A Victory on Algebra — But the Work Isn’t Over
PLUS: Austin Built, Rents Fell
What You Need To Know
Here’s what happened around the city for the week of March 15, 2026:
- A Victory on Algebra — But the Work Isn’t Over
- Austin Built, Rents Fell
- Homelessness Chief Steps Down
- A little sprinkling of corruption
- Cesar Chavez accused of raping minors
A Victory on Algebra — But the Work Isn’t Over
Published March 20, 2026
The Facts
Thanks to your emails, algebra will once again be offered in 8th grade. Nearly 350 GrowSF supporters emailed the district to demand a better math curriculum and the district has listened — partially.
Anna Bauman at the San Francisco Chronicle reports that SFUSD’s 2026-27 algebra proposal would let 8th graders choose between Math 8 and Algebra 1, or even take both at the same time if they want.
District staff said an updated Math Placement Policy will go to the Board of Education on March 24, 2026 to formalize 8th-grade algebra.
But here’s the catch: only two middle schools — Hoover and Alice Fong Yu — will implement the compressed 6th/7th/8th grade math pathway that prepares students for standalone Algebra in 8th grade. At every other middle school, students will be forced to choose between taking both Math 8 (pre-algebra) and Algebra simultaneously — losing an elective — or skipping pre-algebra entirely and going straight to Algebra.
The Context
In 2014, San Francisco made the horribly misguided decision to get rid of 8th grade algebra and force all kids into the same math class, even if they were capable of more. For over a decade, middle schoolers couldn’t take algebra.
SFUSD’s new plan reverses that 2014 mistake, but most schools still don’t have a clear pathway that meets the needs of advanced students.
The GrowSF Take
This is a real victory: the district reversed a bad plan and committed to offering Algebra in 8th grade. That happened because 350 GrowSF supporters emailed in under 48 hours, and that pressure worked. Thank you.
But the job isn’t finished. Only Hoover and Alice Fong Yu will have the compressed math pathway that makes standalone Algebra truly accessible to all students. Every other middle school still leaves families with a hard choice: double up and lose an elective, or skip pre-algebra. We’ll keep pushing until every SF middle schooler has a real path to Algebra. Stay informed and keep the pressure on.
Austin Built, Rents Fell
Published March 20, 2026
The Facts
Between 2015 and 2024, Austin built 120,000 new homes. And, in no surprise to any economist, the median rent fell—from $1,546 in December 2021 to $1,296 in January 2026, according to a new Pew analysis. By comparison, San Francisco adding just 35,000 homes in the same period, failing to meet demand and leading to rents rising: 14% in 2026 and 11% in 2025) alone. In 2015, both cities were roughly the same size. But now Austin is larger and more affordable.
Austin paired market-rate production with affordable-housing bonds, ensuring their subsidized homes were actually funded and actually built. San Francisco has an unfunded mandate to build similar homes.
The Context
Austin didn’t rely on any single “silver bullet”. Their HOME amendments allowed up to three homes on many single-family lots, and Affordability Unlocked granted height, density, and parking relief to projects that reserved half their units as affordable.
San Francisco’s Family Zoning Plan similarly legalizes more small homes in neighborhoods that long blocked them, and Scott Wiener’s state laws grant extra height and density for added subsidized units, but Austin shows that zoning reform works best when it is paired with faster approvals, funded mandates, and a broadly more welcoming regulatory environment for apartments.
The GrowSF Take
The evidence is overwhelming: build more homes, and rents come down. Some elected officials still pretend otherwise.
The lesson for City Hall is simple: if we want lower rents, we must make housing easy to build at scale with automatic approvals for homes of all sizes, simpler rules, and permits measured in weeks, not years.
Homelessness Chief Steps Down
Published March 20, 2026
The Facts
The head of San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Shireen McSpadden, is retiring June 30, according to J.D. Morris and Alyce McFadden at The Chronicle. She has led the department since her April 2021 appointment by Mayor London Breed. HSH oversees the city’s shelter system, supportive housing, and major homelessness-service contracts. The city’s 2024 Point-in-Time Count found total homelessness rose 7% from 2022 to 8,323 people.
The Context
This opening comes after Mayor Daniel Lurie retreated from his biggest homelessness promise. In March 2025, his administration said it would add 1,500 interim housing beds, including 700 already in planning. By July, J.D. Morris at The Chronicle reported that Lurie had dropped the six-month target and shifted to a looser goal of opening a little more than 1,000 slots by year’s end. Then the mayor’s June budget presentation proposed just 572 new interim beds over three years.
The GrowSF Take
Mayor Lurie now gets to choose the person responsible for turning homelessness policy into day-to-day results. He should pick a leader focused on execution: fewer disconnected programs, faster movement into shelter and treatment, and public metrics that show whether the city is actually getting people off the street.
A little sprinkling of corruption
Published March 20, 2026
The Facts
Former Fire Marshal Kenneth Cofflin, who helped draft San Francisco’s 2022 sprinkler ordinance, is now marketing paid consulting to condo associations seeking approvals and exemptions under that same law, according to J.K. Dineen at The Chronicle.
The Context
The legislation itself phased in sprinkler requirements for older residential high-rises. The city’s ethics rules restrict former officials from certain communications with their old departments and from representing clients in matters they worked on personally and substantially.
The GrowSF Take
While it may not meet the legal definition of corruption, starting a consultancy to seek exemptions for the very law you created sure stinks. It’s a reminder that every new rule opens a new avenue for influence peddling. San Francisco should stop layering mandates, exemptions, and consultants on top of each other, pause this law, and rewrite it around actual fire risk, real costs, and bright-line ethics rules.
Cesar Chavez accused of raping minors
Published March 19, 2026
The Facts
A New York Times investigation reported allegations from Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas, who said Cesar Chavez abused them when they were 13 and 15 in the 1970s. In her own March 18 statement, Dolores Huerta said Chavez pressured her into sex twice in her 30s, and said both instances resulted in pregnancies.
In San Francisco, the April 11 parade for Cesar Chavez has already been renamed for Dolores Huerta. SFUSD has not yet weighed in on whether Cesar Chavez elementary will get a new name.
The Context
Chavez’s name is everywhere in San Francisco, and California more generally. It’s on Cesar Chavez Street (formerly Army Street), at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the Mission, and at SF State’s Cesar Chavez Student Center. Beyond local landmarks, Los Angeles also sports a Cesar Chavez St, and [March 31 is a California state holiday (Cesar Chavez day, now Farmworker Day)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/state-holidays/).
Chavez was an important leader for agricultural worker rights. Alongside Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) which became the United Farm Workers union.
The GrowSF Take
Our hearts go out to Chavez’s victims.