SFUSD teacher shortage is far worse than peer districts, data shows

by: Allyson Aleksey | Examiner staff writer
2023-09-20
Source: San Francisco Examiner
09/20/2023

Amid a nationwide shortage of K-12 teachers, San Francisco is faring worse than even the largest public school districts in the state.

The 49,000-student San Francisco Unified School District began this year with more teacher vacancies than Los Angeles Unified, which serves 480,000 more students than SFUSD and is the second-largest school district in the country.

Last month, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced a historic success: The school district managed to begin the academic year with all positions filled.

Meanwhile, SFUSD welcomed students this year with a massive shortage and at least a quarter of classroom vacancies are unfilled. Those classrooms are temporarily led by principals, social workers and non-credentialed or substitute teachers as the district scrambles to fill about 145 positions that are still vacant.

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