to graduate successfully. i just wanted to mention to our listeners at home that we are offering a large offering of summer school through our after- school funding of elementary and middle school students. when you think about high-school is where our void is. i want to mention that these are the fall semester grades. when we see that a student has a d in the fall semester, they could raise their grades higher. if we are anticipating that these all grades are a good indication of the students that will probably receive a d or f in the spinring semester. we may need to take into account

that there may be more students that receives f's. math is sequential in nature. they may be receiving an f for the spring semester. this is a good indication that this is a great need. this is our first class that we are trying to graduate in four years a-g qualified. our board has been -- we will find out what the state of the state funding is. is it just a matter of money for the district? you brought up avalos and other class work such as biology,

which is a very typical class that a ninth grader might take as a requirement for two years of laboratory science. many eighth graders take the course and they are not successful. this is their introduction to a highly rigorous science course. our ninth graders, many of them come in not prepared. they can do any sort of labora tory science preparation. >> they are among our highest. our biology numbers overall is 355 students, or 14%. the aspect breakdown, the numbers are even higher, the percentage of failures. >> thank you.

director mendoza. commissioner maufasmendoza: i jt wanted to share as an advocate who has expressed very strong concerns about this particular area and a day later we met with the chancellor and the president at the city college. some of the work we are going to be doing together with the school district and in collaboration is looking to see how we can serve this very targeted group of students who are doing better at night great. we are looking at two options. one would be to have the ninth grade come to the sites that the school district would have open anyway. the second option was provided by the president and the chancellor but the opportunity to be on campus.

we would hire our own high school teachers, but we would have an opportunity to be on campus. we would be working through those options. those services would be going specifically to our ninth graders who are performing with d's and f's. >> are there any other colleagues? thank you kamala doctor -- you, doctor. we will open in up for public comment. i have three cards in front of me. >> the speakers will have three minutes.

>> hi, members of the board of education and the board of supervisors. i just wanted to do a quick introduction to what we were doing. we had three members who wanted to speak to this issue. we have many members that have ran here from schools to make it here before the meeting is over. before we speak, we just want to say thank you so much for prioritizing a hearing about this issue today. we are extremely grateful that you responded in a quick fashion to our concerns. i just wanted to it knowledge that we really appreciate that

and we just wanted to in knowledge that we appreciate the mayor meeting with us on tuesday. >> the supervisor -- he is quick to speak in spanish and then i will read his testimony. >> [speaking spanish]

>> good afternoon, my name is marco santiago. we believe that all students should have an opportunity to get a good education, no matter what education they live in.

not everybody in our society believes that all students can be successful. most white students have high expectations and opportunities. most black and latino students get low expectations and few opportunities. we believe that the graduation requirement is the most critical promise that the city needs to make to the next generation. we need to talk to you about how this promise as falling short. me and others from the high schools and the elementary have come to city hall to give you an update on their campaign for education equity. >> my name is jennifer sanchez. i go to downtown high school. summer school is important because we need to graduate. sometimes students may take

longer. sometimes students are dealing with tons of issues that distract us from being successful. we need our city to believe in it us. our city leaders have been with us. you can offer the first class of the new graduation requirement a chance to recover credits before their 10th straight year. with more budget cuts, students are being set up for failure. our city leaders were helping those that will receive a d or f. we will get students back on track and close the opportunity gap. thank you for your support. >> i have the privilege and pleasure to be the campaign lead

for coleman advocate. the members behind me have been aware of this issue since january, when we normally would have asked about how the ninth graders have been doing. we have watched this seriously. we wanted a major partner to push for this graduation requirement. we do know that budget cuts are coming. we do know that we have sustained a lot of cuts. our city made a promise that we would like to work together to stay on track to graduate our students college and career ready. we would appreciate any help you could give to us to secure funding for summer school. these ninth graders can get the opportunity to get back on track before they go into their tent great year. we know what education research says. we know how critical this is.

summer school is not our only concern. we are concerned about what it means the next year when we will be experiencing a potential budget cuts. what will happen to our 10th graders who are our current ninth graders and our eighth graders will be next year's ninth graders. we want to come back to select committee and have a conversation about what it will look like to put better supports in place so that weekend be proactive and put some types of support in place for next year. we will have two years of classes that will have to meet the new graduation requirement. we asked two things. the first is to help figure out ways between san francisco and san francisco unified school district. we can invest in summer schools for this summer.

