about-sfusd-glance\">50,000 students\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a small bright spot for a district facing enrollment declines in the long term. The city’s public schools lost more than 4,000 students since 2012–13 and are projected to lose 4,600 more students by 2032 due to demographic trends such as declining birth rates, \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LJBGENPuvXFmR8nuko9c1goeW1WijG_I/view\">according to \u003c/a>district forecasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, SFUSD said it would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031347/san-francisco-schools-may-cut-staff-face-backlash-over-new-hiring-limits\">issue about 170 \u003c/a>preliminary layoff notices to school counselors and paraeducators as it works to close a $113 million budget deficit by year’s end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "It’s a bit of good news as the San Francisco district faces a budget crisis, partly caused by declining enrollment trends. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco public schools received the largest number of applications in more than a decade thanks to a statewide initiative to offer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989955/what-to-expect-when-enrolling-your-child-in-transitional-kindergarten\">a free year of prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds this fall\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district announced Monday first-round school assignments for the 2025–26 school year for nearly 15,500 applicants, a 10% increase in applications compared to last year, said Lauren Koehler, executive director of San Francisco Unified School District’s enrollment center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a bit of good news for a district facing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031347/san-francisco-schools-may-cut-staff-face-backlash-over-new-hiring-limits\">a major budget shortfall\u003c/a>, partly caused by declining enrollment trends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While applications for kindergarten, 6th grade and 9th grade went up, the biggest surge in applications was for transitional kindergarten, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/schools/enroll/student-assignment-policy/annual-assignment-highlights#77792\">according to district data\u003c/a>. SFUSD received nearly 1,990 student applications for TK, which is 673 more than last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California started adding TK to its sprawling public school system in 2022 and has been gradually accommodating more 4-year-olds based on their birth dates. Starting this fall, all kids who turn 4 by September will be guaranteed a spot in TK. SFUSD is planning to open 18 more classrooms to meet the demand, Koehler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>We’re all really excited about the expansion in TK because it makes [preschool] more affordable for many more families,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To encourage families to enroll in TK, the district changed its assignment policy so that students can continue into kindergarten at the same school without having to reapply. That way, parents don’t have to contend with the assignment process two years in a row, and school staff can nurture students’ social and academic growth over the course of two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Koehler noted that 90% of TK-to-12th-grade applicants were assigned to one of their requested schools, almost 1,000 more students than last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So not only are we having more interest in our schools, we’re also able to assign more kids to schools that they prefer,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Families must accept or decline their assignments by March 27, and a new waitlist system allows them to get results without reapplying for their preferred school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though some families may decline their assignments, Koehler expects SFUSD’s overall enrollment to be slightly higher for the coming year than the current \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/about-sfusd/facts-about-sfusd-glance\">50,000 students\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a small bright spot for a district facing enrollment declines in the long term. The city’s public schools lost more than 4,000 students since 2012–13 and are projected to lose 4,600 more students by 2032 due to demographic trends such as declining birth rates, \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LJBGENPuvXFmR8nuko9c1goeW1WijG_I/view\">according to \u003c/a>district forecasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, SFUSD said it would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031347/san-francisco-schools-may-cut-staff-face-backlash-over-new-hiring-limits\">issue about 170 \u003c/a>preliminary layoff notices to school counselors and paraeducators as it works to close a $113 million budget deficit by year’s end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 10:40 a.m. Friday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a> announced Thursday evening that it will issue about 170 preliminary layoff notices as it works to close a massive budget deficit by year’s end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pink slips will be sent to 34 counselors and 143 paraeducators — a sharp reduction from the hundreds of potential notices \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028317/sf-schools-brace-hundreds-layoffs-including-teachers-librarians-counselors\">the school board approved\u003c/a> in February — but the smaller list does not guarantee that staff reductions won’t be more significant next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Maria Su has said the district spends about 80% of its $1.3 billion budget on staffing and faces about a $113 million shortfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While it is very painful, it is very necessary for us to reduce our existing workforce in both our central office as well as throughout our schools,” she told reporters in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other teachers, social workers, counselors and paraeducators will leave the district through an early retirement buyout, which more than 300 agreed to in February. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Due to the overwhelming popularity of the supplemental early retirement plan, I am really grateful to say that we do not have to issue any preliminary layoff notices to our teachers across the district,” Su said at a budget town hall Thursday night. “This is really great news for us because we were hoping and trying to find a way to preserve consistency of our [classroom] teaching staff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>United Educators of San Francisco Vice President Frank Lara said the district is also cross-referencing about 280 sunsetting temporary contracts and could opt not to replace some educators who leave the district voluntarily in the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district has already sent 57 assistant principals preliminary letters of release or reassignment, some of whom could be moved into classroom positions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFUSD shared a baseline staffing formula last month stating that classroom teachers, principals, clerks and janitors will be funded at its schools. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the district’s \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Go6kR6mU85O8bcHVZlBHntXBYvuZo-qQ/view\">new supplementary staffing guide\u003c/a>, schools will only be able to hire new social workers, nurses, librarians and counselors after those roles are covered at their campus. Schools with supplemental funding can also hire assistant principals. Hiring for some additional roles, such as English language and intervention specialists, will be on hold until 92% of classroom teaching positions across the district are filled.[aside postID=news_12028317 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-29-BL-KQED.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new guide also disallows hiring class size reduction teachers, angering some parent-teacher associations, which have traditionally funded these roles — such as two positions at Chinese Immersion School at DeAvila — at their children’s schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For many years in San Francisco, PTAs have stepped up to fill budget gaps for a variety of operating costs,” reads \u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/let-parents-help-fund-sfusd-teachers\">a petition signed by more than 500 parents\u003c/a> opposing the new policy. “These PTA-funded resources have allowed schools to continue performing well academically despite inadequate funding and continued uncertainty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district said the notices being sent are preliminary and that it is “hopeful” final notices won’t be necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As site budgets are finalized, we will gain a clearer understanding of which positions schools will choose to fund,” an SFUSD spokesperson said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 10:40 a.m. Friday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a> announced Thursday evening that it will issue about 170 preliminary layoff notices as it works to close a massive budget deficit by year’s end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pink slips will be sent to 34 counselors and 143 paraeducators — a sharp reduction from the hundreds of potential notices \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028317/sf-schools-brace-hundreds-layoffs-including-teachers-librarians-counselors\">the school board approved\u003c/a> in February — but the smaller list does not guarantee that staff reductions won’t be more significant next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Maria Su has said the district spends about 80% of its $1.3 billion budget on staffing and faces about a $113 million shortfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While it is very painful, it is very necessary for us to reduce our existing workforce in both our central office as well as throughout our schools,” she told reporters in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other teachers, social workers, counselors and paraeducators will leave the district through an early retirement buyout, which more than 300 agreed to in February. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Due to the overwhelming popularity of the supplemental early retirement plan, I am really grateful to say that we do not have to issue any preliminary layoff notices to our teachers across the district,” Su said at a budget town hall Thursday night. “This is really great news for us because we were hoping and trying to find a way to preserve consistency of our [classroom] teaching staff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>United Educators of San Francisco Vice President Frank Lara said the district is also cross-referencing about 280 sunsetting temporary contracts and could opt not to replace some educators who leave the district voluntarily in the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district has already sent 57 assistant principals preliminary letters of release or reassignment, some of whom could be moved into classroom positions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFUSD shared a baseline staffing formula last month stating that classroom teachers, principals, clerks and janitors will be funded at its schools. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the district’s \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Go6kR6mU85O8bcHVZlBHntXBYvuZo-qQ/view\">new supplementary staffing guide\u003c/a>, schools will only be able to hire new social workers, nurses, librarians and counselors after those roles are covered at their campus. Schools with supplemental funding can also hire assistant principals. Hiring for some additional roles, such as English language and intervention specialists, will be on hold until 92% of classroom teaching positions across the district are filled.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new guide also disallows hiring class size reduction teachers, angering some parent-teacher associations, which have traditionally funded these roles — such as two positions at Chinese Immersion School at DeAvila — at their children’s schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For many years in San Francisco, PTAs have stepped up to fill budget gaps for a variety of operating costs,” reads \u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/let-parents-help-fund-sfusd-teachers\">a petition signed by more than 500 parents\u003c/a> opposing the new policy. “These PTA-funded resources have allowed schools to continue performing well academically despite inadequate funding and continued uncertainty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district said the notices being sent are preliminary and that it is “hopeful” final notices won’t be necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As site budgets are finalized, we will gain a clearer understanding of which positions schools will choose to fund,” an SFUSD spokesperson said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Bay Area public schools are struggling, especially in Oakland and San Francisco. Both districts are among only a handful across the state with negative budgets, and as a result recently voted to approve preliminary layoff notices for teachers, counselors, and other staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC4698991256\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:02:19] All right, Katie, so last week, some huge budget cuts were announced for Oakland and San Francisco schools. How big of a deal are these cuts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:02:29] They’re significant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:02:31] Katie DeBenedetti is a reporter for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:02:34] San Francisco needs to cut about $113 million from their budget, and Oakland needs to cut about $95 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:02:45] In San Francisco, the cuts, which are really potential layoff notices, impact about 10% of the district’s teachers, social workers, counselors, teacher aides. And in Oakland, hundreds of staff could be affected. There, the district is eliminating about 800 positions, but it’s creating 700 new ones. So a lot of people might get shifted into a new role. They might move from a 12 month position to an 11 month position, but there’s still gonna be a lot of confusion and a lot of jobs are changing, which could result in pay cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:03:29] I think it’s really demoralizing for both teachers and staff that have kind of gotten used to receiving these pink slips. We’re looking at staffing that might cut a lot of the really key services that students rely on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:03:47] Yeah, let’s dig into that a little bit more. What is the range of things actually on the chopping block? Starting with San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:03:55] In San Francisco, they have basically said, we’re going to cut 395 or so roles across teachers, social workers, counselors, and under teachers, there are a lot of specialist positions. So those are English language arts specialist, literacy coaches, a lot of librarians are teachers. And then a lot of also administrators, most schools right now might not have an assistant principal. Basically, it’s anything that doesn’t fit in the state standard of positions needed to, quote, keep the lights on in school. So classroom teachers, a principal, a janitor, and a clerk are pretty much the only guarantees right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:04:42] And what about Oakland?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:04:44] In Oakland, a lot of the positions that are getting cut are going to be reallocated. So, you know, there’s going to be some cuts to classroom teachers in certain cases. But a big category of the cuts that people are worried about are these substitute teachers called STIP subs. They work at one school site. They say they’re year round. Basically, the district is going to eliminate those roles and kind of replace them with a group of subs that will live at the district level and be sent out based on teacher absences. The other big category there is a lot of roles for support staff are going to be changed from 12 months to 11 months, which results in a pay cut and also makes it so that those staff members won’t be able to use that 12th month of the year where they’re doing planning and preparing over the summer to really get things done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:05:51] I really do feel like I have seen story after story after story about budget cuts at public schools all over the Bay Area. It really seems like a tough time right now for public schools. I mean, is it just, am I just imagining this, Katie? Like, or are public schools across the Bay really struggling right now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:06:16] No, you are not imagining it. This is not isolated to San Francisco and Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:06:25] Many, many school districts are struggling. In just the Bay Area, Santa Rosa is planning to close five schools because of budget cuts. In San Jose, they’re also closing schools. And districts throughout the state are facing these deficits and making staff cuts kind of across the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:06:47] And why is that, Katie? Why is it that so many public schools seem to be struggling so much in this particular moment in time?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:06:57] One of the biggest reasons is declining enrollment. Families have moved out of cities. Kids might be attending private school in higher numbers. The birth rate is also declining. So there are a couple of reasons that schools aren’t growing. Basically the way that school districts get their funding is they get a certain amount of money for every student that they have. That makes up a big bulk of their total budget. So when you have a district like San Francisco, which has lost 10,000 students in the last 10 years or Oakland, which has lost 15,000 in the last 20, they’re getting a lot less money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:07:42] Another big reason is during COVID, districts got a lot of relief money from the government and a lot of districts already facing that declining enrollment kind of used it to pay for ongoing expenses, but that money is now gone. And I think things are also just costing more. The cost of living in Oakland and San Francisco has gone up disproportionately to the, you know, amount of funding that they get from the state for schools. but they need to pay more in wages, they’re paying more for their buildings, for their third-party contracts, and that’s just not being reflected in the amount of funding they’re getting from the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:08:27] Coming up, why the budget situation is even worse in Oakland and San Francisco. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:09:12] So it sounds like a lot of school districts across the Bay Area are struggling with issues like low enrollment, the end of these COVID funds, inflation, but where do the budget problems at Oakland and San Francisco public schools, where do they stack up against these other Bay Area school districts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:09:34] They’re definitely among the worst off. Oakland and San Francisco are among seven of about a thousand districts in California that have negative interim budgets from December. That basically means that without making big changes, they won’t be able to pay their bills in the next few years. Hayward Unified School District is also on that list, but the other four districts are much smaller. They’re in rural parts of the state and their budgets are really a fraction of the size of San Francisco and Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:10:07] I mean, Katie, why are things so bad at schools in Oakland and San Francisco, specifically?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:10:14] Oakland and San Francisco have historically, you know, talked about big cuts, talked about school closures, and then backed off those plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lisa Grant Dawson \u003c/strong>[00:10:24] It’s been decades of not dealing with systemic issues and ultimately asking the superintendent and the staff to make it work for the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:10:36] So Lisa Grant Dawson is Oakland’s budget officer, and she said that they have this pattern. They’ll workshop a plan, they’ll discuss it, they’ll talk about the community impact, what can go, but then they won’t implement it. And that’s kind of continued for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lisa Grant-Dawson \u003c/strong>[00:10:56] It often sounds like our issue is strictly financial, but it’s really how we operate and we’ve just reached a place that we’ve run out of space in order for us to be able to make amends as we have historically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:11:15] I mean, is this normal that that these two districts sort of come up with a plan, you know, commit to these cuts and then decide to sort of back off on them?