At one San Francisco public elementary school, just two of 41 tested third-, fourth- and fifth-graders met or exceeded California’s English language arts standard in 2024–25. In math, one did.
Not one tested third- or fifth-grader met the state standard in either subject.
The children, families and educators at this school deserve better from the adults responsible for the system.
The school serves children facing substantial barriers. Nearly three-quarters are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Their circumstances call for more support.
At Sheridan Elementary, which serves a strikingly similar share of economically disadvantaged students and more English learners, 27 of 82 tested students met the English standard. At Drew Elementary in the Bayview, with nearly identical economic-disadvantage and English-learner rates, 18 of 79 did. Both schools have much farther to go, but their results show that two out of 41 is not inevitable.
These numbers bring me back to what SFUSD did for me. I grew up in these schools, the son of an undocumented immigrant. I struggled early with a speech impediment. Teachers saw strengths in me before I saw them myself. They changed the course of my life.
Today’s children are no less capable. Our responsibility is to match their potential with the teaching, stability and support they deserve.
I serve as Vice Chair of SFUSD’s Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee. That work helps me track money. To understand whether a child is getting help, I began volunteering weekly in a kindergarten classroom.
Superintendent Maria Su and the Board deserve credit for stabilizing SFUSD’s finances. That foundation lets us focus on the harder work of improving classrooms.
SFUSD has talked publicly about closing achievement and opportunity gaps for well over a decade. The Board’s current goal is for 70 percent of third-graders to meet the state English standard by 2028. This year’s preliminary result rose two points to 49 percent. That progress is welcome. After five years with roughly half of third-graders meeting the standard, SFUSD remains 21 points short with two school years left.
District leaders are strengthening curriculum, coaching and classroom “learning walks.” These steps can identify weak implementation. Teachers then need hands-on support, and children who are behind need timely intervention.
Data should tell us whether a plan is working, for whom and what needs to change. Families and educators can tell us why.
A friend pointed me toward Drew because reading was improving. I volunteered there to understand why. Drew’s state English result has risen from under 10 percent to nearly 23 percent in two years. I found educators making progress alongside enormous need.
One kindergartner I came to know missed about half the days I was there. Teachers told me the school had lost a staff position that worked proactively with families on attendance. Reaching children like him requires patient work, family by family and child by child.
Find the child. Find the barrier. Help solve it. That requires a clear chain of responsibility: who spots the problem, who provides the additional help, how quickly it arrives and how we know whether it worked.
Compton Unified’s students are nearly 98 percent Black or Latino, and more than nine in ten are socioeconomically disadvantaged. The district has posted three years of strong gains by putting intervention tutors in classrooms, expanding learning time and helping teachers respond when students fall behind. In 2025, English scores rose nearly eight points and math 6.4 points.
SFUSD should study which schools are improving, what they do differently and what it would take to reach more students who are behind. The Board should set clear goals, align resources with that work and hold district leaders accountable for following through.
Closing opportunity gaps means giving more help where barriers are greater and protecting what works for children.
By next June, more children should read and do math at grade level, absenteeism should be lower, and families should see what SFUSD changed because it listened and acted.
San Francisco already has many very good public schools. Now let’s make that kind of excellence something every family can count on.
Laurance Lee is Vice Chair of SFUSD’s Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, an SFUSD K–12 graduate, a weekly kindergarten literacy volunteer and a candidate for the San Francisco Board of Education.
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