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District data show persistent achievement gaps; trustees call for urgent plan for African American students
Summary
Staff presented 2016–17 metrics showing steady enrollment, rising graduation rates and persistent subgroup gaps — commissioners urged a targeted response and asked for comparative district data; the superintendent pledged a plan in November.
San Francisco Unified staff presented three‑year trends and 2016–17 district metrics to the Board of Education on Oct. 10, highlighting steady enrollment at just over 53,000 students, modest gains in English language arts and math overall, and rising cohort graduation rates that nonetheless mask persistent achievement gaps for African American and Latino students.
The data presentation noted that 54 percent of students met or exceeded grade‑level standards in English language arts and that high‑school readiness was about 62 percent for the district. Staff also reported subgroup gains in graduation rates (African American students up roughly 14 percent over six years, Latino students up about 15 percent), but several commissioners and community speakers emphasized that proficiency gaps remain large: Commissioner Sanchez pointed to a roughly 50–60 point gap in SBAC scores between Asian/white students and African American or Latino students and asked staff to compare San Francisco Unified’s subgroup performance with other large urban districts.
Commissioners raised chronic absenteeism — which staff said had increased — and asked for suspension and other subgroup breakdowns. Several commissioners called the numbers an emergency for African American students; Commissioner Sanchez explicitly said he agreed with a public speaker’s call to “declare a state of emergency.” Superintendent Vincent Matthews acknowledged the long‑standing nature of the gaps, said the district leadership had made African American student performance the top priority and committed to returning to the board with a plan and additional analysis in November.
The record shows robust follow‑up requests from commissioners: comparative data with peer urban districts, disaggregation of EL redesignation rates by primary subgroup, and suspension data by subgroup. Staff said they would provide the comparative report and additional breakdowns to the board.
