San Francisco Superintendent to Testify on Gender Policies and Curriculum

San Francisco schools superintendent Dr. Maria Su is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The session will address district policies on student gender identity and related curriculum. Committee chair Rep.

Tim Walberg said the hearing will focus on parental rights, transparency, and classroom instruction. He noted that student achievement has declined in recent years and that some families report limited information about school policies.

Republican-sponsored measures are advancing in Congress. H.R. 2616 would require elementary and middle schools to obtain parental consent before changing a student’s pronouns or restroom access. The bill passed the House and is now before the Senate.

H.R. 2617 and H.R. 7661, both reported favorably by the House, would restrict federal funds for lessons on gender ideology and sexually oriented material. District guidelines currently direct staff to use students’ preferred pronouns and to maintain confidentiality on gender identity unless parents give explicit permission.

An April report from the district’s Queer Trans Parent Advisory Council stated that roughly 30 percent of San Francisco public school students identify as queer or questioning and 6 percent as trans or gender questioning. The same report noted that some families have relocated to California from states with different legal frameworks.

The hearing will also cover a required ethnic studies course for high school freshmen. A parent group has raised concerns about the course content and the process by which it was adopted. Proficiency rates reported by the district last October showed 53 percent of students meeting language-arts standards and 46 percent meeting math standards.

Dr. Maria Su stated in a May 14 email that the district’s focus remains on third-grade literacy, eighth-grade math, and college and career readiness.