Our Children Deserve Fully Funded Staff—Not False Promises
San Francisco Unified School District has once again failed immigrant families, but this time at Mission Education Center–a school designed to support newly arrived Spanish speaking students. District leaders boasted about having a “fully staffed” start to the school year when in reality children walked into chaos: no permanent principal, multiple vacant teaching positions, and paraeducators stretching themselves thin. Parents even had to step in to supervise kids. This is not just disorganization, its negligence that puts immigrant students at risk.
SFUSD cannot claim to champion equity while abandoning one of the schools that exists to serve immigrant communities. Expanding transitional kindergarten while refusing to fully fund and staff classrooms is an empty promise. Our kids deserve stable teachers, safe classrooms, and a school district that prioritizes their wellbeing instead of administrators scrambling to cover their own mistakes. If SFUSD is serious about equity, they must immediately fully staff not just Mission Education Center, but all our public schools. Anything less is unacceptable.
Beth LaBerge/KQED
SF School Serving Spanish-Speaking Immigrants Is ‘Severely Understaffed,’ Parents Say
By Katie DeBenedetti | August 25th, 2025 | KQED
