School chaos is driving families from SF. Can a new mayor fix that?

In San Francisco, kids are like warm days: There just aren’t nearly enough of them.

The number of children as a share of the San Francisco population has been falling for years, leading to declining student enrollment and school closures. Parents also face high housing and child-care costs along with public safety concerns. (And yes, we knew you’d ask: There are more dogs than kids in San Francisco.)

Can any mayoral candidate crack the child curse? As part of our “Ask the candidates” series, we collected questions from readers about the city’s hardest challenges. We’ll publish the responses in the leadup to Election Day.

Reader Shivrat C. asks:

“One huge disadvantage SF has compared to peer cities is that far fewer young people decide to have children here, even if they remain in the Bay Area. Notably, SF’s under-18 population (approximately 13%) is about half that of peer cities. What will you do to make SF a better place to raise a family?”

The incumbent mayor admitted in her questionnaire for The Standard that San Francisco families face challenges, citing “significant barriers” that make it hard to raise children. Considered the most pro-housing candidate among her challengers, Breed said the city must be “aggressive” in reaching its state-mandated housing goal of adding 82,000 units by 2031. She also says she has prioritized moving families from small residences — including SROs in Chinatown — to larger apartments.

“San Francisco is a place where we nurture diverse communities, help families thrive across generations, and a place where children can grow up joyously and set up for life-long success,” she wrote.

Breed noted that her latest budget expanded financial assistance for child care by $120 million. She also pointed to her efforts to stabilize the school district (although the mayor does not oversee the district and has limited influence on it) and push for more pedestrian-friendly public spaces, such as JFK Promenade. On Tuesday, Breed called for the school closure plan to be scrapped, describing it as having made “a precarious time for our public schools even more chaotic.”

The former interim mayor said San Francisco should be the “best city in the world to raise a family.” He wrote: “As a father of three, family is everything to me. I will do everything in my power to give our children and families the support and tools they need to thrive.” 

Farrell is pushing for arguably the most ambitious plan among the mayoral candidates: a universal child-care program. (Some have criticized his record on child care when he served as supervisor.) Farrell said he would also advocate for better educational outcomes in the school district, cleaner classrooms, and reliable public transportation for students. He added that he is committed to meeting the state’s mandated housing goals. 

Nonprofit executive Daniel Lurie said that to support families, San Francisco needs to increase its affordable housing stock through “incentives, innovative financing tools, and a streamlined approval process.”

Lurie, who has headed the anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point Community for nearly two decades, said he also wants to expand financial assistance for child-care services and push for “accountability” for the school district, along with smaller class sizes, updated technology, and better-maintained facilities.

“San Francisco needs families,” Lurie wrote in his questionnaire. “They drive our economy, bring traditions that enrich our cultural fabric, and strengthen our communities. Their presence makes our city vibrant and dynamic.”

As the progressive candidate, the Board of Supervisors president is campaigning to “level the playing field” for families so they can afford to live in San Francisco, he wrote.

Peskin said he would prioritize high-paying jobs, affordable housing, better transit, vibrant and welcoming neighborhoods, and quality public school education. The longtime City Hall politico also said his expansion of rent control is key to keeping down housing prices for families.

“As Mayor I will fight for all our neighborhoods, work to get our schools back on track, increase funding for Muni, and bolster City College and workforce programs that get youth into higher-paying jobs,” Peskin wrote in his questionnaire.

Want to read each candidate’s entire response on families? Click here.