CIF Sports Website

We mentioned the SF school sports website back in September. Now it's just time to remind everyone about it, and to add it to our blog roll

CIF San Francisco Section

Home of the Academic Athletic Association

It is a great resource for anyone interested in participating or following SFUSD school team sports.

SF School Photoblogging: Everett MS

Next up in our photoblogging series is Everett Middle School. Once again, this modest photo does not do justice to the beautiful entryway with its grand columns and arches with the striking tile work.

Open letter to Gordon Getty

SfSchools member "khandrola" penned the following open letter, which I'm happy to post here on the blog:

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After reading about the amounts of money Gordon Getty spends on just his birthday party

"According to P.J Corkery, the recent birthday party for Gordon Getty included 500 pounds of beef at $290 per pound. That’s $145,000 for only one item in the lavish feast, an amount equal to the combined average incomes of over six Tenderloin families with kids."

I am moved to pose a challenge to him:

As a patron ( and sometime participant) of the arts, why are you not leading the drive to support and grow the next generation of artists here in San Francisco? By the next generation I mean school children. The school of the arts has been languishing for almost 10 years now, trying to raise the money to renovate the building on Van Ness so they will have a permanent home. San Francisco, with it's world class music, dance, and theater institutions and proximity to Los Angeles, has the opportunity to become the west coast equivalent of the famous New York School of the Performing Arts

Anyone who follows the fortunes of SFUSD in the press and funding problems from Sacramento, knows that the original plan of this school cannot be funded with district funds anymore. Private leadership and giving on a large scale will be necessary to renovate this building so SOTA and the Academy can move. The site they occupy right now is constantly under siege as other groups in the system jealously eye it for their own programs.

By having private money used in the design of building that will support the arts with visual art and dance studios, orchestra rooms, video arts studios, small and large theaters, etc. there will be no doubt that such a place can secure the future of San Francisco as a magnet for the visual and performing arts.

So I ask you, Please give up your next birthday party and use those funds to get this started. Better still, ask a few of your similarly financially endowed friends to do the same. Show your dedication to the future of your home by enabling those young artists who come after you to have a incubator of their own.

From the 12/23 PEN Weekly NewsBlast

I recently subscribed to the Public Education Network's weekly newsblast emails. Kinda old school news-blog-style email blast that I mostly find overwhelming. They get sorted into a pile of other list mail. Each email is long and packed with pages of info -- info that I mostly don't read. I would read it as a blog, or be more willing to at least browse the info as a blog, but not as email. Still, I'll continue to subscribe. When I do read it, it usually links to some tasty articles. Here's what caught my eye in this week's episode:

Congress Utterly Fails In Its Commitment To America's Schoolchildren

This week, in a flurry of end-of-session votes, the U.S. House and Senate approved several education-related matters, including a 1 percent cut in funds for public education, and the creation of a private school voucher program within a hurricane relief plan. These measures, instead of being voted on openly and honestly on their own merits, were attached to the Defense Appropriations bill.

Funding Gap 2005: Most States Shortchange Poor & Minority Students

Most states significantly shortchange poor and minority children when it comes to funding the schools they attend, according to a new report by the Education Trust. Nationally, we spend about $900 less per pupil on students educated in our nation’s poorest school districts than those educated in the wealthiest.

The good news is that California does relatively well at equalizing spending among districts. Now, if we can get more of the equitably distributed money to the school sites... Instead, the difference between the $5K/student ADA funding and the $10k/student state budget spending remains a pretty opaque questionmark.

Do Brighter Walls Make Brighter Students?

A project to spruce up dreary hallways at inner city schools is based on a simple idea: Bright walls make for brighter students. Publicolor, a program in which students are permitted to paint over the industrial shades of their schools' interiors, is credited by school officials with lowering dropout rates, decreasing discipline problems and increasing attendance.

Someone alert Caroline! I believe we have somone touting an education miracle here.

Teachers Rate Favorite Holiday Gifts

...Keep gifts simple and heartfelt. Teachers ranked thank-you cards from parents as their favorite holiday teacher gift idea, and edible treats as their least favorite... Classroom materials, such as posters for the walls, stickers, high-quality chalkboard chalk, organizational supplies, stamps and ink pads, framed pictures and books are sure to be a hit. And, you can't go wrong with a gift certificate. Gift certificates to stores like Barnes & Noble, Office Depot or Starbucks may not be the most creative gifts, but they are useful and practical. Other gift certificate ideas include gift certificates to local restaurants, gas stations, malls or teacher stores.

