SF Voters Approve Prop B Public Bank and Reject Prop I Housing Fund

Voters Split Signature Municipal Finance and Real Estate Transfer Tax Measures

San Francisco voters delivered a split verdict on two closely watched fiscal ballot measures, approving Proposition B to establish the framework for a city-owned municipal finance corporation while defeating Proposition I, which would have dedicated half of luxury real estate transfer tax revenues to affordable housing, according to The San Francisco Standard.

Proposition B prevailed with 52.3% support (164,430 Yes votes to 149,904 No votes, or 47.7%) after trailing on election night and pulling ahead during Thursday's ballot updates. Championed by District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder—who founded the SF Public Bank Coalition in 2017—and backed by former congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti, the measure creates a municipal finance corporation authorized to issue loans for public projects without taking deposits. The entity can apply to regulators to become a full public bank after 3 to 5 years of turning a profit, positioning San Francisco to establish the first city-run public bank in the United States, whereas a separate regional public bank ballot measure in Berkeley trailed and North Dakota operates a state-run bank. Moderate groups including GrowSF and Neighbors for a Better San Francisco opposed Proposition B over taxpayer risk concerns.

By contrast, Proposition I failed with 47.9% in favor and 52.1% opposed (150,595 Yes votes to 163,542 No votes). Under a prior 2020 ballot measure also titled Proposition I, properties selling for more than $10 million pay a 5.5% city transfer tax, rising to 6% on sales above $25 million, with proceeds flowing into the general fund. The 2026 Proposition I sought to mandate that 50% of those high-value transfer tax collections be spent exclusively on affordable housing. Mayor Daniel Lurie campaigned strongly against the measure to protect general fund resources for police and fire services, joined by the building trades and venture capitalist Michael Moritz, who contributed $200,000 to No on I, while SEIU 1021 and Chakrabarti—who donated $150,000 to Yes on I—supported the mandate.

Six Years After Closures, Two-Thirds of SFUSD Campuses Trail 2019 Proficiency

Across the city's public education system, an analysis of California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Smarter Balanced test scores in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 since 2015 by The San Francisco Standard shows that two-thirds of San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) campuses have not returned to pre-pandemic academic benchmarks.

After closing classrooms in March 2020 and reopening fully in August 2021, SFUSD lost 5,000 enrollees. Districtwide math proficiency stood at 46% in both 2022 and 2026, down 5 percentage points from 51% in 2019 (compared with a 1-point statewide dip and an increase in Los Angeles Unified from 34% in 2019 to 40% in 2026, giving SFUSD the third-largest math decline among California's 10 largest districts). In English, proficiency declined from 57% in 2019 to 55% in 2022 and 54% in 2026, a 3-point drop compared with 2 points statewide. Meanwhile, the achievement gap between low-income enrollees and higher-income peers widened from 25 percentage points in 2019 to 31 points in 2026 (with 32% of low-income learners meeting math standards versus 63% of non-low-income peers), while white examinees remained 55 percentage points ahead of Black examinees in math. The share of district test-takers scoring at the lowest "minimal" tier rose from 29% to 34% in math (climbing from 38% to 47% among low-income learners) and from 25% to 29% in English (rising from 34% to 41% among low-income learners), even as English learner enrollment declined from roughly 17,000 in 2018-19 to 13,000 in 2025-26.

Comparing the class of 2020 with the class of 2027 (which was in grade 5 in March 2020), grade 8 math proficiency dropped from 51% to 40% (at least 9 points lower across grades 7, 8, and 11), while English shifted from a 55% to 53% lead in grade 7 to a 4-point deficit in grade 8 and a 6-point deficit in grade 11 (57% versus 63%), with low-income juniors trailing by 13 points in math and 12 points in English. Across 70 primary and K-8 campuses, 48 posted lower proficiency in 2026 than in 2019 by a typical 10 percentage points; across 94 total campuses (excluding 12 charter, 2 newcomer, and 6 alternative campuses), 28 fell by 10 points or more (including 21 of 62 primary campuses), 34 fell by 1 to 10 points, 9 changed by less than 1 point, and 23 rose by at least 1 point. Among 24 campuses where at least 75% of learners are low-income, only 4 recovered to 2019 levels: Hillcrest (90% low-income) dropped from 43% combined proficiency to 9% (40% to 11% in English; 46% to 7% in math) and Redding fell from 47% to 16%, whereas Bret Harte (89% low-income) rose from 9% to 21%, Charles Drew climbed from 9% to 19%, and Dolores Huerta advanced from 25% to 44%. Only 2 of 13 district intermediate campuses improved over 2019, led by Willie Brown (rising from 16% to 53% as low-income share shifted from 79% in 2018-19 to 43%, Black enrollment moved from 37% to 14%, and white enrollment rose from 2% to 29%), while Everett and Francisco dropped by 20 and 18 points. Four secondary campuses exceeded 2019 grade 11 rates—led by Lowell at 90% and Ruth Asawa at 69%—while Wallenberg fell from 61% to 35%, Galileo from 62% to 42%, and Lincoln from 57% to 46%. After pushing its 2022 targets back from 2027 to 2028, the board faces a roughly 20-point climb to raise grade 3 English from 49% (down from 52% in 2022) to 70% and grade 8 math from 45% (up from 42% in 2022) to 65%.

Public Works Launches Sandbag Saturdays at Marina Green

Along the northern waterfront, hundreds of motorists queued at Marina Green on Saturday as Mayor Daniel Lurie, Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, and Public Works Director Carla Short launched "Sandbag Saturdays" ahead of forecasted El Niño winter storms, ABC7 News reported. Crews loaded approximately 1,000 sandbags—up to 10 free bags per household or business presenting a San Francisco ID—bringing in supplemental pallets after midday demand exhausted the initial supply, with 4 additional neighborhood giveaways scheduled through December 5 as king tides already submerged a Mill Valley intersection navigated by cyclist John Martin and prompted preparations by San Francisco residents Mitch Rosenfeld and Ivan Regalado.