For many students, the first week of January is about showing off new Christmas kicks and recovering from a two-week video-game marathon. For Maria Su, though, it’s time to lock in.
The San Francisco Unified School District superintendent was given an extended contract in November, giving her the power and political capital to make structural changes that could fundamentally shape the future of public education in the city.
She must contend with a multimillion-dollar budget gap, stagnant math and reading scores, and growing labor strife. Meanwhile, she must rebuild confidence that a system that has lost thousands of students since the pandemic is still capable of providing high-quality education…