Frustrated San Francisco parents propose giving city council control of school board following months of refusals to reopen schools

The proposal comes after the school board faced intense criticism, controversy, and mockery in recent months. As students remain home from school, student mental health problems skyrocket, families flee the district, and grades drop sharply, the school board has spent much of their time debating renaming a number of schools named after supposedly problematic historical figures.

Revealingly, documents from the school board released in January showed that of the seven members of the Board of Education, only two considered reopening schools one of their top priorities. Many of the school board members listed various social justice causes as their top priorities instead.

Since 1971, school board trustees have been elected to their positions by San Franciscans. Jennifer Butterfoss and Patrick Wolff of the Campaign for Better San Francisco Public Schools believe that returning to having the seven seats on the board appointed rather than elected would improve the situation in the school district.

"We have these really huge ballots with a bunch of different measures, and it can be overwhelming," said Butterfoss, noting that she herself was not "sufficiently informed" when she voted for school trustees in the most recent election.

The pair explained that most people do not place much thought into electing school trustees, and largely just vote for whichever candidates have been endorsed by the local Democrat Party and the teachers union.

According to supporters of the proposal, making school trustees directly appointed by the Mayor or city council (or both) would restore accountability to the Board of Education, as it would make local politicians directly accountable for its functionality.

Opponents of the move have suggested that placing control of the school board in the hands of the Mayor would politicize education.

The Charter amendment, if it makes it to the ballot, would not be voted on until 2022.