School Beat:Re-Examining School Closures

According to a 2002 study, private schools have a significant share of the San Francisco student enrollment (http://portal.sfusd.edu/apps/departments/school_operations/docs/fmpIV.pdf). Tuitions at these schools are typically over $20,000. For a family with two school age children, attending public rather than private, represents a $40,000 cost savings. That’s more than most mortgages! I can’t imagine a better affordable housing plan.

What keeps families from partaking in this incentive plan is the perception that the schools are low quality, overcrowded, difficult to enroll in, mismanaged, and unstable. That the public receives only bad press about the schools only solidifies these impressions. This is particularly true for white families whose public kindergarten to birth enrollment ratio is less than 20% (compared to a city average over 50%).

There is an opportunity to grow enrollment and consequently revenue if we can change perceptions.

All of the hard work and time spent in this closure process by the District, the Board, the parents, community organizations, and the City could have been directed toward a positive campaign to fill our schools. Instead, we all have been fighting the wrong fight, fighting one another. Consequently, all of us will be wounded when this battle is done.

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