Hokum for the yokels

I'm excerpting some great comments that the Daily Howler blog made on the Friday before this joyous if storm-tossed holiday weekend. I'm not stopping to learn what the protocol is, so I hope I'm clear in my attribution &mdash this is from the Daily Howler, not from me.

DEFENDING THE YOKELS: This morning, Paul Krugman touches on an important point. ... Discussing the Bush Admin’s “hunger for tax cuts,” he notes the way the pseudo-con empire is constantly misleading voters:

KRUGMAN (12/23/05): Since the 1970's, conservatives have used two theories to justify cutting taxes. One theory, supply-side economics, has always been hokum for the yokels. Conservative insiders adopted the supply-siders as mascots because they were useful to the cause, but never took them seriously.

(Daily Howler again:) Supply-side has always been “hokum for the yokels,” Krugman says. ... If we lower the tax rates, revenues rise! No serious person could believe such a thing as a matter of general policy.

... But the claim has lived as a staple of talk-show discourse over the course of the past several decades. How in the world could that happen?

It has happened because we live at a time when no one really tries to police our utterly laughable public discourse. In part, the eternal life of such silly spin is the fault of Dem pols, of course. But it’s also the fault of a lazy press corps — a press corps which has long since abandoned the attempt to police the American discourse. Ludicrous spin-points can live for decades without comment or challenge from mainstream pundits. Sean Hannity is free to throw hokum to yokels because our press corps lets him.

In the new year, we expect to spend our time on a new subject—the education of low-income kids, kids from low-literacy backgrounds. They’re the kids described in this searing passage from that recent CAP report, the passage we’ve quoted so often:

CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Young low-income and minority children are more likely to start school without having gained important school readiness skills, such as recognizing letters and counting. ... By the fourth grade, low-income students read about three grade levels behind non-poor students.

... (Daily Howler again:) But as we move to this important new topic, we’d like to say a word in defense of the yokels Krugman mentions. Yokels go off to work every day, and then they have to take care of their children. They don’t have time to analyze every nuance of every policy proclamation. When they hear pure bullroar again and again — and when they never hear it challenged — then only naturally, they’ll start to think that the hokum is well-founded.

I appreciate this observation in connection with my small attempts to truth-squad the "hokum for the yokels" (HFTY) constantly streaming at us from the richly funded charter/voucher/privatization think-tank forces. I believe that the truth will eventually become evident, as occurred with for-profit Edison Schools, now-discredited beneficiary of a massive HFTY campaign.

Meanwhile, let's stay tuned as the Daily Howler — a former teacher in inner-city Baltimore schools — exposes the HFTY on educating disadvantaged children and provides some views on effective solutions.

Happy holidays to all!

— Caroline

Closures/mergers Update

The following update comes from BOE president Eric Mar

I think it is clear that many parents were not notified last week about the closure/merger/move process. Staff are sending out another piece this week - a letter to families in all of the affected schools which will include the flyer with time for the meetings now extended to 90 minutes instead of one hour. I will continue to advocate for more time at the meetings but i do feel that staff are trying to listen to community input.

Staff say that affected families will also receive an autodialer call on December 28th and a reminder the week of January 3rd to alert them of the community meeting date for their school.

Everything will be posted on the SFUSD website and the hotline will be re-activated to provide information about school closure meetings.

Staff have also scheduled with School Site Council members and other school community members individually and / or with potential merger partners to discuss program mergers and school specific questions as well as to receive input that may inform Board Decisions. These meetings will all take place before the Special Board Meeting on January 12th.

According to an email from Nancy Waymack, staff have also met with each member of the Board of Supervisors or their staff twice to discuss school closures, mergers, and relocations.

RE placement counseling - EPC is developing a timeline and related plans to accommodate families whose current enrollment or enrollment requests may be affected by the January 12th decisions.

This is very difficult, especially right before the holidays, but I hope this info is helpful.
Eric

The website has been updated already with links to the following documents:

• School and Program Consolidations presentation(PPT)
• School Mergers presentation(PDF)
• School Enrollment and Capacity Data(PDF)
• School consolidations presentation(PDF)

Free-market principles and snake oil

The always eye-opening Teaching in the 408 blog has an insightful post on the effects of much-touted competition on education.

