{"id":175436,"date":"2026-02-12T20:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/175436\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T20:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:05:07","slug":"where-do-sf-electeds-send-their-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/175436\/","title":{"rendered":"Where do SF electeds send their kids?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re reading Power Play, The Standard\u2019s twice-weekly newsletter about City Hall and San Francisco politics. To receive Power Play directly in your inbox, sign up here<\/a>. Got tips? Send to us at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Are school strikes the new wildfires?<\/p>\n

If San Francisco parents can take one consolation from their days-long scramble for child care, it\u2019s this \u2014 they won\u2019t be alone for long.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the City by the Bay makes headlines for its striking educators, unions in eight other California school districts (opens in new tab)<\/a> have voted to approve strikes, including Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, and San Bernardino.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, where is Gov. Gavin Newsom in all this?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, Friday he\u2019s flying to Munich (opens in new tab)<\/a> with a bevy of heavy-hitter national Democrats, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to court European leaders and upstage President Donald Trump, all while parents back home are tearing their hair out over school closures.<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t done nothing \u2014 Newsom has a major reform in his budget this year to move authority of the California Department of Education under the governor\u2019s office, winnowing the role of the state superintendent and adding some funding for the next two years. There\u2019s also a $46 million funding increase for schools, though that\u2019s a drop in the bucket compared with SFUSD\u2019s needs alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Power Play asked SFUSD boss Maria Su on Tuesday if she\u2019d heard from Newsom or other state leaders on the district\u2019s request for financial support, she said simply, \u201cWe have not heard back.\u201d Newsom\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Despite the radio silence, it seemed the cavalry was on the way Tuesday, when state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond stepped into negotiations to mediate between the district and union, upstairs in the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center.<\/p>\n

There were hopes that Thurmond, who is a gubernatorial candidate, could provide insight into how SFUSD could meet the teachers\u2019 demands while still satisfying state oversight of the district\u2019s dire finances \u2014 wiggle room, in other words. And there were whispers among union members picketing the War Memorial that Thurmond was about to take their side in talks and push the district over the hump on the sticking points: salary increases, fully funded dependent healthcare, and special-education staffing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, insiders tell us, Thurmond reaffirmed that SFUSD has to make \u201cfinancially responsive\u201d offers. And he was out of the War Memorial almost as quickly as he arrived.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday morning, Wu was diplomatic, saying, \u201cState Superintendent Tony Thurmond said to both parties, \u2018Get this done.\u2019\u201d Asked if he offered specific help, Su shook her head. Thurmond\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It looks like each California school district will need to deal with labor issues\u00a0 on its own \u2014 without the governor or a state education honcho to back them up. \u2014 J.F.R. and G.G.<\/p>\n

Public officials, private schools: Part 1<\/p>\n

We all know the SFUSD does not have the best reputation, but city leaders have never shied away from expressing their support for teachers and public schools.<\/p>\n

But no matter how publicly supportive they may be, their decision on where to send their children speaks volumes.<\/p>\n

Start with Superintendent Su, who identified herself as a \u201cformer SFUSD parent\u201d in her inaugural press release (opens in new tab)<\/a> in 2024 but rarely discusses the details of that title. In a 2025 interview with KALW (opens in new tab)<\/a>, Su said her two sons attended SFUSD elementary and middle schools in the Ingleside area, \u201cand then for high school, we chose a different route.\u201d Sources say Su\u2019s older son graduated from a local private high school, where the younger son is currently enrolled.<\/p>\n

Mayor Daniel Lurie, heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, went to private schools, and his two children attend private schools in the city (opens in new tab)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of the 11 members of the Board of Supervisors, only four are parents of school-age children: Myrna Melgar, Connie Chan, Stephen Sherrill, and Chyanne Chen. Of those, Melgar and Chen are SFUSD parents.<\/p>\n

Chan\u2019s son is in private school, but she emphasizes that she\u2019s \u201ca proud graduate of Galileo High School,\u201d and her son attended Lafayette Elementary School. Sherrill said he\u2019s \u201ccurrently navigating the kindergarten process for the first time and looking at all available options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shamann Walton and Melgar\u2019s older children graduated from SFUSD schools. Supervisor Danny Sauter has a newborn, and the remaining supervisors do not have children.<\/p>\n

Power Play is taking classroom attendance for other SF politicos\u2019 children; we\u2019ll share more of our findings in a future email. \u2014 H.L. and J.F.R.<\/p>\n

