they also had an update on the requirements for high school students in sfusd. and finally we had a presentation from coleman advocates on the kinds of sore spoers that really need to be in place to -- kinds of support that really need to be in place to our students wesm did have some disappointing numbers from the first semester from students who didn't pass core courses. this is the first year that we were checting them to -- [inaudible] that was a good presentation. we also had a very interesting presentation on identifying -- on identifying students who are at risk for dropping out. there are some very specific numbers that the board were provided on eighth graders who if they have an attendance record of less than 87.5% of the time or have failed a core course in the eighth grade, they're far more likely to drop out later. and so we've identified 182, i

believe it is, aggete graders who now that they're moving to high school, we know who they are, we know that they're at risk and we can follow these students and support them better. so i found that data really interesting and i don't know was it provided to the rest of the board? or could we provide that to the rest of the board? i think that would be interesting for people to see. the next meeting will be on may 2. we will be discussing the plans for inclusive practices and i've asked uesf for their concern and asked for special ed to talk about their concerns and issues surrounding the inclusive practices and we will follow up the next night with staff at the committee of the whole on the special ed redesign. >> the crick -- the curriculum committee we start at 5:30. president mendoza: thank you.

augmented rules and policy and legislative commission. commissioner murase: my report will be brief. we reviewed legislative proposals and relied allegation on csba recommendations. i have that available if there are members of the board who would like to review the specific legislation. the committee is looking at a formal process for appointments to different committees that we have and the first step was really developing a full roster of the various committees and task forces that we appoint to. so i want to thank nancy for her staffing of this particular effort and it's still in process. we will continue to keep you updated as we come closer to a formal written policy. president mendoza: thank you. and a report on the committee of the whole, we had a presentation

on the 2011-2012 budget overview of the developments since the tax extension has not quite yet gotten onto the ballot. so we're looking at an additional $25 million in cuts in addition to the $113 million that currently exists and we're also having our schools consider their schedule b or their budget b with, option b, b for bad. and so we're preparing for the storm that's going to be hitting us very soon and these tax extensions, if this doesn't happen, is really going to devastate our school quite significantly. and i know that the superintendent and staff has -- have met with the principals and we're just preparing for next year. and then we -- i think that's

actually all that he covered on that. item t is a report on the closed section actions. -- closed session actions. commissioner wynns: i just wanted to very quickly mention an event that i was able to attend last friday which was kind of ribbon-cutting, i guess, for the project at gordon j. lowe which is a joint project with a number of city partners including the public utilities commission which is rainwater collection project, where water is collected off the roof of the school, held in sis alternatives, comes down a pipe system and is used to warden the gardens, -- wattwater the gardens, one of those that i was amazed and pleased we were able to do at all, gibbon the neighborhood and the size of the school yards. so it was really quite extraordinary and a mural

describing the sistern and water collection system. this is a project, one of our green school yard partners, but it's a living library project. and it was rling amazing and there were a lot of people there and i think we do a lot of wonderful projects just of this nature except what's unique about this is that it was funded by the p.u.c. this is about managing groundwater, diverting water, even in, again, the most densely populated neighborhood in san francisco and according to board of supervisors, president david chiu, who was present, the second most densely popularitied in the country second to china toub in -- chinatown in new york. it was quite wonderful and i wanted to refer to that and to really give kudos to the people involved in it. but more to the model that we actually, working with something that clearly is of great benefit to our students and to our

schools, with limited resources, but that actually is a kind of perfect model of collaboration with other agencies because it meets their goals, using mostly their resources with a little -- the minimum amount of resources from us. and has great benefit to us and to our students. that's it. president mendoza: thank you. other commissioners? commissioner ye. -- yee. vice president yee: thank you. i just wanted to add another happy note to our board meeting. this is an opportunity for may 7 , we're going to have five schools participating in this program on a saturday. a city college from one to three. and -- from 1:00 to 3:00. and basically it's to take off from the documentary about the kids in new york ske citi where they learned partner dancing in

the fourth and fifth grade. this is going to be about 50 or 60 fourth and fifth graders from these five schools that will be participating and they're going to be dancing things that they'd never think they'd be dancing. they're going to be doing salsa and swing and it's going to be great. i've seen them practice for the last two months, basically, and they're getting pretty excited about coming and if you have time, please come and support them because this is the first in san francisco and you're going to be basically missing history because i anticipate that this is going to grow and grow and grow and also if that's not enough, the middle school jazz band will be there to accompany them. so please come if you have time. >> where at city college? vice president yee: yeah, i'm so sorry. city college at the new wellness center, it's the beautiful place and they have these huge,

humongous dance classrooms and studios and it's in room 301. president mendoza: is this this an organization that you started? [laughter] vice president yee: yes. as most of you know i have a passion for this and i just love the fact that when i saw that movie, the positive stuff that comes out of this, it's not just about dancing, it's really about a lot of other things in terms of the discipline that they acquired to learn this and it gives them some focus, just like any other art form, this is going to give a lot of kids opportunities to do things that they really enjoy. so i'm right in the middle of forming this thing. if any of you want to participate in informing it, just -- in forming it, just let me know. i need some help.

