After a series of controversies, a group of San Francisco parents are now calling to amend the city charter so that school board members are appointed rather than elected.
The Campaign for Better San Francisco Public Schools is launching a signature gathering effort and hopes to put the issue to voters next year.
It comes after San Francisco public school students have been learning from home for nearly a full year. An agreement between the district and the teachers' union will put only the youngest students back in school starting April 12.
By contrast, the state says Disneyland can reopen April 1.
"People are getting upset, you know people are rightfully upset and the longer this goes on, more and more people are wondering, where's the accountability?" said Jennifer Butterfoss, a former public school principal and mother of two.
A bungled effort to rename dozens of schools the board said are currently linked to problematic figures drew further controversy over the board's haphazard approach and the amount of time members devoted to the issue.
Butterfoss is co-chairing the campaign and says with crowded ballots, few people vote for school board members or truly understand their priorities and qualifications.
"I think the pandemic has really exacerbated that and now put the board in the spotlight with how slow their response has been to some of the pressing needs of the voice of parents. Obviously parents have been clamoring for information, for transparency around distance learning, around re-opening and they're seeing just a lack of focus on the part of the board."
The group said that if City Hall is responsible for appointing board members, it would make them more accountable.
"We do believe that there will be greater alignment, we'll see greater collaboration, we'll see folks working together and focus on the right things and focus on the urgent issues at hand," said Butterfoss.
Many big cities including New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., appoint school board members rather than elect them.
It is unclear who at City Hall would make the appointments under the proposal and that question is likely to be a topic of much debate.
