Great reporting doesn’t just document — it can lead to real change. This year our reporting launched inquiries and lawsuits, inspired civic fixes and hefty private donations, and even ended a few political careers. Each of these stories is a reminder of how journalism can turn public attention into public action.
The 200-hour supervisorThe illegally shared license plate reader dataThe unfunded PTAs
An investigation by The Standard revealed the deep divide between SF’s haves and have-nots when it comes to private fundraising used to pay for extra staff and programs at public schools. In the 2023-24 school year, half of San Francisco’s public schools raised a combined $11 million. The other half raised just $352,000. Our story highlighted Guadalupe Elementary in the Excelsior, a Title 1 school where nearly three-quarters of students are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Its students excelled at soccer but had to play on cracked concrete.
After The Standard published our investigation in April, a private-school parent donated $20,000 to the school for a soccer field. The turf was unveiled in May.
The spending (and cutbacks) at a city agency
City Hall observers were shocked in March, when Kimberly Ellis, who ran the city’s Department on the Status of Women, was put on leave pending an investigation into alleged misspending at her agency. The Standard subsequently reported on a $600,000 summit the department hosted that involved questionable expenditures and a city contract Ellis gave to a “dear friend.” The resulting stories ended in Ellis being ousted by the department’s oversight body and an ethics investigation (opens in new tab) into one of its members.
Ellis’ departure had an impact on the department’s future. Lurie’s administration merged the agency, still reeling from scandal and with the bulk of its budget gone, with the Human Rights Commission, effectively placing the SF women’s department under the control of a man. The Standard’s reporting revealed how this move — along with Ellis’ legacy as the department’s head — potentially hurts shelters, hotlines, and legal services dedicated to addressing gender-based violence.
The falling-apart playground
Parents in the Sunset had been pleading with the city to repair a playground in disrepair. The city informed them that it would take years to allocate funds from the budget to fix the site’s deteriorating rubber safety surface, which was causing children to trip and ingest the material. The parents reached out to The Standard, which published a story about the playground and the whopping $600,000 price of the repair, pushing the city to push up the schedule. In November, the city announced it had started construction, with an expected completion date of March.