On June 15, 2024, in front of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) office, San Francisco city council candidates, school district education board candidates, Chinese parents, and Chinese language advocates gathered to demand the preservation and expansion of Mandarin and Cantonese language programs.
Due to severe budget deficits and declining student enrollment, the SFUSD is planning to cut Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) language classes. In May, over 300 parents from several schools formed “SF Parents for Mandarin” and sent letters to district officials and education board members requesting the preservation of Mandarin classes, but received no response.
According to the parents’ letters, in the 2024-2025 school year, 23% of the TK-8 students in SFUSD are of Chinese descent, totaling 7,851 students. The district provides 2,644 slots for Cantonese classes but only 384 for Mandarin. Families who are unable to secure spots in these classes each year have to leave the district and enroll in private schools.
The gathering on June 15 started at 10:00 am and was attended by various officials and advocates such as SFUSD education board candidates Lin Zhuo Shi and Zhang Lina, District 3 city council candidates Li Huixin and Danny Sauter, representatives from “SF Parents for Mandarin,” and community leaders.
One of the advocates, Gwen Mak, founder of “Protect Cantonese” at San Francisco State University, emphasized the importance of preserving Cantonese for maintaining community cultural heritage and communication in crucial sectors like healthcare where over 90% of her patients speak Cantonese.
Li Huixin, a District 3 city council candidate, highlighted the importance of bilingual education and cultural preservation, especially in a diverse city like San Francisco with its rich immigrant history. She stressed that funding and expanding Chinese language programs are vital for cultural protection and inclusivity, aligning with San Francisco’s values as a welcoming immigrant community.
Chyanne Chen, representative of “SF Parents for Mandarin” and a city council candidate in District 11, brought her daughters to the event to show support for learning both Cantonese and Mandarin. Chyanne stressed the importance of language as a tool for communication, diversity, and global competitiveness, urging the district to prioritize the needs of Mandarin-speaking families.
Lin Zhuo Shi, an SFUSD education board candidate, pointed out that Asian American students make up 36% of the district’s population and highlighted the value of language programs in various languages beyond Chinese, like Korean, Japanese, Samoan, and Spanish as essential sources of happiness for many families.
In response to the district’s plan to reduce language programs despite high demand, parent advocate Selena criticized the lack of foresight, stating that the city has over 180,000 children but less than 50,000 enrolled in public schools. She suggested expanding dual-language teacher recruitment and programs to address the current supply shortage.
Sam Cheng, a student who has been working with the language advocacy group “Save Cantonese” for three years, emphasized the importance of bilingual education and multiculturalism in a linguistically diverse society like the United States, and expressed concern that temporary issues in the district might lead to the cancellation or disappearance of such valuable programs that have been a cornerstone of San Francisco’s unique cultural landscape for decades.