Civil grand jury finds shortage of credentialed teachers; SFUSD outlines progress and payroll remediation

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee on Nov. 2 received a civil grand jury report concluding San Francisco Unified School District lacks enough credentialed teachers to staff classrooms at levels comparable with Bay Area peers and the state.

Foreperson Karen Kennard described the jury's methods and key finding: San Francisco has fewer credentialed teachers than the Bay Area average and a higher incidence of classrooms staffed by uncredentialed or ineffective teachers. The jury cited recruiting and retention hurdles including comparatively low starting salaries, limited publicity of benefits, and the district's payroll problems, which the jury said undermine recruiting and retention efforts.

"The district does not have enough credentialed teachers to give a quality education to every student," the jury's presenter summarized, noting the jury's request for better data collection on why candidates decline offers and why credentialed teachers leave.

SFUSD's delegation, led by Hong Mei Pang, head of communications and external affairs, acknowledged the challenge and outlined steps the district has taken: hiring nearly 600 teachers for the school year, prioritizing payroll remediation, filling critical HR vacancies, and pursuing recruitment and retention programs including in-house credential pathways, teacher residency and para-to-teacher initiatives. The district reported reducing EmpowerSF payroll tickets from a peak (over 11,000) to slightly more than 2,000 and said 1,791 employees still had open tickets at the reporting point; SFUSD clarified ticket counts reflect cases (employees may file multiple tickets) and not unique individuals.

Supervisors pressed for more precise data: how many teachers are employed (SFUSD said approximately 4,500), how many teachers are affected by unresolved payroll issues (SFUSD said the 1,700 figure covers all employees, not just teachers), and how many cases remain unresolved beyond a pay period. Deputy Controller Todd Ridstrom said the controller's office participates in corrective-action governance and suggested the district procure independent SAP/payroll expertise for verification.

Public commenters urged ongoing oversight and more urgent corrective action. After discussion, Supervisor Connie Chan moved to file the hearing; the committee recorded three ayes and the item was filed by the committee.