San Francisco “Progressives” Promote Gentrification Undermine Democracy | tultican

San Francisco “Progressives” Promote Gentrification Undermine Democracy | tultican

San Francisco “Progressives” Promote Gentrification Undermine Democracy

By Thomas Ultican 4/16/2021

A new political PAC, “Campaign for Better San Francisco Public Schools,” demands that schools be opened for in person classes immediately. They also make two dubious claims, “The election process for choosing the Board of Education is not meeting the needs of San Francisco” and “Many large cities successfully use an appointment process to choose a Board of Education.”

San Francisco Democrats Embrace the Open Schools Now Agenda

Neoliberal forces especially from the Republican Party have been campaigning for schools to be opened immediately for more than a year. Republicans see it as a wedge issue that could help them win back suburban women. Carl Hulse’s New York Times article noted that “congressional Republicans have begun to hammer relentlessly on President Biden, Democrats and teachers’ unions to open schools quickly.”

Surprisingly, San Francisco Democrats have joined with the former president’s open-schools-now campaign. Mayor London Breed has even sued the school board trying to force them to reopen schools. Breed explained,

“Families right now aren’t able to plan for their futures. They can’t decide whether to accept a job offer because they don’t know when they’re going to be able to once again have their kids returned to the classroom. This is paralyzing our city and our residents, and I know that this is a drastic step, but I feel we are out of options at this point.”

Seeyew Mo, a computer scientist who uses his skills to develop political CONTINUE READING: San Francisco “Progressives” Promote Gentrification Undermine Democracy | tultican

Opinion | San Francisco’s School Plan Could Offer Other Districts Hope - The New York Times

Opinion | San Francisco’s School Plan Could Offer Other Districts Hope - The New York Times

San Francisco’s School Plan Could Offer Other Districts Hope

With relatively low virus rates, the city faces a dilemma over a return to in-person instruction.

SAN FRANCISCO — When the coronavirus came here in March, local leaders seemed to do things right. They issued the nation’s first shelter in place order, promptly shut down schools and businesses and made masks routine. It worked: The city has experienced some of the lowest test positivity rates in the country.

Now, city officials are forging ahead with a tentative school reopening plan hatched earlier this month, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. The coronavirus has entered a frightening new stage nationwide — triggering school districts around the country to shutter, including in New York City and the entire state of Kentucky — and putting San Francisco on the horns of a dilemma.

The district’s goal of opening some schools could bring relief to thousands of parents and students, but their plan was written for another reality. Virus rates are suddenly spiking, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Thursday to issue a nighttime curfew affecting nearly every county in the state, though San Francisco is below the threshold. As a result, officials here face pushback from some unions, teachers and parents.

Whether San Francisco ultimately proceeds can be a bellwether: If schools cannot reopen here where virus rates remain comparatively low, what hope do other cities have for a return to CONTINUE READING: Opinion | San Francisco’s School Plan Could Offer Other Districts Hope - The New York Times

How do you measure a child's worth? - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

How do you measure a child's worth? - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

How do you measure a child’s worth?

Over the past few weeks, the community members have been witnessing that conversations about Lowell’s selective admissions policy are once again stirring up anti-Black/Latinx sentiment in online spaces and within the Lowell High School community. #HereWeGoAgain

While folks may choose to believe otherwise, the admissions changes currently being considered were prompted by procedural, rather than political concerns. (Although to be fair, many of the Board’s feelings about this policy have not really been a secret.)

This spring, COVOD-19 rendered standardized testing and regular grading impossible statewide. With tests canceled and students receiving “pass/fail” grades, SFUSD staff will be unable to administer regular policies around Lowell’s selective enrollment process. So, over the past several weeks, the Board has been discussing a proposal by staff to temporarily discontinue the traditional enrollment policy and place Lowell in “the Lottery” with all other comprehensive high schools. (Cue pearl-clutching!)

As expected, anytime the topic of Lowell admissions comes up, so does race. While we have the discussion of what to do during this “not-normal” year in SFUSD, please be aware — What we say has impacts on Black and Brown children going to school at Lowell and across the city.

I am hearing from Black student leaders and Black alumni of Lowell that many of the comments folks have been making are toxic and hurtful. (Read their letter to the Board.) As these conversations reverberate across parent email groups and in the media, many of the things folks are saying are also creating secondary trauma for Black and Brown children, parents, and educators across our city who have been, or currently are, targets of racial microaggressions and outright aggression in our educational systems. This is true for charters, and private school settings as well.

