all right. everybody is here to talk about it. this is something that we are getting to the meat of it now. .how difficult it is to be an entrepreneur in san francisco. for me personally, the less taxation we have, the venture, and more we rely on people to take care of themselves, the better. commissioner clyde: i am in

support of the legislation at this point as written, because he is really protecting the impact to the general fund. >> thank you very much. good evening, commissioners and superintendents. it is my pleasure to get us started soon night, and we are here to present the support of findings and recommendations about building quality middle schools.

>> would you introduce yourself? >> we are going to introduce ourselves next time. this report has been formally endorsed by the parents and the entire membership of the advisory council, so i would like everyone to introduce themselves. >> i am the parent of a third grader and a sixth grader. [list of names] >> i have a third grader. >> we have a request. could you tell us which school of your kids go to your reader

-- go to? >> [unintelligible] >> you have to turn off your life. -- lights. >> sheridan school and herbert hoover middle school. >> i have a kindergartner at daniel webster. >> i went to the middle school and high-school. >> [unintelligible] >> thank you. >> first, a few appreciations to the people who made this happen. the parents for public schools

and be advisory staff, our volunteers, the middle school planning team, middle school principals and their staffs common the translation and -- staffs, the translation department, all the people that participated in the forums, and the board for extending the time line for us. we are going to talk about what we did and why, who we heard from, findings from the community meetings, recommendations to the board and the district staff, and then we will conclude. first -- it is my job to do this. sorry. what we did and why. in march of 2010, the board of education adopted a student assignment policy without community input on this idea.

last fall the community reacted negatively and delayed implementation. this spring, they work with district staff to organize and conduct a community forum to talk about middle school policy, proposed language pathways, and the goals were to let people know about the district proposal and improving middle schools, to hear the communities questions, concerns, and ideas about the proposals, and report the feedback to the board of education and district staff to inform your positions and strengthen the new system for all middle schools. >> when the community forum happened, and we heard from 850 people. we went to 12 novels schools, five elementary schools, and held target groups.

they range from an dozen to two larger people. some of the elementary schools actually had more people. we know large centralized events do not intend to draw a group of people that is representative, so we targeted to make sure we heard from diverse backgrounds, and we found that parents who participated in these groups did more close to represent the student -- more closely represents the student population. we heard the same concerns we have heard in the past and reported 04. -- before. we have full confidence this reflects the district. the main messages we heard during the community forums were

similar to what we heard families say repeatedly over the last several years and what we repeatedly told to the staff. parents want quality schools, and they do not perceive all schools as quality schools. schools are different from each other. parents want a school but will meet their children's needs. those parents question whether students assignments having any direct relationship to building quality middle schools. most parents would like their children to attend a school that is easy to get to, but they also care about special programs. many parents would be willing to send their children to a school further away if it would meet their needs. many parents challenged a pattern as unfair and inequitable. they do not want to field force in something that will not work

for their kids. now -- to feel forced in something that will not work for their kids. besides identifying things we knew we had heard before, a couple of different issues emerged in these conversations. first, there is widespread support for expanding language programs. of the same time, parents wanted to meet the needs of all students, including newcomers who spoke languages in addition to cantonese and mandarin students wanted recognition of their by cultural identity. also specialty education students who should have access before high school to learn another language. people also raised fundamental questions about how to meet different academic needs, and

these questions include how do we best meets different learning styles and abilities. how can the district support providing instruction? why does access to high-quality education so uneven? finally, people wondered what is in place now and what can be put in place, the impact with budget cuts, and how this fits into efforts to align curriculum across the district. good >> we will discuss more on our findings. quality middle schools, language pathways, student assignment, how parents felt about the process. quality level schools. people have different priorities, but these schools where the principal and staff have a clear vision about how to meet different needs of

diverse student populations. while the district described a list of factors related to quality schools, no real information was presented about what the challenges are, what is working and specific plans for improving schools. where is the research for what is the effective bowman -- affective? and what are they doing? can we replicate that bowman -- can we replicate that? the district is changing how special education services will be provided but did not talk about fat and how patterns could meet the needs of students and -- did not talk about that and how parents could meet the needs of students. special education needs are not being addressed. we need resources. there is not a lot of talk about special education. what is the theory about how to meet the needs of struggling and

high achieving students, whether through honors courses or differentiation? i am not a big advocate for tracking, but i want them to have a plan. how are they going to engage those kids. sometimes the electives is going to be the piece that keeps them engaged. some parents were skeptical the district could find the resources, while it is clear that funds should be prioritized to make it work. >> i am going to talk about expanding the language pathway and the findings are around that.

people supported the idea of expanding language performances for middle school students. let's overcome the obstacles and make it happen. language acquisition should be protests. find the funds to make it happen. many parents and community leaders raised questions and concerns about the proposed pact was discussed at the forms. parents want all middle schoolers to have access to learning another language, but that brings up a question. are all students going to have access to language? i would want all kids to have access to language. there is confusion about how a by-literacy programs work, but the plan isn', and how that woud serve english and lerner's spirited some were concerned it would mean dismantling -- and

learners. more concerned it would mean dismantling programs. the language program would dismantled the program we built here. even people who are enthusiastic raised concerns about funding. how are they going to pay for that bowman -- to pay for that? people wonder how to improve services for english language in general as well as those who do not speak the language. parents also wondered if students of special education and general education would have

access to programs. despite the language pathways and commitments, only this plan is a legal mandate, and as we try to do this stuff, why don't we serve pacific islander students? there are not any programs for them. what do we do first? what takes precedence? this is what we heard when it was presented. we heard parents questioning whether students in general have any direct relationship to building these schools. we were completely against the concept.