Competition as the means to improve all our lives, bring everyone and everything to increasingly higher standards. Then why slums? Why 30,000 lay-offs at GM? Do we really believe that when ___ charter school opens next door, actively recruiting the best-prepared students and most-involved families this will increase the educational opportunities for those who remain at their public school of necessity? That the mere presence of that school and all like it will create a frenzy of improvement and reform? No. It will create another gap, another division, another way to define winners and losers. Why is this okay to so many people? Why is it okay to invest all this time, money, thought, and effort to bring intellectually indefensible free-market principles into a public space that is already limping along, badly in need of solutions, and thereby inherently vulnerable to this snake-oil?

— Caroline

Community Meetings on School Closures, Mergers and Relocations

Lisa Schiff of PPS posted this notice for a series of meetings about pending school closures. Thanks Lisa!

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San Francisco Unified School District Community Meetings on School Closures, Mergers and Relocations San Francisco Unified School District staff will host four regional community meetings on school closures, mergers and relocations. Refer to the chart below for your school's community meeting time and location.

What will happen at these meetings?

• School district staff will provide information to school communities about the Board of Education's upcoming decisions on school closures, mergers and relocations.
• Community members will share their feedback and concerns with school district staff.

Schools Date and Time Location

Regional Meeting #1

• John Swett Elementary
• Rosa Parks Elementary
• John Muir Elementary
• New Traditions
• Grattan Elementary
• McKinley Elementary

Wednesday, January 4, 2006
7:00PM-8:00PM
Ida B. Wells High School
1099 Hayes Street (between Pierce & Steiner)

Regional Meeting #2

• Cabrillo Elementary
• Japanese Bilingual Bicultural
• Program West
• George Peabody Elementary
• Newcomer High School

Thursday, January 5, 2006
7:00PM-8:00PM
Roosevelt Middle School
460 Arguello Boulevard (between Clement & Geary)

Regional Meeting #3

• Starr King Elementary
• Webster Elementary
• Malcolm X Elementary
• Enola Maxwell Middle School
• International Studies Academy
• Gloria R. Davis Middle
• Willie L. Brown Elementary

Friday, January 6, 2006
7:00PM-8:00PM
Thurgood Marshall High School
45 Conkling Street (off of Silver Ave)

Regional Meeting #4

• Jose Ortega Elementary
• Sheridan Elementary
• Aim High Academy
• Burbank Middle School
• June Jordan School for Equity

Monday, January 9, 2006
7:00PM-8:00PM
Balboa High School
1000 Cayuga Avenue (between Oneida & Seneca)

For more information, contact

San Francisco Unified School District
555 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
www.sfusd.eduwww.sfusd.edu

SF School Photoblogging: Balboa HS

Next up in our photoblogging series is Balboa High School. A few years back the campus was renovated, revealing a proud architectural monument to public schools. One of many in the district that have inspired this series.

School Beat: Of Profits and Schools

Another great School Beat column by Lisa Schiff at Beyond Chron
Of Profits and Schools

Major corporations are raking in money and celebrating their profit margins at the expense of our children. While we are arguing over how many small schools we can afford and demonstrating over and over again the successes of our school communities despite the major hurdles in front of us, the proverbial fox is still feasting in the hen house.

School Board Notes 12.13.05

School Board Notes 12.13.05
By Nicole Achs Freeling
GreatSchools.Net Correspondent

After hearing emotional public testimony for close to three hours Tuesday night, board members gave few signs of which, if any, of 18 schools up for possible closure, consolidation or relocation it would consider removing from the list.

A resolution on Tuesday's agenda which would merge five schools, close at least seven and move six ignited an emotional public outcry, with hundreds of stakeholders thronging the district, many of them children carrying handmade signs, and 152 people signing up to speak. The resolution was intended largely for the purpose of discussion, according to Board President Eric Mar. It contained several mutually exclusive items which will have to be resolved before action can be taken.

The board will not make a decision on school closings until its January 10 meeting, three days before Round I enrollment applications are due. After listening to public testimony the board discussed a number of concerns about the list -- including its disproportionate impact on African-American students -- and even tossed out new suggestions, like not opening the planned Diane Feinstein Elementary or giving displaced students first dibs on enrollment at that school. While a few board members voiced opinions about schools they did not want to see closed, the board decided not to take anything off the table until the January vote.

Board members expressed agreement that Jose Ortega and Sheridan should be considered for merger rather than closure, as they are the only two elementary schools in District 11, which has one of the city's fastest-growing public school populations. Commissioner Mark Sanchez suggested closing Enola Maxwell rather than merging it with ISA. Eddie Chin said he would move at the next meeting to take Peabody off the list. Peabody did not meet the district's initial criteria for closure, but was added in an effort to minimize the impact of closures solely on the east and south side of town. Norman Yee expressed some reservation to merging New Traditions with Grattan Elementary.

