Hundreds of callers urge SFUSD board to rescind layoffs, decry "skip seniority" policy

San Francisco — Hundreds of teachers, paraprofessionals, parents and union representatives filled the March 13 San Francisco Unified School District board meeting and delivered sustained public comment urging the board to rescind planned layoff notices and restore seniority protections.

At the start of the public-comment block, Greg Johnson, co‑owner of Marcus Books, cited federal civil‑rights data he said show stark disparities in discipline in the district: "60% of expulsions are African American," Johnson said, while Black students make up about 11.9 percent of enrollment. Oscar James and other Bayview speakers also argued that the curriculum lacks Black history and that disciplinary and placement decisions push students out of class and out of the district.

Union leaders and rank‑and‑file staff framed their remarks around two linked concerns: the district's plan this year to issue hundreds of layoff notices and a board decision two weeks earlier to protect 14 "superintendent zone" schools from layoff notices. A UESF representative (speaker 12) told the board the layoffs are "unacceptable" and "a cynical, despicable way" to pit teachers and students against one another. Connie Ford of the San Francisco Labor Council said the district should use reserve funds rather than impose mass layoffs, telling the board that "500 layoff notices is unconscionable when there's $55,000,000 in that reserve fund." (Reserve totals were referenced by multiple speakers; the amounts were presented as claims by those speakers.)

Speakers representing Martin Luther King Middle School described the non‑renewal or removal of four teachers as damaging to a hard‑to‑staff campus. Mark Murray, a seventh‑grade teacher at MLK, urged the board to "rescind the non‑re‑election of those 4 teachers" and warned that continuing turnover could push his school toward 50 percent staff turnover next year. Multiple parents and students alleged mistreatment by school administrators; one student said she was searched by the principal on Jan. 29 and made to remove clothing during a backpack search.

Labor and union speakers tied local choices to national reform debates. Elizabeth Conley, speaking for substitutes at UESA, called the board's actions a potential attempt to "lure more money into the district from City Hall" and criticized what she described as celebrating principals who testified in favor of skipping seniority. Several speakers mentioned Michelle Rhee as an example of reformers who, they said, advocate using the budget crisis to push changes that weaken unions.

Board members did not take final action on layoffs at the March 13 meeting. Multiple commenters noted the state law deadline for layoff notices (March 15) and urged immediate policy changes. The meeting record shows continuing committee work and further outreach are planned; speakers said they would press the board for rescission and restoration of seniority.

What happens next: The district is still scheduling steps required by state law for layoffs and will face further public pressure and potential union action in the days ahead.