it looks really nice if you are getting in the top six requested schools. on the other hand, the community-building opportunities would strengthen the ability to meet the needs of the incoming students. there are a lot of implications, because middle school is a short amount of time. it is hard to build continuity of leadership when people are in and out. many parents complain rejected the ability to choose the schools. they want to be able to select more than one option but works for their family and not be forced into a designated school. this is the worst of all worlds.

let me choose where i want to go. people challenge the patterns as unfair to students. it is not always practical. it is not what all school administrators say they want. the concept is right, but the devil is in the details. i feel like the district creates the schools the same. even parents to support this had questions for how they could meet the individual needs of

students. i have two children in middle school who have different needs. how are you going to serve their needs if you take away their choice of where they can go? >> participants expressed the same range of interests. in addition, people are concerned that despite having the highest concentration of children in the city, they have the fewest middle schools. with the closure, gave you will have no middle schools at all. students will be sent across town to go to other schools. i am upset there will be no middle school in the neighborhood. many wonder whether transportation would be provided for the students being sent across town. everybody understands the district is scaling down school bus services and wonder how their children will get to school on time. they said, our kids will be almost in the ocean.

parents and educators felt their students do not receive the same level of support as well as the same quality of programs on the west of the city. parents said, we want quality that is the same in our neighborhoods and here in our community, because if we have to go to other neighborhoods, how do you expect them to come across the side of town. they're also concerned about whether their children will be made to feel welcome. for many with parents in the mission district, it continues to be a stalemate were concerned. not necessarily in middle schools, but more on the streets surrounding the community.

>> next the would like to tell you -- i would like to tell you how the parents feel about the process. regarding whether the district can implement these proposals, parents have a lot of questions and a lot of doubts about their ability. is this a done deal? is the district even listening to what we are saying? this district is not giving parents a complete picture. we are being led into a trap. there is something wrong with this picture. we do not want this, but why do

you have to force it upon us? we have some recommendations. we understand the district is facing a lot of complex challenges, and we have recommendations but will address some of these challenges, and we will talk about four specific areas. number one -- quality schools. #2, expanding language pathways'. #3, student assignment. number four, communication with parents. >> now i'm going to talk about the challenges of school

quality. we are losing students during middle school years. schools have different approaches. . some schools have honors tracks, and many schools do not. there is uneven access to curriculum and electives among different schools. here are some recommendations. school quality -- address issues related to differentiation and honors programs. ahold principals and teachers accountable to higher standards of support and to meet these needs. place highly effective, culturally competent principals and teachers in schools that are struggling. ensure all students have access to high-quality electives in all middle schools, including english lernearner and special

education students. >> now we are going to move on to the challenges related to language. there is a legal and moral obligation to serve the needs of students who speak many different when richards. the districts has invested finan and -- who speak many different languages. the district has invested in language programs. all parents want their kids to have access to a multi language education. in addition to providing materials to accommodate the expanding language programs, there is a shortage of qualified most bilingual teachers region will fly lingual teachers. our recommendations are to regional bilingual teachers. our recommendations are to establish priorities to meet the needs of students to speak languages besides spanish, cantonese, and mandarin. for example, samoan.

inc. special education students unhinged in plans for expanding the language programs. identify the needs and strategies related to resources and the trade-off. goo>> the challenges regarding student assignments are adding to the -- they were added to the student policy at the last minute and without discussion. there is a projected increase in the middle school population. uneven enrollment now means we have some oversubscribed and under-enrolled in middle schools. there is no middle school and a few and not enough in the southeast part of the city -- in a vero -- in bayview and not

enough in the southern part of the distcity. people will not trust it is really going to happen. it is complicated to implement language pathways in the context of the system. when schools are under unrolled, it is usually because parents believe they are not high quality. now the recommendations regarding student assignment. do not implement feeder patterns. strengthen the quality of all middle schools. strengthen the mechanisms for choice in middle schools, and improve communications for families about ways different schools can address students' economic and in richmond and nevis -- enrichment needs, and

hence art, science, and technology. -- enhance art, science, and technology. established pathways for programs putnathat combine with special needs, including english learners and special education students. focus on these tiebreakers for middle school assignments. open a high quality middle school in the bayview. communicate this plan right away including steps and a timeline. nannett>> the district is facint of challenges. in one of them is communication.

parents simply do not trust the district is really listening to them or will relate implement its plans -- really implement its plans. information relating to important district initiatives is often not fair, or even if it is not fair, it is not presented in a parent-friendly format, or if there is something, it is not translated. we have some recommendations. right now there is nobody we could go to but will be accountable for communication with families, especially

parents but do not speak english -- parents that do not speak english. recommendation to provide a parent-friendly report from the middle school, which will highlight the challenges and strengths of each school. also, to develop and share a plan for what steps will be taken to strengthen middle schools, which need to include measurable objectives and time lines. >> our next steps -- we are committed to representing the voices of families we have heard

from over the next several years. we will continue to work with and make recommendations to staff and the board of education. we know it is our task to hold you accountable to our children's education, and we will. the next slide has steps in the time line, including upcoming meetings in may and in june. tuesday, may 24, district staff gives the first reading of policy on feeder patterns. the ad hoc meeting needs to discuss the proposal. monday, june 13, the meeting neva -- meet to discuss the middle school proposal. the board votes on the middle school assignment policy, and if you have questions and want to contact us or take a look at our full report of findings and recommendation, it is also

available online at ppss.org, and our numbers are on the side as well. good hikes it was really great to see it -- >> it was really great to see some of you. he answered a lot of questions, and it was good to be a parent and to have him there to present answers and questions from the parents. a goo>> do you have any questiou want to ask bowman -- want to ask? is there any member of the public who would like to comment? we have somebody come into the microphone, but maybe we want to hear the staff presentation first.