Warren Hellman and Sandra Hernández welcome Carlos Garcia

Frankly, I missed this op-ed piece by Warren Hellman and Sandra Hernández of the San Francisco Education Fund when it ran in the June 15th Chronicle, but the PEN news blast included it in a recent news blast email. Check it out:

New superintendent a catalyst for change

[...]The school district, along with its philanthropic and community partners, began market research last fall to determine what it would take to bring families and students back into its schools. In this evidenced-based study, the school district, the San Francisco Education Fund, Parents for Public Schools and Parent Advisory Council held nearly 90 meetings reaching out to more than 900 parents, youth and community members throughout San Francisco.

These conversations involved concerned members of the community representing the socioeconomic and geographic breadth of our city. What did we learn? San Franciscans are telling us that their top issues are quality schools, safe schools, and a family friendly enrollment process. Pretty simple.

And although the fix will not be as simple as identifying the needs, it can be done. The new superintendent will inherit declining enrollment, school closures, school assignment battles and a critical opportunity to begin a productive relationship with the teachers union. What will we do as a community to help ensure success for our vitally important public schools?

We must continue our effective public-private partnership and our commitment to our shared vision. Together, we can create the first-class schools our community needs and wants. Based on the research, we now know everyone wants quality schools in every neighborhood. Quality means much more than test scores; it means parents and students want the fundamentals of strong math, reading and writing. Non-negotiable items also include science, art, music, technology and physical education. City residents want safe schools, safe neighborhoods and a strong community. Our diverse community of school families value both strong academics and proximity to their neighborhoods. Finally, parents want school leaders to implement a proactive, clear, long-range plan to make all of this happen.[...]

The authors reference the recent Community Engagement Report that was a collaboration between SFUSD's Parent Advisory Council to the Board of Ed, Parents for Public Schools SF, SF Ed Fund, and SFUSD. The report can be found here in English, Spanish, and Chinese. If you want more, you can find the detailed report along with various appendices here. It was a very interesting process and a valuable report.