in their families and other things. >> my first one is prioritize youth when it comes to distributing the budget. the second would be to change the education system. i feel like currently, the teacher lectures, i do homework, and i take tests, and that is how my grade is determined. i wish classes were more hands- on. i feel like a lot of people forget everything they learn after the test, so if everything were more hands-on, i feel like people would learn more. >> [inaudible] >> yes, i thought about youth organizing. i think we have a lot of community leaders in this room. i think you could do anything with support and resources, so i think having more adult allies

available to us and the support, i think we all have ideas, and to have the support and funding to do those things is where we need to see those. i am going to close out this piece. you all came up with really amazing ideas. they are going to be typed up and sent to the white house. could you pass this toward the front? >> we know that you all have a lot of burning questions. so we will he be about 15 to 20 minutes to ask questions about the process. would anyone like to ask

questions, something that has been bothering you throughout the process? >> [inaudible] if you have any questions in general about the roundtable process, about what is going to happen after words, this data that is collected, now would be the time to ask. >> [inaudible] >> the question is how, given the tools that are locally run, thanks to people like you, how are we going to come up with the best policies? and this is less focused on schools then it is on young people. in school and our school, in high school, community colleges, for your-year schools, not in school, and making sure that

there are job training programs and other programs. we are taking these ideas from around the country. there are some programs that are specifically geared to elementary/secondary education. the no child left behind program has been around for -- it started out as part of the civil-rights movement in the 1960's. the first federal support for public education came in 1966 and 1967, the same time as the housing act, which is my work. same time as fair employment, voting rights, immigration act. it started out as the elementary and secondary education act. over the years, it has been updated every few years. in the past years, we have had what is called no child left behind. a lot of concern, a lot of criticism back and forth about what it was. it brought on the advent of a lot of the standardized testing.

we have had schools that are failed schools, troubled schools. all of that is now part of the federal policy. a lot of how washington, the department of education and congress acts, it goes through promoting things that through federal dollars, promoting good ideas -- sometimes, it is just sending dollars down to the school district saying, "you know what is best. you have these discussions about how best the money can be used." there is a balance between what the federal government wants done and also what the locals want done. >> can i just add a little bit to that? it is a difficult for our secretary of education to do national policy when all of our districts are very different. but some of the things you guys spoke about today, we do try to tap into those resources.

the grants that help our lowest performing schools in our district. those additional dollars that come down from the feds for that. there is a jobs bill that enables us to keep our teachers because of the budget cuts that have been devastating from the state level. there's a lot of different things, whether it is the juvenile justice component, whether it is looking at family services or thinking about promise neighborhoods. we will be looking to see how we bring communities together in different areas of our city, and we will apply it to those dollars. we do take advantage of what the feds do think about. so a lot of the things you guys are talking about today -- some of those things are already in the works. this was a great opportunity to hear more about those solutions. so there would be more dollars available for the needs in the different communities. you have to remember, federal dollars go across the nation, and we are one of the largest cities in the country.

there is a role and suburban areas all vying for the same dollars, so it is really challenging. >> being the san francisco has a semi-huge population of people will live in underdeveloped housing, what are you guys doing to try to combat these problems? you have kids growing up in the harshest of poverty trying to go to school every day. their house is not up to building codes, and full. and number of things that the planning department -- and many other entities have to come back to get that up to par. what are you guys doing to combat that across the united states? >> one of the major things that my department does, the department of housing and urban development, is to support the community development block

grant program. is dollars every year that go to a particular community. it is called the entitlement communities. san francisco is one of them. the actual decisions -- sometimes we set priority type of programs, talking about neighborhoods to be able to say these are some>> on the whole, o local communities to have meetings by people across the community. what are the impediments? and what are the impediments to fair housing picks -- housing? we're looking at the impact of where you grow up, relived obviously determines where you go school. it determines some many other outcomes in your life. the supreme court made it more difficult for school officials to fight segregation. in terms of the enrollment

patterns, where students can go to school. the school officials can't deal with desegregation and can't take on housing. people have to do it. we have to reduce concentration of poverty and make sure that thinking through all the various types of investments, it is housing a certain place. are there grocery stores around there? other types of amenities can be placed. is that the volume that they have on local business? some of the work that is going to be done, in the next 20 or 30 years, those are not going to be developments that are partly funded by other places.

