SEC. 16.123-2. PUBLIC EDUCATION ENRICHMENT FUND.
§ 16.123-2
San Francisco creates a Public Education Enrichment Fund to increase annual school-district appropriations, with baseline funding frozen at 2002-2003 levels (adjusted for discretionary revenue changes) and additional contributions starting in 2010-11. Beginning in 2028, the School District must submit five-year spending proposals for City approval, and the City can withhold contributions if spending violates the Charter, spending plan, or student-outcome guidelines.
The City sets up a special fund to give extra money to San Francisco schools beyond what it normally spends. The City promises not to reduce its base school funding below 2002-2003 levels (though it adjusts for changes in available tax money). Starting in 2010-11, the City adds extra contributions to this fund each year. Beginning in 2028, schools must tell the City every five years how they plan to spend this money. The City's elected officials have to approve these plans, and they can hold back the money if schools don't follow through on what they promised or break rules about how the money should be used.
- Complex:The section involves multiple cross-references to other code sections, intricate revenue-calculation rules, a phased implementation timeline (base year 2002-03, contributions from 2010-11 onward, spending proposals from 2028 onward), and conditional approval procedures that interact in layered ways.
- Controversial:Creating conditions for withholding school funding based on approval of spending proposals and compliance with guidelines raises concerns about governmental control over educational spending and the practical impact on students and schools.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) Creating the Fund. There shall be a Public Education Enrichment Fund. The City shall each year appropriate monies to the Public Education Enrichment Fund according to subsections (b), (c), and (d), below.
(b) Baseline Appropriations. The Fund shall be used exclusively to increase the aggregate City appropriations to and expenditures for the San Francisco Unified School District (“School District”). To this end, the City shall not reduce the amount of such City appropriations (not including appropriations from the Fund and exclusive of expenditures mandated by state or federal law) in any year during which funds are required to be set aside under this Section 16.123-2 below the amount so appropriated for Fiscal Year 2002-2003 (“the base year”). These baseline appropriations shall be separate from the City’s annual contributions to the Public Education Enrichment Fund under subsection (c), and shall be appropriated by the City to the School District each year through and including Fiscal Year 2040-2041.
The amount of the City's baseline appropriations to the School District shall be adjusted for each year after the base year by the Controller based on calculations consistent from year to year by the percentage increase or decrease in City and County discretionary General Fund revenues. In determining City and County discretionary General Fund revenues, the Controller shall only include revenues received by the City and County that are unrestricted and may be used at the option of the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors for any lawful City purpose. Additionally, in determining aggregate City and County discretionary General Fund revenues, the Controller shall not include revenues received by the City under the increased rates in Business and Tax Regulations Code Sections 953.1(g), 953.2(h), 953.3(h), 953.4(e), 953.5(d), 953.6(f), 953.7(d), and 953.8(i) adopted by the voters at the general municipal election on November 3, 2020, and shall not include revenues received by the City under Article 36 of the Business and Tax Regulations Code adopted by the voters at the general municipal election on November 3, 2020. Errors in the Controller's estimate of discretionary revenues for a fiscal year shall be corrected by an adjustment in the next year's estimate. Using audited financial results for the prior fiscal year, the Controller shall calculate and publish the actual amount of City appropriations that would have been required under this baseline for the School District.
(c) Annual Contributions to the Fund – FY 2010-11 and Thereafter. For Fiscal Years 2010-11 and thereafter, the City’s annual contribution to the Public Education Enrichment Fund (the “Annual City Contribution”) shall equal its total contribution for the prior year, beginning with Fiscal Year 2009-2010, adjusted for the estimated increase or decrease in discretionary General Fund revenues for the year. In determining the increase or decrease in discretionary General Fund revenues, the Controller shall not include revenues received by the City under the increased rates in Business and Tax Regulations Code Sections 953.1(g), 953.2(h), 953.3(h), 953.4(e), 953.5(d), 953.6(f), 953.7(d), and 953.8 (i) adopted by the voters at the general municipal election on November 3, 2020, and shall not include revenues received by the City under Article 36 of the Business and Tax Regulations Code adopted by the voters at the general municipal election on November 3, 2020.
(d) School District Spending Proposal.
(1) Beginning April 1, 2028 and every fifth year thereafter, as a condition of receiving the Annual City Contribution under this Section 16.123-2, the School District shall submit a proposal to the Our Children, Our Families Initiative (the “Initiative”), the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families, the Mayor, the Controller, and the Board of Supervisors, describing how the School District proposes to use the Annual City Contribution during the subsequent five fiscal years, consistent with the Charter, the Citywide Community Needs Assessment described in Section 16.127-5, the School District’s internal guidelines regarding student educational outcomes, and the Outcomes Framework described in Section 16.127-5, and the Children and Families Plan described in Section 16.127-5, and any other applicable City laws.
(2) The Initiative shall review the proposal described in subsection (d)(1) and make a recommendation to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors as to whether to approve or disapprove the School District’s proposal. As part of its review, the Initiative may request comments from interested organizations and committees, including the School District’s Public Education Enrichment Fund Community Advisory Committee or any successor body created by the School District.
(3) Beginning with the contribution for Fiscal Year 2029-2030, the City shall not provide any Annual City Contribution during any five-year period set forth in subsection (d)(1), until the Board of Supervisors adopts and the Mayor signs a resolution approving the School District’s proposal, except as provided in this subsection (d)(3). If the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor do not enact such a resolution before the enactment of the biennial budget for the first fiscal year of the five-year cycle, then the School District may submit a modified proposal during the course of the five-year period for consideration by the Initiative, the Board of Supervisors, and the Mayor following the process in this subsection (d)(3). If the Board of Supervisors adopts and the Mayor signs a resolution approving the School District’s modified proposal, the City shall provide the Annual City Contribution for that fiscal year and for every subsequent fiscal year in the five-year period, but such contribution may be placed on reserve, consistent with subsection (d)(4). If neither the Mayor nor a member of the Board of Supervisors introduces a resolution consistent with this subsection (d)(3) before July 1 immediately prior to the first year of the five-year cycle, then the City shall provide the Annual City Contribution during the five-year period, but such contribution may be placed on reserve, consistent with subsection (d)(4).
(4) The City shall place the Annual City Contribution for the second fiscal year of the City’s biennial budget on reserve in the biennial budget if, before enactment of that budget, the Board of Supervisors adopts and the Mayor signs a resolution finding that the School District’s expenditures for the current or past fiscal year are inconsistent with the Charter, the School District’s spending proposal described in subsection (d)(1), the Outcomes Framework described in Section 16.127-5, or the School District’s internal guidelines regarding student educational outcomes. The Board of Supervisors by motion may release the Annual City Contribution from the reserve during the fiscal year.
(5) The Board of Supervisors by ordinance may modify the deadlines in this subsection (d).
(e) Audit Requirements. All disbursements from the Fund and from the baseline appropriations shall be subject to periodic audit by the Controller. The School District and the Department of Early Childhood (“DEC”), or any successor entity shall agree to such audits as a condition of receiving disbursements from the Fund.
(Added March 2004; amended November 2014; Proposition F, Approved 11/3/2020; Proposition J, Approved 11/5/2024)