Between now and January 10, the district will hold a number of community meetings at affected sites to gather more public input. At the suggestion of Commissioner Mark Sanchez, it is considering reserving the January 10 meeting entirely for the school closure discussion, with a separate meeting to be announced for other district business. The district may also hold the January 10 meeting at a larger venue like Everett Middle School so it can better accommodate the crowd.

Most who tried to attend Tuesday's meeting where turned away from the standing-room-only chamber and listened to the meeting outside on loudspeaker. They filled the chairs lined up several rows deep in the vestibule and spilled onto the sidewalk outside. School children shifted restlessly in their seats, waiting long stretches for their school's turn to address the board.

Large contingencies appreared from Jose Ortega, Sheridan, Malcolm X, McKinley, JBBP, ISA, New Traditions, John Swett and Daniel Webster to entreat the district to save their school. Many families from Newcomer also came, to object to its proposed relocation from Pacific Heights to 22nd Street in the Mission District. One parent said the move would put the school smack in an area of turf battle between the Sureno and Norteno street gangs. Families from Edison Charter School, which is the current tenant at the 22nd Street sight, also appeared to protest the move.

Those affected by mergers seemed as upset as those with schools proposed for closure. Many expressed concern that being merged into another school would dilute the school's character or endanger special programs. This was of particular concern for families at New Tradition and John Swett, which have alternative, arts-based curriculums, and at JBBP, ISA and Daniel Webster, which have language and cultural immersion programs.

In other business, the board voted unanimously to approve the creation of a public advisory committee to assist in the search for a new superintendent. It also voted to authorize the district to enter into a new three year contract with SEIU, Local 790, based on the tentative agreement it reached with the union last month. It will conduct a public hearing on the agreement at an upcoming meeting.

Email comments to sfschoolboardnotes@greatschools.net

SFOP parents take wrong tack on small schools

I was sorry to see that the parents who published an op-ed in today's Chronicle supporting small schools used such a simplistic attack mode. That kind of ignorant bashing harms our schools and our kids by costing them public support. And the unsupported miracle claims are not helpful. The notion that there's an instant magi-cure out there being suppressed by the forces of evil does nothing to address real issues.

Small schools are a better setting for many kids, and we definitely need to support them. June Jordan, the Academy of Arts & Sciences and Aim High are all promising options for kids who need that kind of setting.

But small schools are not a miracle cure for all the challenges of public education. The claims that small schools inherently achieve wondrous results (attributed to unnamed "numerous studies") are magical thinking, which is not just unproductive but harmful in the quest for genuine ways to improve public education.

Meanwhile, the negative attack-attack-attack strategy of this piece will simply damage our schools and thus our kids by costing even more public support for public education.

"San Francisco is pushing its small schools into a corner: housing them in parking-lot temporary classrooms, restricting curriculum design and squeezing their budgets" ... "families are leaving the San Francisco public schools in droves, and the solution is out there, waiting to be made available to all our students"...

Come on. This simplistic attack is harmful and uninformed about the issues our district faces. It's an insult to the many committed people working to resolve the actual problems.

And citing Oakland Unified (which is under state takeover and being run by a state-appointed administrator) as a successful role model? I'm speechless about that one.

My husband has worked at the Chronicle for 29 years, and you'd think I'd know by now, but I am still sometimes shocked at how low their standards are for fact-checking and for requiring that contributers support their claims. The attitude should not be "it's an op-ed, so anything goes." With traditional media under siege by Craiglist and blogs, you'd think they'd try to maintain their standards, but there don't appear to be any in effect here at all.

(The San Francisco Organizing Project is an impressive initiative, too, but 40,000 members? Seems a bit unlikely.)

And by the way, the Gates Foundation halted its funding to small schools in many districts nationwide. The reason was essentially that the foundation's well-meaning but clueless decisionmakers expected insta-miracles and — surprise! — didn't see them. That's because insta-miracles don't happen. Also, no statistics coming from Leadership High School about dropout figures or anything else are credible. That school is in crisis and chaos, and any information it puts out is an act of desperation.

— Caroline

Money for schools -- but only some

I'm trying to determine what the NewSchools Venture Fund is and how it works, and I thought maybe sharper minds than mine could figure it out.

NewSchools Venture Fund™ is a venture philanthropy firm working to transform public education through powerful ideas and passionate entrepreneurs so that all children — especially those underserved — have the opportunity to succeed in the 21st century.