it is a matter of getting communities together so that we know how badly things are going to be done. i think people are entitled to know what is going on with the budgets? a lot of the things you have identified as barriers, it is extraordinarily important to know what people perceive as barriers? you are entitled to get it. they should be providing it in a better way. some of these things are actually happening in some of these things are clearly not happening. it is better in terms of what is our strategy moving forward. or is it already there?

what if a student to an on to the west side of town to the east side of town? with this a this is exactly what i get on my part of town? are with this be extraordinarily different? thus we have the level of communication and knowledge, they can shape a lot of the decision making. >> how will our input today affect your decision making? thus the in formation and perspectives that are here are going to be taken down. it will evaluate them compared to other groups like us in different places around the country. those are to see perhaps different themes, the secretary

of education secretary of housing and urban development. on june 20, it is the public housing authorities across the country were having a father's day focusing on the importance of the father and the family, whether it's health education information about domestic violence. though the types of things that the federal government can do to support local level. occur due to look at it. of the san francisco going to participate in that. we in fair housing have put out new policies to protect 11 that are in public housing that may be subject to domestic violence.

typically, if a crime goes on, in your unit, which is grounds for an election. if the crime happens to be domestic violence, it is blatantly unfair to pick that person or the whole family out because of the violence they were a victim of. that is potentially gender discrimination. some of the things that we are doing regarding lgbt families. traditionally, the mother has been -- the family has been mother, father, dodd, etc.. and our job to be reflective of what is going on america of 2011 is to be open to all families.

we are setting up policies later this year that decision making on housing cannot be based upon sexual orientation. it can't be based on gender identity or marital status. ñ9q back and we can maybe shape regulation or law to be responsive to be reflective. >> what about the communities so that we know how this is going to be -- so we know something tangible that actually came out of this not a part of the

processes we are taking this downhill when we're taking it back to the white house. will develop a report and will be confused in the different departments. and depending on how the information shakes out, it could lead to a particular programs or legislative changes. that could mean greater communication. a lot of what we're doing is supporting local communities. the decision making about how dollars are used are made right here in san francisco. in that respect, this information today will feed into our own process and certainly with the city officials. i learned a lot from today. i would love to come back and

say that we met -- what did we learn in the days or 120 days? and others being held accountable to you. we will come back and say this is what we have learned in other parts of the country in here is what we think we will go forward on a. and what will we do to get a lot of this done? >> san francisco's i is a big important city. you have access to your mayor, to supervisor cohen, president of the board of education, and a lot of people.

these other people that make the decisions. we'll let you know what we have done so there is not just one opportunity but multiple opportunities. >> [inaudible] >> the media process, the national one is going to be done a little bit quicker than that. there'll be an indication of the next couple of months about what we have learned a we can do with the information to happen to come back earlier than annually to continue the dialogue.

>> how does the process of the other services other than housing hopefully here in san francisco? >> affects all properties. if you have an apartment or a home and you have been discriminated against, we can take action. in housing decisions, where you live as an impact on some the other things. what your access is the hospitals, healthy foods, playgrounds, etc. pierhead as a platform for advancement and empowerment, it is really important. is is an indirect way of dealing with education issues. it is also just as important.

