SF Board of Education Leadership Urges State Action to Address Deepening School Funding Crisis

San Francisco (March 24, 2026) - President of the San Francisco Board of Education Phil Kim and Vice President Jaime Huling announced today that they have sent a formal letter to California’s state elected leaders calling for urgent action to address systemic funding challenges facing public schools across the state.

As representatives of one of the Bay Area’s largest school districts, Kim and Huling emphasized that school systems across California—despite their diversity in geography, demographics, and governance—are facing shared fiscal pressures that cannot be solved at the local level. 

SFUSD’s board leadership welcomed the leadership of many of the largest school districts across the Bay Area who co-signed, including Antioch Unified School District, East Side Union High School District, Napa Valley Unified School District, Oakland Unified School District, San Jose Unified School District, San Ramon Valley Unified School District, and West Contra Costa Unified School District. This coalition organized by President Kim marks the first time local school district elected leaders have joined together independently to advocate to the state legislature, reflecting that insufficiencies in the state funding model are causing widespread issues. 

“As those entrusted with ensuring the long-term financial viability and educational success of our public schools, we write to sound the alarm about the profound, widespread fiscal challenges districts across the state are facing,” said Kim and Huling in the letter. 

State funding policies have significantly impacted the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) by reducing revenue as enrollment declines, providing relatively limited per-student funding in a high-cost city, and creating instability through reliance on one-time funding cycles. These challenges have contributed to state oversight of the district, and necessitated staffing reductions and program cuts—all of which directly affect students and school communities.

The letter highlights the consequences of decades of underinvestment in California’s K-12 education system, noting that the state now ranks 38th in fourth grade literacy and 36th in 8th grade math nationwide. While recent years have seen increased funding, district leaders argue that these gains have not kept pace with rising operational costs—especially in high-cost regions like the Bay Area.

Among the key concerns outlined:

• Inadequate Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs): The proposed 2.41% COLA for 2026 falls far short of covering rising expenses such as employee benefits, energy, transportation, and inflation—effectively resulting in a funding cut.
• Workforce Challenges: Insufficient funding makes it difficult for districts to offer competitive salaries, undermining efforts to recruit and retain high-quality educators.
• Rising Student Needs: Schools are being asked to do more with less, including expanding access to technology, mental health services, and special education.

The coalition of elected leaders called on the Legislature to take immediate steps to stabilize and strengthen school funding, including:

• Protecting Proposition 98 Funding: Rejecting proposals to withhold $5.6 billion in voter-approved education funding, which would have immediate and severe impacts on school districts.
• Adopting Regionalized COLAs: Aligning funding increases with the actual cost of living in different parts of the state.
• Fully Funding Special Education: Addressing a growing structural deficit that has shifted the majority of special education costs onto local districts.
• Modernizing the Funding Model: Exploring a transition from Average Daily Attendance (ADA) to enrollment-based funding to better reflect the true costs of operating schools.

The letter underscores the dramatic shift in special education funding over time, with districts now shouldering a significantly larger share of costs—creating an unsustainable burden that impacts all students.

“As elected officials accountable to our communities, we are making difficult decisions to preserve classroom instruction and maintain fiscal stability,” the letter states. “But local discipline cannot correct systemic shortcomings at the state level.”

Kim and Huling called for partnership and reform: “When numerous districts across California are simultaneously in fiscal distress, it is not coincidence—it is evidence that the system must be reformed. We stand ready to work with state leaders to protect our students’ futures.”

About SFUSD

SFUSD is the seventh largest school district in California, educating 50,000 PreK-12 students every year. San Francisco is both a city and a county; therefore, SFUSD administers both the school district and the San Francisco County Office of Education (COE). This makes SFUSD a “single district county.”

About the San Francisco Board of Education

The San Francisco Board of Education is comprised of seven members, elected at large to serve four-year terms. The Board President and Vice President are elected by their peers at the first regular board meeting in January of each year and serve a one-year term. The Board determines policy for all public schools, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, in the San Francisco Unified School District and San Francisco County Office of Education. The Board of Education is responsible for establishing educational goals and standards; approving curriculum; setting the district budget, which is independent of the city's budget; confirming appointment of all personnel; and approving purchases of equipment, supplies, services, leases, renovation, construction, and union contracts.

###