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:11:30] No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Fine \u003c/strong>[00:11:33] Oakland is notorious for planning, for taking a plan, and naming it five different times, but never fully implementing the plan. San Francisco has yet to come up with a plan, in my opinion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:11:46] Mike Fine, who is the executive director of FCMAT, which is a financial company that helps California districts with their finances, said that a lot of districts are having these same issues, but what’s hurting Oakland and San Francisco is that they’re not taking the steps they need to, to remediate them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Fine \u003c/strong>[00:12:06] This failure to implement idea is really harmful because you go through the same grind and you go through the same emotional trauma year after year after year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:12:20] Realistically, all of the budget balancing work that they’re doing costs money. Like last fall, Oakland and San Francisco both had plans to close schools, which admittedly it’s unclear how much money closing schools really saves, but developing the plans to close schools costs money, staff puts time into it. It’s a lot of work and then to get no gain out of it is hurting them even more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:12:49] Coming back to the students here who really will, I imagine, bear the brunt of these cuts. I mean, what are these cuts going to mean for San Francisco and Oakland students?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:13:01] I think a lot of families and teachers are really concerned about how equitable they’re going to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kampala Taiz-Rancifer \u003c/strong>[00:13:10] Our main function as a school district is to provide quality education. And when we make cuts so close to schools, we’re really undermining that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:13:19] Kampala Taiz-Rancifer, who is the Oakland Union President for teachers, she says that a lot of the cuts that are being made are gonna impact students on their school sites. So, you know, teachers who are working 11 instead of 12 months won’t engage with families during the summer as much. Without subs on site, kids will have to, you know, get accustomed to working with teachers that they don’t know as well. They’ll lose kind of another adult resource. And really, they’re just going to hurt students more than they’re hurting the function of the district at the central office level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kampala Taiz-Rancifer \u003c/strong>[00:14:00] We are going to be having threats from our national government and we really at this time need to make sure that schools are stable and that they are places that students can rely upon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:14:16] Both districts in the past have had school closure plans and budget cut plans that school communities feel have really negatively impacted low -income students and students of color disproportionately. And so there’s a lot of distrust just when we’re making these cuts, are we prioritizing those students’ needs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Community Member 1 \u003c/strong>[00:14:36] The positions that you’re proposing to cut or reduce work directly with students and families, particularly from our most disadvantaged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:14:43] and you can really hear a lot of those concerns at these districts recent board meetings from parents and from teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Community Member 2 \u003c/strong>[00:14:51] Please fund a full social worker at every site at minimum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Community Member 3 \u003c/strong>[00:14:54] District employees receive high salaries, yet they remain inaccessible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Community Member 4 \u003c/strong>[00:14:58] I am here to demand that this board protect our student -facing services. I don’t even like calling it services. These are human beings. These are people, essential people, that work with our babies every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:15:15] What is next here, Katie? It sounds like, at least in San Francisco, TBD on who exactly could lose their jobs. And then in the case of Oakland, I mean, are these cuts going to happen in the next school year or what is next year?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:15:36] So the next step is layoff notice letters going out. These are not set in stone. A lot of people are going to get layoff notices and then in May, when budgets become more clear, get those notices rescinded. If they don’t get rescinded and they get confirmed in May, those employees will be without a job beginning in the next school year. The state would only step in if either district makes it to June just before the start of the new fiscal year without balancing a budget. So because both districts did pass layoff notice resolutions, they are technically making the cuts that they need to make. So it really depends on May and what cuts stay and what cuts get rescinded. And I’m sure in the months in between, there’s gonna be a lot of organizing from, you know each district’s unions, the parent communities, to fight cuts and try to shift them away from students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:16:46] Well, Katie, thanks so much for breaking this down for us. I really appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:16:49] Thanks so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:16:56] That was Katie DeBenedetti, a reporter for KQED. This 25 -minute conversation with Katie was cut down and edited by senior editor, Alan Montecillo. Jessica Kariisa is our producer. She scored this episode. Our intern, Mel Velasquez, added all the tape. Music courtesy of Audio Network, Blue Dot Sessions, and NPR. Support for The Bay is provided in part by the Osher Production Fund. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local. I’m Erica Cruz Guevarra, thanks for listening, peace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Links:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027158/how-oakland-and-sf-ended-up-among-7-ca-school-districts-who-cant-pay-their-bills\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How Oakland and SF Ended Up Among 7 CA School Districts Who Can’t Pay Their Bills\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Bay Area public schools are struggling, especially in Oakland and San Francisco. Both districts are among only a handful across the state with negative budgets, and as a result recently voted to approve preliminary layoff notices for teachers, counselors, and other staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC4698991256\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:02:19] All right, Katie, so last week, some huge budget cuts were announced for Oakland and San Francisco schools. How big of a deal are these cuts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:02:29] They’re significant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:02:31] Katie DeBenedetti is a reporter for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:02:34] San Francisco needs to cut about $113 million from their budget, and Oakland needs to cut about $95 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:02:45] In San Francisco, the cuts, which are really potential layoff notices, impact about 10% of the district’s teachers, social workers, counselors, teacher aides. And in Oakland, hundreds of staff could be affected. There, the district is eliminating about 800 positions, but it’s creating 700 new ones. So a lot of people might get shifted into a new role. They might move from a 12 month position to an 11 month position, but there’s still gonna be a lot of confusion and a lot of jobs are changing, which could result in pay cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:03:29] I think it’s really demoralizing for both teachers and staff that have kind of gotten used to receiving these pink slips. We’re looking at staffing that might cut a lot of the really key services that students rely on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:03:47] Yeah, let’s dig into that a little bit more. What is the range of things actually on the chopping block? Starting with San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:03:55] In San Francisco, they have basically said, we’re going to cut 395 or so roles across teachers, social workers, counselors, and under teachers, there are a lot of specialist positions. So those are English language arts specialist, literacy coaches, a lot of librarians are teachers. And then a lot of also administrators, most schools right now might not have an assistant principal. Basically, it’s anything that doesn’t fit in the state standard of positions needed to, quote, keep the lights on in school. So classroom teachers, a principal, a janitor, and a clerk are pretty much the only guarantees right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:04:42] And what about Oakland?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:04:44] In Oakland, a lot of the positions that are getting cut are going to be reallocated. So, you know, there’s going to be some cuts to classroom teachers in certain cases. But a big category of the cuts that people are worried about are these substitute teachers called STIP subs. They work at one school site. They say they’re year round. Basically, the district is going to eliminate those roles and kind of replace them with a group of subs that will live at the district level and be sent out based on teacher absences. The other big category there is a lot of roles for support staff are going to be changed from 12 months to 11 months, which results in a pay cut and also makes it so that those staff members won’t be able to use that 12th month of the year where they’re doing planning and preparing over the summer to really get things done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:05:51] I really do feel like I have seen story after story after story about budget cuts at public schools all over the Bay Area. It really seems like a tough time right now for public schools. I mean, is it just, am I just imagining this, Katie? Like, or are public schools across the Bay really struggling right now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:06:16] No, you are not imagining it. This is not isolated to San Francisco and Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:06:25] Many, many school districts are struggling. In just the Bay Area, Santa Rosa is planning to close five schools because of budget cuts. In San Jose, they’re also closing schools. And districts throughout the state are facing these deficits and making staff cuts kind of across the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:06:47] And why is that, Katie? Why is it that so many public schools seem to be struggling so much in this particular moment in time?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:06:57] One of the biggest reasons is declining enrollment. Families have moved out of cities. Kids might be attending private school in higher numbers. The birth rate is also declining. So there are a couple of reasons that schools aren’t growing. Basically the way that school districts get their funding is they get a certain amount of money for every student that they have. That makes up a big bulk of their total budget. So when you have a district like San Francisco, which has lost 10,000 students in the last 10 years or Oakland, which has lost 15,000 in the last 20, they’re getting a lot less money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:07:42] Another big reason is during COVID, districts got a lot of relief money from the government and a lot of districts already facing that declining enrollment kind of used it to pay for ongoing expenses, but that money is now gone. And I think things are also just costing more. The cost of living in Oakland and San Francisco has gone up disproportionately to the, you know, amount of funding that they get from the state for schools. but they need to pay more in wages, they’re paying more for their buildings, for their third-party contracts, and that’s just not being reflected in the amount of funding they’re getting from the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:08:27] Coming up, why the budget situation is even worse in Oakland and San Francisco. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:09:12] So it sounds like a lot of school districts across the Bay Area are struggling with issues like low enrollment, the end of these COVID funds, inflation, but where do the budget problems at Oakland and San Francisco public schools, where do they stack up against these other Bay Area school districts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:09:34] They’re definitely among the worst off. Oakland and San Francisco are among seven of about a thousand districts in California that have negative interim budgets from December. That basically means that without making big changes, they won’t be able to pay their bills in the next few years. Hayward Unified School District is also on that list, but the other four districts are much smaller. They’re in rural parts of the state and their budgets are really a fraction of the size of San Francisco and Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:10:07] I mean, Katie, why are things so bad at schools in Oakland and San Francisco, specifically?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:10:14] Oakland and San Francisco have historically, you know, talked about big cuts, talked about school closures, and then backed off those plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lisa Grant Dawson \u003c/strong>[00:10:24] It’s been decades of not dealing with systemic issues and ultimately asking the superintendent and the staff to make it work for the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:10:36] So Lisa Grant Dawson is Oakland’s budget officer, and she said that they have this pattern. They’ll workshop a plan, they’ll discuss it, they’ll talk about the community impact, what can go, but then they won’t implement it. And that’s kind of continued for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lisa Grant-Dawson \u003c/strong>[00:10:56] It often sounds like our issue is strictly financial, but it’s really how we operate and we’ve just reached a place that we’ve run out of space in order for us to be able to make amends as we have historically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:11:15] I mean, is this normal that that these two districts sort of come up with a plan, you know, commit to these cuts and then decide to sort of back off on them?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:11:30] No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Fine \u003c/strong>[00:11:33] Oakland is notorious for planning, for taking a plan, and naming it five different times, but never fully implementing the plan. San Francisco has yet to come up with a plan, in my opinion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:11:46] Mike Fine, who is the executive director of FCMAT, which is a financial company that helps California districts with their finances, said that a lot of districts are having these same issues, but what’s hurting Oakland and San Francisco is that they’re not taking the steps they need to, to remediate them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mike Fine \u003c/strong>[00:12:06] This failure to implement idea is really harmful because you go through the same grind and you go through the same emotional trauma year after year after year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:12:20] Realistically, all of the budget balancing work that they’re doing costs money. Like last fall, Oakland and San Francisco both had plans to close schools, which admittedly it’s unclear how much money closing schools really saves, but developing the plans to close schools costs money, staff puts time into it. It’s a lot of work and then to get no gain out of it is hurting them even more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:12:49] Coming back to the students here who really will, I imagine, bear the brunt of these cuts. I mean, what are these cuts going to mean for San Francisco and Oakland students?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:13:01] I think a lot of families and teachers are really concerned about how equitable they’re going to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kampala Taiz-Rancifer \u003c/strong>[00:13:10] Our main function as a school district is to provide quality education. And when we make cuts so close to schools, we’re really undermining that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:13:19] Kampala Taiz-Rancifer, who is the Oakland Union President for teachers, she says that a lot of the cuts that are being made are gonna impact students on their school sites. So, you know, teachers who are working 11 instead of 12 months won’t engage with families during the summer as much. Without subs on site, kids will have to, you know, get accustomed to working with teachers that they don’t know as well. They’ll lose kind of another adult resource. And really, they’re just going to hurt students more than they’re hurting the function of the district at the central office level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kampala Taiz-Rancifer \u003c/strong>[00:14:00] We are going to be having threats from our national government and we really at this time need to make sure that schools are stable and that they are places that students can rely upon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:14:16] Both districts in the past have had school closure plans and budget cut plans that school communities feel have really negatively impacted low -income students and students of color disproportionately. And so there’s a lot of distrust just when we’re making these cuts, are we prioritizing those students’ needs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Community Member 1 \u003c/strong>[00:14:36] The positions that you’re proposing to cut or reduce work directly with students and families, particularly from our most disadvantaged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:14:43] and you can really hear a lot of those concerns at these districts recent board meetings from parents and from teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Community Member 2 \u003c/strong>[00:14:51] Please fund a full social worker at every site at minimum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Community Member 3 \u003c/strong>[00:14:54] District employees receive high salaries, yet they remain inaccessible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Community Member 4 \u003c/strong>[00:14:58] I am here to demand that this board protect our student -facing services. I don’t even like calling it services. These are human beings. These are people, essential people, that work with our babies every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:15:15] What is next here, Katie? It sounds like, at least in San Francisco, TBD on who exactly could lose their jobs. And then in the case of Oakland, I mean, are these cuts going to happen in the next school year or what is next year?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:15:36] So the next step is layoff notice letters going out. These are not set in stone. A lot of people are going to get layoff notices and then in May, when budgets become more clear, get those notices rescinded. If they don’t get rescinded and they get confirmed in May, those employees will be without a job beginning in the next school year. The state would only step in if either district makes it to June just before the start of the new fiscal year without balancing a budget. So because both districts did pass layoff notice resolutions, they are technically making the cuts that they need to make. So it really depends on May and what cuts stay and what cuts get rescinded. And I’m sure in the months in between, there’s gonna be a lot of organizing from, you know each district’s unions, the parent communities, to fight cuts and try to shift them away from students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:16:46] Well, Katie, thanks so much for breaking this down for us. I really appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katie DeBenedetti \u003c/strong>[00:16:49] Thanks so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:16:56] That was Katie DeBenedetti, a reporter for KQED. This 25 -minute conversation with Katie was cut down and edited by senior editor, Alan Montecillo. Jessica Kariisa is our producer. She scored this episode. Our intern, Mel Velasquez, added all the tape. Music courtesy of Audio Network, Blue Dot Sessions, and NPR. Support for The Bay is provided in part by the Osher Production Fund. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local. I’m Erica Cruz Guevarra, thanks for listening, peace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Links:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027158/how-oakland-and-sf-ended-up-among-7-ca-school-districts-who-cant-pay-their-bills\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How Oakland and SF Ended Up Among 7 CA School Districts Who Can’t Pay Their Bills\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 12:30 p.m. Thursday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s school board on Tuesday night \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028309/sf-school-board-must-consider-worst-case-scenario-over-800-layoffs\">approved a plan to send layoff notices\u003c/a> to hundreds of educators and other employees amid a major budget shortfall, raising concerns from school workers and families about diminishing student services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final number of layoffs at the end of the year will almost certainly be lower, the district said, but its workforce is still going to shrink. Tuesday’s unanimous vote allows the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sfusd\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a> to issue preliminary notices to 559 employees, but it hopes to find not-yet-guaranteed restricted funding to rescind notices for some of the 280 included support staff. Classroom educators are also included, with 115 credentialed teaching positions that won’t be budgeted for next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The layoffs are the board’s first major budget decision of the year as SFUSD rushes to patch a $113 million deficit and regain local control over its spending. Without major changes, the district has reported, it could run out of cash by the middle of next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district has experienced a significant decline in overall enrollment consistent with statewide trends, and yet we’ve kept staffing levels largely the same,” said Board President Phil Kim. “It simply is not sustainable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it’s unclear whether the cuts will come mostly from pink slips, voluntary departures or SFUSD’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">early retirement buyout\u003c/a> plan — which Superintendent Maria Su confirmed Tuesday received more than the minimum 314 applications to go forward — there will be fewer staff positions in the district next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12010494\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12010494\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Su speaks at a press event in front of the SFUSD offices in San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This could force schools to have more combined-grade classes or fewer full-time support staff, such as English language arts specialists and social workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art teacher Laura Simon said Visitacion Valley Middle School is at risk of losing a full-time counselor and nurse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My school nurse helped me get vaccinated so that I could come to school, she helped my family find a clinic so that we could go see a doctor — so many of our newcomer students wrote that same thing,” Simon said during the board meeting, reading notes from students. “‘The nurse is always there for me; she talked to me about substance abuse and my feelings; she makes my school feel safe.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tara Ramos, who has been the librarian at Sanchez Middle School for a decade, said the most notable effect on students would be a lack of enrichment opportunities. Librarian roles, which weren’t included in the preliminary layoff notices approved Tuesday, could be redistributed based on the district’s new staffing model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My only role would probably end up being to just release teachers,” Ramos told KQED. Four days a week, she hosts a whole grade level in the library for almost two hours while their teachers have a planning meeting. But she said this isn’t the part of her job that inspires her — or the students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t be able to do any book clubs, I wouldn’t be able to do any special projects. I’ll have no opportunities for collaboration with teachers, to make connections between what I’m doing in library class and what the kids are doing in classrooms,” she continued. “It’s just going to be very basic, and it kind of feels like I’m more of like a substitute than a librarian.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12028309 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-12-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the school budgets sent to schools last week, Sanchez is budgeted to have a librarian three days a week, according to Ramos. If she takes that role, she would work at another school the other two days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under that schedule, Ramos said she probably wouldn’t work with the second and third-grade classes like she has this year — taking them on curriculum-relevant field trips like Mondays to the African American Art and Culture Complex in the Fillmore during second grade’s history of San Francisco unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also wouldn’t host book clubs, which have helped coax some of her more hesitant readers into becoming bookworms but require individualized attention as she gets to know what excites students about reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12008731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12008731\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students and parents protest San Francisco Unified School District for closures in San Francisco on Sept. 24, 2024. Educators claim that the California Department of Education is blocking SFUSD from hiring critical staff such as counselors, nurses, social workers and psychologists. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Assistant principals, who focus on issues like chronic absenteeism and managing individualized education programs for students with disabilities, are also not included in the district’s preliminary staffing model. Earlier this month, the school board approved 149 administrator layoffs — all positions considered supplemental by the state and that SFUSD can’t afford to pay for with general funds under its bare-bones staffing plan, according to Su.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That fund — which comes from local property taxes and the state — would guarantee the staffing of classroom teachers, a principal, a clerk and janitorial staff at each school site, which are the requirements for “keeping the lights on.”[aside postID=news_12027158 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']Other roles would be filled only if the district can find restricted money to allocate to them. Ramos’ position will likely be covered by the Public Education Enrichment Fund, which comes from the city and a portion of which must be used for sports, libraries, arts and music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents, teachers and board members have repeatedly implored district staff to cut contracts and positions in the central office first so that SFUSD doesn’t have to issue and later rescind as many layoff notices — which hurts morale and is likely to lead educators to look for jobs elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Receiving a pink slip — and not knowing whether it will be rescinded — “often causes a lot of anxiety and, of course, a real reaction of folks to seek employment elsewhere,” said teachers union president Cassondra Curiel before the vote. “For these layoffs to be coming in at almost 400 when we know that annually in a regular school year, 400 of our educators churn out of education in San Francisco Unified … we really find this to be an unnecessarily high number.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Su said her team would turn to reductions in the central office next but had to look at teacher staffing first because the state requires districts to send out preliminary notices for those positions by March 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The total number of educators that will be cut — and how many will be through layoffs — won’t be clear until May, when Gov. Gavin Newsom releases his state budget revision and the district has a better understanding of its attrition and retirement rates. A final vote on layoff notices has to happen before May 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to see the central office reductions. We need to see the contract reductions,” board member Matt Alexander told Su and the budget team, adding that he felt uncomfortable supporting the layoffs while these cuts remained up in the air. “If we get to May 15, I’m not going to vote for this same number of layoffs unless the data shows that that’s what needs to happen — but there needs to be a lot more evidence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Feb. 27: This story was updated to clarify that school librarian cuts were not included in the layoff notices approved Tuesday night. Instead, campuses could have reduced and redistributed librarian roles under the district’s overall staffing model for next year.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 12:30 p.m. Thursday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s school board on Tuesday night \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028309/sf-school-board-must-consider-worst-case-scenario-over-800-layoffs\">approved a plan to send layoff notices\u003c/a> to hundreds of educators and other employees amid a major budget shortfall, raising concerns from school workers and families about diminishing student services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final number of layoffs at the end of the year will almost certainly be lower, the district said, but its workforce is still going to shrink. Tuesday’s unanimous vote allows the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sfusd\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a> to issue preliminary notices to 559 employees, but it hopes to find not-yet-guaranteed restricted funding to rescind notices for some of the 280 included support staff. Classroom educators are also included, with 115 credentialed teaching positions that won’t be budgeted for next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The layoffs are the board’s first major budget decision of the year as SFUSD rushes to patch a $113 million deficit and regain local control over its spending. Without major changes, the district has reported, it could run out of cash by the middle of next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district has experienced a significant decline in overall enrollment consistent with statewide trends, and yet we’ve kept staffing levels largely the same,” said Board President Phil Kim. “It simply is not sustainable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it’s unclear whether the cuts will come mostly from pink slips, voluntary departures or SFUSD’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">early retirement buyout\u003c/a> plan — which Superintendent Maria Su confirmed Tuesday received more than the minimum 314 applications to go forward — there will be fewer staff positions in the district next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12010494\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12010494\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-04-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Su speaks at a press event in front of the SFUSD offices in San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This could force schools to have more combined-grade classes or fewer full-time support staff, such as English language arts specialists and social workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art teacher Laura Simon said Visitacion Valley Middle School is at risk of losing a full-time counselor and nurse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My school nurse helped me get vaccinated so that I could come to school, she helped my family find a clinic so that we could go see a doctor — so many of our newcomer students wrote that same thing,” Simon said during the board meeting, reading notes from students. “‘The nurse is always there for me; she talked to me about substance abuse and my feelings; she makes my school feel safe.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tara Ramos, who has been the librarian at Sanchez Middle School for a decade, said the most notable effect on students would be a lack of enrichment opportunities. Librarian roles, which weren’t included in the preliminary layoff notices approved Tuesday, could be redistributed based on the district’s new staffing model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My only role would probably end up being to just release teachers,” Ramos told KQED. Four days a week, she hosts a whole grade level in the library for almost two hours while their teachers have a planning meeting. But she said this isn’t the part of her job that inspires her — or the students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t be able to do any book clubs, I wouldn’t be able to do any special projects. I’ll have no opportunities for collaboration with teachers, to make connections between what I’m doing in library class and what the kids are doing in classrooms,” she continued. “It’s just going to be very basic, and it kind of feels like I’m more of like a substitute than a librarian.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the school budgets sent to schools last week, Sanchez is budgeted to have a librarian three days a week, according to Ramos. If she takes that role, she would work at another school the other two days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under that schedule, Ramos said she probably wouldn’t work with the second and third-grade classes like she has this year — taking them on curriculum-relevant field trips like Mondays to the African American Art and Culture Complex in the Fillmore during second grade’s history of San Francisco unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also wouldn’t host book clubs, which have helped coax some of her more hesitant readers into becoming bookworms but require individualized attention as she gets to know what excites students about reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12008731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12008731\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students and parents protest San Francisco Unified School District for closures in San Francisco on Sept. 24, 2024. Educators claim that the California Department of Education is blocking SFUSD from hiring critical staff such as counselors, nurses, social workers and psychologists. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Assistant principals, who focus on issues like chronic absenteeism and managing individualized education programs for students with disabilities, are also not included in the district’s preliminary staffing model. Earlier this month, the school board approved 149 administrator layoffs — all positions considered supplemental by the state and that SFUSD can’t afford to pay for with general funds under its bare-bones staffing plan, according to Su.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That fund — which comes from local property taxes and the state — would guarantee the staffing of classroom teachers, a principal, a clerk and janitorial staff at each school site, which are the requirements for “keeping the lights on.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Other roles would be filled only if the district can find restricted money to allocate to them. Ramos’ position will likely be covered by the Public Education Enrichment Fund, which comes from the city and a portion of which must be used for sports, libraries, arts and music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents, teachers and board members have repeatedly implored district staff to cut contracts and positions in the central office first so that SFUSD doesn’t have to issue and later rescind as many layoff notices — which hurts morale and is likely to lead educators to look for jobs elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Receiving a pink slip — and not knowing whether it will be rescinded — “often causes a lot of anxiety and, of course, a real reaction of folks to seek employment elsewhere,” said teachers union president Cassondra Curiel before the vote. “For these layoffs to be coming in at almost 400 when we know that annually in a regular school year, 400 of our educators churn out of education in San Francisco Unified … we really find this to be an unnecessarily high number.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Su said her team would turn to reductions in the central office next but had to look at teacher staffing first because the state requires districts to send out preliminary notices for those positions by March 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The total number of educators that will be cut — and how many will be through layoffs — won’t be clear until May, when Gov. Gavin Newsom releases his state budget revision and the district has a better understanding of its attrition and retirement rates. A final vote on layoff notices has to happen before May 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to see the central office reductions. We need to see the contract reductions,” board member Matt Alexander told Su and the budget team, adding that he felt uncomfortable supporting the layoffs while these cuts remained up in the air. “If we get to May 15, I’m not going to vote for this same number of layoffs unless the data shows that that’s what needs to happen — but there needs to be a lot more evidence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Feb. 27: This story was updated to clarify that school librarian cuts were not included in the layoff notices approved Tuesday night. Instead, campuses could have reduced and redistributed librarian roles under the district’s overall staffing model for next year.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco’s school board will make its first major budget decision of the year on Tuesday night when it votes on a proposal to potentially lay off hundreds of educators and administrators — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026596/sf-school-staffing-cuts-leave-counselors-social-workers-on-the-chopping-block\">“painful” cuts\u003c/a> that parents and teachers say will unfairly harm students’ education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a>, which is already under state oversight after certifying two negative budget reports in a row, has to cut $113 million — 10% of its total spending — next year. In an announcement on Friday, SFUSD said that about 80% of its budget goes toward staffing, so cuts across school sites and the district’s central office will be necessary to close its funding gap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district has been warning of the budget crisis’ effects on school staffing since it launched its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010008/sf-schools-crisis-is-spiraling-with-top-official-to-resign-heres-all-thats-happened\">now-shelved school closure plan\u003c/a> last March. Still, for many, Tuesday’s decision will be a reality check of what campuses could look like next fall when the district starts operating on a staffing plan focused on “keeping the lights on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hear that it is a really tough place to be in right now where we have to make these tough decisions, and these tough decisions are going to, as I shared in our last meeting, impact people that we know and impact our students and impact our schools,” Superintendent Maria Su said at a board meeting earlier this month. “However, we are, at this moment in time, facing a very large deficit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday’s proposal is part of a worst-case scenario that would see the district issue as many as 837 preliminary layoff notices. If approved, it would give the district permission to send pink slips to 559 student-facing employees such as teachers, counselors and teachers aides. Earlier this month, the board approved a plan to send notices to 149 administrators and release temporary staffers. In the coming months, it also expects to request approval to pink slip 129 central office employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028401\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028401\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SFUSD Superintendent Maria Su speaks during a press conference at Yick Wo Alternative Elementary School in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The district said these high numbers were chosen out of an “abundance of caution” and added that the final number of employees left without a job next year will likely be lower. But because it is required by state law to issue preliminary pink slips by March 15 — before it has a complete picture of its budget for the next fiscal year based on resignations, an early retirement buyout plan, and final state and federal funding allocations — it wants to ensure “flexibility” to lay off the necessary number of employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really find this to be an unnecessarily high number, even if they were in good faith doing due diligence in order to make sure their budget matches their staffing,” said Cassondra Curiel, the president of San Francisco’s teachers union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have so many families and students without a [permanent] educator in their classroom right now, so the concept of a layoff yet again of educators that are already employed seems counterproductive to ensuring that every student has a qualified credentialed educator in their classroom for next year,” she told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12027158 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241010-SFUSDClosures-11-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, students in dozens of classrooms \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12002125/as-san-francisco-school-closures-loom-frustrated-teachers-say-hiring-has-hit-a-wall\">didn’t have a permanent teacher\u003c/a>. There’s also been an uptick in the number of combination classes that schools have to teach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next year, some schools, like Sheridan Elementary School, might have to introduce a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025440/schools-face-cuts-california-teachers-unions-band-together-demands\">kindergarten-first grade combined class\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not one person who I know has a child in this district sends their child to school to be the teacher. They send their child to school to learn from teachers and educators,” Curiel said. “The district’s cuts [are] ultimately harming what students have to look forward to for the next year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents are also worried that important school-site positions like assistant principal roles won’t be funded. Some campuses are already without a \u003ca href=\"https://careers.sfusd.edu/job/San-Francisco-Assistant-Principal-2024-2025-School-Year-CA-94102/1111756000/#:~:text=Job%20Description&text=You%20will%20report%20to%20the,the%20achievement%20of%20all%20students.