#DecolonizingThanksgiving – Parenting for Liberation

#DecolonizingThanksgiving – Parenting for Liberation

#DecolonizingThanksgiving

On the heels of Thanksgiving (aka Thanks-taking), decolonizing this holiday means we tell the truth about the violence this country has inflicted towards indigenous peoples, while also standing in solidarity with and honoring the ongoing struggle for native sovereignty. 

As we prepare to gather in safe & virtual ways with family and friends, the conversation may come up about the history of Thanksgiving. As parents for liberation, we want to ensure we tell our little ones the truth about colonialism and other oppressions. We’re revisiting podcast Episode 14 “Colonialism and Other -Isms” featuring Professor Tiffany Lanoix for ways to break down complex topics in age-appropriate ways.

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• ore than talking about the history of Thanksgiving and the violence perpetrated against indigenous folks of this land, we also want to invite you to engage in conversations about the resilience and preserving strength of indigenous folks who fought back and lived! We stand in solidarity with native communities, and learn from their indigenous wisdom and practices that have been sustained for centuries, including their practice of food as medicine. 
  
  We partnered with Move to End Violence for a video series on intergenerational movement building that includes children and families in social justice movements. One of those conversations was with Sarah Curtiss about reclaiming ancestral practices through cooking, growing, and preparing food as part of liberation.
  
  As an accompaniment to the conversation, we invite you to create your own recipe for liberation and share them with us on CONTINUE READING: #DecolonizingThanksgiving – Parenting for Liberation

Ventilation is the key to helping students, staff and families stay safe - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Ventilation is the key to helping students, staff and families stay safe - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Ventilation is the key to helping students, staff and families stay safe

Thoughts on SFUSD’s Return Safely to School Together Plan

Last night district staff shared a plan for bringing students back to schools for in-person learning. Click the following links to see the proposed plan and presentation. (When the conversation becomes available via SFGovTV I will post it as well below.)

Click the image above to read the draft plan presented to the Board.

In reviewing the presentation, I made a request at the meeting for the plan to incorporate several revisions focused on increasing student and staff safety in returning to schools in the following areas: ventilation, masking and family agreements in following preventative measures, and testing availability.

Anyone who watched our hours-long discussion on school reopening last night knows each topic is deserving of its own lengthy discussion. In the interest of educating the public, I wanted to share my recommendations and our Board’s incorporated input into the final plan which we will approve next week.

Ventilation is the key to preventing the spread of Covid-19

I believe SFUSD’s ventilation plans must address air exchange rates ensure all classrooms meet health and safety recommendations recommended by health experts. (The World Health Organization recommends six times per hour,  and the SF Department of Public Health shared a recommendation of four times per hour at the last Joint Select Meeting on Friday, November 13, 2020. See my discussion with SF Department of Public Health staff starting at 58:05.) CONTINUE READING: Ventilation is the key to helping students, staff and families stay safe - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Trump/DeVos may have lost the election, but the battle for public education has just begun. - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Trump/DeVos may have lost the election, but the battle for public education has just begun. - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Trump/DeVos may have lost the election, but the battle for public education has just begun.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis for public education. Lack of support from the Federal Government, in the form of testing, health and safety guidance, and sufficient resources has further exacerbated this crisis. States have had to fend for themselves and this has ultimately resulted in inconsistent support for school districts who are left with limited resources piecing together plans for crisis distance learning and school reopening.

Flexibility or free-for-all?

While we count the days to President-elect Biden assuming office (I’m literally counting the days), we still have a lot of work ahead to protect our public education system. Meanwhile, every district in our state is faced with the daunting challenge of reopening with a lack of funding and other important infrastructure.

Just as individual states have had to compete for PPE, ventilators, and testing resources, each and every district in our state has had to compete with other districts to figure out reopening plans while it struggles to meet the basic needs of families during crisis distance learning. Each individual school district has/will have to figure out school reopening which includes: logistics of social distancing, hybrid learning models, building assessments, staffing plans, and COVID testing for thousands of workers.

