Real Talk on Public Schools & AI: Dr. Maria Su at Dreamforce

Last week at Dreamforce, actress, producer, and best-selling author Sheryl Lee Ralph sat down with Dr. Maria Su, Superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District, for an unscripted conversation about public education and artificial intelligence — moderated by Sunya Norman, SVP, Impact at Salesforce. Two people who've spent their careers showing up for kids, thinking out loud about what students actually need right now.

"Technology is not going to be the answer to the equity gap"

Asked how school districts should think about investing in the years ahead, Dr. Su didn't start with devices or platforms. She started with people.

"Technology is not going to be the answer to the equity gap that we have. It's going to be human relationships. It's going to be education." — Dr. Maria Su, Superintendent, SFUSD

She pointed to San Francisco's own pandemic-era experience as proof: the city donated Chromebooks to students, but many still lacked stable Wi-Fi at home.

"We were deepening the divide, because some of our students didn't have access to stable Wi-Fi — in the heart of San Francisco, in a city that was the birthplace of the internet, we still have huge disparities."

"Learning is a five-sense experience"

Asked what excites her most about AI in the classroom, Dr. Su again started with the student, not the technology.

"Learning is a five-sense experience. We're going to activate every part of a student's mind, body, and soul... at the end of the day, at the center of learning is curiosity — how do we spark that for our students?"

A 14-year partnership

Dr. Su also spoke about SFUSD's long relationship with Salesforce, now entering its 14th year — a partnership she credits with doubling girls' access to STEM classes across the district.

"It's a marriage — if you commit to us, we'll commit to you, and we'll work together to make it fantastic."

Why it matters

Spark is proud to help steward partnerships like this one on behalf of SFUSD — long-term relationships that invest in educators, students, and the human side of learning technology is meant to serve.

Watch the entire discussion above, and if this conversation moved you the way it moved the room at Dreamforce, consider joining us in investing in San Francisco's public schools.