\">second-in-command\u003c/a> who helps supervise and train staff and work on “closing the opportunity gap” in schools — including managing individualized education programs and efforts to help chronically absent students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got over 100 IEPs in the school, which is about 25%–30% of the student population, all of which not only requires the extra staffing to put those supports in place but also an administrative overhead to make sure they’re being met, that the reporting is happening, all of that kind of stuff,” said Daniel Hobe, whose third-grader attends Rosa Parks Elementary in the Western Addition. “That’s really where our assistant principal was carrying a lot of the water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028404\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028404\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Backpacks hang in the hallway at Yick Wo Alternative Elementary School in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Su’s staffing plan presented earlier this month does not include guaranteed funding for assistant principals at any schools. The baseline model, which district staff said includes the positions required to keep schools functional, is trim — it includes classroom teachers, a principal, a clerk, janitorial staff and a few other roles. It doesn’t cover wages for many of the social workers or counselors the district employs, though Su said that doesn’t mean they will all be laid off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Half of our SFUSD students live in poverty, we have other kids with disabilities. This is just a real kick in the stomach,” parent Brandee Marckmann said of cuts to student support positions. “It’s not fair to basically balance the budget on the backs of our kids when it’s the SFUSD management that has made so many mistakes.”[aside postID=news_12026600 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250214-Dream-Keeper-Returns-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg']The board’s decision on Tuesday night won’t include a list of specific employees who’ll get pink slips next month, — only the numbers that will go out. If the plan is approved, the district said it will review employee resignations, retirements and leaves and then use a seniority list to determine which staffers will receive preliminary notices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some staff who have worked in the district for a long time might be bumped from a specialized role, like a language arts specialist, back to the classroom. That means that in some cases, two notices are issued while only one employee would be without a job, Curiel previously told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district is also reviewing interest in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">buyout it offered more senior staff\u003c/a> last December, which had a deadline last week. If at least 314 agree to early retirement at the end of the year, they’ll get a one-time payment equal to 60% of their salary and keep their retirement benefits. The district said that could help offset the final number of layoffs, but if there is too little interest, the deal will be fully revoked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Su has said that the process of stabilizing the district’s finances will be “awful” over the next few months, she has maintained that it is necessary to keep the district from further state intervention — especially with uncertainty at the federal level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will be in a much better place in two years’ time where this district will be fully solvent, meaning we control our budget, we control how we allocate our dollars, we control what types of programs and initiatives we want to fund,” she told the school board at its last meeting. “More importantly, we will have and be able to give our teachers and educators and staff a level of stability and predictability that they need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco’s school board will make its first major budget decision of the year on Tuesday night when it votes on a proposal to potentially lay off hundreds of educators and administrators — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026596/sf-school-staffing-cuts-leave-counselors-social-workers-on-the-chopping-block\">“painful” cuts\u003c/a> that parents and teachers say will unfairly harm students’ education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a>, which is already under state oversight after certifying two negative budget reports in a row, has to cut $113 million — 10% of its total spending — next year. In an announcement on Friday, SFUSD said that about 80% of its budget goes toward staffing, so cuts across school sites and the district’s central office will be necessary to close its funding gap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district has been warning of the budget crisis’ effects on school staffing since it launched its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010008/sf-schools-crisis-is-spiraling-with-top-official-to-resign-heres-all-thats-happened\">now-shelved school closure plan\u003c/a> last March. Still, for many, Tuesday’s decision will be a reality check of what campuses could look like next fall when the district starts operating on a staffing plan focused on “keeping the lights on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hear that it is a really tough place to be in right now where we have to make these tough decisions, and these tough decisions are going to, as I shared in our last meeting, impact people that we know and impact our students and impact our schools,” Superintendent Maria Su said at a board meeting earlier this month. “However, we are, at this moment in time, facing a very large deficit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday’s proposal is part of a worst-case scenario that would see the district issue as many as 837 preliminary layoff notices. If approved, it would give the district permission to send pink slips to 559 student-facing employees such as teachers, counselors and teachers aides. Earlier this month, the board approved a plan to send notices to 149 administrators and release temporary staffers. In the coming months, it also expects to request approval to pink slip 129 central office employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028401\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028401\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-05-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SFUSD Superintendent Maria Su speaks during a press conference at Yick Wo Alternative Elementary School in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The district said these high numbers were chosen out of an “abundance of caution” and added that the final number of employees left without a job next year will likely be lower. But because it is required by state law to issue preliminary pink slips by March 15 — before it has a complete picture of its budget for the next fiscal year based on resignations, an early retirement buyout plan, and final state and federal funding allocations — it wants to ensure “flexibility” to lay off the necessary number of employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really find this to be an unnecessarily high number, even if they were in good faith doing due diligence in order to make sure their budget matches their staffing,” said Cassondra Curiel, the president of San Francisco’s teachers union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have so many families and students without a [permanent] educator in their classroom right now, so the concept of a layoff yet again of educators that are already employed seems counterproductive to ensuring that every student has a qualified credentialed educator in their classroom for next year,” she told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, students in dozens of classrooms \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12002125/as-san-francisco-school-closures-loom-frustrated-teachers-say-hiring-has-hit-a-wall\">didn’t have a permanent teacher\u003c/a>. There’s also been an uptick in the number of combination classes that schools have to teach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next year, some schools, like Sheridan Elementary School, might have to introduce a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025440/schools-face-cuts-california-teachers-unions-band-together-demands\">kindergarten-first grade combined class\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not one person who I know has a child in this district sends their child to school to be the teacher. They send their child to school to learn from teachers and educators,” Curiel said. “The district’s cuts [are] ultimately harming what students have to look forward to for the next year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents are also worried that important school-site positions like assistant principal roles won’t be funded. Some campuses are already without a \u003ca href=\"https://careers.sfusd.edu/job/San-Francisco-Assistant-Principal-2024-2025-School-Year-CA-94102/1111756000/#:~:text=Job%20Description&text=You%20will%20report%20to%20the,the%20achievement%20of%20all%20students.\">second-in-command\u003c/a> who helps supervise and train staff and work on “closing the opportunity gap” in schools — including managing individualized education programs and efforts to help chronically absent students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got over 100 IEPs in the school, which is about 25%–30% of the student population, all of which not only requires the extra staffing to put those supports in place but also an administrative overhead to make sure they’re being met, that the reporting is happening, all of that kind of stuff,” said Daniel Hobe, whose third-grader attends Rosa Parks Elementary in the Western Addition. “That’s really where our assistant principal was carrying a lot of the water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028404\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028404\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/241023-SFUSDSuperintendent-52-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Backpacks hang in the hallway at Yick Wo Alternative Elementary School in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Su’s staffing plan presented earlier this month does not include guaranteed funding for assistant principals at any schools. The baseline model, which district staff said includes the positions required to keep schools functional, is trim — it includes classroom teachers, a principal, a clerk, janitorial staff and a few other roles. It doesn’t cover wages for many of the social workers or counselors the district employs, though Su said that doesn’t mean they will all be laid off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Half of our SFUSD students live in poverty, we have other kids with disabilities. This is just a real kick in the stomach,” parent Brandee Marckmann said of cuts to student support positions. “It’s not fair to basically balance the budget on the backs of our kids when it’s the SFUSD management that has made so many mistakes.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The board’s decision on Tuesday night won’t include a list of specific employees who’ll get pink slips next month, — only the numbers that will go out. If the plan is approved, the district said it will review employee resignations, retirements and leaves and then use a seniority list to determine which staffers will receive preliminary notices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some staff who have worked in the district for a long time might be bumped from a specialized role, like a language arts specialist, back to the classroom. That means that in some cases, two notices are issued while only one employee would be without a job, Curiel previously told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district is also reviewing interest in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">buyout it offered more senior staff\u003c/a> last December, which had a deadline last week. If at least 314 agree to early retirement at the end of the year, they’ll get a one-time payment equal to 60% of their salary and keep their retirement benefits. The district said that could help offset the final number of layoffs, but if there is too little interest, the deal will be fully revoked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Su has said that the process of stabilizing the district’s finances will be “awful” over the next few months, she has maintained that it is necessary to keep the district from further state intervention — especially with uncertainty at the federal level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will be in a much better place in two years’ time where this district will be fully solvent, meaning we control our budget, we control how we allocate our dollars, we control what types of programs and initiatives we want to fund,” she told the school board at its last meeting. “More importantly, we will have and be able to give our teachers and educators and staff a level of stability and predictability that they need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "how-oakland-and-sf-ended-up-among-7-ca-school-districts-who-cant-pay-their-bills",
"title": "How Oakland and SF Ended Up Among 7 CA School Districts Who Can’t Pay Their Bills",
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"headTitle": "How Oakland and SF Ended Up Among 7 CA School Districts Who Can’t Pay Their Bills | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland public school\u003c/a> parents, teachers and students packed La Escuelita Elementary School’s gym in December, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">ready for a fight\u003c/a>. The district’s board was set to vote on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013739/oakland-school-board-spurns-campus-closures-plans-merge-some-schools-instead\">plan to merge 10 schools\u003c/a> — a modest proposal compared to the number recommended by an efficiency study to align Oakland’s campuses with enrollment but a nonstarter for school communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After about 30 minutes of pleas from a long line of emotional students who shuffled to the podium, former board President Sam Davis paused the public comment period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was like, ‘Do we still want to hear public comment given that the guy whose idea this was isn’t even here?’” Davis recalled referring to board Vice President Mike Hutchinson, who had left his seat at the dais during the comment period after no motion was made. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis and Hutchinson sparred all fall about how to address the district’s massive — and growing — budget crisis. Davis believed the district needed to close schools while Hutchinson, who originally supported voting on the merger plan, pushed back against more drastic consolidations, saying there hadn’t been sufficient community engagement to do so. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re sitting in the meeting, and I’m like, ‘OK, is there a motion for this plan? And nobody makes a motion,” Davis said. “It’s not my place. I’m not going to make the motion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We basically didn’t vote.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017852\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017852\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Unified School District Board listens to public comment during a meeting at La Escuelita Elementary School in Oakland, California, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. Students, families, educators, and community members raised their concerns about a proposed merger of their schools. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The anticlimactic finale of the school closure proposal is nothing new. Oakland’s school board has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11905982/how-dare-you-oakland-school-closure-decision-inspires-new-opposition-efforts\">repeatedly floated, then backed off\u003c/a>, plans to close schools and impose other “draconian” cuts in the name of budget balancing. Lisa Grant-Dawson, the district’s chief budget officer, described it as a pattern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been decades of not dealing with systemic issues and ultimately asking the superintendent … and the staff to make it work for the year with some commitment that ‘We’ll do something in the future,’” she told KQED. “That doesn’t happen, and we just reach the place where we’ve run out of space for us to be able to make amends as we have historically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland — under state receivership since 2003 but now less than two years from regaining control — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023461/ousd-on-track-run-out-of-cash-after-avoiding-hard-decisions-scathing-letter-says\">certified a negative interim budget\u003c/a> in December. That designation puts it among just seven of nearly 1,000 California school districts that see no clear path to meeting their financial obligations over the next three years. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco’s school district\u003c/a> is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">also on the list\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12017631 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two urban, considerably well-resourced districts are outliers among California’s districts with severe financial struggles. Their budgets are hundreds of millions larger. Mike Fine, the executive director of FCMAT, the financial company tasked with assisting California districts with financial management, said the reason they find themselves at the bottom is because of this skittish pattern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Districts all over the state are dealing with many of the same issues,” he said. “What distinguishes the districts on the negative list from others is the districts on the negative list aren’t really dealing with their problem in a timely way. Oakland, San Francisco have [spent] lots of years of ignoring, of not dealing with the problem at hand. Of having the same conversation year over year over year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A series of rolled-back plans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last fall, rumors and fears about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12002125/as-san-francisco-school-closures-loom-frustrated-teachers-say-hiring-has-hit-a-wall\">looming school closures\u003c/a> and budget cuts swirled through Oakland and San Francisco’s schoolyards and board meetings. Like many districts across the state, both have experienced \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014795/fewer-kids-are-going-to-california-public-schools-is-there-a-right-way-to-close-campuses\">declining enrollment\u003c/a>, shrinking the per-pupil funding they receive. COVID-19 relief money, which buoyed districts throughout the pandemic, is drying up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October, SFUSD released a plan to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008405/these-san-francisco-schools-could-close-list-isnt-final\">close three schools and merge another eight\u003c/a>. After massive blowback, it was shelved, and the superintendent who proposed it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010008/sf-schools-crisis-is-spiraling-with-top-official-to-resign-heres-all-thats-happened\">was ousted\u003c/a>. Weeks later, Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013739/oakland-school-board-spurns-campus-closures-plans-merge-some-schools-instead\">announced its more modest merger plan\u003c/a> — combining 10 schools that already share five campuses. Davis said this replaced a proposition to close a larger number of campuses that didn’t curry enough board support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both districts have skirted around unpopular school closures for years. In 2006, SFUSD drastically scaled back a plan to close schools and abandoned another push for consolidations just before the pandemic. After opening more than 40 small schools in the early 2000s amid declining enrollment, Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11937906/oakland-school-board-halts-controversial-closure-plan-sparing-5-elementary-schools\">approved five closures\u003c/a> in 2022. The board reversed them before they took effect in 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should have emerged from [state] receivership at some point recently, and the fact that we’re still kind of eking along in receivership, why? Why haven’t we made the progress to get out of it?” Davis said. “It’s because we’ll be like, ‘OK, we’re going to close schools. No, we’re not going to close schools. OK, we’re going to make a plan. And then, what’s the plan?