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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Struggling SF schools ousting half their teachers

Struggling SF schools ousting half their teachers

Struggling SF schools ousting half their teachers

Maribel Duran-Mejia, whose son is a fourth-grader at Bryant Elementary, speaks to school officials about the pending loss of half of the faculty at a parents meeting on Wednesday.

Three San Francisco schools have begun the unsavory task of replacing half their teachers to fulfill a bargain that got them $5 million each in federal grants aimed at boosting test scores.

Bryant Elementary, Carver Elementary and Everett Middle are among 10 San Francisco schools that landed on the state's list of the 188 lowest-performing schools and are now required to take drastic steps to turn themselves around.

All told, the three schools must replace 26 teachers. Those teachers will get first choice to occupy vacancies left by retiring teachers at other schools. Those who transfer will remain at their current jobs through this school year.

A fourth school, John Muir Elementary, was also required to swap out half its staff, which it accomplished through attrition before this school year began.

Seven other San Francisco schools on the list are also making drastic changes, following one of four reform options under the federal program that allows schools to choose to



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/13/MNKS1H7V1U.DTL#ixzz1BEyIAzc6