Help SF Students Avoid Packed Classrooms and Closing Schools!
The San Francisco Unified School District board members are building their list of which schools to close down in the next year. District officials have released a statement saying the amount of schools they are anticipating closing “would not be small”. These difficult decisions stem from the mismanagement of district budgets and a decreasing student enrollment rate. The criteria they are using for shutdown consists of a ranking of different schools’ test scores and staffing. Some people warn that going forward with these mass closures means having fuller classrooms with staff teaching multiple grades as opposed to one.
It is evident that SF students and teachers are struggling due to the looming threat of a school shutdown or a dramatic increase in students enrolled in their school. What is most concerning is the way in which the academic performance of these students will be greatly affected by the result of underfunded schools and mismanaged budgets. Based on the shutdown selection criteria involving test scores, it is clear that the students who need academic support the most will be receiving the least as they face school closures. Classrooms for students whose schools remain open will possibly face an overcrowding problem and receive less one-on-one attention for individual students. Poor student academic performance as a result of overworked and underpaid teachers will push parents to enroll students outside of SFUSD; continuing the vicious cycle of low enrollment rates. Overall, the announcement of incoming school closures shows that it will be a lose-lose situation for students, parents, and teachers. We must demand more policies that encourage school funding like Prop. 13 reform and hold people in positions of power accountable.
Photographer: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle
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