San Francisco’s Education Policy May Encourage Parents to Opt for Private Schools in Higher Grades

April 8, 2025 TruthUSA

The trends may indicate that middle-class families in San Francisco are reallocating their resources to enable their children to attend private schools as they reach higher grades.

News Analysis

SAN FRANCISCO—An increasing number of parents in San Francisco are willing to invest in private education for their children during grades 7 to 12, as highlighted by an analysis of enrollment data sourced from the California Education Department.

Private school enrollment for grades 7 through 12 in San Francisco has generally been on the rise since the 2014–2015 academic year. Enrollment rose from 11,102 in 2015 to 12,315 in 2024, according to data acquired by The Epoch Times.

Conversely, enrollment in private schools for grades K through 6 has declined from 13,117 in 2015 to 11,755 in 2024.

Both of these trends emerged shortly after the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) implemented a contentious policy in 2014 that eliminated Algebra I in the eighth grade.

These developments suggest that middle-class families in San Francisco are prioritizing their limited resources for private schooling at the secondary level rather than during elementary years.

According to the website Private School Review, the average tuition for private high schools in San Francisco is $37,723, significantly higher than the average tuition for all K–12 grades, which stands at $27,324.

Public schools in California are legally obligated to offer free educational services to students in their respective areas, and they generally do not compete directly with private schools due to the tuition fee gap.

Nonetheless, changes in public school policies may influence parents’ choices.

“We have observed that removing programs people value, such as eighth-grade algebra, results in significant declines in enrollment,” board of education commissioner Supriya Ray shared with The Epoch Times. “I know of many families who left for this reason or who have chosen not to enroll in SFUSD due to concerns over the curriculum’s rigor.”

Following the Algebra I policy change, SFUSD public school enrollment for grades 7–12 fell for two consecutive years, from 23,170 in 2014 to 22,746 in 2016, as per data from the California Education Department.

A recent 2023 study by Stanford indicated that “delaying Algebra I until the ninth grade hindered certain students from completing the sequence necessary to take AP Calculus before graduation,” and noted that the policy did not increase black or Hispanic students’ enrollment in advanced mathematics.

With potential paid alternatives like private tutoring and after-school help, some families opted to keep their children in public schools post-2016, leading to a recovery in 7–12 enrollment in San Francisco public schools.

However, another sharp decline in enrollment occurred from 2020 to 2024, falling from 23,438 to 21,920, largely due to an exodus of residents from San Francisco during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ray noted that the delay in reopening in-person classes contributed to the drastic enrollment drop as parents recognized the crucial importance of face-to-face education for their children and moved them out if possible.

San Francisco parents, organizations, and supervisors worked to reinstate Algebra I in eighth grade, eventually succeeding with the passage of Proposition G in the March 2024 election. Taking Algebra I in eighth grade will become an option at specific schools during the 2024–2025 academic year, according to the district’s website.

Bayard Fong, a district parent, mentioned to The Epoch Times that while he did not oppose the math policy change in 2014, he felt compelled to speak out when the Board of Education voted in 2020 to eliminate the traditional merit-based admissions policy at Lowell High School, where he is an alumnus.

In 2022, the Board of Education voted to reinstate the merit-based admissions policy due to declining student grades without it.

Fong remarked that when parents remained silent for 15 years, the school system was gradually diminished.

“They removed algebra, they eliminated Lowell’s merit-based admission system, they dismantled gifted programs at elementary and middle schools, they cut honors classes… they even took away AP classes,” he lamented. “Yet our children are competing against peers nationwide and globally for entry into the same universities.”

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