Excess tax money would help schools

A proposal to shift $60 million in excess property tax revenue to San Francisco’s schools drew passionate support as well as angry opposition Wednesday during a public hearing.

If approved by city supervisors, the Student Success Fund ballot initiative, which would amend the City Charter, would be on the November ballot.

If voters back the ballot measure, the fund would support school and community programs to improve academic achievement or provide socialemotional services to students.

The city and district would determine which programs or proposals would get the money, while also evaluating whether those efforts are effective, said Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who co-authored the measure.

“We are failing a shocking number of students,” Ronen said, citing subpar literacy rates at schools across the district. “It is a shame and it is a disgrace, and every adult should be doing something about it.”

The strict oversight of the fund would be embedded in the city’s charter, she said. That includes ensuring the fund makes a difference and guaranteeing the long-term availability of the money.

Administrative costs would be limited, and it could not be used to simply backfill the district’s budget or solely fund salaries.

The district has faced a significant shortfall, requiring cuts and adjustments of up to $125 million out of a $1 billion budget in the coming academic year

“This is not a fund to fix the financial problems of the district,” Ronen said. “This money is for kids, it is for students, and it is for kids and students only.”

While there was near-unanimity among speakers on the idea of a fund to support city schools, some city labor groups opposed the current funding plan, which could mean more layoffs or other cuts to city staff in the case of a recession.

Incoming schools Superintendent Matt Wayne, making his first political appearance in the city, said he strongly supports the creation of the fund.

“I’m coming in with a clear mandate to focus on student success,” he said. “We need resources to improve student outcomes, and this Student Success Fund makes clear the city is coming together to provide those resources.”

Kim Tavaglione, executive director of the San Francisco Labor Council, reminded supervisors that the plan could make city workers vulnerable to job losses and that during the Great Recession, “city workers paid a hefty price.”

The money for the fund would come from an unusual funding source.

San Francisco is among a handful of counties that collect more property tax revenue than needed to meet state funding requirements for schools. Typically, most counties require additional state funding.

The counties with that excess property tax revenue currently get to keep it and use it for any purpose.

Under the current version of the proposed ballot measure, the city would use it to cover the Student Success Fund. If the state decides to pull those excess funds from the counties, other revenue would flow into the fund, Ronen said. That could mean using some of the recently approved Overpaid Executive Tax to help ensure the fund does not go away.

Many labor representatives supported the idea of the fund, but recommended that the measure be amended to stop funneling money into the education fund if the state takes away the excess property tax revenue.

“These schools have been starved to death and cut to the bone,” Ronen said. “If you take the fund away suddenly, then you end up worse off than you were in the first place.”

If supervisors push the measure through committees, a final vote is expected in July.