i wanted to highlight the difference of what coleman was asking for. in our system come a d does represent a passing grade. when students go to apply to college, colleges do not accept d's as passing grades. i wanted to highlight that. we would like to be able to come back next months to one of the select committees and talk about our recommendations for students support and talk about how a city services can be aligned to create a stronger system so that we can be more proactive and prevent students from failing. thank you so much for your time. we appreciate hearing your response. >> thank you. thank you for coming.

my question to you, your request asked for a subsequent meeting and to create a partnership about what you think would be the appropriate support services. do you happen to have a draft of some of those ideas? anybody who could see the draft would be able to formulate on the city side how they could potentially supports such requests. we could have a much more robust conversation around that when the meeting gets scheduled. >> you will see a yellow paper. we will be spending the rest of this month to finish this. >> thank you. >> we are going to be going through an extensive process to go down to san jose unified school district and talk to education experts to identify

what students supports are considered quality when it come t sito a-g. we are waiting to do more research. what we do more research, we would be glad to report it to you all. >> thank you. >> are there any other members of the public who would like to make a comment? at this time, public comment will be closed. is there one more comment? >> [inaudible] >> sure. ok, i need you to announce that all mic so that people at home know what is going on.

>> people want to do eight unitsclap with the -- do a unity clap with the city leaders. marco santiago is going to lead us. [clapping and cheering] >> thank you. on that note, colleagues, and do you have any other comments, questions? thanks again c comeolem -- thanks again, coleman, for coming out. i ask for a motion to continue.

call the chair. thank you. so moved. do we have any additional business? thank you very much. we are adjourned. >> i work with the department of environment and we are recycling

oil. thank you. we can go into a refinery and we can use it again. they do oil changes and sell it anyway, so now they know when a ticket to a. hal>> to you have something you want to get rid of? >> why throw it away when you can reuse it? >> it can be filtered out and used for other products. >> [speaking spanish] >> it is going to be a good thing for us to take used motor

oil from customers. we have a 75-gallon tank that we used and we have someone take it from here to recycle. >> so far, we have 35 people. we have collected 78 gallons, if not more. these are other locations that you can go. it is absolutely free. you just need to have the location open. you are set to go.

>> welcome to "culturewire." since december 2005, the museum of the african diaspora, known locally,moad, has presented programs that celebrate and explore the culture, history, and art of people with african descent throughout the and added states and throughout the world. the director of cultural affairs recently met with the museum

director. to learn more about the current expedition, textural rhythms, constructing the jazz tradition, contemporary african american quilts. >> welcome to "culturewire." today, we are at the museum of the african diaspora, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary occupying one of the premier cultural district in the world, the yerba buena cultural arts center in san francisco. joining me is the cultural art director. tell us what moad's mission is. what does it do? >> the museum of the african diaspora showcases the history, art, and cultural richness that resulted from the dispersal of africans throughout the world.

we do that through compelling and innovative exhibitions, public programs, and education programs. our goal is to celebrate and present for appreciation to our broad and diverse public the controversial energy contributions of people of african descent to world culture in all aspects in all areas, including politics, culture, economics, education, just in all aspects of cultural forms of expression. >> one of the fascinating things since 2005 when the museum was established, is that it has become clear from science that all of humanity originates in africa. how does that influence the education programs or presentation here at moad? >> obviously, being able to attenuate that, and there is a sign at the door that says, "when did you know that you were african?"

our point is that we share a common dna, and it connects us on a number of different levels. this institution is an institution available to everyone, a resourced for everyone. >> you have both permanent and temporary exhibitions, right? >> we do. our temporary exhibition program is one that we are restructuring. i have been here now for about a year and a few months, and as a former curator, i'm very interested in this aspect of developing the visual arts program. part of what we are looking at is using the four core seems that define our program -- origins, migration and movement, transformation, an adaptation -- as a framework for our thinking about the kinds of exhibits we present. >> we want everybody to come and see the permanent exhibition. there might be a special opportunity to visit with the

current show that you currently have, which is constructing the jazz tradition, which is a very striking exhibition of quilts. >> it is a compelling exhibit on a number of different levels. visually, it is compelling. in terms of the subject matter, in terms of the approach to materials, it is so rich and diverse. it is a colorful show, a show that is deep in content, and we know something of the history of the "'s tradition within the african-american community. it is a tradition that came from africa, has its roots in africa, but during slavery, this was a combination of things. one was a way to be able to communicate with each other, a way to create beautiful objects, and a way to create functional, utilitarian objects for the family and community. the other part that makes it so interesting is the focus on jazz. there are two attritions being celebrated here. ce