This summer, the California Department of Education drafted school reopening guidelines which marketed the plan’s “flexibility” in allowing school districts to figure out what works best for them. In reality, this free-for-all approach ended up privileging private schools, charters, and small suburban school districts that have higher per-pupil spending, smaller class sizes, modern facilities, and rich benefactors. This has resulted in larger urban districts like San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Jose getting left behind. The guide is titled “Stronger Together”, yet after several months of CONTINUE READING:  Trump/DeVos may have lost the election, but the battle for public education has just begun. - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Parent and educators' questions on reopening schools... - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Parent and educators' questions on reopening schools... - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Parent and educators’ questions on reopening schools…

Last night the Superintendent shared more detailed plans about staff efforts on reopening schools. It was very helpful to see movement in key areas, like testing, and also hear more details and timelines for bringing various groups of students back to schools.

This presentation outlines key phases the district staff has proposed to take in reopening schools. Click the image above to view or click here.

Additionally, I am also deeply appreciative of my colleague’s efforts to expand this conversation and make this process more transparent. Commissioner Jenny Lam, Stevon Cook, and Gabriela Lopez have introduced a resolution to expand on the Superintendent’s work which delineates clear timelines and additionally calls on the Superintendent to partner with City agencies like the SF Department of Public Health and health experts at UCSF. You can read the proposed resolution here in English and Spanish. We plan to vote to approve it next Tuesday, during a special meeting on November 17, 2020.

While this progress is reassuring, I still hear frustration from staff and families that the decision-making process still doesn’t feel inclusive. Even as a Board Commissioner, I often feel like an audience member at our meetings. One specific example is that district staff made a decision to reduce the number of students it proposes to initially bring back, eliminating second graders who were originally included in discussions this summer. When asked about it at last night’s meeting, I was told the change was made this fall, yet for some reason information was neither shared with the public nor Board members. When changes that impact large groups of students are made without input, it decreases trust with families who rely on us to keep them informed.

For these reasons, I am pushing for more transparency and accountability in the coordination and decision-making process. I am working with Commissioner Jenny Lam to introduce an amendment to Commissioner Lam, Lopez and Cook’s resolution and will share details later this week. Public feedback has been wide-ranging and it is unlikely we will be able to create a plan that meets every family’s needs. Nonetheless, I believe it is important to ensure we are transparent about who, how, and why we make decisions in this process. Additionally, I’d like to see Board Commissioners take a CONTINUE READING: Parent and educators' questions on reopening schools... - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

For families interested in learning more about distance learning and school reopening efforts... - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

For families interested in learning more about distance learning and school reopening efforts... - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

For families interested in learning more about distance learning and school reopening efforts…

I wanted to share some updates. Please share this information with other interested families. The SFUSD Board of Education will be introducing a Resolution 2011-10A1 SFUSD Return to School Safely tomorrow, during the Regular Board Meeting on November 10 at 3 PM. You can learn more about how to sign up for public comment by clicking this link.

I can say right off the top I am very supportive of this resolution and plan to support its implementation as soon as possible. I also have some specific questions I’d like to ask which may also lead to additional amendments before it is officially approved, hopefully next week. (Stay tuned for dates/times.)

Additionally, I encourage folks to join me during today’s, November 9th Curriculum Committee Meeting at 3 PM. I have a standing item on all Curriculum Committee Meeting agendas to discuss family communication and supports for Distance Learning and love to hear directly from families and students where staff can continue to improve. There will also be an update on a partnership with the SF Public Library.

Most notably, we will be discussing staff efforts to address disproportionate outcomes for Black students in SFUSD related to overidentification for special education programming and discipline. The presentation contains some really heartbreaking yet honest analysis of conditions many Black CONTINUE READING: For families interested in learning more about distance learning and school reopening efforts... - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

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