Maria Su, superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District, will appear before Congress this week.
Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle
When San Francisco’s Superintendent Maria Su sits in front of congressional committee in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday she is expected to face an onslaught of baiting questions about parental rights, inappropriate classroom content and the indoctrination of children.
It represents a rare moment of national scrutiny for San Francisco schools. The congressional summons places the district at the center of a key culture war question: “Who controls what children learn in their classrooms?”
That debate has created battle lines between states and the federal government while pitting parents against their local public schools.
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Su has spent the past several weeks preparing for the hearing with the 37-member Committee on Education and the Workforce, by studying district policies, state and federal laws, new Supreme Court rulings and sitting through mock questioning sessions.
The GOP-led committee, chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., will address “attacks on parental rights, inappropriate content and legal abuses in America’s schools,” according to the committee’s schedule.
Chairman U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) will lead a Congressional hearing of the Committee on Education and the Workforce this week. Maria Su, of SFUSD, will provide testimony.
Heather Diehl/Getty Images
The hearing, streamed live on YouTube, starts at 7:15 a.m. PDT. Su will appear alongside Chicago’s CEO and Superintendent Macquline King and Loudoun County (Virginia) Superintendent Aaron Spence.
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Republican members are expected to ask Su about district curriculum or district policies that conflict with federal policies. They could also ask her for her definition of a woman. Or whether it’s appropriate to tell kindergartners it’s normal to explore and be curious about gender. They might press her on why the district requires a year of race-based instruction in high school despite sub-par standardized test scores.
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They are very likely to question the three superintendents on policies related to locker room access, transgender rights, sexual health curriculum, parent notification and student pronouns.
Such a congressional exchange will require Su and her counterparts, all from politically blue bastions, to defend their community’s values while also avoiding a scandalous scene leading to their own downfall or a viral moment used to fan the flames of the culture wars, legal and political experts said.
It’s a very fine line to walk, said Rafael Mandelman, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
“She’s walking into a hearing room where people are looking to make theater,” he said, adding Su has experienced that before in City Hall and school board meetings, but on a smaller scale.
“The stakes are certainly higher and the audience is larger and the implications are greater and scarier,” Mandelman said. “They’re going to try to get her — make her and San Francisco look ridiculous.”
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Each member of the committee present has five minutes to ask questions — or express sentiments — following a five-minute opening statement by each of the three superintendents.
There is no set timeframe. The hearing will end when the process is completed.
Maria Su, superintendent of SFUSD, will appear before Congress on Wednesday.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
On Monday morning, the three witnesses were expected to submit a written statement, expounding on what will be their opening remarks.
Su’s statement, provided to the Chronicle, emphasizes the district’s focus on learning, but acknowledges that learning can’t happen unless children feel safe, welcome and supported.
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“We do not pick and choose who we serve. We are proud to take each student as they are, and we work to create schools where every student can feel safe, respected, and ready to learn,” Su said in the statement. “At its best, a public school district is both academically rigorous and deeply responsive to the students and families it serves.”
She also boasts that “San Francisco is proud of its history.”
“The City is known as a pioneer in LGBTQ rights and we have a long tradition of embracing diversity and welcoming everyone, including those who feel marginalized or overlooked,” she wrote. “As a school district, we were one of the first to recognize the importance of teaching about our diversity so that students can learn and grow together.”
The City Attorney’s Office is providing Su legal representation as she heads into the hot seat. The price of those legal services, travel to Washington, D.C., as well as any other costs associated with the committee’s summons has yet to be tallied.
The federal government, however, won’t be picking up the tab. San Francisco — the city, the district or both — will be paying the bill, city officials said.
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Su follows Berkeley’s Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel, who testified before the same committee in May 2024 about “pervasive antisemitism in k-12 schools.” That hearing lasted just over two hours. Morthel emerged relatively unscathed with the most scrutiny directed at the New York City schools chancellor.
The Republicans would like nothing better than to see Su challenge them, fight back, Mandelman said.
“Some people in San Francisco might love to see that,” he said. “But I think it will be a bigger win for MAGA if she gets into a shouting match.”
San Francisco district officials declined to comment on the hearing or anything regarding Su’s preparation for it, citing legal concerns. That includes the Trump administration’s threats to pull federal funding from districts based on alleged violations of federal laws related to race-based instruction, transgender rights, parent opt-out policies, immigrant safety and more.
The administration’s position wildly conflicts with California civil rights laws and education code, which protects against discrimination in public schools based on gender, gender identity and sexual orientation among other characteristics.
During the hearing, Su could be required to navigate the still-muddy legal waters between federal law, court cases, state law and district policies.
Maria Su, San Francisco Unified School District superintendent, will focus on several key points in her opening testimony to Congress this week, including the topic of parental involvement.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
A recent Supreme Court ruling allows parents to opt out of instruction that conflicts with their religious beliefs, based on a case about LGBTQ+ books used in an Alabama elementary school. Critics say this seemingly would allow individual parents to micromanage classroom content in public schools based on religious beliefs, even if those beliefs contradict civil rights.
How schools are supposed to implement the Mahmoud v. Taylor ruling remains unclear, although that also might come up Wednesday in the hearing.
In her written testimony, she offers insight into her position, acknowledging the importance of parental input and involvement in their children’s education.
“As a public school district, we must also comply with federal and California laws governing parental notice, student privacy, nondiscrimination, student safety, and access to education,” she wrote. “Parents and guardians in SFUSD have rights to information, participation, and complaint processes.”
And they have the right to opt out of reproductive health lessons.
But she also seems to push back on the idea of parents having full say on all curriculum, saying students need schools where they feel safe to learn.
“SFUSD does not seek to direct any student’s identity, beliefs, or family values,” Su wrote. “Our role is educational. We are responsible for ensuring that every student can attend school, access instruction, and be free from harassment, bullying, discrimination, and violence.
“Hate has no place in our schools,” she said in the statement.
During the hearing, however, Su will have to decide where to sidestep a question and where to rebut, Mandelman said.
“There will be plenty of opportunities to point out how nuts they are,” he said. “And maybe she will have some moment of brilliance.”
But her first job is to do no harm to the district.
“Protecting the kids means not making a speech or getting into a fight with a congressperson,” he said. “Protecting the kids is not giving (the congressional members) a weapon.”