commissioner murase: i wanted to report that last thursday i attended an indian family night held at horris mann middle school. there are 350 native american families in our school district and i'm pleased to report there's an active parent advisory council that meets monthly in the indian resource room at horris mann and i was able to report about the decision to change the burnett campus to the havard school because as we learned peter burnett, the first governor of california, has been very -- has some very racist policies, including extermination of native people. so they welcomed that news. i just wanted to share that the cam county of science haas has some upcoming free day -- the california county of science has some upcoming free days. may 13, 14 and 15 will be free for families in zip codes 94127,

94131 and 9413 and families can look that up on the academy of science website. president mendoza: thank you. i attended the district four, district seven budget town hall. i'm not attending fun stuff like you guys. but it's been really great that the mayor and supervisors have been including the school district in that discussion and i know that others have been going to the district meetings and there are a couple more left and then we also attended their rec and park egg hunt that they had for 4,500 students and many of our students actually performed onstage as part of the entertainment. and we got to be part of the rib cookoff which was really fun and then we attended a really great event last night held by mo-magic and they were celebrating, it was their fourth year and it was just a really wonderful event to see our students performing and to see so many community members in the western edition come out and support their efforts.

that was great. >> rosa parks school community invited me to be on their v.i.p. cable car in which i did. and also with chris and his son quinn and we had a fabulous time. i wanted to thank the rosa parks community for the invitation and i hope to join them next year. vice president yee: sometimes i don't remember when things happen. not sometimes, always it seems like. but did the visit from -- that visit was in between -- ok, i should mention that. madam leo is from china and she's, i guess, we couldn't figure out exactly, but she's like the equivalent of hillary clinton and very high level official that came to san

francisco but -- after -- visiting the president. and they made it a decision to visit one of our child development centers and when they were planning it they had anticipated that, ok, she's going to be there only half an hour, it's a tight schedule and once she got there she wouldn't leave. she just loved it there. the kids were great, the staff was great. i have to give a lot of credit to the facilities people who went in there for several days to get the place prepared for the visit and she actually stayed there for about an hour. not even then, when she was ready to leave, they jumped into the car and everybody thought, she jumped back out. and she brought out her photo album with of her grandkids to show us. it was so cute.

all that, she really made an argument of how important child development is in preschool and so forth and when she was talking about the fact that they're going to expand their budget because they're doing so well in china and expand 50% of the -- you know, into their child development budget. they're going to train, this is bizarre, they're going to train next year, what, 800,000 new teachers. >> 800,000 preschool teachers. vice president yee: yeah, next year. superintendent garcia: did you ask her for foreign aid for news is vice president yee: i should have. >> she said they were going between 2010 and 2012, that they were going to increase their education budget, not just preschool. by 50%. president mendoza: any other reports? thank you. so we have item t is a report on closed session actions.

and a claim against the district in title p.b. case number 2011010277. the board of education by a vote of five ayes and one ncaa. and one absent. approved a settlement. item u is other informational items and in our agenda we have the quarterly report on the williams uniform demraints january through march 2011. informational ncaa notice, classified personnel transactions. item v, this meeting is adjourned. good night, everyone.

mayor lee: good morning, everyone. good morning, san francisco. it is great to see you here this morning. i would ask before we get started today, if you would join me in a moment of silence for the people of japan who have been so tragically impacted by the disastrous earthquake and tsunami there. if we could have a moment of silence please. thank you very much. good morning. welcome to the 2011 bay area council outlook conference. we have an outstanding agenda for you today. we have been doing this for seven years. every one of these has been very exciting. i think the program we put together is an extremely robust

and eclectic program. i think we are all going to learn something. it is a place for action as well. the whole history taking place here, and outlook that results in real action out in the environment. we are really excited about the discussions that will take place today. they will be thought-provoking. i would be remiss if i did not remind everyone to please turn off your cellphone ringers so we do not have any distractions. there is one exception to that rule, and that would be larry bair. i hear that your ringtone is "we are the champions," and that one is ok with me.

speaking of larry, the giants were pleased to share with us the world series trophy. [applause] the giants have brought so much to this city, sharing with us this incredible trophy. it is just outstanding. it will be at the giants' boost today when we have a break -- booth today when we have a break. you can take a few photos. but do not take it home with you. you'll be hearing from me from time to time today, so i will keep this short. to kick off our events and provide welcoming remarks, allow me to introduce our newest rock star -- mayor ed lee. has shown that he is a natural for the job. i have been closed to him for

decades. he is the head of the human- rights commission. he went on to become the city purchaser. mayer brown appointed him to be the director of public works, and he spent several years as city administrator. i never would have thought that ed lee would be mayor of san francisco. because he is such a can-do kind of person, such a great problem solver, but i never thought of him as someone running a political institution, and san francisco is certainly that. but he has shown tremendous prowess in the job. i think he is perfect for it. most recently, his move to keep twitter headquartered in san francisco was a big thing and showed a major commitment to keep jobs here, and i want to thank mayor lee for stepping up and doing that. obviously, as san francisco

