the law case of 74. lau versus nicoles. >> they fell that they need, you know, for the group of youngsters who come to the country with limited english and they were not getting the full benefit the educationals and are not being taught the language that they understand. >> there are 3 goals in bilingual education programs to improve efficiency. to continue teaching core curriculum in student's primary languages and to maintain student's cultural identity. >> i think that the key question is that for student who coming from a foreign country with a low level of english proefficiency, how are you going to help these kids be able to take the challenge and being

successful in the school? and just take an example, a student coming from china and who may be at a high school level and then he is got his education, you know, experience from china only in chinese. and now he's in this new country and he has to challenge the high school school curriculum all in english. and it's a huge challenge there. >> because of the immigration act of 1965 san francisco schools had a sharp increase in the number of immigration student in thes late 60's. these students struggled in an english only environment feeling alienal alienat alienated. teacherers were ill-equipped to teach the classes and were frustrated. they heard the complaints of

parents and teachers. the san francisco school district add administrators realized students were not learning properly they felt they did not have adequate resources nor the responsibility to teach the students english. in 1970, there was a class action lawsuit against the school administration. lau, a first grader at jean parker elementary in china town was the first named plaintiff. board of education president peter nicoles was named as defendant. after repeated apeels lau versus nicoles was heard at the u.s. supreme court on december 10, 73. the court ruled in favor of the students stating there it is no equality of treatment merely by providing the same facilities. students who don't understand english are foreclosed from

meaningful education. the chinese affirmative actions and teachers teachers were trained in bilingual education and programs were developed in schools across san francisco. in the 30 years since the lau decision bilingual programs continue to be controversial. many who of educators believe students will function better in mainstream classrooms. at times bilingual education has been attacked by people who are making a biased point in immigration policy. >> in 1988 another turn in the legislation and the preposition 227 passing in california, which only to really redefine the program requirements for english learners. in that preposition and the only

want to use enlish as the only medium for instruction for the immigrant students. and san francisco regardless of the preposition 227 and still be able until now to offer bilingual education because our district is choose to exercise our right in under the federal law of the la uconn cent decree. that's why we are able to provide the bilingual programs in the district. >> today the ssufg has 15,000 students who speak one of 72 languaging other than english. the district offers heavy 2 way emersion programs in cantonese, spanish, mandarin and korean. now we have language enrichment

programs. the ap i education coalition still stresses the need for language access for more waves of immigrants such as southeast asians and pacific islanders. >> it takes 7 years for a student to build the english proefficiency. we don't want student's education disrupted. so educational system is our core and responsibility to make sure that that bilingual needs are being met so the educational process is not interrupted. the lau decision impacted schools across the country. for more than 1800 chinese-american children considered in 1973. the decision has also know cited in many language access cases including voter information and ballot information.

thanks to those who pursued the la ukase in the 77's students can be multili multilingual. individual bilingualeducation. org. kerny street workshops began as a community teaching space inside the international hotel. after the evictions they relocated but kept their name and community spirit. during the 80's and 90's ksw curated the american jazz festiv festiv festival. it's gallery feature artists and host of the annual ground breaking festival. they remain within the

community. kerny street is still home with people can express what it means to be asian american. >> we are celebrating or 35th anniversary. in august we were founded in 1972. there are 3 founders. there was not a lot of original art work coming out of china town they wanted to provide incentives for development and create expressions they opened in in the international hotel in manila town and the first the programming was a lot of workshop and silk screening and sewing, music and visual arts and different kinds of performance. in the 70's ksw was involved in the actions going to the actions and when they were being evicted from the hotel they were protesting and it was that kind

of action. it's evolved a lot from that from the 70's but there's all the artists we worked with all have a very specific political viewpoint. i think that -- a space for artists to express those views creatively and invite community dialogue. >> in 91 mark ezu launched the asian american jazz festival, ksw sponsored the event. >> the asian american jazz festival continued ksw's mission poets found their voices. ksw recognized a new generation of asian americans. the next initiative was laurened

in 1998 to promote emerging artists under 35. that year they took a chance to see if san francisco was ready for a new asian american art's festival. >> hundreds of people came more than expected. there was a community need for the space for emerging artists and audiences to see it. one of the good thing about ksw because we work with emerging artists a lot of people don't think of themselves as artists until they become involved with ksw. whether it's a reading at a workshop or if they are in the festival for emerging artists. a lot of people say they never started thinking of themselves as an artist until they perform indeed that festival. the feedback i get when i talk

