As a member of the San Francisco school board, I had a front-row seat to the wreckage of last week\u2019s teachers strike \u2014 the first in 47 years. Students lost a week of learning. Parents relived the trauma of pandemic-era school closures and work-from-home schedules. And the already-strapped San Francisco Unified School District lost at least $28 million in state funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As an elected member of the San Francisco Democratic Party and delegate at this weekend\u2019s California Democratic convention, I also saw something else: Numerous national (opens in new tab)<\/a>, state (opens in new tab)<\/a>, and local (opens in new tab)<\/a> politicians who walked the picket lines while offering scant solutions to the <\/a>\u201cimpossible math\u201d<\/a> that caused the strike in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the $183 million strike settlement is a victory for educators\u2019 dignity, it exposes a systemic failure. We have committed to raises and healthcare our staff deserves, but we are doing so while the district is still in the red, with negative fiscal certification from the state. The school district had to cut $102 million even before the additional costs from the tentative bargaining agreement with educators.\u00a0<\/p>\n Our \u201cSophie\u2019s choice\u201d: Either we fairly compensate teachers or we lose local control of our schools. Either we ensure teachers can afford to live in the city where they teach or we fall off the \u201cfiscal cliff,\u201d tapping both one-time parcel tax revenues and the district\u2019s $111 million reserve fund.<\/p>\n To avoid repeating this negotiation cycle every two years (and the citywide disruption that comes with it), we must reform how California and San Francisco fund our schools. At this weekend\u2019s convention, I hope to see the same picketing politicians return to the city with stronger commitments for our students.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the state level, Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s proposed 2026-27\u00a0 budget boasts record per-pupil spending of $27,418, yet it simultaneously delays $5.6 billion in payments to schools in promised Proposition 98 funding. School districts cannot account for funding until those payments are released \u2014 meaning SFUSD was deprived of $48 million it could have used to reach an agreement with educators more quickly. I seek a pledge from gubernatorial candidates to never again use Prop. 98 funding to take a loan from our children\u2019s future to balance the California budget.<\/p>\n Additionally, California is one of only six states that calculate school funding based on average daily attendance, rather than enrollment. The ADA system unfairly penalizes schools with large shares of low-income students. Shifting to an enrollment-based funding model would benefit 90% of California districts and would increase school funding in the state by $6 billion. If gubernatorial candidates want to show up for our schools, they will work with the state Legislature to shift funding to the districts that enroll the most students, while helping to reduce chronic absenteeism.<\/p>\n At a local level, SFUSD a decade ago received 28% of local property taxes. Today it receives 18%. Much of the excess Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund goes toward the Student Success Fund.\u00a0 The immediate solution is charter reform (under consideration by the Board of Supervisors and the mayor). The supervisors should authorize a higher portion of local property funding to unrestricted SFUSD funding. This would provide the flexible capital needed to adequately resource special-education programs, which receive only 40% of the federal funds promised.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, educator housing is paramount. Housing eats up 36% of a San Franciscan\u2019s income. Ironically, SFUSD is one of the city\u2019s largest landholders. As the district reorganizes schools, there is an opportunity to use its real estate holdings to create housing for educators. As a former affordable housing executive, I know this can feel daunting. But under California AB 2295, school districts have \u201cby right\u201d authority to build housing on their own land. City and state leaders can fully fund the SB 502 revolving loan fund for predevelopment costs and streamline approvals through AB 1021\u2019s California Environmental Quality Act exemptions. The city can also prioritize the allocation of low-income housing tax credits for teachers. All we ask is for leaders to use tools already provided by Sacramento to turn SFUSD land into homes for our teachers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In the future, I hope school districts, the California Teachers Association, and local teachers unions can come together to demand more from politicians across the state. My fellow state delegates and San Francisco Democratic Party colleagues must similarly endorse candidates who demonstrate that they prioritize student outcomes through the resource commitments they make.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Republicans defund public education, Democrats have an opportunity to return California school performance to among the best in the country. To the candidates seeking endorsements this weekend, it is time to prove your values are more than a campaign slogan. Our students, and the teachers who show up for them, need the math to finally add up.<\/p>\n Parag Gupta is a member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, a delegate to the California Democratic Convention, and a member of the San Francisco Board of Education.\u00a0<\/p>\n