I want to say thank you so much for talking about my (case) situation.I began blogging because it is therapeutic and I started noticing many blogs about my case. I am filled with over whelming gratitude and I give thanks to everyone that signed my petition and spoke on my behalf. I went into a great depression. Many people do know know that my father as well went to jail and he died in prison all for the education of my two daughter’s I will have a autobiography coming soon. Hopefully before the new year. I wish every one well Thank you so much. We are all a family in some form or fashion. Feel free to highlight and stay up to date with my blogs. God bless http://students4revolution.wordpress.com/2013/10/06/the-kelley-williams-bolar-story-we-all-have-a-story/
Hi Rachel,
I am a Special Education parent entering the lottery for Kindergarten for 2012/2013. It seems like there is a great deal of confusion regarding how Special Ed assignments are made. I was wondering if you could point me to some more detailed information about the assignment process, especially regarding Inclusion. I’ve heard from various people at the school district that spots are set aside for inclusion and that they are not. I think this information might be helpful to those of us who are spending our time looking for schools.
Thank you very much!
@Isabella, it looks as if the staff’s proposal is to let kids eligible for TK to attend Kindergarten for two years. There are some advantages to this — we avoid a wave of transfers as TK kids transfer out of one school and into an elementary school of choice after the first year of TK, for one thing, and also transportation headaches, which we can’t afford anyway. On the other hand, the staff proposal basically is status quo, with a nod toward creating a specialized TK curriculum in name only. I don’t think that is within the spirit of the TK legislation, even though right now it is feeling like an unfunded mandate. In your case, the staff proposal would allow your son to attend his older siblings’ current school, as he would receive sibling preference as a TK just as he would have under the current eligibility date.
I’m the parent of a transitional K kid next year and was wondering if there was any new step taken towards creating that program and where? My other kids were enrolled at Clarendon and this next year was my last chance to get the little one enrolled there too. You can imagine how anxious we are now, as it is really not fair to him. Could the district let parents enroll the regular way, as before, if we sign up for the mandatory 2 year program? And as money is tight, if SFUSD has to pick a few schools to implement that program, it shall go for the larger and most popular ones, giving the kids the opportunity to repeat K but with a different teacher.
Is there anyone I shall try to contact to discuss further steps?
Thanks very much for reading us, concerned parents.
Am I reading your June 20th post correctly? Are your really saying that the approximately $12 million in IDEA stimulus money will go to opening 12 new classrooms and ‘uping” the amount of money the district pays for tuition for private schools?
Gee–how do I get in on the private school wagon train? I have a kid who would benefit from a few years at the Armstrong school and the special ed teachers at my SFUSD location don’t seem to know what to do with her!! Why aren’t we training our staff so we don’t need to outsource to private schools! This is completely unfair to the majority of families who can’t afford or wouldn’t know how to advocate to get a specialized education outside the district.
I am shocked if I am reading this correctly! We so need professional development!
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress will be judged by what its children are taught.
The National Teachers Bill of Rights
1. Teachers have the right to practice in a manner that fulfills their moral obligations to society, God and to those that they teach.
2. To create classes that are relevant to the children’s future, that fulfills their moral obligations to society. To create classes that return vitality, and self esteem to the Teachers/Euators.
3. Teachers have the right to a work environment that supports and
facilitates ethical practice, in accordance with the Code of Ethics for
Teachers and its interpretive statements.
4. Teachers have the right to freely and openly advocate for themselves and their students, without fear of retribution.
5. Teachers have the right to fair compensation for their work, consistent
with their knowledge, experience, and professional responsibilities.
6. Teachers have the right to a work environment that is safe for themselves and their students.
7. Teachers have the right to negotiate the conditions of their employment, either as individuals or collectively, in all practice settings.
8. .Teachers have the right to practice in environments that allow them to act in accordance with professional standards and legally authorized scopes of practice.
Disclaimer: that this is an TBR consensus but “does not necessarily reflect the rights embodied in state and federal law”.
Thank you. I am genuinely sorry about the problems your family is having. I think it is always important to be friendly when people take the time to come before the Board to tell us about issues and problems that they are having in the schools.
I’d like to echo rob sturm’s sentiments. Only 7 out of the 15 candidates had websites, and 6 of them merely felt like web-based versions of campaign flyers. This is the only one that actually has a blog with comments enabled; not only does this show your passion for your field, but it’s also a great way to promote transparency in the system. To that end, I hope that once you’re elected you’ll continue to blog about the issues that you care about so that those of us outside the system have a low-barrier way to learn more about them and participate.
Well, I got my absentee ballot in the mail and went to do some online research regarding the board of education candidates. There’s not much out there. But I did run into your homepage and it looks like a lot of time and thought went into its preparation. If you care enough to devote that kind of energy toward the election cause, which the other candidates don’t appear to have done, then you’ve got my vote. If nothing else, at least you’ve got good energy and our schools need plenty of that, that’s for sure. Good luck!
