San Francisco's school board voted 5-2 on Tuesday night to end the lottery that has assigned the city's elementary students since 2011. Today, families rank schools across the city. An algorithm sorts them, giving priority to siblings and address, plus a boost for families from the neighborhoods with the lowest test scores. Under the plan the board picked, the district will assign incoming elementary students to the school near their home. Families can still apply to citywide programs like language immersion and K-8 schools, but they aren't promised a seat. The board rejected a second plan, called Option B, that would have let families apply to any school with open seats. Commissioners Alida Fisher and Supryia Ray voted no. The board plans to adopt the final policy and new attendance maps on April 13, 2027. The change starts with students entering in fall 2028.

The Lottery Has to Go (Superintendent Maria Su, Board President Phil Kim, Commissioner Matt Alexander)

The district's leaders say the lottery drives families away and leaves some schools with empty seats.

Families should know which school their kid will get. Superintendent Maria Su recommended the plan the board backed. "Families should not have to roll the dice and try their luck in our system," she said. "The school down the street should be a good option and a certain one."

Families who work the lottery best get out. Commissioner Matt Alexander said the lottery "creates an escape valve … from schools that are perceived as bad." He said the families who can work the system best are the ones who get out, but "we're still operating those schools." Some schools get hundreds of applications for a couple dozen seats, while others can't fill one kindergarten class. The city has more than 14,000 empty seats, many in the southeast.

The lottery never did what it promised. The board voted to scrap it back in 2018, after data showed it hadn't reduced socioeconomic segregation. Board President Phil Kim cited reports that it failed to reduce racial segregation too. Board Vice President Jaime Huling said its "lack of predictability" is "driving families away."

Now the district has to make every school good. Su said the new system "puts the responsibility squarely on the district to make sure that every single neighborhood school is worth choosing." District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong backed the change at the meeting. "Families shouldn't have to count on a lottery to attend a school near their home," he said.

Guarantee the Seat, but Let Parents Choose (SF Parents, Rebecca Kee)

Most families in the district's own survey said a neighborhood seat plus the freedom to apply anywhere would meet their needs.

Most surveyed families liked Option B better. In a district survey of 2,725 families, 71% said Option B would meet their needs. Only 48% said that about the plan the board backed. People at the meeting held signs that read "Listen to parents: Choose Option B."

Families should get the seat and the right to apply anywhere. Rebecca Kee runs SF Parents, a parent advocacy group. She wrote commissioners last month that her group "strongly supports guaranteeing every family a neighborhood school," but without "significantly limiting families' choices based on where they live." Kee said that limiting choice "forces families who are living nearest to those struggling schools to not have options."

Families in weaker school zones lose the most. Many parents at the meeting opposed losing choice, and they warned it would hit lower-income and southeast families hardest. Mirna Vasquez, a Bayview parent, wanted a bilingual program that the schools near her house don't have. "Until they guarantee me as a parent, 'we're going to fund it,' maybe I can enroll my children in my neighborhood schools," she told KQED before the vote. One parent at the meeting warned that families "can leave SFUSD and they have."

A New Map Won't Fix the Schools (Commissioner Alida Fisher, Coleman Advocates)

Fisher and some parent organizers say the district is changing the rules before fixing the schools.

Neighborhood schools will mean segregated schools. Commissioner Alida Fisher voted no. "Neighborhood schools by definition will be segregated schools," she said. Parent groups at wealthier schools can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. Schools serving lower-income families generally can't.

The district admits the fix will take years. Deputy Superintendent John Davis said improving struggling schools would take five to 10 years, far longer than the two years before the change starts. He cited teacher turnover and many temporary teachers. Fisher asked why the district would change the system before closing those resource gaps.

A boundary doesn't make a school better. Blanca Catalan is a parent organizer with Coleman Advocates. "Location alone does not guarantee equity," she said before the vote. Roberto Guzman, a Guadalupe Elementary parent, put it more bluntly. "A new boundary doesn't create a better school," he said.

Where This Lands

Su and the board majority say the lottery drove families away and never fixed segregation. They want to guarantee every family a nearby school and make each one good. SF Parents wants that guarantee plus the freedom to apply anywhere, and most surveyed families said that plan would meet their needs. Fisher and Coleman Advocates say the district is redrawing the map before fixing the schools, and its own deputy says that fix takes five to 10 years. The board will work out the details in November and plans to vote on the final policy April 13, 2027.

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