Some Parents Sending Kids Away From SF Bayview Neighborhood For Better Schools
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Parents of children living in San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood are sending their kids to schools in other parts of the city because they say the schools there aren't measuring up.
A recent study by the San Francisco Unified School District found of the 6,000 school age kids live in the Bayview, but 70-percent of those students are enrolled in schools in different neighborhoods.
Parents, teachers and even the district says things need to change.
Compared to other areas, the Bayview could be a city of its own.
Facing unique issues of high crime, low income and gentrification.
"If they have resources from one school they need to have them for all," Bayview resident Kenya Moore said.
"Some students have the up-to-date technology and equipment in their schools and these schools are third world. We don't even classrooms here," Grandparent Curtis Lee said.
At the Bayview's Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary School, students have classes in pods versus rooms.
"It's really discouraging to the residents here you know with children in schools," Lee said.
And, parents say it's the students who are hurting the most.
A recent state study found on average, 26-percent of San Francisco Unified students either met or surpassed English standards, and 25-percent of students tested, met, or surpassed math standards.
The average was below the district's average, with just 13-percent of Bayview students tested, meeting or surpassing English and math standards.
One parent said there aren't enough resources or educational consistency.
"Teachers come for one year, they leave. It's instability. The kids going to have to get used to new teachers, new leadership," Parent Damonn White said.
"I think with the challenges we have in the Bayview, the district is now understanding we do need additional support," Carver Elementary Principal Emmanuel Stewart Emmanuel said.
In a statement, the district acknowledged the problem, saying "our policies and practices over the years have unintentionally contributed to racially isolated and under enrolled schools in the Bayview."
The district told KPIX 5 they are working on it, and have been approved to add and expand educational programs in underserved areas.
But Carver's principal says, "There's so much more to this story than just saying we don't have the resources or anything else. We just need more than resources."
