My daughter graduates! [from preschool]

SFUSD White/middle class flight Timeline

San Francisco Schools - Historical Context: white/middle class flight

1968 – 78 -
When SF and other urban districts in the late 1960s began integrating schools through various methods white students and middle class families left the public schools in droves. For example, almost overnight the SF public schools lost more than 8,000 students [mostly white], bringing its total enrollment down from over 90,000 students to 82,757 after the first integration effort aimed at the elementary school level. The district lost 1/3 of its students in a 10 year period shrinking down to 60,000 students in 1978, the year African American communities and others sued to challenge the institutional racism in the district.
1978 –
the NAACP filed a lawsuit to desegregate the SFUSD which was finally settled in 1983 with a ‘Consent Decree’ or court ordered desegregation plan for SF schools.
1992 –
the Judge overseeing the Consent Decree allows new Superintendent Bill Rojas to expand the consent decree ‘reconstitution’ requirements to all of SF schools. He begins a process of scapegoating teachers and low income kids by “reconstituting” ‘failing' schools throughout the district [wiping out all staff from top to bottom and replacing them with totally new staff].
1994 –
a group of disgruntled Chinese parents frustrated over their children’s rejection for admission to SF’s elite Lowell High school sue the district to dismantle the Consent Decree.
1999 –
a Federal judge in the context of the conservative backlash in the courts rules that SFUSD must stop using race and ethnicity to assign students which leads to ‘rapid resegregation and growing racial isolation in the schools. The Harvard Civil Rights Project's research shows this trend occurring in most urban school districts around the country.
2001 –
In campaigns against privatization and for racial justice and educational equity teacher activists Eric Mar and Mark Sanchez are elected to the Board of Education
2001-02 –
SFUSD begins use of ‘diversity index’ [a race-neutral lottery system which uses 6 equity factors to increase diversity and opportunity in SF schools] – rapid resegregation and growing inequality continues despite new policy initiatives by the new Board of Education members.
2002 –
Green Party teacher and parent Sarah Lipson is elected to the School Board. She is the first Green to be elected in SF [Sanchez was a democrat and changed his party affiliation to the Green Party with former Supervisor Matt Gonzalez shortly after being elected to the Board]
2005 –
SF Unified School District now has 57,000 students but is losing students at about 800 a year. To close a $22 million deficit this year the board closes 5 schools, downsizes another and lays off 200 teachers and paraprofessionals.
The Consent Decree is expected to sunset or end at on December 31, 2005.

CA Educational System - Overview

From Californians for Justice:
http://www.caljustice.org

An Overview of the California Educational System
This section presents an overview of the educational system in California. The data from this section was collected in the spring of 2001; it will be updated soon.

How many students are there in California? What grades?
In 1999-00 California had almost 6 million public school students(5,951,612)
nearly 4.2 million in elementary, middle school, and junior high(4,194,356 in K-8)
nearly 1.7 million in high schools(1,675,393 in grades 9-12)
81,863 students in ungraded programs (such as special county programs)
Public school students are 90% of all students in the state; there were 640,802 private school students in California – a little less than 10% of all students.

What are some demographics about California’s students?

Race/Ethnicity
Approximately 63% of California’s public school students are people of color and 37% are white.
Among all students, 42% are Latino (42.2%); 11% are Asian, Pacific Islander, or Filipino (exactly 8% Asian, 0.6% Pacific Islander, and 2.4% Filipino); nearly 9% are African-American (8.6%); and 1% are Native American (0.9%). Another 0.4% are "Multiple or No Response" according to the Department of Education.

Language
A quarter of California’s students — nearly 1.5 million — are English Learners (24.9%, or 1,480,527). Even more are bilingual — there is no number for the students who are fluent in English but also speak another language at home.
More than a third of Kindergarteners are English Learners (36.1%). One in 10 twelfth-graders (11.1%) are English Learners.The most common primary language is Spanish at 82.6% (1,222,810 students).The next 9 most common languages are Vietnamese (2.7%), Hmong (1.9%), Cantonese (1.7%), Tagalog (Filipino, 1.2%), Khmer (Cambodian, 1.1%), Korean (1.1%), Armenian (0.8%), Mandarin/Putonghua (0.7%), and Russian (0.5%). There are another 5.6% of English Learners with other languages.

Income
Nearly half of California’s students receive free or reduced price lunch (47.3%).About 15% of California’s students are children of CalWORKS recipients (14.3%).There are no other figures kept that directly relate to income. The figures for free or reduced price lunch do not represent all low-income students, particularly in higher grades – it has been found that as they get older, many students do not participate in the free lunch program even when they qualify, either because of stigma or because they dislike school lunch.
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Compiled From:California Department of Education (CDE)"Ed-Data" Statewide ReportFigures are for 1999-2000 school year, except for rates on graduation, UC-CSU eligibility, dropouts, and revenue, where the figures are for 1998-1999.
California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS)Figures on districts from the 1998-1999 school year.
CDE 1999-2000 Data for Private Schools in California
CDE "Ed-Data" SiteUnderstanding California's School Facilities Crisis. Published April 1998.

SF SCHOOLS ARTS MASTER PLAN, ARTS in SF SCHOOLS 3/25 Fri 5:30

SF Public Schools are in the midst of developing an Arts Master Plan with various arts educators, artists, the big dominant arts organizations, some parent groups, etc.
The impetus came from strong grassroots support for Supervisor Ammiano's Prop H [Nov. 04] which will provide more City funding for Arts, Music, Sports, Libraries, etc. in the SF Schools.
However, to prevent the large arts organizations and wealthy arts donors from dominating the process, we need more grassroots community arts groups, artists, students, parents and stakeholder groups to inform themselves about the process and speak out to the board of education and the superintendent on your concerns.
The model master plans we are looking at are LA, Chicago, Houston.
We also clearly need more voices speaking out for multicultural arts and inclusiveness in arts education as well.
Once completed and adopted by the Board of Education, the Arts Education Master Plan will serve as the blueprint that the School District, families, the arts community, the City, funders, and all other arts education stakeholders will use to work together to provide comprehensive sequential arts education for every student in the San Francisco Unified School District. We hope the Plan will greatly strengthen arts education throughout the SFUSD and will revitalize the arts in the schools and throughout the community for future generations.
For more info and to let your voice be heard - contact:
Kevin Marlatt - SFUSD Arts Eduction Master PlanProject Manager
artsplan@sfusd.edu
Cell: 415-359-4240.

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INVITE:
Parents, students, teachers and school staff, andcommunity friends of SF public schools:
Please join us for our monthly Student Art Reception,featuring student art from21st Century Academy and Luther Burbank Middle School.
Thanks Commissioner Mark Sanchez for setting up the artwork!Unwind, relax, have fun, marvel at the great studentartwork, mingle, celebrate, enjoy finger food!!Children welcome.
WHEN: Friday, March 25th, 5:30-7:30PM
WHERE: SF Unified School District, Board Meeting Room,555 Franklin Street, 1st Floor (McAllister Street)[parking on streetand in lot [enter on McAllister Street]
Public Transportation:BART - Civic Center stationMUNI - 5 Fulton, 47 or 49 Van Ness

Save the dates for the next receptions – 5:30-7:30pm Fridays –April 22, May 20, June 10. Same time, same place.
Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions.emar@s...or
415/730-4188.
In unity,
Eric Mar, President
San Francisco Board of Education