What is SF Families Union?

SF Families Union is a network of parents organizing to fight against the negative effects of the SF school-choice model that has reimplemented segregation in so many SFUSD schools. It is a small effort, and solely based in San Francisco. It a grassroots organization created and run by “public school families working towards racial equity and integration” in San Francisco schools. One of the driving principles of the SF Families Union is to “help families of all backgrounds look beyond the metrics and stories that reinforce segregation in school choices.” It is highly focused on educating the community about systems and policies that are dis-serving them, and works to ensure these issues are brought to light at union and district meetings.

Organizing Strategies

The organizing strategies of the SF Families Union include utilizing a public Facebook page to “support and challenge the district and maintain independence through grassroots fundraising.” On its website, the SF Families union says: “We support and challenge the district and maintain our independence through grassroots fundraising. Funds won’t pay organizers; funds go to covering expenses like space rental, translation and child care.” At its core, the Union is a grassroots effort, and part of its strategy is to highlight and condemn concurrent movements working to privatize schools or curtail its own efforts, in the form of public announcements and open letters to the community. In “An Open Letter to SF Families and Community Members about Innovate” the SF Families Union attempts to education the community about the work of Innovate Public Schools, an organization which the Union says is “portraying itself as a SF “parent” organization speaking for Black & Latinx parents… [and has] been meeting with school board members, supervisors, legislators, non-profit partners and even public school staff under the same false pretenses. The Union calls Innovate a “fake grassroots organization” and is acting as a “charter expansion program”. SF Families union uses this type of education, and then goes on to employ petitions, conversations with parents and negotiations with California NAACP leaders to advocate for change. It actively opposes school privatization and the school-choice model.

photo 1: https://sffamiliesunion.org