This organization funds several charter school chains, and also Teach for America and our own GreatSchools.net.

It's sort of a venture capital firm, and its top honchos are Silicon Valley venture capitalists. But it raises money from philanthropies, not investors, so presumably doesn't exist to make a monetary return on investment. Donors include the Gateses and our old friend Eli "rhymes with toad" Broad. Reid Hastings of charter, state BOE and Netflix fame is on its board too.

Its "team" includes two Edison Schools insiders who were running our own Edison Charter Academy during its epic battle with SFUSD in 2001, Vincent Matthews (then ECA principal) and Ana Tilton (who was then some kind of Edison regional VP and managed the press, and pretty deftly too).

It this just a middleman that funnels donors' money to beneficiaries?

This question came up because I got an e-mail from a public-school advocate in Boston. She said the Massachusetts State BOE chair is advocating scrapping a statewide project to improve troubled schools there and instead calling for turning them all over to private operators. This guy, Jim Peyser, is also a "partner" in the NewSchools "venture team." I guess NewSchools gives the money to those same private operators he wants to turn Massachusetts schools over to. It's a curious setup.

— Caroline

Wikipedia - caveat lector

One of my all-time favorite web sites is Wikipedia. I use it all the time and link to it frequently. I also tell my kids to use it for their school work when they are researching... more or less anything. It almost always gets them started on a good track. If you don't already know about it, you should, and you should make sure your kids do too.

But it has limitations that are important to know about. These problems made a widely noticed splash this week when an associate of RFK sued the site for publishing false information about him. This problem is far from new and far from secret. It is the strength of the wiki concept and its weakness that anyone can contribute anything to the site. You could go there right now and alter Einstein's bio to say he played for the Boston Celtics, or was the pope in 1247. No problem. Of course, anyone can come right behind you and erase your bogus contributions. Naturally, there is a page devoted to Wikipedia vandalism that notes that most "breaches" are corrected within five minutes! That same page offers the important advice that users should always examine the page history to get a sense of the relative stability of the information on the page. For instance, George Bush's page was edited over 120 times on December 8th. A clear sign that something is amiss, or at least unsettled. Another protection comes form learning how to cite Wikipedia articles.

The open, transparent, self-policing, self-correcting wiki mechanism works well almost all of the time. Especially for content that is relatively well known and not controversial — the kind of information grade school students need — the risks are minimal. Still, the risk of disinformation is real. So this week changes were made to the editorial policy. But the changes are pretty minimal. You or I cannot go and add new pages to the site unless we register. But we can still deface Einstein's page anytime we want. So I'm not so sure the new changes are all that substantive. But I'm not complaining. There is no need to fix something that really is not broke.

As with any information gleaned from the web, caveat lector. Be sure to find multiple trusted sources.

School Beat: The Continuing School Closure Saga

Another excellent School Beat article from Lisa Schiff: The Continuing School Closure Saga

San Francisco's public school community has been focused this week on the disturbing task of closing more schools. There is no way to make this easy. We are simply in a miserable position.
Palatable or not, there are two realities that must be faced—declining enrollment and revenue shortfalls. Enrollment and finances can be looked at in the context of a moment in time, as we are doing now, but they can also be assessed as part of a continuum—where have been and where are we going?

Check it out...

The states of scientific education

Ars Technica, hardly a frequent source of ed news, takes note of this recent survey, The states of scientific education:

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a privately endowed group, has gone through and evaluated the science education standards for all 49 states that have them (what's up with that, Iowa?). It's an effort they make periodically, which allows for both an overall 'state of the states' to be made, and for them to track changes.

The figure is ripped from the report. The California summary is effusive in its praise:

On science processes, and on history and philosophy of science, California's standards vary delightfully from the norm: they are brief, there is no bombast, and they are realistic about the capacities of children for making sense of abstract ideas. Process is stressed where it should be, and in plain and appropriate language.

Nice to read about California schools getting something right for a change. The biggest question I have is, does anyone pay attention? How many teachers actually refer to and make use of these standards? The other question is, if these are the California standards, and they weigh in at 320 pages, how bloated are the standards that aren't brief? Hard to imagine...

School Board Notes 12.06.05

School Board Notes 12.06.05
By Nicole Achs Freeling
GreatSchools.net Correspondent

• Treasure Island to close in January
• Staff suggests mergers for several schools on list
• Financial benefit of closures considered

In two back-to-back meetings packed with concerned parents and community members, the BOE voted to close Treasure Island Elementary effective this January and reviewed presentations made by staff for a raft of further closures and consolidations.

Unlike the presentation given to the board a month ago, which identified schools for closure based solely on two criteria -- absolute enrollment and enrollment versus capacity -- this presentation analyzed the original 19 closure candidates based on host of additional criteria such as ten-year enrollment trends, total requests for enrollment, and API scores and improvement. It also looked at financial savings from closing individual sites.

Staff made recommendations for several mergers which could be an alternative to closure for up to 11 of the schools on the list. Meanwhile, speakers stood in line for a over an hour to address the board, many making impassioned pleas for the district to keep their children's schools open.

Treasure Island school to close in January

The board voted unanimously to close Treasure Island Elementary by January 16 of next year, just over a month from now. While the district had been considering closing the school for financial reasons, the move for sudden closure had to do with concerns about safety at the school, according to Commissioner Sara Lipson. "Treasure Island has a significant number of students that need extra help and support and we were not able to provide that at that location," Lipson said after the meeting. Treasure Island includes a lot of facilities for at-risk youth as well as homeless and formerly homeless youth. Once students from other parts of town were no longer being bused to Treasure Island, "it became a very segmented school," Lipson said.

With a total enrollment of 88, the school is operating at only 15 percent of capacity.

Students at Treasure Island Elementary will be assigned to one of the following schools, to which there will be school bus transportation provided:

• Alvarado
• John Muir
• Leonard Flynn
• Redding
• Spring Valley
• Starr King
• Tenderloin

Should families be unhappy with their reassignment, they will be provided a list of other schools with openings and a transition counselor will work with them to find another placement.

Treasure Island parents expressed two chief concerns: that they were unfamiliar with the schools to which their children might be reassigned and that they were worried about the safety of young children being bused so far from home. "There is nothing worse at 6:30 in the morning when its dark and raining than driving a school bus across the (Bay) Bridge," Brock Estess, vice chair of the bus drivers union, told the board. "The wind will literally pick it up and move you across the lanes. We need a bus monitor to deal with the kids so the driver can deal with the driving." According to the district's transportation director, the district has not had bus monitors since 1972.

Staff suggests mergers for several schools on the list

With the goal of merging schools when possible rather than closing them, district staff suggested eight schools which could be moved or absorbed into similar programs at a nearby location. The savings from the mergers was estimated at about $2.2 million.

Suggested mergers were:

• Daniel Webster and Starr King at Starr King site
• John Swett and John Muir at John Muir site
• ISA and Enola Maxwell at Enola Maxwell site
• Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program West at either Cabrillo or Rosa Parks
• New Traditions and Grattan at Grattan Site
• Willie L. Brown and Gloria R. Davis at Gloria R. Davis site

Suggested relocations were:

• Newcomer School, Everett and Francisco newcomer programs, or only Newcomer School, relocated to current Edison charter school site.
• Co-location of Aim High and June Jordan at Luther Burbank Middle School, with closing of Luther Burbank

Commissioner Mark Sanchez had asked staff earlier to evaluate how much the district could save by relocating SOTA. Although staff made no recommendations as to alternate locations for the school, it did present figures showing that leasing the current McAteer site could generate $1.7 to $2.5 million a year for the district and $16.8 to $25.1 million over ten years.

The staff also presented the board with a list which assigned points based on the degree to which a school met criteria for closure. Those schools with the lowest points are those which meet the most criteria for closure.

The point ratings were as follows:

Enola Maxwell	17
Treasure Island	22
Gloria R. Davis	22
Willie L. Brown	31
Malcolm X	37
Rosa Parks	48
Luther Burbank	53
John Swett	56
Chinese Education Center	62
Newcomer	64
John Muir	67
Aim High	72
Starr King	75
Jose Ortega	72
Cabrillo	90
New Traditions	91
Sheridan	102
June Jordan	102
McKinley	122

However, board members expressed considerations not factored into the point system, such as the fact that the schools on the list seemed to be predominantly east-side schools with large African-American populations. Board members have said they don't want any single community, district or racial group to be disproportionately affected by the closings.

To that end, Lipson asked that George Peabody Elementary, which is not currently on the list, be considered for closure. It is a west side school with lower enrollment than surrounding schools.

Financial benefit of closures considered

Enrollment has slid steadily for the last five years, but the district only began closing schools last year. "It's going to be real tough to fix all this in one year," said Commissioner Norman Yee, who chaired the meeting.

Just how many schools will the district need to close? That is a difficult number to know, board members have said, since the district will not have its final budget numbers for next year until January, by which point closure decisions will have already been made. However, because the district receives per-student funds for next year based on its enrollment this year, it does know it will get $5 million less in the 06/07 budget.

