area. forward finding moving forward and finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. kristen: i am kristen are watching getting answers on abc 7. we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and get answers for you in real time. today, the always stressful college admissions season is nearly at an end. what if your child to not get into their dream school or any school, or do not get enough financial aid? bay area college counseling expert lauren cook joins us to share useful advice, along with this year's college acceptance rates. also, san jose's former mayor has a new job at stanford law school and he will join us to share what he hopes to impart on students and his future political plans.

first, she was a interim san francisco school board member after voters recalled three board members a year ago. she herself lost this past november when she ran for that seat after controversial comments she made. she has not spoken much publicly since then, but she is back now, opening a new private school, and she is here to talk about her new endeavor. thank you for coming on the show. >> good afternoon. thank you for having me. kristen: you tweeted this week that you're are opening a private school this fall. tell us about the school. >> well, this is a nonprofit, k-12, private school that created to provide an option for san francisco and bay area parents who are looking for a quality, rigorous, bicultural, and affordable education for their children. kristen: when you sing bicultural, is it bilingual? >> it is actually more than bilingual.

it is american and chinese bicultural. the difference being that in addition to the language, we actually get down into the culture more deeper down into confucianism and buddhism and taoism. that kind of chinese culture, as well as western, down to aristotle and socrates, and learning about them and comparing and contrast to help us understand the modern society of china and the united states these days. kristen: it is named after bertrand hsu. who is potential -- he w bertrand hsu? >> my late father, who passed away three years ago, he was bilingual, bicultural, born and raised in china with two key years of ninth and 10th grade in america in high school, where he absorbed a lot of american culture. he went back to china and came

back to america later in life with me and the rest of my family, and he came here seeking a better life for himself and his family and his children and with hard work and perseverance, he was able to realize his american dream. this school honors him and all the other immigrants who come to america for their american dreams. kristen: this is not a charter school, right? ann: it is not. kristen: is everyone welcome? you mentioned immigrants, but are those the only kids you anticipate serving? ann: absolutely not. it is open to anyone who applies, no matter their race or even grades, unlike many private schools who have aku tests, we don't. we only want commitments from the students and the parents that they are here to get a quality education. kristen: have you located the building? is the staff ready to go this fall? ann: we have identified a

building and are negotiating with the landlord. if all goes well, we should have it already ready by the end of this month, and then we will publicly announce the location. the staff, we have -- we are looking for about 18, 19 people total. we have a handful so far, and we are looking for more teachers. teachers who want to join a pretty different startup of school, please come and submit your resumes. we are also just this week, a few days ago, i tweeted the announcement, and we already have more than a handful of student applications. kristen: you mentioned what commission was, to emphasize and teach the bicultural aspect for a better understanding, but why do you think it is needed? isn't there a competitor -- i don't know if it is a competitor -- but the well-established k school in san francisco, is there another need for this

school? ann: there are many bilingual chinese schools, a couple of private and public ones, and a lot of programs within other schools, private and public schools that offer chinese filing will education. the difference is that none of them actually go into the deeper culture, as i said. we go down to buddhism, and taoism to compare and contrast with western philosophies. you have to go to college and major in liberal arts to get that, and we think that should be exposed to high school students. and another key bicultural aspect is we will teach chinese and asian american history and really examine a state of affairs of asian americans today, and as you know, we adults are dealing with all this rise in anti-asian hate crimes, and we are trying to process everything, and we want to help

people to become aware of chinese asian american history, including the japanese internment, the rest of it, and help them find their identity in our multicultural society. kristen: it has been five months since you lost the race to retain the school board seat you were appointed to by the mayor after voters recalled three members. why stay in education and not just walk away? ann: experiences. life is short, but it is long enough to do a number of things. i spent 25 years and the private sector, business, and five years just caring for my family and going forward, i don't really want to go back to the private sector. i want to dip my toes into education. i think that is a worthwhile and meaningful thing for me to spend the next decade or two.

i am in this for a while. kristen: before the election, you were rebuked by the school board and got widespread backlash of your comments in a candidate's questionnaire. you said, among other things, "a lack of family support is one of the biggest challenges in educating black and brown students." do you regret saying that? ann: the content of what i which is lack of family support, i should not have qualified it to any particular group of population. they are in every ethnic group, parents who are more involved and less involved. so, i apologize for qualify that, but really, i mentioned a few minutes ago, i want students and parents who are committed to learning. this is what the school will before. kristen: if you could make your point, whatever it was at the time, how would you make that point? ann: the point is that the

school can only do so much. parents are the first and longest teachers of students. parents need to be involved in order for the children, their children to succeed, and school will help, but parents need to be involved. kristen: i do have to wrap this up, but i have to ask this question. i think it is no secret, and just about anybody can agree, that school boards, and education has become political, and i wonder if you think there is a way to advance the interest of all demographics served by sf unified? is there common ground to build on? ann: you mean between sf unified and other schools? kristen: is there a way for any school board, i suppose, but especially the city of san francisco with a diverse population that we do have, to serve all of the kids needs and what would that be? what needs to happen? ann: san francisco is unique but not that unique. other urban cities across the

united states, like new york, chicago, they have some innovative programs. charter schools. and other private schools. i think we should learn from them. there are some very good lessons that the school board can learn from other school district across the country to be less political and underserve all the students -- and better serve all of the students. ann: founder of the bird shoe -- the bertrand shoe academy, thank you. kristen:kristen: right now, many high school seniors are deciding where they want to go to college or figuring out what to do if they did not get into their dream school. we will talk to an expert (bell dinging) how's john? oh, much better. that was quite a scare. got us thinking about a lot of things. like life insurance.

