Structural Violence, Disinvestment, and the Reclamation of Family Agency
Slide graphic featuring text overlaying a dark, high-contrast background image of raised hands. The main text reads "STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE", "DISINVESTMENT", "THE RECLAMATION OF FAMILY AGENCY", and "FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION" written repeatedly at the bottom. In the top-left corner, logos for Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco are displayed in English, Spanish, and Chinese.
The ongoing discourse surrounding enrollment policy and governance within the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) cannot be separated from the history of our city's neighborhoods. When we speak of educational segregation in San Francisco, we are not describing an accidental outcome of neutral demographics. We are addressing a pervasive system of structural violence—one that systematically starves certain communities of resources, strips marginalized families of their voice, and deepens generational inequities.
The Unequal Distribution of Community Wealth and Resources
A healthy neighborhood relies on basic, well-funded community building blocks: thriving local businesses, well-maintained parks, targeted city investment, and opportunities for residents to own property. Historically, San Francisco’s resource allocation has favored wealthy neighborhoods while systematically starving others of capital and public support.
When local governance fails to invest in neighborhood stability, it deprives marginalized communities of decision-making power over the core pillars of public life—most notably local schools, cultural arts, and community spaces. Underfunding and closing neighborhood assets is a direct extension of structural violence, reducing public institutions to managed budget cuts rather than anchors of community empowerment.
Top-Down Enrollment Policy and the Erosion of Family Agency
The policy debates surrounding SFUSD’s school assignment and enrollment systems often mask a patronizing mindset. Stripping families of their choice in school selection imposes an external, top-down ideology on marginalized communities—effectively dictating what their values, educational goals, and family needs should be.
Look no further than the targeted removal of Dr. Franklin.
"This is the precise mechanism of structural violence: employing administrative technicalities to systematically disrupt, devalue, and dismantle transformative Black leadership."
When leaders like Dr. Franklin anchor themselves in community trust and challenge district mandates, administrative processes are weaponized to force them out. True educational equity does not mean forcing families into rigid assignment systems or pushing out transformative leaders under the guise of procedural compliance. True equity requires honoring family agency as a fundamental right. Parents know their children best and are uniquely qualified to determine what environment best serves their academic and personal well-being. Denying families this choice—and stripping them of trusted leadership—is an exercise in bureaucratic control.
Fake Engagement and the Crisis of Public Trust
The current system of community involvement within school governance is fundamentally broken. District leadership routinely announces half-formed policy ideas without a clear plan, holding public meetings to ask for parent feedback only to completely ignore it once shared.
This cycle of fake engagement produces predictable results:
Erosion of Trust: Families and educators lose all faith in central leadership when their time and input are treated as a checkbox rather than a decision-making tool.
Silencing Marginalized Voices: Working-class families and parents of color—who spend valuable time participating in forums—are repeatedly shown that their experiences carry no weight in final decisions.
Governance Disconnect: School board leaders forget a basic truth: schools belong to the communities they serve, not to central administrators or city bureaucrats.
Reclaiming Board Accountability: Agency as a Demand
Board governance must shift from self-preservation to community accountability. The school board is answerable to the residents, families, and educators who rely on public education every day.
We are not asking for permission, nor are we ever beg for minor fixes. We are demanding that parents have full agency to determine the direction, values, and environment of their child's education. Rebuilding SFUSD requires dismantling structural violence, restoring neighborhood investment, and centering the voices of those who have been ignored for far too long.
Dr. Vanessa Marrero
President