goes, and in many ways, so goes the region. i really appreciate the work that ed lee is doing. if there is some way we can often -- if there is some way we can convince him to stay on, your suggestions are welcome. ladies and gentlemen, without further read too, welcome s.f. mayor, ed lee. [applause] mayor lee: good morning. thank you for that wonderful introduction. i just want to preface it by saying, when you get a call in your in hong kong, and that call comes from former mayor willie brown, it is hard to say no. i have taken up this challenge. i want to thank you, members of the bay area council, for your

tireless work periods it is significant -- for your tireless work. it is significant this group has come together this morning around the critical issues of the bay area. education. infrastructure. sports. there is no issue more important today than the bay area's ability to compete and win business in the global economy. in san francisco, creating and retaining jobs has been a top priority, because that is what helps keep families in san francisco and helps them thrive. we are leading the way in education, health care, and the environment. for the past three months, we have made significant progress in making sure our business climate is alive and welcoming. let's begin with our central market payroll tax exclusion. yes. we have got a very important final vote today that allows us

really to refresh our efforts, to rebuild midmarket street. and that is for the company that is so important, the twitter company. but not just twitter. twitter knows they are going to be an anchor for us and they are already attracting other businesses such as burning man, the cultural arts. you're going to see these cultural arts agencies, all live along midmarket. that is what we are trying to do. we're trying to make improvements to encourage business to continue coming to the area, and to create improvements for the whole area. the city is also working on improving blight. just last week when we had our first vote, not celebrating just because of twitter, we walked together -- with twitter, with the shorenstein group, and began

at the noon substation on fifth street. we are going to make it safe for everybody. you are going to be able to walk that street and not feel the traditional fears you felt before. we are going to improve the blight. i am proud to be joined by some many great reporters and advocates. market street is in inderal in the diverse makeup of san francisco. we will make sure it becomes a bustling central locale for innovation. we are also thrilled twitter is joining us in central market. that stretch is going to be opened for change. it is not just to have twitter there. but as you know, and as events unfolded throughout the world this past beginning year and

last year, we saw the product of twitter changing world of dance all across -- world events all across the international stage. after 3:00 today, we can simply announce that twitter is made and engineered in san francisco, with 400 million users across the world. thank you for your support on that. [applause] and of course, just last week, we simultaneously announced that burning man will be moving into the bay area, and already i am tickled with some invitations to go to burning man this year. i do not know if i am going to do that. but they just announced a five- year lease over 18,000 square feet to be located on midmarket street. that is a wonderful follow-up.

there will be more to come. twitter has many other firms that will follow. you want to be there with the creativity they will bring to midmarket as well. these are great additions we have in the works. it is also no surprise that the 34th america's cup is coming to san francisco in 2013, and we are hard at work in preparing that event. as you know, we announced the people plan, the plan which will move some 200,000 people every single day, on march 31. two years out, we are aggressively trying to meet our commitments for this spectacular 2013 event. we are trying to set a new standard because we know that not only moving to hundred thousand people will be -- 200,000 people will be a challenge, but sustaining the events will constantly be our challenge.

we are aiming to make the 34th america's cup the most transit, bicycle, and pedestrian-friendly as forcing event -- sporting event in our history. strategic adaptability and the positive legacy. anything we build must last all long time -- a long time, beyond the america's cup event. we want to make sure all our neighborhoods -- chinatown, the mission, and north beach, the south east sector -- all come for this event. we are engaging transit advocates, and neighbors, and the public, beginning to ensure that we meet transportation needs of the races, as well as our residents and commuters. we are doing this, as i said,

the san francisco y, in partnership with the public -- the san francisco way, in partnership with the public and our stakeholders. the transportation plan is up on the website already. we will end -- we will wait until the end of may before we published the final document. between now and then, we will have a great amount of feedback. we are leveraging resources and enthusiasms to set new standards, and we will leave a positive long-term legacy. let me reenforce the america's cup is about bringing thousands of jobs to san francisco and generating revenue for our city. we are also working on one of the hardest topics not only we are facing, not only the region is facing, but the state of california is facing. that is pension reform. i am working hard with staff,

labor groups, in my budget team. one of the most pressing issues we have to deal with is to make sure our city remains solvent through the hard economic times, like the ones we are still facing, and that challenges us to make sure we are still reforming the system. i still got everybody at the table. and we are about to launch into our reconfirmation in a couple of weeks. it is my hope that we keep the city together and we produce one ballot measure in november and the changes we have in pension reform our long term. that we fix it and we fix it for everybody for generations, so they will have a dignified pension system to work with. this all ties as back to investing in our neighborhoods and our communities. we can make the positive

investments to keep our families in our city. and i want to make sure you here this, because i want sentences get to be the northern terminus for high-speed rail in the state. -- i want san francisco to be the northern terminus for high- speed rail in the state. we are committed to that. it will be the most beautiful terminal he will see in your lifetime. -- you will see in your lifetime. we are working hard to keep the city together. i find every day, people are telling us they want jobs. they want their dignity to be reflected in having a good job. i cannot do it without making sure we have unity at our board of supervisors. i am very mindful that every single day i have a private meeting with each member of the board of supervisors, a different member every other day, talking about what they need, treating them with respect, making sure the