SFUSD Superintendent Is Passionate About Black Student Success. He Lived It.

Vincent Matthews has been superintendent of SFUSD for over two years now. His biggest initiative is called “PITCH” and it’s all about boosting academic outcomes for low-income kids of color. Especially African American students. Because as a group they post the lowest math and reading scores. Matthews knows what it’s like to be young and black in public schools here. He’s from San Francisco. In this interview, Matthews drives us around his town to talk about his goals, his passions — and his past. He chose four stops: his childhood home in the Haight Ashbury, his nearby elementary school, his high school near Twin Peaks, and the Bayview school where he launched his teaching career.