to people is that they have a unique sense of home when they come here and also of feeling they are part of a very rare community that's strong and giving and rich. not everybody will have material that's about asian americans. not everybody will have work where you look at it and say that's an identity piece exploring their family and history. what we are trying to do is create a space for asian american artists and community members to come together and think about what it means to be asian american and how there is not a strict definition of that but it's changing and expanding and also relevant it's relevant to all of national issues. and human issues personal issues. >> these conversations are taking place at a unique time in

kerny street's history. original ksw measures are interacting be artists. ksw's community acrosses in generatio generations. >> it's great to see the things asian american artists are doing now different from what we were doing we were doing murals and different art. others come in and they this is not asian american i don't understand what i'm looking at there is a range of people's reactions it's a different space, it's a lot of different artists and there are new generations involved. i hope they will be radically different in 20 years. ksw's mission and to promote art. it's difficult to quantify but i think that it definitely

connects people and we place an emphasis on building the community and connecting with organizations through the program. i guess it's successful in that sense. i know people feel at home here. >> to learn more visit kernystreet. org. >> in each of these stores we witnessed how the asian pacific american community come together for a cause. some of the movements that began in san francisco have had a lasting impact nationwide. join us in our celebration. celebrate heritage, celebrate unity.

>> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i am the secretary to the police commission. on behalf of the commission, i would like to welcome everyone to the san francisco police department's 2011 medal of valor ceremony. please stand for the pledge of allegiance.

i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america into the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. please be seated. mayor lee was scheduled to attend but was not able to make it. he sent his congratulations to our medal of valor recipients. we're joined by the police commissioners and the commission president, vice-president, commissioners. also on the stage this evening we have the chief of police gregory surh. we have the deputy chief of special operations and the deputy chief of the operations bureau. we have the deputy chief from

the airport bureau. we have commander in the operations bureau, the commander from the sfmta, the commander in chief of staff, and the commander from the operations bureau. this evening we are going to start with a few words from the chief of police gregory suhr. >> good evening. i want to thank everybody for being here. we are a very proud police department, rich in tradition. this week, we had a promotion ceremony on monday where we promoted sergeants, lieutenants, captains, and

members of the command staff. we've recently brought back the retirement ceremony. i think for everyone in the police department, this particular ceremony stands above the rest. every day, the men and women of the san francisco police department go out and put it on the line every single day. they leave their families and little ones -- it is so great to see the kids and parents here. every day, they go out to put themselves between the bad guys themselves without us. more than every once in awhile, the officers do something extraordinary. you will hear some stories tonight that are going to make you amazed that someone would do that for someone they have never met before. i know one of the stories myself. i could not believe in it and i was actually there. i do not want to take a lot of time. i want the little ones to listen. your moms and dads are

unbelievably brave people who do the right thing every day. for the families here that raised these officers, god bless you. san francisco thanks you for loaning them to us. without further ado, i will let the lieutenant explain the process. it is a link the one to get here. these are not awards we pass out lightly -- it is a lengthy process to get here. these are not awards we pass out lightly. >> as the chief mentioned, it is a long process. i will go over the highlights. when officers actions are such that any supervisor takes note of a store near bravery, they prepare a report along with supporting documentation and forward it to the commanding officer. the commanding officer conducts a personal investigation of the event. if they approve the nomination, they prepare a report for the chief of police.

the chief of police forwards these nominations to the police commissioner's office. the office for was the nomination package to award screening committee. the committee is composed of three captains within the department. if the award screening committee approves the nomination, they send it back so the secretary may schedule an award committee meeting. this is a meeting of all department captains and command staff. they get together to review the nominations. the nominating commanding officer presents the nomination. the nominated officers are present to answer any questions the committee may have. by secret ballot, the awards committee votes on whether to approve the medal of valor and what grade. the chief of police boards approved the nominations to the police commissioner for final approval. you can see it is a lengthy process.