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12008830\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12008830\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teachers, K-5 students, families, and community members leave Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy to march to Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco on Oct. 9, 2024, to protest against the potential closure of the school. The school is on the list of 11 San Francisco campuses that could close after this academic year as the district grapples with declining enrollment and a budget deficit. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fine said that closures are happening across the state and that, while painful, most boards approve and implement the plans without much squabbling. He said what eases the transitions is the way they’re usually rolled out. Most include at least a year of lead time and provide next steps for staff and students all at once.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The parents already know exactly where their kids are going, all questions are answered,” he told KQED. “They probably have already hosted some open houses at the receiving schools so that the kids and families can start to be comfortable and meet people and integrate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland and San Francisco’s school boards have said the plans they’ve been presented disproportionately affect minority groups and don’t present clear pathways for students. Past board members argued that small school environments are good for student outcomes, and closing schools is painful for families who have built community.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The majority of districts follow through\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“Do we want a community school manager and a restorative justice coordinator at every school?” asked new OUSD board member Patrice Berry. “I do. I think that’s important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those aren’t positions that the state covers in its base funding, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The hard part about this is you are used to a lot of resources at your schools,” Elliott Duchon, SFUSD’s state-appointed advisor, said to the board at last week’s meeting. “Social workers are wonderful, but they are not generally part of the school allocation. It’s not really something that’s covered in your base expenditures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12025440 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even paying for the positions California does require to “keep the lights on” — a principal, classroom teachers, clerks and janitors — at every SFUSD school will exceed the district’s unrestricted budget by more than $57 million next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the main arguments for consolidating school sites last fall was to free up funds to support auxiliary positions — such as counselors, social workers and specialists — that parents say are needs, not wants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need a smaller number of schools that keep better promises to kids,” Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro, who stepped up oversight in Oakland after the negative budget certification, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Oakland’s negative budget certification is its first in more than 20 years, it hasn’t been skating by financially.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s budget had been categorized as qualified — the equivalent of a maintenance warning light in your car — for seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We adapt and balance a budget year by year, make cuts mid-year to get through the year,” Grant-Dawson told KQED last month. “What we’ve not done is not created a comprehensive plan for it to be sustainable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949458/oakland-teachers-strike-ends-as-union-reaches-agreement-with-school-district\">gave teachers a 10% raise\u003c/a> after a tense, weeklong strike. The raise was paid for, in part, with COVID-19 relief money, Davis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017856\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017856\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sahaana Garg, center, attends the Oakland Unified School District Board Meeting with her mom, Medha, right, and sister Naija, left, at La Escuelita Elementary School in Oakland on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The School Board took public comment on a proposed merger of ten different schools. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco covered overspending with pandemic funding as well, and its current three-year budget dips into reserves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For many years, SFUSD has relied on one-time funds to help us carry ourselves from year to year,” Su told the board last week. “If we make these cuts [to expenditures] now, we will be in a much better place in two years’ time where this district will be fully solvent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will be able to give our teachers and educators and staff a level of stability and predictability that they need, which then translates to a level of stability and predictability that our students need, but we have to do this really hard thing now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the two decades Oakland has been in receivership, its school boards have come up with fiscal plans meant to set the district on a sustainable path, but they haven’t held up. The current iteration, dubbed the Re-Envision, Redesign, and Restructure plan, includes centralizing contracts for supplies and programs and potential staffing cuts. It’s been preliminarily approved but faces a final test next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco said it’s currently engaged in conversations to build its fiscal sustainability plan, which started under former superintendent Matt Wayne’s leadership and was mostly redone from scratch by Su last fall. Su is set to give insight into the staffing portion of the plan on Feb. 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fine said whether the districts are able to get out of the red depends on if they commit to pushing budget cuts and possibly moving forward on site closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The majority of [districts] follow through on their plans. The board adopts a plan and the board follows through on what’s required to implement the plan. The exceptions are the ones that we’re talking about,” he said. “Oakland is notorious for taking a plan and naming it five different times. All they do is change the name of the plan but never fully implement the plan. San Francisco has yet to come up with a plan, in my opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/shossaini\">\u003cem>Sara Hossaini\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Feb. 18: This story was updated to clarify that Mike Hutchinson, who was not present for public comment during the Oakland school board meeting in December, left his seat at the dais only after no motion had been made for a vote on the school closures.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": " San Francisco and Oakland school districts continue to face severe budget challenges, struggling with declining enrollment, rising costs and financial instability statewide. ",
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"title": "How Oakland and SF Ended Up Among 7 CA School Districts Who Can’t Pay Their Bills | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland public school\u003c/a> parents, teachers and students packed La Escuelita Elementary School’s gym in December, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">ready for a fight\u003c/a>. The district’s board was set to vote on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013739/oakland-school-board-spurns-campus-closures-plans-merge-some-schools-instead\">plan to merge 10 schools\u003c/a> — a modest proposal compared to the number recommended by an efficiency study to align Oakland’s campuses with enrollment but a nonstarter for school communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After about 30 minutes of pleas from a long line of emotional students who shuffled to the podium, former board President Sam Davis paused the public comment period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was like, ‘Do we still want to hear public comment given that the guy whose idea this was isn’t even here?’” Davis recalled referring to board Vice President Mike Hutchinson, who had left his seat at the dais during the comment period after no motion was made. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis and Hutchinson sparred all fall about how to address the district’s massive — and growing — budget crisis. Davis believed the district needed to close schools while Hutchinson, who originally supported voting on the merger plan, pushed back against more drastic consolidations, saying there hadn’t been sufficient community engagement to do so. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re sitting in the meeting, and I’m like, ‘OK, is there a motion for this plan? And nobody makes a motion,” Davis said. “It’s not my place. I’m not going to make the motion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We basically didn’t vote.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017852\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017852\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-033-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Unified School District Board listens to public comment during a meeting at La Escuelita Elementary School in Oakland, California, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. Students, families, educators, and community members raised their concerns about a proposed merger of their schools. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The anticlimactic finale of the school closure proposal is nothing new. Oakland’s school board has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11905982/how-dare-you-oakland-school-closure-decision-inspires-new-opposition-efforts\">repeatedly floated, then backed off\u003c/a>, plans to close schools and impose other “draconian” cuts in the name of budget balancing. Lisa Grant-Dawson, the district’s chief budget officer, described it as a pattern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been decades of not dealing with systemic issues and ultimately asking the superintendent … and the staff to make it work for the year with some commitment that ‘We’ll do something in the future,’” she told KQED. “That doesn’t happen, and we just reach the place where we’ve run out of space for us to be able to make amends as we have historically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland — under state receivership since 2003 but now less than two years from regaining control — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023461/ousd-on-track-run-out-of-cash-after-avoiding-hard-decisions-scathing-letter-says\">certified a negative interim budget\u003c/a> in December. That designation puts it among just seven of nearly 1,000 California school districts that see no clear path to meeting their financial obligations over the next three years. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco’s school district\u003c/a> is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">also on the list\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two urban, considerably well-resourced districts are outliers among California’s districts with severe financial struggles. Their budgets are hundreds of millions larger. Mike Fine, the executive director of FCMAT, the financial company tasked with assisting California districts with financial management, said the reason they find themselves at the bottom is because of this skittish pattern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Districts all over the state are dealing with many of the same issues,” he said. “What distinguishes the districts on the negative list from others is the districts on the negative list aren’t really dealing with their problem in a timely way. Oakland, San Francisco have [spent] lots of years of ignoring, of not dealing with the problem at hand. Of having the same conversation year over year over year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A series of rolled-back plans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last fall, rumors and fears about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12002125/as-san-francisco-school-closures-loom-frustrated-teachers-say-hiring-has-hit-a-wall\">looming school closures\u003c/a> and budget cuts swirled through Oakland and San Francisco’s schoolyards and board meetings. Like many districts across the state, both have experienced \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014795/fewer-kids-are-going-to-california-public-schools-is-there-a-right-way-to-close-campuses\">declining enrollment\u003c/a>, shrinking the per-pupil funding they receive. COVID-19 relief money, which buoyed districts throughout the pandemic, is drying up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October, SFUSD released a plan to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008405/these-san-francisco-schools-could-close-list-isnt-final\">close three schools and merge another eight\u003c/a>. After massive blowback, it was shelved, and the superintendent who proposed it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010008/sf-schools-crisis-is-spiraling-with-top-official-to-resign-heres-all-thats-happened\">was ousted\u003c/a>. Weeks later, Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013739/oakland-school-board-spurns-campus-closures-plans-merge-some-schools-instead\">announced its more modest merger plan\u003c/a> — combining 10 schools that already share five campuses. Davis said this replaced a proposition to close a larger number of campuses that didn’t curry enough board support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both districts have skirted around unpopular school closures for years. In 2006, SFUSD drastically scaled back a plan to close schools and abandoned another push for consolidations just before the pandemic. After opening more than 40 small schools in the early 2000s amid declining enrollment, Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11937906/oakland-school-board-halts-controversial-closure-plan-sparing-5-elementary-schools\">approved five closures\u003c/a> in 2022. The board reversed them before they took effect in 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should have emerged from [state] receivership at some point recently, and the fact that we’re still kind of eking along in receivership, why? Why haven’t we made the progress to get out of it?” Davis said. “It’s because we’ll be like, ‘OK, we’re going to close schools. No, we’re not going to close schools. OK, we’re going to make a plan. And then, what’s the plan?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12008830\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12008830\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241009-SFUSDCLOSURESMARCH-07-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teachers, K-5 students, families, and community members leave Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy to march to Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco on Oct. 9, 2024, to protest against the potential closure of the school. The school is on the list of 11 San Francisco campuses that could close after this academic year as the district grapples with declining enrollment and a budget deficit. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fine said that closures are happening across the state and that, while painful, most boards approve and implement the plans without much squabbling. He said what eases the transitions is the way they’re usually rolled out. Most include at least a year of lead time and provide next steps for staff and students all at once.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The parents already know exactly where their kids are going, all questions are answered,” he told KQED. “They probably have already hosted some open houses at the receiving schools so that the kids and families can start to be comfortable and meet people and integrate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland and San Francisco’s school boards have said the plans they’ve been presented disproportionately affect minority groups and don’t present clear pathways for students. Past board members argued that small school environments are good for student outcomes, and closing schools is painful for families who have built community.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The majority of districts follow through\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“Do we want a community school manager and a restorative justice coordinator at every school?” asked new OUSD board member Patrice Berry. “I do. I think that’s important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those aren’t positions that the state covers in its base funding, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The hard part about this is you are used to a lot of resources at your schools,” Elliott Duchon, SFUSD’s state-appointed advisor, said to the board at last week’s meeting. “Social workers are wonderful, but they are not generally part of the school allocation. It’s not really something that’s covered in your base expenditures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even paying for the positions California does require to “keep the lights on” — a principal, classroom teachers, clerks and janitors — at every SFUSD school will exceed the district’s unrestricted budget by more than $57 million next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the main arguments for consolidating school sites last fall was to free up funds to support auxiliary positions — such as counselors, social workers and specialists — that parents say are needs, not wants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need a smaller number of schools that keep better promises to kids,” Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro, who stepped up oversight in Oakland after the negative budget certification, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Oakland’s negative budget certification is its first in more than 20 years, it hasn’t been skating by financially.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s budget had been categorized as qualified — the equivalent of a maintenance warning light in your car — for seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We adapt and balance a budget year by year, make cuts mid-year to get through the year,” Grant-Dawson told KQED last month. “What we’ve not done is not created a comprehensive plan for it to be sustainable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949458/oakland-teachers-strike-ends-as-union-reaches-agreement-with-school-district\">gave teachers a 10% raise\u003c/a> after a tense, weeklong strike. The raise was paid for, in part, with COVID-19 relief money, Davis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017856\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017856\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-007-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sahaana Garg, center, attends the Oakland Unified School District Board Meeting with her mom, Medha, right, and sister Naija, left, at La Escuelita Elementary School in Oakland on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The School Board took public comment on a proposed merger of ten different schools. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco covered overspending with pandemic funding as well, and its current three-year budget dips into reserves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For many years, SFUSD has relied on one-time funds to help us carry ourselves from year to year,” Su told the board last week. “If we make these cuts [to expenditures] now, we will be in a much better place in two years’ time where this district will be fully solvent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will be able to give our teachers and educators and staff a level of stability and predictability that they need, which then translates to a level of stability and predictability that our students need, but we have to do this really hard thing now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the two decades Oakland has been in receivership, its school boards have come up with fiscal plans meant to set the district on a sustainable path, but they haven’t held up. The current iteration, dubbed the Re-Envision, Redesign, and Restructure plan, includes centralizing contracts for supplies and programs and potential staffing cuts. It’s been preliminarily approved but faces a final test next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco said it’s currently engaged in conversations to build its fiscal sustainability plan, which started under former superintendent Matt Wayne’s leadership and was mostly redone from scratch by Su last fall. Su is set to give insight into the staffing portion of the plan on Feb. 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fine said whether the districts are able to get out of the red depends on if they commit to pushing budget cuts and possibly moving forward on site closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The majority of [districts] follow through on their plans. The board adopts a plan and the board follows through on what’s required to implement the plan. The exceptions are the ones that we’re talking about,” he said. “Oakland is notorious for taking a plan and naming it five different times. All they do is change the name of the plan but never fully implement the plan. San Francisco has yet to come up with a plan, in my opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/shossaini\">\u003cem>Sara Hossaini\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Feb. 18: This story was updated to clarify that Mike Hutchinson, who was not present for public comment during the Oakland school board meeting in December, left his seat at the dais only after no motion had been made for a vote on the school closures.