Recently we saw this expressed in Board meetings when parents shouted down a student representative to the Board and targeted her and her colleague (a Latina) on Twitter, saying they were not valid representatives of their peers. Just recently my colleague Commissioner Gabriela Lopez, and I CONTINUE READING: How do you measure a child's worth? - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

We have to do what’s right—when it’s right! - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

We have to do what’s right—when it’s right! - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

We have to do what’s right—when it’s right!

A parent speaks on reopening schools

Families right now are struggling to balance working from home, homeschooling their children during crisis distance learning, and the demands of parenting during shelter-in-place. Latoya Pitcher is one such parent.

This past Tuesday, at the October 20, 2020 Regular Board Meeting, SFUSD staff presented progress on school reopening plans. The Board Meeting had a packed agenda with many other items to discuss, and families had to wait a long time in order to hear and comment on this part of the agenda.

Superintendent Matthews went over the dashboard and explained the plan (The presentation is linked here). After the plan was presented, many families and educators spoke and shared their concerns for the safe reopening of our schools.

Lately, I’ve been hearing the refrain that equity work should be reprioritized in favor of reopening schools. The very idea of this is troubling to me. One of the reasons the Board has continued its commitment to this work is because we know it is integral to educating our kids. When folks say antiracist teaching is “extra”, or that taking the time to plan WITH Black families, instead of FOR them, CONTINUE READING: We have to do what’s right—when it’s right! - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

School assignment system set for major overhaul – The San Francisco Examiner

School assignment system set for major overhaul – The San Francisco Examiner

School assignment system set for major overhaul

SFUSD board weighing proposal that would limit choices, offer increased predictability

School board members on Tuesday will discuss a long-awaited proposal to overhaul the notoriously complicated student assignment system.

The San Francisco Unified School District has been working since 2018 to develop an alternative system that increases diversity in elementary schools while offering families predictability on which school they will attend within a reasonable distance from their homes.

The proposal set to be presented to the board Tuesday would end a decade-old lottery system that lets families choose from more than 100 schools across The City and instead limit their choices to eight to 10 sites.

Elementary school students would be assigned to sites within a certain zone, which have yet to be determined, which will provide access to language and special education programs.

Assignments would first prioritize students who have older siblings at the same school or live in federal public housing or historically underserved areas, or attended a pre-kindergarten program at the same school. The student’s attendance and test score areas, which are currently factored into the assignment process, would no longer be priority considerations.

“Ultimately we hope this policy will lead to integrated schools and classrooms, offer families of elementary school students greater predictability in where their CONTINUE READING: School assignment system set for major overhaul – The San Francisco Examiner

What we should be fighting for—Letter from a Lowell (and Mission) High School parent - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

What we should be fighting for—Letter from a Lowell (and Mission) High School parent - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

What we should be fighting for—Letter from a Lowell (and Mission) High School parent

As you may have heard, the SFUSD Board of Education is considering a change to Lowell’s regular enrollment policy due to COVID and a lack of grades and test scores. We are doing this with the understanding that it’s much easier for all concerned to allow students to apply using the regular enrollment process for one year rather than try to figure out an alternate method of conducting an already questionable enrollment system during a pandemic, staff is recommending this policy shift as a temporary solution which will allow students grace as we all navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis distance learning.

I think my colleagues on the Board would likely agree, we would much rather focus our meeting time discussing reopening schools and improving distance learning, and supporting families during a pandemic. That said, it is enrollment season, so the issue must be addressed.

If you’ve been following me on FaceBook (or Twitter) you will note that most of my posts have not been focused on the actual enrollment policy. Rather, they’ve been focused on the tone of discussion and underlying assumptions around this topic. (I’ve reposted a call to action here.)

Recently, an SFUSD parent educator reached out to share some thoughts on the controversy. With his permission, I am sharing his thoughts below.

What we should be fighting for.

by Matt McDonnell, SFUSD parent and educator

“I have two children attending public high schools in San Francisco: one is at Mission (where I have been part of the faculty for over two decades), the other is at Lowell.

I have long found two things about Lowell to be problematic. The first is that admissions decisions are made in a way that consistently produces CONTINUE READING: What we should be fighting for—Letter from a Lowell (and Mission) High School parent - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM