Editor:
I am not a District 4 resident. I live in the middle of the City, far away from the Upper Great Highway (UGH).
I am however a former San Francisco Unified School (SFUSD) parent. SFUSD has a lottery system and when we were in the system, there was no middle school feeder (whereby elementary schools are sent to particular middle schools). I know a lot of people are unhappy with the lottery, I was until it was over and I saw the value,
My children, now in their 20s, built a citywide community. And so did I.
My area voted to close UGH. I did not.
Why? I used it every single day for years when my children were in school. I was, for a time, a Sunset resident because I was shuttling the kids all around the area where they went to school.
I was trying to explain to my neighbors, who had no idea why this was important to keep open during the weekdays, why it shouldn’t be closed.
Here we are. I am only glad my children are adults and I am not driving all over the City.
I’ve already addressed Supervisor Engardio’s nonsensical claims that Proposition G, a non-binding measure, had anything to do with returning Algebra I to eighth grade.
I had the unfortunate timing to be at SFUSD at the start of this mess. My son, who is now an electrical engineer, was the last to take Algebra I in eighth while my daughter, now a scientist, was the second under the delay.
SFUSD lied for years about the success. They claimed that the final year of algebra I in eighth had massive failures. 40% failed don’t you know? That seems a lot. I kept asking for proof.
None was forthcoming.
Because it was a mathematical error. 4% failed. Somebody didn’t understand how to calculate percent. Once this was clear, the door was open to begin the process to return Algebra I to eighth.
The political class has no control over SFUSD. Lawsuits do.
A lawsuit filed by a ONE parent in March 2023 is what changed everything.
Meanwhile, the teacher’s union and parent groups were warning the public that Prop. G was a political stunt. I didn’t think it was because I thought taking the temperature of the electorate was important.
Now? I see that I was wrong. They were right.
Prop. G is being used as a stunt.
I supported it. I campaigned for it. I wrote a statement for it to tell everyone that FOUR percent failed Algebra I not 40.
I was a chump because I see how this is being used as a political tool when it had nothing to do with returning Algebra I to eighth. It was a non-binding measure and Algebra I was on its way back well before this measure was even written.
I can’t vote for the recall, but I support it.
Maya Keshavan
Categories: letter to the editor
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 
Maya – you bring up a good point that many from the other side fail to empathize with which is the SFUSD parent that frequently needs to traverse the city for child pickup/drop-off. I’m also a SFUSD parent and there is the daily drop/pickup but also afterschool activities all the while trying to balance a busy work schedule. The Great Highway was a critical artery helping to navigate the north/south corridor. It encompasses 14% of the city and divides the Sunset/Richmond. With total parks already encompassing 18% of the city, did we need another mere blocks from Golden Gate Park. 10 minutes a day matters for us parents and for the Joel to brush aside our time and commitments while he has proposed this behind our back is flat out dishonest and despicable. I’m sorry but leaders don’t say people we’ll get used to it or there is always complainers but should be bringing consensus and compromise. One has to try to understand why he’s been receiving dollars from some of the richest tech ceo’s in San Francisco who don’t live anywhere on the West side of the city but treat it as a playground for themselves to ride around in $10,000 bikes while we drive around in our $10,000 Hondas.
But one aspect that nobody talks almost is the life and death aspects of what has been rushed through. My dad is 83 years old and has been the emergency room twice in the last 5 years – getting there now is getting stuck in traffic queue on Lincoln way when it was a straight shot for 10 minutes in the past. Can we as city and society at least try to empathy with us parents and with us adults that need to care for our elderly parents? Legislation doesn’t have to be about winners or losers but comprises and trying to bring prospectives from all sides.
Please join me in voting Yes on A – while it won’t immediately bring back the Great Highway – The sunset deserves representation from a supervisor willing to open other prospectives and listen to his constituents while not being influenced by the tech lobby. Let’s find a supervisor who can work with Connie Chan constructively and find a solution that works for both sides. The compromised worked with 20,000 cars per day (parents, adult caregivers, people going to work) being able to use the Great Highway during the weekdays and while 4500 park goers can enjoy the park on the weekend- this isn’t a all of nothing. Sand removal has to be done in either solution and going back to the compromise benefits both sides and I know the city wide supervisors and their constituents will work together with our new D4 Supervisor to find that right solution if they know our pain and inconvenience now. We’re all human and have our own concerns – let’s come together and find the solution but to start let’s find the right leadership.
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The transit situation is miserable. There needs to be an underground under Geary and 19th where all the schools are.
i love SFUSD and I will never be sorry we went there from K to 12. The kids are living in the city now. They too voted against this because they knew why it is so important.
Slow streets and shutting roads like this baffles me. We don’t have the transit infrastructure to support this.
Build that out so we are like NYC and London and Amsterdam. Getting across town is not at all easy. And parents have to navigate, and as you pointed out, aging parents and kids and work and life. I don’t understand why the city makes it so hard just to live.
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Because carpetbagging profiteers see money in privatizing the commons.
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I agree with Maya Keshacan. Joel is an opportunist always seeking ways to pad his resume for higher office, with his foot on the neck of his constituents in D4. He brags about the Chesa and the SFUSD Recalls. Let’s give him another recall for his resume—his own. His dereliction of duty to D4 residents while being a puppet for real estate developers and investors has made him unfit to lead.
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