Improving Public Schools

By Matt Tuchow

Matt Tuchow believes our children should be able to attend their neighborhood public schools and should be safe and secure while in school and traveling to and from school. Matt will lead the fight to green our schoolyards, replacing much of the asphalt with trees and green surfaces. This not only would be healthier for our children but also would be more attractive for the surrounding neighborhood.

But to create an equitable and effective neighborhood school system, we must focus on improving the quality of underperforming schools. I support the Dream Schools Initiative to do just that: to create culturally sensitive private school type public schools out of our failing neighborhood schools. I also believe that any parent of a child in a failing school should have the choice to send their child elsewhere.

We need to find resources to supply more teaching materials, to offer more enrichment programs, and to repair crumbling facilities. As a parent who has a child in a public school, I am appalled at the inadequate funding for education. I have experienced class crowding in upper grades, limited teaching materials, minimal enrichment programs, and buildings in disrepair. To address these issues, I have worked diligently with other parents to raise over $100,000 a year for the Alamo School through its Foundation Board. I also was a Richmond District campaign coordinator for the Proposition H campaign earlier this year to provide greater funding for the San Francisco public schools. This Proposition passed and as much as $60 million dollars a year will now go to our public schools to improve them. It is essential that our Board of Supervisors now makes sure that this money is spent wisely, not squandered.

While the City does not have direct authority over the San Francisco Unified School District, Supervisors have powerful influence and the advantage of the bully pulpit. They must watchdog school spending and insist on the priorities of parents in their districts. There are many areas where the interests of the city and the school district overlap. Children absolutely must be safe both in school and while going to and from school. The City needs to work with the schools to ensure safety. The city should also embark on a broad program to green the schoolyard, transforming the asphalt which covers much of most public school yards into green more park like environments which are healthier for kids, for the environment and nicer for the entire neighborhood.. Creating excellent public schools is an important quality of life issue in our city.