Last year's closings of five schools resulting in a savings of $1.5 million in unrestricted general funds, said Commissioner Jill Wynns. "All the potential mergers and all the potential closures and all the potential savings from moving schools together amounts to about $4.6 million. That doesn't mean we want to adopt all these things, but that gives you some idea of what we're looking at here."

Sanchez privately said the district could be looking at double digits in terms of closure. "I'm prepared to close 10 to 15 of them. I think we have to face the facts."

Were the board to adopt all the mergers, moves and closures suggested by staff, the total savings, including unrestricted funds, STAR funds and site-based restricted general funds, would be $8.4 million, according to district estimates.

Email comments to sfschoolnotes@greatschools.net

Charters mean school closures

This is the speech I wrote to deliver at the Dec. 6 SFUSD Board of Ed Committee of the Whole meeting on school mergers and closures, though I gave a slightly truncated version due to a 60-second limit.

Mark Sanchez heckled me audibly as I spoke, which was interesting. He teaches in a Redwood City charter school that the teachers' union local there views as a threat.

I'm Caroline Grannan, a parent at Aptos Middle School and School of the Arts.

I'm speaking as a parent volunteer to remind you that charter schools are a damaging factor helping force our district to close schools. When we approve a charter like Metro Arts & Tech, we have to look at closing an existing school like June Jordan or ISA.

Charter schools' record in our district is mediocre, despite the fact that the law has required school districts to allocate more money per student to charters than other schools get. All students in non-charter schools sacrifice to subsidize the charter schools that threaten other schools' survival.

Charter schools are a pet project of the political right — a potent weapon in the arsenal aimed at weakening and ultimately destroying public education. Busting teachers' unions is one of their main goals.

There are some quality charter schools, but they unwittingly add momentum to a movement that aims to harm public education.

More charter proposals will be brought before you to approve or deny. Every one of them threatens the survival and well-being of our existing schools, without providing benefits that justify harming our district and our students.

Any yes vote on any charter proposal is a nail in the coffin of an existing school. For the sake of our students, please vote no on all proposed charter schools.

— Caroline

Potential SFUSD school mergers

Here's a quick list of the possible mergers announced by SFUSD staff at the Dec. 6 Committee of the Whole meeting, pending discussion, community meetings etc. This is rough, based on my notes, and not fact-checked.

Daniel Webster and Starr King at the Starr King site.
John Swett and John Muir at the John Muir site.
International Studies Academy and Enola Maxwell into a 6-12 achool at
the Enola Maxwell site.

EITHER:
JBBP West and Cabrillo at the Cabrillo site,
OR
JBBP West and Rosa Parks at the Rosa Parks site.

New Traditions and Grattan at the Grattan site.

EITHER:
Newcomer and the newcomer programs at Everett and Francisco to the
current Edison Charter Academy site;
OR
only Newcomer to the Edison Charter Academy site.

(An Edison move to the De Avila site is under discussion; Edison is a
state-run charter, not SFUSD, but is a rent-paying tenant in SFUSD.)

A proposed move but not a merger:
Aim High and June Jordan to the Luther Burbank site, where they would
keep their names and be separate schools; and close Luther Burbank.

Willie L. Brown and Gloria R. Davis at the Gloria R. Davis site.

Remaining possible closures under consideration after the mergers:

Malcolm X
Jose Ortega
Sheridan
McKinley

Also, moving Leadership High School to the Treasure Island site is
under discussion.

— Caroline

School Board Notes 12.05.05

School Board Notes 12.05.05
By Nicole Achs Freeling
GreatSchools.net Correspondent

• Possible school closures assessed
• Committee presents new sunshine policy
• Community to aid in superintendent selection
• State of District's budget reviewed

Possible school closures assessed

The district's Buildings and Grounds Committee recommended removing six schools from the district's possible closure list and investigating whether two schools not on the list -- School of the Arts and George Peabody Elementary -- should be moved or consolidated into other facilities.

Commissioners Mark Sanchez and Eric Mar identified six schools they said they did not believe should be considered for closure: Aim High, June Jordan, Newcomer, Chinese Education Center, New Traditions and John Swett. The commissioners said McKinley should probably be excluded as well. Its large population of special education students affects the school's enrollment to capacity ratio, as special ed classes are limited to 14 students.

