Yesterday’s SF Chronicle article gave a tabloid-worthy account of our ongoing negotiations to expand, stabilize, and fully-fund the Free City Program, suggesting that the Free City Ballot measure has been withdrawn, and that funds for the program are no longer guaranteed.
While AFT 2121, our students, the Free City Coalition, and Supervisor Gordon Mar arenegotiating with the Mayor and the College over a potential agreement to withdraw the Charter in exchange for an increase in funding for Free City this year, the article makes a number of false assertions and half-true claims. We’ve distilled these distortions into a helpful list of tabloid headlines, each followed by the real story:
Tabloid headline: Supervisor Mar withdraws Free City charter amendment!
Reality: Nope, not yet. It is true that Supervisor Mar is working with us on it, but we aren’t there yet. We need to be sure that any agreement with the Mayor funds the program fully, removes barriers for our students, and offers a level of stability that approaches that of the Charter Amendment.
Tabloid headline: Mayor now can now cut Free City funding willy-nilly!
Reality: The Mayor has agreed to a 10-year, 15-million-dollar-per-year funding package for the Free City program, beginning in the 19-20 school year.
Tabloid headline: Free City to require lengthy financial aid application!
Reality: Not on our watch. Free City is about removing barriers, not creating more. We continue to fight to keep the program accessible to all of our students, including those without the language skills or parental supported demanded by the 17-page Federal Student Aid application.
Tabloid headline: The Free City needs “greater transparency and financial responsibility”!
Reality: Free City is already governed by an oversight committee charged with ensuring fiscal transparency and responsibility. The budget shortfalls of the program’s first two years are the result of Mayor Lee under-funding the program by allocating only a tiny fraction of funds that Prop W raised to the Free City Program. We’re negotiating for a new agreement that will correct this underfunding and keep the program easy to use for all San Franciscans.
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