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kristen: acceptance and rejection letters, and between now and the end of the month, many seniors will decide where they want or can afford to go to college. joining us live to help students make good decisions and navigate wait lists, dashed dreams and more is our friend lauren cook, dean of collagen gap you're advising that jewish community high school -- college and gap year advising that jewish trinity high school. thank you for making time. i know you have a lot of kids of your own right now, but i always ask for the bad news first, so give me the bad news. your child got rejected at all of their targets, may be safeties. they are down in the dumps. what do you say to them? lauren: i would say you are not done yet. there are a lot of colleges still accepting applications. i would point viewers to a

resource called nacac they have on their website at college openings update that is regularly updated with all the schools still taking applications, so you could look there. i would also say if the uc's were your goal, we have a great community college system here in california and the transfer admission guarantee program might be right for you. that is where you enroll at a local community college and go through various steps that that program has you do, and then six of the nine uc's guarantee admission for tag participants, davis, irvine, merced, riverside, santa barbara and santa cruz. and you receive preference at the other three, san diego, ucla, denver. for some students, maybe it is right to think about taking a gap year and spend some time

touring, getting independent, and perhaps reapplying again and seeing if you have better luck after you have done a bit of adventuring for the next application cycle. kristen: that is great advice. i am glad you mentioned the uc tag program. the freshman admission acceptance rates have tumbled so much, but your chances are so much better as a transfer, and there is the tag guarantee, so don't forget that. that say your kid got into grade school or multiple grade schools, and now they have to decide. give us tips for deciding, dues and don'ts. lauren: i think if you are able to go back to visit, if you have not been to the campus, you want to lay eyes on it before you commit, but even if you went for one of those early introductory tour and information sessions, now is the time to go back and get in the weeds and see if you can sit in on a class, try some of the food area this is your life or the next four years. do some people watching.

wonder around the local town and see how you feel about it. really spend some time trying to envision yourself there. kristen: apologize that we are mainly showing stamford video. that is what came up. it is not the only school in the world, kids! let's say they got to a great school but their financial aid packages too small. what do you do? lauren: you have some options. i know families expend a lot of the process feeling like the power is in the college's hands, but now you are in the driver seat, you have been admitted and they want you to enroll. i think families can and should reach out to financial aid offices to ask about packages. if it feels too small or if you were offered more at another institution, especially if it was a competitor institution, so when you are talking about need-based, i would look to see if there is a formal appeals process at that campus. this might be a form located on their website or was part of the admission package, but if you

cannot find something, there is a great free online resource that can help you format an appeal called swift student. you put in basic advice, and then it will format for you and admission friendly language to send to the school. you can ask if they had taken consideration, the cost difference in the bay area, if there has been change in family income since 2021. that might be a reason for an appeal, if you take care of an aging family member, that sort of thing. if you are looking to see if you can get more merit aid, some schools offer relatively big packages. you can show them something you might have received from another institution and just -- you don't want to use language negotiating, but just saying, this is what some places were willing to give us, and we are wondering if there is anything you can do to help. kristen: it is essentially negotiating, and that is ok. go bears.

now perhaps the most agonizing place to be for a lot of kids, you are on the waitlist. the proverbial we love you, you are as qualified as anyone, but we likely don't have the spot heard what you do then? lauren: -- but we likely don't have the spot. what do you do then? lauren: your option is to opt in. they will say, do you still want to be on the waitlist? say yes as soon as possible because they are trying to figure out who was actually serious. then you want to read the instructions as a waitlisted candidate carefully. you are trying to walk a fine line between advocating for yourself and not becoming annoying. if they leave it open for you to submit extra materials, updated rates, a new recommendation letter, absolutely put some of those things together and send them in. if they say opting in his all you need to do and all we need from you, listen to that. you do not want to be spending too much time putting together things that are not going to

actually be reviewed by that institution. i would also say that once you have done what you can for the waitlist, you need to look and concentrate on the options that are actually available to you and the schools that actually do want you and have said yes, and make decisions based on that. you will want to commit to somewhere by may 1. most schools don't move to the waitlist before then. if you get that bonus offer at some point in may or june, fantastic, you have another option to think about. you do want to focus on who is actually saying yes before the end of the month. kristen: real quickly, general trends and advice for juniors who are going to start thinking about this and. lauren: yeah, so -- inking about this soon. lauren: yeah, so we saw admitted rates at institutions continue to fall, but, overall, the national college acceptance rate maintains around 68%, so i would let folks know that you will be able to go to college,

especially those juniors. i will say that the test optional environment seems to be sticking and holding since the pandemic. we have 1700 some test optional institutions, and 80 plus that are actually test free. that movement continues to grow. you can go to fairtest.org to see a list of schools that have test flexible options on test free policies. i would tell juniors to get onto college campuses. i know it is spring break but this coming summer, go see places. we are happy to be acting a normal environment with the admission process and weigh options carefully and finish your junior year strong. kristen: great advice, lauren cook, a jewish community high school, in san francisco, take care. lauren: thanks. kristen: coming up, the former san jose mayor started a new career while rumors swirl about a possible run for congress.