The commissioners suggested Gloria R. Davis and Willie L. Brown, Jr. be merged into one school as they are both Dream Schools and "share the same mission," said Sanchez. The district might also save money by moving School of the Arts (SOTA) and Peabody to different locations. "SOTA is the most valuable, large piece of property we own," Sanchez said. "We would be remiss not to look at it."

The commissioners recommended Aim High and June Jordan be removed from consideration because these schools deliberately cap enrollment in an effort to give more personalized instruction. The schools receive many more requests for enrollment than they are able to accept. Enrollment trends at Newcomer and Chinese Education Center suggest these schools will reach or exceed the 75 percent capacity requirement by the end of the year. New Traditions and John Swett Elementary Schools would be above 75 percent capacity if the bungalows, portable facilities put on the property at one time for extra space, were not counted as part of the facility. The district is trying to phase out use of bungalows.

The full board will hold a discussion on school closures at a Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, December 6, at 7 p.m.

Committee presents new sunshine policy

The Budget and Business Services Committee presented recommendations for an open government policy designed to give the public better notice and access to district meetings. The recommendations were estimated to cost the district $41,200, a fact which prompted Commissioner Jill Wynns to vote against it. Commissioners Sara Lipson and Norman Yee voted to forward the resolution to the full board, saying the measures were worth the cost.

The policy would allow members of the public to speak at meetings by submitting speaker cards at the meeting, rather than having to call in advance. It would require the superintendent and board president to maintain calendars, available to the public, with the time, place and subject matter of meetings specific to district business. It would also require the board give 72 hours notice for Special Meetings (Emergency Meetings could be called in 24 hours) and, while not legally binding, would make it Board policy to give more than 24 hours notice for closed session meetings.

The proposal will now go to the BOE for review.

Community to aid in superintendent selection

The Committee adopted a resolution to create a community advisory council to help in selecting a new superintendent. The resolution outlines 11 organizations to be represented on the council, all of which have some official role in the district. These organizations include the Parent Advisory Council, PTA, several teachers associations and union representatives. The CAC would help develop the criteria for selecting the new superintendent. It also could be included in interviews and in the final selection process. Dennis Kelly, president of the teacher's union, questioned whether the committee would have a substantive role. "From the way this reads, it looks like window dressing," he said. Wynns responded: "We're committed to having the public involved. But we don't want to constrain the Board to a process that may or may not be workable."

State of district's budget reviewed

The district's unrestricted fund balance this year is greater than it has been in four years -- but the district is still well below being able to fund the reserves it is supposed to be keeping, according to its unaudited actuals for 05/06. The district's general fund will have a balance of $5.7 million at the end of this year, up from $3.4 million it had at the start of this school year. Projections for next year show a $10.2 million unrestricted fund balance.

However, the district is required to keep certain funds in reserves, an obligation which would put the district at a $9.5 million deficit this year, and a projected $9.3 million deficit next year. These reserves include a 2 percent set-aside for economic uncertainties and a $10.3 million reserve for School of the Arts, for completion of a facility at 135 Fell Street.

SOTA was awarded this money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after the 1989 earthquake, but the funds have gone to cover district budget shortfalls over the years rather than remaining in reserve. In order to reimburse SOTA and stay in the black, staff suggested funding the SOTA reserve with Developer Fees rather than Unrestricted General Funds. "A quick pass of the numbers suggests Developer Fees currently has a pretty substantial balance of uncommitted funds," Chief of Policy and Planning Myong Leigh said. That fund -- which can only be used for facilities construction and improvements -- is at about $8.2 million and collects about $4 million a year, Leigh said.

The return of Photoblogging: McKinley ES

This photo does not do justice to McKinley ES. It really is a very charming campus, another hidden gem in the SFUSD system. This photo does not do it justice, but we want to give them some press during this school shopping season, so we'll go with what we have!

This photoblogging series has suffered a long hiatus, but I'm determined to revive it. You can help by sending me your favorite school pictures, or by posting your shots on Flickr with the appropriate tags and telling me about it by email.

Search sfschools

Want to find an old post on this blog? I've added a search box near the bottom of the right hand sidebar that makes it easy to find old articles. Enjoy.

Cool new google map for CA schools

Check out this site:
School Performance Maps

It is a google map application that displays school API rankings for all California public schools. They show one county at a time, either primary schools or secondary. There are some gaps in their data, but overall it provides a very interesting way to view school API performance geographically. Yes, API data is of limited interest. Yet, viewing it on a map reveals a great deal of interesting and troubling patterns.

I hope to add similar capabilities to our own San Francisco Schools Information Map someday. These maps let you look at other districts in the state.

Very cool.