As the San Francisco teachers strike stretches into its fifth day, city officials have voiced strong support for those on the picket line, or at least urged that a deal get done.
But many of them are not scrambling to find childcare like San Francisco Unified School District parents, because they send their kids to private school.
Of the 14 San Francisco politicians with school-aged children that Mission Local identified, just six send or sent their kids to only public schools. Five send their kids to private schools, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, his head of housing Ned Segal, and congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti.
Four have sent their kids to a combination of public and private schools. That includes San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Maria Su, who sent her kids to public school through middle school, but to a private high school.
Which S.F. politicians send their kids to public school?
Public and private
Public school
Private school
Public school
Public and private
Private school
Graphic by Kelly Waldron. Data: Reporting by Io Yeh Gilman.
Politicians aren’t the only ones opting out of public schools. Citywide, around 30 percent of children go to private schools. That is the largest percentage of any county in the Bay Area, and far higher than other large Californian cities like Los Angeles (10 percent) and Sacramento (8 percent).
San Francisco is also the most childless major city in the country, and elected officials follow that trend. Several, like Board President Rafael Mandelman, District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood and District 8 candidate Manny Yekutiel, have no children.
Declining enrollment in the school district has contributed to SFUSD’s fiscal precarity.
Because state and federal funding is largely determined by enrollment, every San Franciscan sent to private school means approximately $21,000 less annually for the district. The district is currently facing a $113 million deficit and has said that it cannot afford the raises and benefits teachers are demanding.
Lurie, his policy chief Segal, Chakrabarti, and District 4 candidate David Lee send their kids to private school.
District 1 Supervisor and congressional candidate Connie Chan, District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, and District 4 candidate Jeremy Greco sent their kids to SFUSD and to private school. Superintendent Maria Su sent her kids to public school through middle school, but to a private high school.
District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, District 10 candidate Theo Ellington, District 10 candidate J.R. Eppler, and District 4 candidate Albert Chow send or sent their kids to public school.
City Attorney David Chiu, Public Defender Mano Raju, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and Mayoral Policy Chief Kunal Modi did not respond to Mission Local’s inquiry. Mayoral Policy Chiefs Alicia John-Baptiste, Paul Yep, and Jessica MacLeod do not appear in San Francisco’s voter rolls.
Would love to send all my kids to public school but we so far have migrated away after elementary because of the spotty options. Hoping my middle kid can get into Lowell and will be back for high school.
I went to public school through high school, but mine was much better than most of the SF options– even the “popular” ones. No waitlists for AP classes or requirement to get advanced coursework by going to a community college, seven periods was standard, multiple language options in the same school, etc.
I don’t think it’s reasonable, or even ethical, to expect public figures to send their kids to public if the private is a better option for their kids and they have the means to do so. Sacrificing your kids’ well being to score ideological points is silly.
> I don’t think it’s reasonable, or even ethical, to expect public figures to send their kids to public if the private is a better option for their kids and they have the means to do so.
Strange framing. I think it’s expected that our politicians work to make public schools a good enough option that they are willing to send their own kids to them.
To be fair this is useful but as Superintendent of SCHOOLS, it shocked me that Maria Su has children in private schools.
As I see it, she is the face of public education and it’s not just a “personal choice” for her to opt against public school for her own children.
Teachers actually send their children to private school at double the rate of the general public.
While other neighborhoods like Seacliff and the Presidio may have a high percentage of children relative to their small, affluent populations, the Tenderloin has the highest overall density.
The Tenderloin is relatively smaller than Seacliff and Presidio, so your point about density doesn’t necessarily refute my original comment.
If San Francisco schools were better, there would be more children living in San Francisco. But many middle class families leave the City because they can’t afford private schools and don’t want a lottery to determine their kid’s education.
Shocking! Jk. I asked Lurie about this and he grimaced hahaha. His child does ballet so she went somewhere where they do that – whatever. But it’s like, sweetie, I already know the answer.
It looks like anyone that can rub 2 dimes together or sending their children to private schools,where they have such things as ski week, which means that next week, the majority of private schools are closed, and instead of recess, they have coffee breaks. I’m propublic schools, and I often ask parents like my God son, who’s a techie, and wife is a doctor, why he does not even give public schools a try? On the lower economic scale, I spoke with several single mother on how they can afford private schools,and was told by one, that she uses the child’s father’s who is dead-Social Security,plus her mom, who is a Muni bus driver, chips in.
Every time I see an article like this I am surprised that the obvious is not stated. SF does not have more children because 1) it is extremely expensive to raise kids here (it is the most, if not one of the most, expensive city in the US) and 2) a lot of families frankly don’t feel safe raising young kids in ground zero of a fentanyl and street homelessness crisis. It would be interesting to see data on which SF neighborhoods have the most kids and see how the two above points correlate to that.
Also, in terms of private school enrollment, a lot of parents put their kids in the city’s private schools because SFUSD schools vary wildly in terms of quality, academics and individual student engagement. Once more SFUSD schools are at or above Lowell High school’s level, more parents will want their kids in the district.