Challenge for next S.F. mayor
Make educating low-income black, Latino students a central priority
As residents of the Bayview, we come together to speak against the crisis in schooling in our community. A recent report found that San Francisco is one of the worst cities in California for low-income black and Latino students to seek a public education. In 2016-17, almost 8 of 10 white students from non-low-income families in San Francisco were performing at grade level in math and English — but just 1 of 10 low-income African American or Latino students. One elementary school here in Bayview has a less than 9 percent proficiency rate in math for its African American students.
We call on the mayoral candidates to share our same sense of moral urgency for change.
Every day in the Mission and Bayview districts, we hear friends, neighbors, church congregants and other loved ones constantly worry about the schools failing their children. As we see our city’s tech economy flourish, we lose sleep knowing our children will not have access to those opportunities. We all understand the severe consequence of this: It’s the same children failed by our education system that end up in our courts and jails. For too many of us in San Francisco, this is a matter of life or death.
As the mayoral race unfolds, San Francisco is at a crossroads. In 10 years, will it be known for its growing reputation as the most inequitable city in America, or as a beacon of opportunity for all?
We believe the answer will hinge on whether San Francisco will make educating its most vulnerable children a top priority. Here are four ways the next mayor can take this on:
Use the bully pulpit to champion educational equity: In cities around the country, big improvements have come when the quality of their public schools becomes everybody’s problem to solve, including city leaders. Our children need the next mayor of San Francisco to be a fierce champion for children in low-income neighborhoods with few good public school options and whose families can’t afford private schools.
Foster innovative collaboration among the government, nonprofits and businesses: The teacher shortage, the housing crisis and diversity in the tech industry are all huge interrelated problems connected to educational opportunity that no single entity can take on alone. We need a mayor with a bold vision who can bring people and organizations together and marshal resources to take on challenges at this scale.
Leverage city resources to support services in schools. Not only does the mayor have a voice — the city also has significant resources to leverage. The city has a long history of collaboration with the San Francisco Unified School District around foster care, health, safety, youth opportunity and workforce development. It will take the city and the school district working together to end the school-to-prison pipeline.
Hold San Francisco accountable for clear, measurable, annual improvements. For a quarter-century or more, our leaders have assured us that positive change is just around the corner. Those empty promises just won’t do anymore.
We know far better is possible because we have seen it. There are high-quality public schools serving children in low-income and working communities just like ours all over the country. That’s why we have joined with hundreds of other black and Latino parents and Innovate Public Schools, a nonprofit organization that works to make sure public schools in San Francisco and Silicon Valley serve everyone, to take action. Fix long-struggling schools. Start new public schools. Take up proven strategies for whole-district change. We are moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas — we love our children, and we’re tired of waiting. Our children need to be prepared for college and for life now.
The Rev. Arelious Walker is the founder and pastor of True Hope Church of God in Christ, which has been serving the Bayview community since 1968. He is a volunteer clergy leader with Innovate Public Schools. Geraldine Anderson is a San Francisco native, a working single mother of three and a volunteer parent leader with Innovate.