Monthly Archives: January 2009

Have the Feds done us a disservice?

Posted on January 30, 2009 | Comments Off

Much excitement this week on the proposed stimulus plan, passed in the House and now in the Senate. The Chronicle said it would net SFUSD up to $42 million; when I read that I felt heartened, but now I wonder. At today’s training, Ron Bennett (CEO of education policy think tank School Services of California) said he’s concerned that the proposed stimulus package gives our state lawmakers a way out of having to take the heat on education cuts. I hadn’t thought of that . . . but he very well could be right. Who knows when or if we’ll see a significant amount of Federal money, but resolving the state’s budget crisis and giving school districts some financial certainty is urgent NOW.

Mr. Bennett also congratulated all of the new Board members in attendance (from districts all over Northern California) for picking the worst time in anyone’s memory for joining a California school board. Thanks!

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Committee on Student Assignment: Jan 29

Posted on January 29, 2009 | 1 Comment

This post is going to be unsatisfyingly short as I have to get up very early tomorrow to attend a training for newly-elected school board members down in Palo Alto. Several years ago I made a big deal on the sfschools list about how new Board members should have to take training when they take office and so now I need to practice what I preached. I’m sure it will be interesting but right now I’m tired and don’t feel like spending the next two days in training.

Tonight the Ad Hoc Committee on Student Assignment met for several hours. Staff members Nancy Waymack and Orla O’Keeffe reviewed reams of data on current enrollment with us, and we heard public comment from perhaps 20 members of the public — many were parents of young children who want very much for us to return to a more address-based system of school assignment. Members of the Coalition to Close the Achievement Gap spoke about the need to refer to the findings of the Student Enrollment, Recruitment and Retention (SERR) report; one educator who works with families in transition (homeless or in other very insecure circumstances) reminded us that many of her clients are not invested or engaged enough in the current system for us to regard their childrens’ enrollment as anything close to a “choice.” Another parent reminded us that the current process for children with special needs is also flawed (I agree).

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Protest the budget cuts!

Posted on January 28, 2009 | Comments Off

On Tuesday, Feb. 3, United Educators of San Francisco is holding a rally at City Hall to protest education budget cuts. Come stand with our teachers, parents and community members to send a message that we will not tolerate any more cuts to our schools!

Download a flyer for more information (PDF) >>>>>

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Board meeting: January 27

Posted on January 27, 2009 | Comments Off

Tonight in a nutshell:

  • We approved the Public Education Enrichment Fund (PEEF) spending plan in time to forward it across the street to the Board of Supervisors, with one amendment: an additional $150,000 out of reserves to fund a full-time grant writer — a position that we hope will pay for itself and then some.

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Inclusion in SFUSD, then and now

Posted on January 27, 2009 | Comments Off

Today I came across this 2002 article from the Los Angeles Times, which discusses SFUSD’s work to more fully-integrate students with disabilities in regular classrooms. At that time, we were seen as a leader in the inclusion movement, and other districts were watching us for ideas. I’m sad to say that we haven’t made much progress beyond where we were over six years ago:

Many parents and school officials say San Francisco’s changes, which now are implemented in half the public schools there, give disabled children a chance to thrive. They have fewer limits placed on them and have nondisabled children as behavior models. Even some parents of regular students say their children are learning valuable lessons in compassion and tolerance.

At the same time, the transition has not been smooth. Some teachers and administrators resent having to work with disabled students. Special education teachers are scarce. A number of handicapped youngsters find it difficult to fit into regular classes – sometimes they are neglected by teachers, or picked on by schoolmates. And a growing segment of educators says the effort, known as “inclusion,” is proving to be more expensive than having separate classrooms for the handicapped.

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Improving the work of school site councils

Posted on January 22, 2009 | Comments Off

SFUSD parent Don Krause has written a guest “School Beat” column on Beyond Chron, detailing areas where the district’s support of site councils has broken down, and issuing a call to action for parents to get involved in these important governing bodies. Continue reading →

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Posted in Improving schools

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Changes to the “Prop. H” Committee

Posted on January 22, 2009 | 1 Comment

I must get into the habit of using the correct name for the advisory committee for the Public Education Enrichment Fund (the fund approved by S.F. voters in 2004 that transfers money from the City’s general fund to the schools for sports, libraries, arts, music and other uses). It is the “PEEF CAC” but for some reason, most people still seem to refer to it as the “Prop H Committee.”

Anyway. Tonight the Board met as a Committee of the Whole (which means we meet as a body but cannot vote on anything) to discuss a resolution authored by former Board President Mark Sanchez and current Board President Kim-Shree Maufas. This resolution would greatly clarify and focus the committee’s mission, which in some years has been so unclear that it brought the Superintendent’s priorities in direct conflict with the Committee’s, and left the Board in the uncomfortable position of choosing which recommendations it would adopt.

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Yes we did!

Posted on January 20, 2009 | Comments Off

inaugurationThere really isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been said today. I can’t stop watching it, savoring snippets from a feast of great moments –like seeing President Obama’s resolute and solemn face just before walking out onto the West Balcony of the Capitol (what was going through his mind?), those beautiful little girls in their brightly-colored coats, Bush St. transformed into Obama St., whoops and tears of joy as the Oath of Office was administered.

Today was just a great day, and one I won’t forget for a long time. And tonight I’ll go to sleep smiling, thinking of little girls having a sleepover bash in the White House while their parents celebrate this incredible moment.

(The photo is by Damon Winter of The New York Times).

UPDATE: The Lego version of the inaugural tableau is worth a snicker.

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Nominate a teacher or principal for Mayoral award

Posted on January 16, 2009 | Comments Off

Another important item in today’s e-mail:

Once again, we are proud to announce the Mayor’s Teacher of the Month and Principal of the Year Award programs, which honor San Francisco’s public school teachers and principals who not only exemplify classroom excellence, but also serve as leaders beyond the classroom and demonstrate civic responsibility in the community.

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Reflections on (a lot) of incoming mail

Posted on January 16, 2009 | 1 Comment

mailbox
In what will probably be a common occurrence, someone has started a petition urging Board of Education members to:

request that in your priorities for a new SFUSD Student Assignment process for 2010, you include at minimum a fallback option for any applicant to attend his/her neighborhood school (with all communities having an assigned school).

So far I’ve received close to 180 300 e-mails. Most of them just cut and paste the wording above, but a number of people included personal comments and opinions and I’m grateful for that since I feel obligated to open every e-mail. It’s much more instructive when people take the time to explain why they’re writing and what their individual views are.

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