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>After an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010008/sf-schools-crisis-is-spiraling-with-top-official-to-resign-heres-all-thats-happened\">unpopular campus closure plan\u003c/a> was put on ice last fall, San Francisco’s public schools chief is poised to issue an only slightly less controversial cost-cutting demand — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">layoffs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Maria Su presented a sparse base staffing model for school sites at Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting, telling commissioners it was first and foremost aimed at “keeping the lights on” amid a huge budget shortfall for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are, at this moment in time, facing a very large deficit,” she said, noting that the $113 million gap that must be closed “represents 10% of our budget, and it requires us to make really difficult decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The staffing model allocates funding for state-required positions, which include principals, clerks, classroom teachers and a few auxiliary roles — but even just covering those expenses puts the district almost $58 million over budget, state adviser Elliott Duchon said. That would require SFUSD to dip into funds that are supposed to be targeted toward low-income and foster youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not clear exactly how many positions will be funded at each school, but in January, Su said about 535 staffers would need to be cut since personnel makes up the “bulk” of the district’s ongoing costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are going to put in front of you in a few short months a list of people that are our colleagues, our friends, our neighbors, our kid’s favorite teacher,” Su told the board in January. “It is going to be awful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supplemental roles, like counselors, social workers and assistant principals, won’t be a given. Whether schools can pay for those positions will depend on how statewide, restricted and grant funding shake out in the spring — much to the ire of parents, staff and board commissioners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we say as a district is sufficient for our students in our schools may just be different than what the state defines as a base allocation,” Board President Phil Kim shot back after Duchon, who has veto power over district spending, said staffing expectations might need to change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The hard part about this is you are used to a lot of resources at your schools,” Duchon told the board. “Social workers are wonderful, but they are not generally part of the school allocation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025663\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025663\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Educators and union leaders ride on a trolley car from Malcolm X Academy Elementary School to Buena Vista Horace Mann K–8 Community School in San Francisco’s Mission District on Feb. 4, 2025. The groups held a press conference to announce the launch of the “We Can’t Wait” campaign, a statewide effort advocating for improved class sizes, better wages and safer schools for educators and students. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The staffing cuts will affect both the district’s central office and school sites, though officials have not specified how they will be split.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the central office, Su has classified departments under two umbrellas: districtwide school supports and operations. Each department head has been instructed to make recommendations to cut anywhere from 20% to 100% of their budgets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, the central office has committed to cutting $20 million in unrestricted funds, while other positions and services will likely be cut when restricted dollars are distributed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are certain programs or initiatives within central office and within divisions that we’re asking folks to completely eliminate because we do not have the luxury of dollars to do it,” Su told the board on Tuesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other positions will be cut from school sites. Layoff notices have to go out by mid-March and will primarily affect staff who are not in the state’s definition of “base” funding. Parents and educators say many of these roles deemed “supplemental” are essential for their children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFUSD isn’t planning to eliminate all social work positions or the other supplemental roles that parents say are needs, not wants. However, Su said any of the funding for such educators is going to have to come out of the district’s restricted money, which has stricter use parameters and is more variable since the state and federal governments allocate some. Duchon noted that the district won’t know exactly how much is available until Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget revision in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More precise numbers for layoffs also depend on how many veteran educators take a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">buyout SFUSD offered in December\u003c/a>. It would be reversed if at least 314 didn’t take the deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Site staffing models haven’t been presented publicly, but school principals and leaders have gotten drafts, according to Cassondra Curiel, president of United Educators of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That roll-out hasn’t gone smoothly. While some schools found out they might lose staff and be forced to combine more classes, Curiel said administrators have not been able to get answers to clarifying questions nor sustain much communication with the central office at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we didn’t always agree with [former Superintendent Matt] Wayne, at least he communicated with us,” she told KQED last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12010449\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12010449\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Su laughs during a press event in front of the SFUSD offices in San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Su did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but she acknowledged last month that she did not meet the district’s expectation to have “deep conversations” with labor partners related to significant decisions like the staffing model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UESF has also joined a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025440/schools-face-cuts-california-teachers-unions-band-together-demands\">statewide union bargaining effort\u003c/a> calling for fully staffed schools. It delivered a petition with its demands and more than 3,000 signatures to the board on Tuesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union noted that some classroom teachers would likely get pink slips since senior educators who have moved to support roles targeted for layoff, like English learning specialists, would have the option to go back to the classroom, bumping a newer employee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents and students also pushed back against the sparse staffing plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What happens when dedicated social workers like Ms. Carrie Tanabi at McKinley Elementary are potentially eliminated? The plan, as it is presented to us, does not seem to keep the lights on. It keeps it dim for our children’s future,” parent Rasheq Zarif said at Tuesday’s meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why are school counselors — who constantly support students in their success goals, whether it is to advance, catch up or be on track — classified under pending available funding?” student board delegate Yzabel Lam said.[aside postID=news_12017631 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/SFUSDStudentsFamiliesGetty.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duchon, the state adviser assigned to SFUSD, said that as enrollment decreases, realigning staffing levels is a prerequisite for getting the district out of a year-over-year budget hole, which would balloon to $127 million by 2027 if no changes are made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Until you do that, you will really not have and be able to utilize the resources that are available to you from a very generous city,” he told board members at the January meeting. The district is under a hiring freeze enforced by the state, which won’t be reversed until it stops overspending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As district staff turns to evaluate what restricted funding sources could be used to pay for supplemental positions and programs, unprecedented expenses like the Los Angeles wildfires and federal changes since Newsom’s January budget proposal could affect public school spending by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also new questions around federal dollars under the Trump administration, which has promised to cut funding to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025068/sf-leaders-vow-to-protect-transgender-students-after-latest-trump-threat-to-withhold-funding\">schools that support transgender students\u003c/a> and suggested drastic \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/65195/trump-administration-targets-education-department-research-arm-in-latest-cuts\">cuts to the Department of Education\u003c/a>. SFUSD relies on around $50 million per year from the federal government for special education and supplemental academic resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we have to make additional cuts … because of certain policies that’s happening at the federal level, I don’t even know how we can sustain that,” Su told the board. “It would devastate this district.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010008/sf-schools-crisis-is-spiraling-with-top-official-to-resign-heres-all-thats-happened\">unpopular campus closure plan\u003c/a> was put on ice last fall, San Francisco’s public schools chief is poised to issue an only slightly less controversial cost-cutting demand — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">layoffs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Maria Su presented a sparse base staffing model for school sites at Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting, telling commissioners it was first and foremost aimed at “keeping the lights on” amid a huge budget shortfall for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are, at this moment in time, facing a very large deficit,” she said, noting that the $113 million gap that must be closed “represents 10% of our budget, and it requires us to make really difficult decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The staffing model allocates funding for state-required positions, which include principals, clerks, classroom teachers and a few auxiliary roles — but even just covering those expenses puts the district almost $58 million over budget, state adviser Elliott Duchon said. That would require SFUSD to dip into funds that are supposed to be targeted toward low-income and foster youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not clear exactly how many positions will be funded at each school, but in January, Su said about 535 staffers would need to be cut since personnel makes up the “bulk” of the district’s ongoing costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are going to put in front of you in a few short months a list of people that are our colleagues, our friends, our neighbors, our kid’s favorite teacher,” Su told the board in January. “It is going to be awful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supplemental roles, like counselors, social workers and assistant principals, won’t be a given. Whether schools can pay for those positions will depend on how statewide, restricted and grant funding shake out in the spring — much to the ire of parents, staff and board commissioners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we say as a district is sufficient for our students in our schools may just be different than what the state defines as a base allocation,” Board President Phil Kim shot back after Duchon, who has veto power over district spending, said staffing expectations might need to change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The hard part about this is you are used to a lot of resources at your schools,” Duchon told the board. “Social workers are wonderful, but they are not generally part of the school allocation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025663\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025663\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-04-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Educators and union leaders ride on a trolley car from Malcolm X Academy Elementary School to Buena Vista Horace Mann K–8 Community School in San Francisco’s Mission District on Feb. 4, 2025. The groups held a press conference to announce the launch of the “We Can’t Wait” campaign, a statewide effort advocating for improved class sizes, better wages and safer schools for educators and students. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The staffing cuts will affect both the district’s central office and school sites, though officials have not specified how they will be split.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the central office, Su has classified departments under two umbrellas: districtwide school supports and operations. Each department head has been instructed to make recommendations to cut anywhere from 20% to 100% of their budgets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, the central office has committed to cutting $20 million in unrestricted funds, while other positions and services will likely be cut when restricted dollars are distributed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are certain programs or initiatives within central office and within divisions that we’re asking folks to completely eliminate because we do not have the luxury of dollars to do it,” Su told the board on Tuesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other positions will be cut from school sites. Layoff notices have to go out by mid-March and will primarily affect staff who are not in the state’s definition of “base” funding. Parents and educators say many of these roles deemed “supplemental” are essential for their children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFUSD isn’t planning to eliminate all social work positions or the other supplemental roles that parents say are needs, not wants. However, Su said any of the funding for such educators is going to have to come out of the district’s restricted money, which has stricter use parameters and is more variable since the state and federal governments allocate some. Duchon noted that the district won’t know exactly how much is available until Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget revision in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More precise numbers for layoffs also depend on how many veteran educators take a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">buyout SFUSD offered in December\u003c/a>. It would be reversed if at least 314 didn’t take the deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Site staffing models haven’t been presented publicly, but school principals and leaders have gotten drafts, according to Cassondra Curiel, president of United Educators of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That roll-out hasn’t gone smoothly. While some schools found out they might lose staff and be forced to combine more classes, Curiel said administrators have not been able to get answers to clarifying questions nor sustain much communication with the central office at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we didn’t always agree with [former Superintendent Matt] Wayne, at least he communicated with us,” she told KQED last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12010449\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12010449\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Su laughs during a press event in front of the SFUSD offices in San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Su did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but she acknowledged last month that she did not meet the district’s expectation to have “deep conversations” with labor partners related to significant decisions like the staffing model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UESF has also joined a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025440/schools-face-cuts-california-teachers-unions-band-together-demands\">statewide union bargaining effort\u003c/a> calling for fully staffed schools. It delivered a petition with its demands and more than 3,000 signatures to the board on Tuesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union noted that some classroom teachers would likely get pink slips since senior educators who have moved to support roles targeted for layoff, like English learning specialists, would have the option to go back to the classroom, bumping a newer employee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents and students also pushed back against the sparse staffing plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What happens when dedicated social workers like Ms. Carrie Tanabi at McKinley Elementary are potentially eliminated? The plan, as it is presented to us, does not seem to keep the lights on. It keeps it dim for our children’s future,” parent Rasheq Zarif said at Tuesday’s meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why are school counselors — who constantly support students in their success goals, whether it is to advance, catch up or be on track — classified under pending available funding?” student board delegate Yzabel Lam said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duchon, the state adviser assigned to SFUSD, said that as enrollment decreases, realigning staffing levels is a prerequisite for getting the district out of a year-over-year budget hole, which would balloon to $127 million by 2027 if no changes are made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Until you do that, you will really not have and be able to utilize the resources that are available to you from a very generous city,” he told board members at the January meeting. The district is under a hiring freeze enforced by the state, which won’t be reversed until it stops overspending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As district staff turns to evaluate what restricted funding sources could be used to pay for supplemental positions and programs, unprecedented expenses like the Los Angeles wildfires and federal changes since Newsom’s January budget proposal could affect public school spending by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also new questions around federal dollars under the Trump administration, which has promised to cut funding to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025068/sf-leaders-vow-to-protect-transgender-students-after-latest-trump-threat-to-withhold-funding\">schools that support transgender students\u003c/a> and suggested drastic \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/65195/trump-administration-targets-education-department-research-arm-in-latest-cuts\">cuts to the Department of Education\u003c/a>. SFUSD relies on around $50 million per year from the federal government for special education and supplemental academic resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we have to make additional cuts … because of certain policies that’s happening at the federal level, I don’t even know how we can sustain that,” Su told the board. “It would devastate this district.