Distribution of funds to public schools in San Francisco – Telemundo Bay Area 48
San Francisco voters will consider changing how city funds for schools and youth services are distributed and controlled in Proposition J this election.
The proposal would add a layer of oversight to youth spending to monitor its effectiveness, creating a panel called the “Our Kids, Our Families Initiative” to be led by the mayor and superintendent of schools and staffed by of the city and school district.
Proposition J, if approved by a majority of voters, would standardize the reporting and evaluation of youth funding to create additional oversight of how special youth fund money is spent.
It would authorize the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the mayor to withhold funding from the San Francisco Unified School District if it fails to meet certain benchmarks. It would also limit the city from counting the balance of one of the city’s special funds toward the other funding for youth services.
The city has three main funds that support different services and education for youth: the Children and Youth Fund, the Public Education Enrichment Fund, and the Student Success Fund. The Children and Youth Fund supports a variety of programs for young people up to 24 years of age, including childcare, job training, health and social services and other programs. It was established in 2022 by voters who set an incremental base funding that stabilizes at $60 million in fiscal year 2026-27 and requires at least that amount through fiscal year 2037-38.
The Public Education Enrichment Fund pays for early childhood education programs such as art, music, sports and libraries. The city is required by its Charter to provide minimum funding that is at least equivalent to what it spent on the program in 2002-03, which established the Fund’s base funding.
Proposition J would limit the use of Student Success Fund grants for Public Education Enrichment Fund programs. It would also force the school district to sign a data-sharing agreement with the city or face losing discretionary funding above minimum funding levels set out in the Charter.
Comptroller Greg Wagner said in a cost analysis of the proposal that limiting the mix of funds and requiring youth funds to be allocated to a special fund instead of annually during the budget process “would have a significant impact on the cost of government.” up to $35 million in fiscal year 2024-25 and will increase to $83 million in fiscal year 2037-38 as funds that would otherwise be available in the General Fund are reallocated.”
The proposal has the support of nearly the entire board of supervisors, including Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who wrote the ballot’s proponent argument.
Melgar said the proposal was necessary to provide greater transparency and efficiency in funding the city’s youth services.
“Proposition J is about good governance,” he wrote. “Proposition J is about making sure that every dollar we spend on children goes toward maximum results based on established outcomes.”
No argument was made against Proposition J, but the San Francisco County Republican Central Committee opposes the measure, citing cost and other reasons.
“Principles of good governance require that the Board of Supervisors be given sufficient discretion to allocate funds without tying up unnecessary reserves,” the Republican Committee wrote on its website.