From the promising to the discouragingly persistent, so many important issues are facing San Francisco public schools right now. Between the vision of new programs such as ethnic studies at the high school level and expanded language immersion, to reducing truancy and tackling school safety and even the almost complete new student assignment policy, there is so much for us to be discussing, debating, working out and putting into practice.

But as important as all of these issues are, each one of them is trumped by the budget crisis, which has grown from a perpetual disaster mostly held at bay to a looming tidal wave with time running out to contain its destructive force.

In mid January, Board of Education (BOE) members and the general public were brought up to speed by San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) staff about the specific forecast for San Francisco’s schools—a likely $113 million dollar shortfall. Given the belt-tightening that has been going on for decades since the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978