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:45 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> teachers unions joined a statewide bargaining campaign Tuesday, kicking off coordinated negotiations with more than 30 school districts across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traditionally, teachers’ unions negotiate individually with their districts. This statewide campaign, dubbed “We Can’t Wait,” aims to align the bargaining sessions for more than 77,000 educators — including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">in San Francisco\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland\u003c/a> and San José — to demand smaller class sizes, more resources, better wages and benefits for teachers and improved mental health support for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For us to be coordinating our fight at the same time right now is a unifying effort and a really powerful statement that we represent what the community of California needs, what students and families need,” said Cassondra Curiel, the president of United Educators in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, unions across the state saw that they \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014795/fewer-kids-are-going-to-california-public-schools-is-there-a-right-way-to-close-campuses\">faced similar challenges,\u003c/a> such as understaffing and frequent changes to curriculum and school resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really also allowed us to see where and how many of our issues in our districts are so similar and what the benefit would be for us to put ourselves together on it. That’s essentially when we decided” to unify bargaining timelines, Curiel told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025666\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025666\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cassondra Curiel, president of United Educators of San Francisco, speaks during a press conference at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School in San Francisco’s Mission District on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In both San Francisco and Oakland, budget shortfalls spurred plans to close or merge some schools last fall — proposals that were scaled back, delayed or called off amid intense controversy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the unions are mostly aligned on their overarching demands, how that looks in each district will be different, according to Curiel. She joined parents and other UESF members who traveled by motorized cable car to schools across the city to speak about their demands — like having Chinese-speaking parent liaisons, full-time school site nurses and dedicated social workers — at campuses from Chinatown to Hunter’s Point on Tuesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I chose Gordon J. Lau for my students because of their teacher retention, strong leadership and low turnover rate,” said Brittany Cuartelon, a parent of three students at the elementary school. “I also chose Lau because of the access to enrichment programs and specialty teachers like arts, teachers, special ed teachers, speech pathologists and others … but we are seeing less and less of this as teachers are being let go, and these programs are being cut.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UESF has sparred with the San Francisco Unified School District in recent years, accusing it of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12002125/as-san-francisco-school-closures-loom-frustrated-teachers-say-hiring-has-hit-a-wall\">incompetence in hiring\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11908196/sfusd-teachers-protest-missed-paychecks-and-payroll-glitches-at-headquarters-overnight-sfusd\">botching a payroll system\u003c/a>, and sowing confusion and fear as it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010008/sf-schools-crisis-is-spiraling-with-top-official-to-resign-heres-all-thats-happened\">considered closing schools\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025664\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12025664 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Perry Siniard, a fourth-grade teacher, speaks during a press conference at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School in San Francisco’s Mission District on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the start of this school year, there were about 100 classrooms across the district without permanent teachers. In 2022 and 2023, many educators went without proper pay and had insurance and tax-filing issues after the district introduced a new payroll system that proved a failure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFUSD is now preparing its 2025–2026 budget in the face of a massive deficit. While it shelved the controversial school closure plan in the fall, officials have said that without consolidations, school services will be pared down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, officials shared a version of a sparse new staffing formula with school principals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t look like the school sites we all work at, the school sites that our families and students expect,” Curiel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Independence High School Principal Anna Klafter asked SFUSD board members last week to address why there were no mental health providers, social workers, nurses or counselors included in the plan. Other speakers on Tuesday’s UESF school tour noted that assistant principals weren’t budgeted in the model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district also announced a buy-out option for some staff, aimed at reducing layoffs and saving money spent on higher salaries for more experienced teachers, in December. The deadline for educators to take the deal is Feb. 21, but if fewer than 314 sign up, it will be voided. Curiel said if that’s the case, the union expects union members to receive pink slips this spring and is prepared to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">fight layoffs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025664\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025665\" style=\"font-weight: bold;background-color: transparent;color: #767676\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Parent Blanca Fabiola Catalan speaks during a press conference at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School in San Francisco’s Mission District on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>UESF has called for necessary funding cuts to come from the district’s administration, pointing to high-salary positions in what it calls a “bloated” central office. But SFUSD said it has made the cuts it can away from children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Darcie Chan Blackburn, an English learning specialist at Sheridan Elementary School, said the draft staffing formula includes cutting one teacher and adding a third combined class from her campus. She doesn’t know if her position will be budgeted for at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sheridan already has combined second-third grade and fourth-fifth grade classes and will add a kindergarten-first grade combo next fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12024772 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_SSUTownHall_GC-5-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The third-grade students who are getting second-grade English language arts curriculum now are going to go up to a fourth-fifth class [next year],” Chan Blackburn said. “Well, the fourth-fifth is looping to the fifth-grade curriculum next year, so this third grader is going from second-grade English language arts to fifth-grade English language arts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That just pushes our enrollment lower because what family really wants their child to be in a split grade level?” she asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland is in a similar situation, facing a $150 million budget deficit while its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">board refuses to vote on a school consolidation plan\u003c/a>. Last month, it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023461/ousd-on-track-run-out-of-cash-after-avoiding-hard-decisions-scathing-letter-says\">certified a negative budget\u003c/a> for the first time in more than 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These districts are in these positions because they didn’t listen to us in the first place,” Curiel said. “We’ve been saying that central offices should prioritize spending on students — really centering families and students at school sites — and if they were doing that, then they wouldn’t be sitting on the millions and millions and millions of dollars in reserve that they currently have in their bank accounts right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Educators Association said it is seeking livable wages for the Bay Area, more paraeducator and mental health support, and keeping community schools open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OEA and UESF leaders will join Berkeley and West Contra Costa union members and Jeff Frietas, the president of the California Federation of Teachers, for a rally in the East Bay on Tuesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really hoping that this campaign … will bring a light to the circumstances that we work under to achieve what is the foundation of our democratic society every day,” Curiel said. “And what it needs to survive moving forward and how that represents what the families and the citizens of one of the biggest states in the country should really be expecting in public schools.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:45 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> teachers unions joined a statewide bargaining campaign Tuesday, kicking off coordinated negotiations with more than 30 school districts across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traditionally, teachers’ unions negotiate individually with their districts. This statewide campaign, dubbed “We Can’t Wait,” aims to align the bargaining sessions for more than 77,000 educators — including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">in San Francisco\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland\u003c/a> and San José — to demand smaller class sizes, more resources, better wages and benefits for teachers and improved mental health support for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For us to be coordinating our fight at the same time right now is a unifying effort and a really powerful statement that we represent what the community of California needs, what students and families need,” said Cassondra Curiel, the president of United Educators in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, unions across the state saw that they \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014795/fewer-kids-are-going-to-california-public-schools-is-there-a-right-way-to-close-campuses\">faced similar challenges,\u003c/a> such as understaffing and frequent changes to curriculum and school resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really also allowed us to see where and how many of our issues in our districts are so similar and what the benefit would be for us to put ourselves together on it. That’s essentially when we decided” to unify bargaining timelines, Curiel told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025666\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025666\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-13-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cassondra Curiel, president of United Educators of San Francisco, speaks during a press conference at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School in San Francisco’s Mission District on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In both San Francisco and Oakland, budget shortfalls spurred plans to close or merge some schools last fall — proposals that were scaled back, delayed or called off amid intense controversy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the unions are mostly aligned on their overarching demands, how that looks in each district will be different, according to Curiel. She joined parents and other UESF members who traveled by motorized cable car to schools across the city to speak about their demands — like having Chinese-speaking parent liaisons, full-time school site nurses and dedicated social workers — at campuses from Chinatown to Hunter’s Point on Tuesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I chose Gordon J. Lau for my students because of their teacher retention, strong leadership and low turnover rate,” said Brittany Cuartelon, a parent of three students at the elementary school. “I also chose Lau because of the access to enrichment programs and specialty teachers like arts, teachers, special ed teachers, speech pathologists and others … but we are seeing less and less of this as teachers are being let go, and these programs are being cut.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UESF has sparred with the San Francisco Unified School District in recent years, accusing it of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12002125/as-san-francisco-school-closures-loom-frustrated-teachers-say-hiring-has-hit-a-wall\">incompetence in hiring\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11908196/sfusd-teachers-protest-missed-paychecks-and-payroll-glitches-at-headquarters-overnight-sfusd\">botching a payroll system\u003c/a>, and sowing confusion and fear as it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010008/sf-schools-crisis-is-spiraling-with-top-official-to-resign-heres-all-thats-happened\">considered closing schools\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025664\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12025664 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-05-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Perry Siniard, a fourth-grade teacher, speaks during a press conference at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School in San Francisco’s Mission District on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the start of this school year, there were about 100 classrooms across the district without permanent teachers. In 2022 and 2023, many educators went without proper pay and had insurance and tax-filing issues after the district introduced a new payroll system that proved a failure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFUSD is now preparing its 2025–2026 budget in the face of a massive deficit. While it shelved the controversial school closure plan in the fall, officials have said that without consolidations, school services will be pared down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, officials shared a version of a sparse new staffing formula with school principals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t look like the school sites we all work at, the school sites that our families and students expect,” Curiel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Independence High School Principal Anna Klafter asked SFUSD board members last week to address why there were no mental health providers, social workers, nurses or counselors included in the plan. Other speakers on Tuesday’s UESF school tour noted that assistant principals weren’t budgeted in the model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district also announced a buy-out option for some staff, aimed at reducing layoffs and saving money spent on higher salaries for more experienced teachers, in December. The deadline for educators to take the deal is Feb. 21, but if fewer than 314 sign up, it will be voided. Curiel said if that’s the case, the union expects union members to receive pink slips this spring and is prepared to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017631/embattled-sf-school-district-offer-hundreds-buyouts-potential-layoffs\">fight layoffs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025664\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025665\" style=\"font-weight: bold;background-color: transparent;color: #767676\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250204-WeCantWait-08-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Parent Blanca Fabiola Catalan speaks during a press conference at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School in San Francisco’s Mission District on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>UESF has called for necessary funding cuts to come from the district’s administration, pointing to high-salary positions in what it calls a “bloated” central office. But SFUSD said it has made the cuts it can away from children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Darcie Chan Blackburn, an English learning specialist at Sheridan Elementary School, said the draft staffing formula includes cutting one teacher and adding a third combined class from her campus. She doesn’t know if her position will be budgeted for at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sheridan already has combined second-third grade and fourth-fifth grade classes and will add a kindergarten-first grade combo next fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The third-grade students who are getting second-grade English language arts curriculum now are going to go up to a fourth-fifth class [next year],” Chan Blackburn said. “Well, the fourth-fifth is looping to the fifth-grade curriculum next year, so this third grader is going from second-grade English language arts to fifth-grade English language arts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That just pushes our enrollment lower because what family really wants their child to be in a split grade level?” she asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland is in a similar situation, facing a $150 million budget deficit while its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">board refuses to vote on a school consolidation plan\u003c/a>. Last month, it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023461/ousd-on-track-run-out-of-cash-after-avoiding-hard-decisions-scathing-letter-says\">certified a negative budget\u003c/a> for the first time in more than 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These districts are in these positions because they didn’t listen to us in the first place,” Curiel said. “We’ve been saying that central offices should prioritize spending on students — really centering families and students at school sites — and if they were doing that, then they wouldn’t be sitting on the millions and millions and millions of dollars in reserve that they currently have in their bank accounts right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Educators Association said it is seeking livable wages for the Bay Area, more paraeducator and mental health support, and keeping community schools open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OEA and UESF leaders will join Berkeley and West Contra Costa union members and Jeff Frietas, the president of the California Federation of Teachers, for a rally in the East Bay on Tuesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really hoping that this campaign … will bring a light to the circumstances that we work under to achieve what is the foundation of our democratic society every day,” Curiel said. “And what it needs to survive moving forward and how that represents what the families and the citizens of one of the biggest states in the country should really be expecting in public schools.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco’s leaders reaffirmed the city’s commitment to protecting transgender students on Friday after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">President Donald Trump\u003c/a> signed an executive order on Wednesday that threatened to withhold federal funding from schools recognizing trans identities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are real human beings who are just trying to live their lives, and they’re not doing harm to anyone,” state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said during a press conference on Friday. “They’re just living their lives, and they’re being targeted and demonized. It’s despicable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s directive prohibits public schools from assisting students in their transition, which includes referring to a student by a name other than their birth name. Transgender youth are also barred from bathrooms and sports teams that do not align with their biological sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is one of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023784/after-trumps-order-on-two-genders-trans-rights-groups-taking-action\">several anti-transgender and “anti-woke”\u003c/a> orders signed by Trump that have received backlash from state officials and residents who feel that the directives malign public schools and expose transgender youth to harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s most recent order instructs the U.S. Attorney General to partner with state attorneys general and local district attorneys to identify K–12 teachers who continue to advocate for transgender recognition and inclusive policies. Wiener and other city officials said they would resist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco public schools are at the forefront of celebrating diversity among our students and affirming the rights of all our students, regardless of their identity, background or life experience,” said Maria Su, superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District. “We have never shied away from leading the charge in San Francisco when it comes to making sure our classrooms and schools are vibrant and welcoming spaces for our students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Su said the district is committed to protecting its teachers and students and that faculty will continue educating students in an inclusive manner. She said the Trump administration’s anti-transgender rhetoric is anathema to what the district stands for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025227\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025227\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Minda Murphy, center, speaks against the Trump administration’s recent executive order banning federal funds from schools that support transgender youth as her 15-year-old, nonbinary child, Kanoa Wilson, listens on Jan. 31, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Juan Carlos Lara/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>City Attorney David Chiu said Wednesday’s order violates constitutional protections for transgender people and youth. He said San Francisco will continue to recognize the transgender community and their right to gender-affirming health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Donald Trump has spent the first two weeks of his presidency sowing hate and division,” Chiu said during the press conference. “Trans people have been and will always be vital members of our communities and our families. No executive order will ever change that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minda Murphy, who is the parent of a nonbinary student in San Francisco, said Trump’s narrative about exploitative teachers and harmful gender ideologies is not only false but detrimental to transgender youth. Supportive schools and educators are vital to a child’s well-being, she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Donald Trump has chosen to target these children, including my wonderful child, with executive orders filled with ignorance, misinformation, bigotry and hatred,” Murphy said. “As a result of these executive orders, President Trump will be killing children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12021521 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/GettyImages-1158696624.