Building Trust Across Communities—and Across California: An Update on Our Work for Families
Title slide for Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco (PPS-SF) with the text "Bridge Parents, Amplify Voices, Demystify Policy." Set against a yellow background, it features a collage of parents and children smiling at school events and the multilingual PPS-SF logo in English, Spanish, and Chinese.
Dr. Vanessa Marrero, Ed.D.
When families come together across our communities, we want the same essentials for our children: welcoming classrooms, stable school leadership, and vibrant neighborhood schools where every student can thrive. Yet too often, the way decisions get made in our school systems leaves families feeling sidelined—or pitted against one another—rather than treated as true partners.
At Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco (PPS-SF), our work is focused on changing that dynamic by building a united, informed parent community that advocates for all students. As part of our Bold New Strategic Direction: Expanding Services Statewide to Better Serve TK–12 Parents, we are growing our model across four California regions so families everywhere have the tools, voice, and collective power to shape public education.
Here is a look at what our team is leading locally and across the state—and how you can stay connected:
Expanding Our Statewide Footprint Across Four California Regions: Through our Leadership team, we are scaling parent-led advocacy, enrollment navigation, and policy education across four key regions in California. Our Regional Directors are charged with building local parent power, strengthening family-school partnerships, and ensuring families have a seat at the decision-making table:
San Francisco: Led by Noah Sloss (Secretary & Regional Director, San Francisco), a proud SFUSD parent, 5th-generation San Franciscan, public education activist, and marketing/communications professional with decades of experience in data analysis, operations, and examining how language shapes public education policy (Read More about Noah).
Greater Los Angeles: Led by Brittany Zendejas (Regional Director, Greater Los Angeles), a proud East Los Angeles native, UC Berkeley School of Journalism graduate, and former PPS-SF Chief of Staff who brings community service journalism and storytelling to amplify family voices across Southern California (Read more about Brittany).
Greater Napa: Led by Erin Lang (Board Director & Regional Director, Greater Napa), a proud public school parent and Calistoga teacher and literacy coach with over a decade of experience in elementary and middle school education (including at Charles Drew Elementary in San Francisco) who brings an educator-parent perspective to building strong school-family partnerships (Read more about Erin).
Greater Sacramento: Led by Rori Abernethy (Board Director & Regional Director, Greater Sacramento), advancing family agency, civic engagement, and regional partnerships across the capital region (Read more about Rori).
Launching Our New School Readiness Workshop Series: Supporting families starts before the first day of school. Through our Enrollment Navigation and Upcoming Workshops initiatives, we have launched a new School Readiness Workshop designed to equip caregivers with practical tools, confidence, and clear information as they prepare their children to transition into TK and Kindergarten. (Book a Session for your school or community group.)
Advocating for Fair, Equitable Enrollment Policy: Shifting enrollment lines toward neighborhood-only boundaries does not solve deep-rooted funding and resource gaps—and in a segregated city, geography-based rules risk deepening inequities. Through our Strategic Equity Enrollment work, we are actively pushing for a comprehensive strategy that protects family choice, directs resources to historically underfunded schools, and centers the families most impacted by district decisions. (Check out our recent Instagram update on enrollment policy, explore our interactive Visme visual resource, and read our full policy analyses on why Real Policy Change Requires Strategy in Service to All Students and why San Francisco must Stop Settling for Policy Band-Aids While Our Schools Remain Systemically Under-Resourced.)
Challenging "Parallel Loops" and Reclaiming Family Agency: Through our Community Advocacy and Family Partnership initiatives, we are confronting the systems that sideline marginalized families and disrupt transformative school leadership. In her recent series—including Structural Violence, Disinvestment, and the Reclamation of Family Agency, Masks in the Boardroom, Unmasking Parallel Loops, and Operating with Integrity—PPS-SF President Dr. Vanessa Marrero examines how privilege and private fundraising can create "parallel loops" that drown out Black, Brown, Indigenous, and working-class families. Our work centers on shifting power with integrity so every community has genuine decision-making power.
Elevating Parent Voices in School Governance: Through our voter education work and community events—including our recent SFUSD Board Candidate Forum on Centering Family Agency & Educational Access—we are bringing families face-to-face with decision-makers to demand transparent governance, educator retention, and full funding for baseline essentials like arts, librarians, and social workers at every school. (Explore more of our policy work on our Demystify Policy and Defend Our Schools pages.)
Why Our Collective Work Matters
For decades, shifting enrollment rules and tight budgets have trapped parents in a "zero-sum" mindset, making families feel they must compete for spots at a handful of schools or fundraise to fill basic gaps. As researcher Dr. Karen Mapp reminds us, "Families are already empowered. They just need that power to be activated." When caregivers step outside familiar circles to build genuine trust across race, language, and neighborhood lines, we protect every school from sudden top-down policy changes and hold school boards accountable to all families.
Stay Connected & Join the Conversation:
Read our latest analysis: Catch up on all of our recent articles, data breakdowns, and policy updates on the PPS-SF News, Community Advocacy, and Media & Research Publications pages.
Attend a Day Break Session: Join our upcoming live virtual conversations over the next several weeks to hear directly from—and ask questions to—elected and community leaders about the future of equity in our schools. Check the PPS-SF Events & Workshops page for upcoming dates, or sign up for our newsletter to get updates delivered straight to your inbox.