Correction: A version of this story in Wednesday\u2019s Power Play newsletter did not include information about Melgar\u2019s child attending an SFUSD school.<\/p>\n

Big money backs Lurie \u2014 again<\/p>\n

A new independent expenditure committee linked to Lurie\u2019s web of well-heeled donors could bring in lots of dough to this year\u2019s supervisor candidates and ballot measures. \u201cSF Believes,\u201d filed Feb. 5, is being run by the same people behind the \u201cBelieve in SF, Lurie for Mayor 2024″ committee that brought in $6.7 million from contributors like the mayor\u2019s mother, Miriam Haas, and former WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SF Believes was registered by Lurie\u2019s pal Alec Perkins, CEO of Hunter Capital Management and a board member of the mayor\u2019s Tipping Point Community, along with Adam Clammer, founder of True Wind Capital. It is also getting help from the consultancy and communications firm The Media Company and its veteran consultant Dan Newman, who worked on Lurie\u2019s 2024 committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Francisco has made remarkable progress over the past year, and this past [Super Bowl] weekend was a powerful reminder of the energy and optimism people are feeling about the city,\u201d said Emily Matthews, a spokesperson for The Media Company. \u201cSF Believes is focused on building on that momentum by supporting initiatives and candidates that sustain San Francisco\u2019s success.\u201d<\/p>\n

No donors or expenses have been filed yet, but the committee will be supporting Lurie\u2019s allies and initiatives, which could include Supervisor Sherrill\u2019s D2 race and the Muni parcel tax measure. \u2014 G.G.<\/p>\n

PG&E to face grilling<\/p>\n

Considering the anger toward Pacific Gas & Electric during December\u2019s blackouts, a hearing Thursday in front of the Board of Supervisors\u2019 public safety committee could get charged.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The committee has summoned PG&E CEO Sumeet Singh, Senior VP and Chief Customer Officer Vincent Davis, and Bay Area local government affairs manager Sarah Chavez-Yoell.<\/p>\n

\u201cPG&E looks forward to sharing with the Board of Supervisors information about the Mission Substation outage in December as well as the progress we\u2019re making operationally and in improving our communication with customers and officials,\u201d the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The committee will be asking how the failure of one of the utility\u2019s substations caused a daylong blackout in large swaths of the city, about coordination between the company and emergency services, and about why some neighborhoods got power back and others didn\u2019t and what PG&E is doing to prevent another incident, according to Supervisor Bilal Mahmood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe priority is accountability,\u201d he said. \u201cUnderstanding their context on what went wrong during the blackout.\u201d\u00a0\u2014 G.G.<\/p>\n

Socialists to supes: You failed<\/p>\n

The Democratic Socialists of America\u2019s San Francisco chapter just released a report card on the city\u2019s 11 supervisors \u2014 and it\u2019s brutal.<\/p>\n

The DSA laid out 20 key issues (opens in new tab)<\/a> and compared how each supervisor voted, blasting the \u201cmoderate supermajority\u201d for backing what they view as increased mayoral power, corporate interests, and punitive responses to social crises over the needs of working-class residents.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, outspoken progressive Supervisor Jackie Fielder got an A. The only issue in which she broke with the DSA was in backing Lurie\u2019s fentanyl state of emergency. Walton got a B after voting to support the mayor\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

Chan, often seen as unapologetically progressive, earned a C. She\u2019s at odds with the DSA on multiple issues, including the police budget. Chen also received a C, and Melgar got a D. The other five supervisors, generally considered more moderate, all received Fs. Supervisor Alan Wong was not rated because he doesn\u2019t have a full year of voting records.<\/p>\n

Chan, who is running for Congress, released a statement through her campaign striking a conciliatory tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to continuing to work with DSA-SF to support working people in our city,\u201d said campaign spokesperson Julie Edwards. \u201cConnie understands San Franciscans won\u2019t agree 100% of the time and she values open-dialogue with the community.\u201d \u2014 H.L.<\/p>\n

In case you missed it<\/p>\n

MAHAN\u2019S RUN: The Standard interviewed gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan on our \u201cPacific Standard Time\u201d podcast. Here are four takeaways<\/a>.<\/p>\n

GARRY\u2019S LIST: Outspoken techie Garry Tan isn\u2019t leaving California like other Silicon Valley moguls. Instead, he\u2019s starting a nonprofit<\/a> for voter education.<\/p>\n

ETHICS VIOLATION: Planning commissioner Kathrin Moore has been fined $12,000<\/a> for approving projects involving an architecture firm from which she receives income.<\/p>\n