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Trump’s directive, schools will also be required to teach a “patriotic” curriculum that celebrates United States history and the country’s founding principles. Nicholas Hite, an attorney at the nonprofit Lambda Legal, said the federal government has no jurisdiction over what educators teach their students, especially when it comes to revisionist versions of the country’s legacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hite added that while public schools do receive some funding from the federal government, Trump’s administration has no legal authority to place restrictions or stipulations on money that’s already been earmarked for specific purposes, such as books or buses. He said courts that correctly apply the law will consider the order unlawful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State legislators and attorneys are preparing to challenge the order if federal agencies move to enforce it. Lawmakers are also considering legislation that would protect vulnerable communities from attacks by Trump’s administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s profoundly hypocritical that an executive administration that spent so much time railing against the evils of government overreach now has the nerve to turn around and think it’s allowed to reach into every classroom across the country and control what is said,” Hite said. “The hypocrisy of that is mind-boggling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/jlara\">Juan Carlos Lara\u003c/a> and Cami Dominguez contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco’s leaders reaffirmed the city’s commitment to protecting transgender students on Friday after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">President Donald Trump\u003c/a> signed an executive order on Wednesday that threatened to withhold federal funding from schools recognizing trans identities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are real human beings who are just trying to live their lives, and they’re not doing harm to anyone,” state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said during a press conference on Friday. “They’re just living their lives, and they’re being targeted and demonized. It’s despicable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s directive prohibits public schools from assisting students in their transition, which includes referring to a student by a name other than their birth name. Transgender youth are also barred from bathrooms and sports teams that do not align with their biological sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is one of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023784/after-trumps-order-on-two-genders-trans-rights-groups-taking-action\">several anti-transgender and “anti-woke”\u003c/a> orders signed by Trump that have received backlash from state officials and residents who feel that the directives malign public schools and expose transgender youth to harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s most recent order instructs the U.S. Attorney General to partner with state attorneys general and local district attorneys to identify K–12 teachers who continue to advocate for transgender recognition and inclusive policies. Wiener and other city officials said they would resist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco public schools are at the forefront of celebrating diversity among our students and affirming the rights of all our students, regardless of their identity, background or life experience,” said Maria Su, superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District. “We have never shied away from leading the charge in San Francisco when it comes to making sure our classrooms and schools are vibrant and welcoming spaces for our students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Su said the district is committed to protecting its teachers and students and that faculty will continue educating students in an inclusive manner. She said the Trump administration’s anti-transgender rhetoric is anathema to what the district stands for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025227\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025227\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/IMG_5760-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Minda Murphy, center, speaks against the Trump administration’s recent executive order banning federal funds from schools that support transgender youth as her 15-year-old, nonbinary child, Kanoa Wilson, listens on Jan. 31, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Juan Carlos Lara/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>City Attorney David Chiu said Wednesday’s order violates constitutional protections for transgender people and youth. He said San Francisco will continue to recognize the transgender community and their right to gender-affirming health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Donald Trump has spent the first two weeks of his presidency sowing hate and division,” Chiu said during the press conference. “Trans people have been and will always be vital members of our communities and our families. No executive order will ever change that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minda Murphy, who is the parent of a nonbinary student in San Francisco, said Trump’s narrative about exploitative teachers and harmful gender ideologies is not only false but detrimental to transgender youth. Supportive schools and educators are vital to a child’s well-being, she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Donald Trump has chosen to target these children, including my wonderful child, with executive orders filled with ignorance, misinformation, bigotry and hatred,” Murphy said. “As a result of these executive orders, President Trump will be killing children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Trump’s directive, schools will also be required to teach a “patriotic” curriculum that celebrates United States history and the country’s founding principles. Nicholas Hite, an attorney at the nonprofit Lambda Legal, said the federal government has no jurisdiction over what educators teach their students, especially when it comes to revisionist versions of the country’s legacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hite added that while public schools do receive some funding from the federal government, Trump’s administration has no legal authority to place restrictions or stipulations on money that’s already been earmarked for specific purposes, such as books or buses. He said courts that correctly apply the law will consider the order unlawful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State legislators and attorneys are preparing to challenge the order if federal agencies move to enforce it. Lawmakers are also considering legislation that would protect vulnerable communities from attacks by Trump’s administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s profoundly hypocritical that an executive administration that spent so much time railing against the evils of government overreach now has the nerve to turn around and think it’s allowed to reach into every classroom across the country and control what is said,” Hite said. “The hypocrisy of that is mind-boggling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/jlara\">Juan Carlos Lara\u003c/a> and Cami Dominguez contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Embattled SF School District Will Offer Hundreds of Buyouts — Then Potential Layoffs",
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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a> will offer buyouts for hundreds of eligible employees to retire early as part of its latest effort to patch a massive multi-year budget deficit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on state funding and how many employees take the buyout, the district could also pursue layoffs after the end of the academic year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district said the plan, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013574/sf-school-board-is-headed-for-a-shakeup-its-newcomers-will-inherit-a-crisis\">the Board of Education\u003c/a> approved unanimously on Tuesday evening, will save tens of millions of dollars by 2030. Parents and the teachers’ union, however, worry about the impact of losing so many veteran teachers in one fell swoop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More older, experienced teachers leaving our schools replaced by new, younger, less experienced teachers will result in poorer learning outcomes for our students,” Cindy Chung, whose first-grader attends Starr King Elementary School, said at Tuesday’s meeting. “We’ve already seen high turnover of [paraeducators] and lower-paid staff who have less financial stability, can’t afford to live in SF and have incredibly long commutes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staff ranging from paraeducators to upper management will be eligible for the Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan so long as they have permanent full-time positions, are over 55, and will have worked within SFUSD for a consecutive five years as of June 2025. The district plans to send notification letters with information for employees who qualify beginning Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many positions will be filled with “lower-paid new hires,” whose starting salaries are $18,000 to $30,000 lower, while an estimated 69 positions could be eliminated. Together, SFUSD said, this could save over $30 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12013574 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/06/RS41635_002_KQED_Election_Prop13_02262020_4349-qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who agree to the buyout by mid-February will receive a one-time payment equal to 60% of their salary upon their resignation while retaining their retirement benefits. If fewer than 314 employees sign up to participate, though, the offer could be retracted entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cassondra Curiel, the president of United Educators San Francisco, said that although early retirement could be beneficial to some of the union’s members, it will destabilize overall school staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have classrooms right now with students in them who don’t have permanent teachers. They’ve had substitutes since August,” she told KQED. “We feel like that is management and the district’s negligence, and now they’re going to compound that vacancy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The early retirement program is one part of the district’s three-pronged fiscal stabilization plan, which it said will help balance its budget and avoid state takeover. That plan was also passed by the board on Tuesday, giving Superintendent Maria Su direction to take any and all steps necessary to present balanced budgets for the next three cycles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFUSD is expected to have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011347/sf-schools-wont-close-yet-but-the-city-still-has-questions-about-huge-budget-cuts\">a $113 million budget shortfall\u003c/a> this year and an even larger structural deficit by 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elliott Duchon, a state-appointed adviser who has veto power over SFUSD’s spending, told school board members on Tuesday that the reductions are crucial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have not attended a board meeting where people are not worried about losing their jobs, where the spend budget hasn’t been an issue, where staffing hasn’t been an issue,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since May, Duchon has had the ability to veto SFUSD’s spending decisions because its budget report was negative, indicating it will fail to cover its expenses in coming years. This year’s first budget report, presented Tuesday, was negative as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unhealthy for the district,” Duchon said. “It’s unhealthy for your staff. It’s unhealthy for your children, the community, and for you as board members. It detracts from your goals and your ability to focus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the buyouts, the fiscal stabilization plan includes a review of all budget expenditures and potential layoffs at the end of the academic year. SFUSD needs to cut more than $113.8 million in expenses next fiscal year and $13 million more in 2026-2027 to get back on track.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers and certificated staff will be notified of layoffs by March, and civil staff will find out in mid-May. The district will look at how many people choose to participate in the early retirement program and how much funding SFUSD receives in January’s state budget to determine how many layoffs are necessary, Su said. District staffers have already created a seniority list of employees to share with labor partners ahead of the potential reductions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, Michele Huntoon, SFUSD’s associate superintendent of business services, said staff members will review all expenditures based on a few questions: “Are we using them? Are they meeting our purpose? Is it meeting our needs?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duchon said that while the changes will be challenging, SFUSD needs to face the reality of its financial situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You are living in a time of declining enrollment, declining revenue,” he said. “You have used one-time revenues to pay for ongoing staffing, and that has put you in a position of staffing in a way that is richer than what your resources allow you to do. We want to be hopeful, but there may be pain to go through before you get there. And if you don’t go through the pain, the pain will continue on and on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a> will offer buyouts for hundreds of eligible employees to retire early as part of its latest effort to patch a massive multi-year budget deficit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on state funding and how many employees take the buyout, the district could also pursue layoffs after the end of the academic year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district said the plan, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013574/sf-school-board-is-headed-for-a-shakeup-its-newcomers-will-inherit-a-crisis\">the Board of Education\u003c/a> approved unanimously on Tuesday evening, will save tens of millions of dollars by 2030. Parents and the teachers’ union, however, worry about the impact of losing so many veteran teachers in one fell swoop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More older, experienced teachers leaving our schools replaced by new, younger, less experienced teachers will result in poorer learning outcomes for our students,” Cindy Chung, whose first-grader attends Starr King Elementary School, said at Tuesday’s meeting. “We’ve already seen high turnover of [paraeducators] and lower-paid staff who have less financial stability, can’t afford to live in SF and have incredibly long commutes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staff ranging from paraeducators to upper management will be eligible for the Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan so long as they have permanent full-time positions, are over 55, and will have worked within SFUSD for a consecutive five years as of June 2025. The district plans to send notification letters with information for employees who qualify beginning Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many positions will be filled with “lower-paid new hires,” whose starting salaries are $18,000 to $30,000 lower, while an estimated 69 positions could be eliminated. Together, SFUSD said, this could save over $30 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who agree to the buyout by mid-February will receive a one-time payment equal to 60% of their salary upon their resignation while retaining their retirement benefits. If fewer than 314 employees sign up to participate, though, the offer could be retracted entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cassondra Curiel, the president of United Educators San Francisco, said that although early retirement could be beneficial to some of the union’s members, it will destabilize overall school staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have classrooms right now with students in them who don’t have permanent teachers. They’ve had substitutes since August,” she told KQED. “We feel like that is management and the district’s negligence, and now they’re going to compound that vacancy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The early retirement program is one part of the district’s three-pronged fiscal stabilization plan, which it said will help balance its budget and avoid state takeover. That plan was also passed by the board on Tuesday, giving Superintendent Maria Su direction to take any and all steps necessary to present balanced budgets for the next three cycles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFUSD is expected to have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011347/sf-schools-wont-close-yet-but-the-city-still-has-questions-about-huge-budget-cuts\">a $113 million budget shortfall\u003c/a> this year and an even larger structural deficit by 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elliott Duchon, a state-appointed adviser who has veto power over SFUSD’s spending, told school board members on Tuesday that the reductions are crucial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have not attended a board meeting where people are not worried about losing their jobs, where the spend budget hasn’t been an issue, where staffing hasn’t been an issue,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since May, Duchon has had the ability to veto SFUSD’s spending decisions because its budget report was negative, indicating it will fail to cover its expenses in coming years. This year’s first budget report, presented Tuesday, was negative as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unhealthy for the district,” Duchon said. “It’s unhealthy for your staff. It’s unhealthy for your children, the community, and for you as board members. It detracts from your goals and your ability to focus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the buyouts, the fiscal stabilization plan includes a review of all budget expenditures and potential layoffs at the end of the academic year. SFUSD needs to cut more than $113.8 million in expenses next fiscal year and $13 million more in 2026-2027 to get back on track.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers and certificated staff will be notified of layoffs by March, and civil staff will find out in mid-May. The district will look at how many people choose to participate in the early retirement program and how much funding SFUSD receives in January’s state budget to determine how many layoffs are necessary, Su said. District staffers have already created a seniority list of employees to share with labor partners ahead of the potential reductions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, Michele Huntoon, SFUSD’s associate superintendent of business services, said staff members will review all expenditures based on a few questions: “Are we using them? Are they meeting our purpose? Is it meeting our needs?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duchon said that while the changes will be challenging, SFUSD needs to face the reality of its financial situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You are living in a time of declining enrollment, declining revenue,” he said. “You have used one-time revenues to pay for ongoing staffing, and that has put you in a position of staffing in a way that is richer than what your resources allow you to do. We want to be hopeful, but there may be pain to go through before you get there. And if you don’t go through the pain, the pain will continue on and on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"order": 9
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
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"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
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"source": "American Public Media"
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
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"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"meta": {
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"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
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},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
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"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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"planet-money": {
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
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},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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