The SFUSD faced huge budget shortfalls before the pandemic. Here's a June 2020 article discussing the ongoing issue: https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/breed-annou

The SFUSD faced huge budget shortfalls before the pandemic. Here's a June 2020 article discussing the ongoing issue: https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/breed-announces-parcel-tax-measure-to-fund-teacher-salaries/ https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/breed-announces-parcel-tax-m... Notice that they mention that the potential for layoffs were already announced in February of 2019 (see earlier article at https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/educators-hit-with-first-layoff-warning-in-a-decade/ https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/educators-hit-with-first-lay...). The costs of the pandemic and the decline in enrollment have certainly significantly exacerbated the problems. But one of the reasons so many locals (of all political persuasions) were upset with the school board committing so much attention to changing the names of schools and related social activist causes is because all the while they were dithering on addressing far more pressing budgetary problems and related structural issues. And they continued to do so even into the pandemic.