we talked to him n

kristen: former san jose mayor sam liccardo has started a new chapter in his life, teaching at stanford law school, and this was his second week. joining us live to talk about his new endeavor and future endeavors, sam liccardo. mr. boccardo, how is it -- mr. liccardo, how's it going so far? how i are your students liking you customer sam: i cannot speak for them -- how are you students liking you? sam: i cannot speak for them, but it is a wonderful opportunity to be with brilliant students and great faculty and great thinkers at one of the most amazing universities on the planet. it has been a lot of fun. kristen: i am sure there are lots of great conversations. the course is called how cities can save the world. explain the title and what you are exploring in the class. sam: our hum

challenges around homelessness, lack of affordable housing in the metro, climate change, violent crime, three areas where cities are at the forefront, so we are talking about how cities can tackle great challenges, those three specifically. what is working, what doesn't, and what our creative ideas that should be considered. it is a lot of fun and a draw from my experience, but also in san jose. kristen: now that you are out of the role, did you feel like that was handled well in san jose in terms of those top issues? sam: there is always room for improvement in everything. i could tell you in the last election, crime was a very big issue. at the same time, we had the lowest homicide rate of any major city in the country. yes, there is more work always to be done. i think that is part of the challenge.

we know there are always new problems. the work in a city is never done, and you are always creating a building. kristen: how do you do it? do you think any goal, it doesn't matter the issues, climate change or homelessness, given how it are undivided and partisan people have become, how do you get people on the same page to use the same language and have the same conversation and define the goals together? sam: great question. i will not provide a definitive answer, but what we are trying to do is to focus on solutions and get out of our ideological corners and focus on what the studies and datas say, and when you force everyone to talk about data, the conversation is different and usually more productive and constructive. what i found in the class, i think we have bright students

who offer a lot of great insights. for example, we are talking about affordable housing now, and we have one bright student talking about judge for in his own neighborhood in san francisco -- about gentrification in his own neighborhood in san francisco. those conversations lead a lot of insight. kristen: free speech is a big issue on university campuses. without going to great details because that is a whole other story, but that is playing out at stanford law school. what is your view on free speech? sam: i think martin has prepared a thoughtful letter to the student body and the faculty after the incident, essentially saying, we did not get it right, and what we need to do is focus on free speech. it should matter for a university and the only way we are going to learn is by listening to one another, even if we disagree with the views of the speaker. frankly, we are not going to

change the views of the speaker unless we are listening to them, probing, and asking strong questions. that is part of the delivery process at the root of healthy democracy. we have a lot of work to do in this country to get back there. stanford lays an important role. kristen: in february, congresswoman zola friend said -- congresswoman says you are considering a bid for congress and she plans to run again as well prayed where does that leave you? sam: i am happy what i am doing, and i am also working on housing work with local foundations. i will continue to do exactly what i am doing. i will not be coy about it if i decide to jump into this or other congressional races. i will be very vocal and there will not be a secret. kristen: do you think jumping into a race, whether it is for that seat or perhaps for a representative's eat, is that something that will come up on your to -- representative's

seat, is that something that will come up soon on your timeline? sam: i have not talked to the media at all about it because it is a decision between my wife and i. we have a lot more things to think about. i am happy doing what i am doing. as i say, i will not be coy about what i decide, and as i told congresswoman lofton, she would be the first to know in my decision. kristen: former san jose mayor and stanford lawful lecturer sam liccardo, thank you. sam: great to be with you. kristen: we will be righ here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. the three what? the three ps? what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget.

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and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. use this valuable guide to record your important information and give helpful direction to your loved ones with your final wishes. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. kristen: thank you for joining us for getting answers today. we will be here every weekday at 3:00, answering questions to experts from around the bay

area. world news with david near is next. see you back here for news at 4:00. tonight, the suspect accused of leaking highly classified american secrets now charged under the espionage act. massachusetts air national guard men jack teixeira in court today. court records unsealed revealing how the fbi says they tracked him down after news of the leak went public. authorities accusing him of accessing top-secret materials, sneaking some of them home and photographing them and sharing those documents with his invite only social media chat groups. when stories began surfacing in the news, the one keyword he allegedly searched on his office computer, his message to his father in court. aaron katersky in boston and martha raddatz in washington. the supreme court issuing a last-minute stay in the legal battle over thebo