these awards are taken very seriously. to give a few words also this evening, we will have the commission president speak. >> ladies and gentlemen, i really want to thank you for being here tonight to honor these officers. every police officer that enters the department enters with the goal of serving the community and helping others. these officers are getting medals of valor. valor means something extraordinary. they risk their lives for somebody they do not even know. those are very special people you are related to. your mom, your dad, your son, your daughter. you should be very proud. i am honored to be here tonight to stand in front of these four officers. they are unbelievable. i thank them for their service. ordinarily, there is one

commissioner in the meeting when they vote. it is an awesome experience. i will ask commissioner slaughter who was present at the time of this note to say a few words. >> thank you. next time, and give me a little more warning if you are going to ask me to speak. i will say this. i had a great honor to sit on the fifth floor of the hall of justice some months back as the entire command staff and captains of the san francisco police department heard the stories of this tremendous bravery and valor of these officers. it is the first time i sat through the meeting. i did not have a vote. i am glad did not. it is an awesome responsibility. i can tell you each of those members of the committee take their obligation and

responsibility in considering these metals -- imedals industry seriously. these are not likely awarded. the officers in front of you have really done tremendous things in service to the city. i was honored and proud to be able to sit and listen to these stories. i will tell you that there were other stories told that were tremendous. it goes to show how significant these awards are and how significant the actions of these officers were that there are not others sitting here before you. the officers of the police department to themselves in harm's way every day. it is much more common than we would like to think that they have to take actions that are just tremendous and that average folks in sen.

cisco are tremendously indebted to them for. trust me. -- average folks in san francisco are tremendously indebted to them for. trust me. this is a tremendous honor. thank you. >> to present this evening's first award is the commanding officer of the northern station. >> as the chief said, it is a great honor. this is the highest honor we get as commanding officers. i will recount the events that led up to this evening. i do not want to miss anything so i will read it. on the night of july 23, 2010, a woman was driving home. she noticed a group of people involved in an altercation near her home.

she backed into her driveway when the subject approached the driver's side window of her car. she locked her car doors afraid for her safety. the suspect, a subject at that point, yelled at her to get out of the car. he produced a gun and finally struck the window shattering it. the victim. for her life got out. the suspect fled in her car. the same suspect accompanied by another attempted an additional carjacking prior. carjacking is when a car is taken at the point of a weapon. the initial reporting officers searched for the suspects to no avail. a teletype was issued. officer hayes was working alone at night. she searched the car and suspect all night. at 5:30 in the morning, officer hayes was still actively looking for the car. at the intersection she saw the car that matched the broadcast

description. it to occur several blocks to catch up to the car. she was able to confirm the license plate and suspect's description. she advised our communications center of her findings and initiated the traffic stop using her license siren. the suspect driver failed to yield. a pursuit and sid. the officer was joined by another unit. she pursued the suspect vehicle as it began driving through red lights at a high rate of speed. the suspect vehicle driver continued through four police districts with a blatant disregard for the law. the suspect driver lost control of the car in the parking lot of the recreation center. the other suspect in the car climbed into the rear seat of a suspect vehicle. officer hayes noticed this as the car was coming to an abrupt stop after the collision.

she noticed a muzzle flash. she was slowing per vehicle and broadcasting the movements. she managed to transition her gun to her weaker hand and returned fire to the suspect. the heavily wooded area provided the suspects the ability to evade capture. the officers searched the area and found a fully loaded handgun outside of the project a vehicle. in conclusion at great risk to result in in defense of the public in general, officer hayes' vigilant pursuit of two violent felons even after being shot at is being awarded the bronze medal of valor. [applause] congratulations.

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>> to present the next award, chief gregory suhr. >> do you have it? [inaudible] >> i want to start by thanking the captain knew -- for allowing me the honor to present this. the captain would normally read this as the captain of the station. i was there that night.

i could probably tell the story. i will not get another chance to do this. here we go. on september 14, officers sl lane, august, and daugherty took action putting themselves in harm's way. in so doing, these officers saved lives. . jordan and crime partners planned to rob someone. text messages between jordan and his inside person ms. before the robbery spoke of no one being there but him and the ho and doing it my way. it said they were the new bonnie and clyde. minutes later, injury was made

by the home invasion team. after minimal discussion, dennis dickson later murdered on the floor. a woman inside undetected by the murderous team of home invasion robbers slipped into a closet and called 911 while the crime was still in progress. the officers responded to the woman's 911 call of the shooting that just occurred not knowing the robbers might still be in the house. two officers were first to arrive ma-- made contact with the frightened neighbors. they said they sought a suspect we eastbound -- flee eastbound from the home. they said there were still subject in the house with guns. a shot had been fired immediately after