Rachel Norton 
I want to say thank you so much for talking about my (case) situation.I began blogging because it is therapeutic and I started noticing many blogs about my case. I am filled with over whelming gratitude and I give thanks to everyone that signed my petition and spoke on my behalf. I went into a great depression. Many people do know know that my father as well went to jail and he died in prison all for the education of my two daughter’s I will have a autobiography coming soon. Hopefully before the new year. I wish every one well Thank you so much. We are all a family in some form or fashion. Feel free to highlight and stay up to date with my blogs. God bless http://students4revolution.wordpress.com/2013/10/06/the-kelley-williams-bolar-story-we-all-have-a-story/
Thank you for the Board Updates and your take on different important school issues!
Hi Rachel,
I am a Special Education parent entering the lottery for Kindergarten for 2012/2013. It seems like there is a great deal of confusion regarding how Special Ed assignments are made. I was wondering if you could point me to some more detailed information about the assignment process, especially regarding Inclusion. I’ve heard from various people at the school district that spots are set aside for inclusion and that they are not. I think this information might be helpful to those of us who are spending our time looking for schools.
Thank you very much!
@Isabella, it looks as if the staff’s proposal is to let kids eligible for TK to attend Kindergarten for two years. There are some advantages to this — we avoid a wave of transfers as TK kids transfer out of one school and into an elementary school of choice after the first year of TK, for one thing, and also transportation headaches, which we can’t afford anyway. On the other hand, the staff proposal basically is status quo, with a nod toward creating a specialized TK curriculum in name only. I don’t think that is within the spirit of the TK legislation, even though right now it is feeling like an unfunded mandate. In your case, the staff proposal would allow your son to attend his older siblings’ current school, as he would receive sibling preference as a TK just as he would have under the current eligibility date.
I’ll keep you posted via the blog.
Hi Rachel,
I’m the parent of a transitional K kid next year and was wondering if there was any new step taken towards creating that program and where? My other kids were enrolled at Clarendon and this next year was my last chance to get the little one enrolled there too. You can imagine how anxious we are now, as it is really not fair to him. Could the district let parents enroll the regular way, as before, if we sign up for the mandatory 2 year program? And as money is tight, if SFUSD has to pick a few schools to implement that program, it shall go for the larger and most popular ones, giving the kids the opportunity to repeat K but with a different teacher.
Is there anyone I shall try to contact to discuss further steps?
Thanks very much for reading us, concerned parents.
Isabella
Am I reading your June 20th post correctly? Are your really saying that the approximately $12 million in IDEA stimulus money will go to opening 12 new classrooms and ‘uping” the amount of money the district pays for tuition for private schools?
Gee–how do I get in on the private school wagon train? I have a kid who would benefit from a few years at the Armstrong school and the special ed teachers at my SFUSD location don’t seem to know what to do with her!! Why aren’t we training our staff so we don’t need to outsource to private schools! This is completely unfair to the majority of families who can’t afford or wouldn’t know how to advocate to get a specialized education outside the district.
I am shocked if I am reading this correctly! We so need professional development!
When you get elected remeber this.
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress will be judged by what its children are taught.
The National Teachers Bill of Rights
1. Teachers have the right to practice in a manner that fulfills their moral obligations to society, God and to those that they teach.
2. To create classes that are relevant to the children’s future, that fulfills their moral obligations to society. To create classes that return vitality, and self esteem to the Teachers/Euators.
3. Teachers have the right to a work environment that supports and
facilitates ethical practice, in accordance with the Code of Ethics for
Teachers and its interpretive statements.
4. Teachers have the right to freely and openly advocate for themselves and their students, without fear of retribution.
5. Teachers have the right to fair compensation for their work, consistent
with their knowledge, experience, and professional responsibilities.
6. Teachers have the right to a work environment that is safe for themselves and their students.
7. Teachers have the right to negotiate the conditions of their employment, either as individuals or collectively, in all practice settings.
8. .Teachers have the right to practice in environments that allow them to act in accordance with professional standards and legally authorized scopes of practice.
Disclaimer: that this is an TBR consensus but “does not necessarily reflect the rights embodied in state and federal law”.
Hi Rachel. Congratulations and welcome to the Board. I sincerely hope you make a difference. All the best to you!
Thank you. I am genuinely sorry about the problems your family is having. I think it is always important to be friendly when people take the time to come before the Board to tell us about issues and problems that they are having in the schools.
Best,
Rachel
Rachel.
Last night’s board meeting, I was impressed about your friendly smile, yet was not able to give you any response.
Now, with this website, hopefully, we can communicate more effectively.
I’d like to echo rob sturm’s sentiments. Only 7 out of the 15 candidates had websites, and 6 of them merely felt like web-based versions of campaign flyers. This is the only one that actually has a blog with comments enabled; not only does this show your passion for your field, but it’s also a great way to promote transparency in the system. To that end, I hope that once you’re elected you’ll continue to blog about the issues that you care about so that those of us outside the system have a low-barrier way to learn more about them and participate.
Hi Rachel,
Good Luck, from an Emerge sister, Karen Weinstein
Hi Rachel:
I received your flyer with Andrea Peterson’s endorsement Friday. It’s dynamite. So is your website. You go girl!
Well, I got my absentee ballot in the mail and went to do some online research regarding the board of education candidates. There’s not much out there. But I did run into your homepage and it looks like a lot of time and thought went into its preparation. If you care enough to devote that kind of energy toward the election cause, which the other candidates don’t appear to have done, then you’ve got my vote. If nothing else, at least you’ve got good energy and our schools need plenty of that, that’s for sure. Good luck!