Yes, end of school!
No more pencils, no more books, ...
Congratulations to all for making it to the end of the school year! Whether you’ve got one in kinder, or twins that are graduating high school, so much happens between August and June. And it is all through the work of so many, from us parents and advocates, to the school educators and staff, to the District Superintendent and staff, to the 7 Board of Education Commissioners.
For sure, I can feel that so many are happy to be done with all the tests, all the long days, all the commuting. No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks, as the song says.
Upcoming events
Apologies for not doing a regular newsletter last week, as so much news has happened. As for going forward, I hope to send out a newsletter every two weeks during the summer. It’s definitely a different time of year with less school news, and I’m also working on starting a couple new exciting things that I hope to share soon.
Congratulations to the graduates of the SF Parents candidate training! Great to meet many of them and find them more prepared to be BoE candidates in maybe 2024 or 2026.
It’s SFUSD Budget discussion time of year and that always get my interest piqued. This Tuesday, the Board of Education Meeting will spend most of the agenda on Superintendent Matt Wayne’s recommended budget, including the spending of the $90 million in the Public Education Enrichment Fund (PEEF). Meeting will start at 6:30 pm and information is here.
Lots to consider in this and every budget. How do the Goals, Guardrails, Vision, and Values apply to how the $$ will be spent? It’s all in the details, and some level of such are in the presentation on Tuesday. Curiously, not one Commissioner had questions about the recommended budget in the questions on the Draft Agenda. Was the information provided late, were the Commissioners unable to come up with questions, or both?
Teacher salary negotiations are going pretty late. It’s a tough situation and teachers are considering striking. As for the District, they say that costs need to go down somewhere or revenues need to go up to pay for higher teacher pay and other budget increases. Lots to watch. Related documents are here.
The PEEF Community Advisory Committee (PEEF CAC) has again put in a good amount of time and effort to make recommendations as to their preferences in spending the $90 million of City funds. The District again responds with what they chose to do. The differences are enlightening, esp. for the topics that come up year after year. Check out both sides here.
Things may get quite interesting with our next SFUSD Bond Oversight meeting, featuring the “Facility Master Plan.” It’s this Wednesday, June 7, at noon. Come in person or dial in, info here.
Save the date for the evening of Wednesday, June 14, as a new group I am with will have a soft introduction to the public at a restaurant downtown. I am part of a new good-sized Asian American and Pacific Islander nonprofit working on civic engagement.
June is chock full of activities for those who are in town between their summer vacation getaways. Sunday, June 18 is Father’s Day. Juneteenth kicks off at City Hall on Friday, June 16. The North Beach Festival is the weekend of June 17 and 18. The SF Pride Parade is Sunday June 25.
Call to Action
A brand new application form is available for the San Francisco Unified School District Citizens Bond Oversight Committee (rolling applications). We’re a great group.
Sign this SF Parents Coalition petition to keep pushing for math and literacy proficiency for all SFUSD students!
Hot takes on the news roundup
On the last day of the school year, Mission Local reports on elevated lead levels in several SFUSD preschools, as found in March! Gulp.
Good reporting from the SF Standard’s Mojadad on all the broken steps in getting educators to start at SFUSD. Frustrating to hear.
Speaking of frustrating, Mojadad went Sub-Standard and published gossip in a newly filed lawsuit against a former SFUSD administrator. Not worth anyone’s time.
Teachers have struck in Los Angeles and Oakland, and San Francisco teachers appear frustrated enough with District negotiations that they may be the next to strike. The District may be slowly (too slowly?) figuring out that closing schools may be necessary— deep analysis here by parent and substack-er Paul Gardiner. If there is a good way to sell closing schools, someone let the SFUSD know.
Who wouldn’t want to donate to help SFUSD schools? I have. Salesforce has donated millions over the years. Yet the SF Examiner’s Aleksey finds that there was less than a good return of all that investment in math education. My spidey-sense makes me feel there is more suboptimal in this story worth investigating.
Remember that Opinion piece I did a month ago in the bilingual Chinese-English Wind Newspaper? The one on the curious motivation for Board of Education Kevine Boggess to back a racially discriminatory Parents Advisory Council slate of parent candidates? Well, Chinese-American parents are really upset and the media is following this story. There’s coverage in KTSF-26 TV, Sing Tao and World Journal Chinese language newspapers, and KRON-TV. Will Boggess heed the call to step down from the Board Presidency? Will he even speak with Chinese-American parents? Maybe he’s cool with being #SchoolBoardPrezForSome.
Throwback
It’s been quite a ride for this guy who still has writer’s block. Just over a year ago, I nervously sent in my first Opinion submission to the San Francisco Examiner. It’s now been over a dozen published pieces where I tried to capture the moment and help bring good change. Check them out here. I’m just at the year anniversary of submissions to Randy Shaw’s Beyond Chron, now almost a dozen here as well. School stuff, reparations, endorsements, a Supervisor election, a few hot takes here and there. Feel free to share some of the ones that still move you.
Thank you so much for subscribing, for reading, for responding, for sharing. Here’s some pictures of adventures with the great people (and food) of the City. Let’s touch grass daily.