>> and beyond the individual decisions that need to be made, i can't stress the importance of the communication enough. and also, we are obligated to let you know what is going on whether it is washington or city hall. the young people, 20 or 25 years old, they made major changes because they were able to communicate and go through the various social media being used. they turned around the leadership of the country. the conduct of an international level they can certainly be done in terms of getting issues on the table and having been treated seriously. they're about 20 young people and seven cisco.

by virtue of what you have done, your leaders. you're speaking for many others. you have the ability to go back and talk to people. and your focus on making sure that the under youth know about what their rights are and about what they're different choices are. when you're a junior in high school, things may be too late. a junior in high school is the best person to be talking to a sixth grader or seventh grader so they can speak the same language and get them focused on the right road. each one of us has a responsibility. you are more than fulfilling your responsibility today in helping us and helping others. the the words are going back to washington d.c..

analysts accountable to see what changes need to be made. >> i want to say that the work that you guys have done today has been phenomenal. this has been re. of a second of the name of participate in forms like this. you have the power and you have the knowledge. i know you'll take the world by storm. the ideal communities that you came up with, the different programs, we're going to be nationally at locally. we're going to take that information and do something with this. it is revealed here from that and hear from you guys. i want to hear from her you if you have any closing remarks before we wind down. we're going to give you guys the opportunity, hopefully nonetheless, but to be able to

tell president obama was one recommendation on one thing that you want him to know before you leave here today a very >> it is important to have the mayor that behind you. and he actually took one of the work sheets that you did. your brainstorming session with them because there are seven other of the office leaving and he wanted to be able to articulate what happened here, the brief time he was here to the larger community. this is where i was this morning and talking to the youth about the things that are really important to them. that is what is important to him. a mayor that is already active in the community, someone that is equally as passionate. i worked closely with the mayor to make sure that the resources

and the voices continue to be part of that administration. we do everything we possibly can to get high-quality education that we deserve. will continue to have as loud of voice as possible and they get the dollars the reserve -- and deserve. in terms of the poor people spending, will be able to provide a high-quality education and other states have upwards of $15,000 to educate their youth. we to think about how we come together and not fight about the concept that we do have. this is what is helpful for me as a leader. thank you for coming out and sharing.

>> i wanted to say thank you, i have heard some of you speak and of the power and the passion that you have for us today. you're able to share with other leaders. hopefully, this will have a ripple effect to the rest of the city and to the rest of the state and the rest of the country. i really appreciate him coming today and for the mayor and supervisor for being here early. what they got to see is what we and our department see every day. give the young person sunlight and they will be able to meet all of those policy agendas and the problems that we sit around saying, what we do a round of violence prevention work. this is the reason why the have

such a strong commitment to use of voice and use of empowerment. which is why we convene you guys all the time and we ask you all the hard questions. we believe the answers are here and the answers are with you guys. thank you for your participation today. and for being honest. that is what i am leaving today with. >> yet been fantastic in organizing this. >> let me give you a little idea. and from the office of fair housing. the from the local office. what is fair housing and where do come in? with the office where the people file their complaints. for example, the family tries to go somewhere and you think you're not being printed too

high because you're african- american or asian, with the office that you come to because it is against the law. your family wants to move and and there is hope children in the family of the landlord says they do not accept children, that is against the law. jhi care of. we talk a little bit about medicare and social security. and also protect those that are disabled. there is no reason why you cannot call us up. when your friends are affected, when you are affected. your taxpayer money goes to us and that is why we were created. i brought a lot of bags, which ends with our number. we are a free service and it is

our job to investigate these matters. it is our job to protect you. remember, there is protection. we tried to get the housing. simply, it is against the law. the matter how tough the owner of the project is. it doesn't matter. that is what my office does human he does have to be out there. let the old people keep calling us. we will take care of it. what about you and your family? call us up. this is what the office does. this is what fair housing is. it prohibits discrimination.

race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and status, and they told you we are also looking into gender biases. this is against the law. you can't let it happen. we all know that it is happening. give us the name and number. that is what we care about, to make sure that people are being discriminated in housing. and in community programs, we talk about funding issues. part of what we have done, we give money to the city of san francisco. when we give money to the state. we need to let them know what to do with that money because we give them the money and it is their decision to hear your

voice. what about you? what about these programs. you have the mayor, you have your representatives. show them what is important to you because they are supposed to serve you. they're there for you. and don't forget you have some powerful voices. we have the bags and stuff, take them home with you.

>> thank you, maria. so far, and closing activity, we are going to go around the roundtable and we will stand for this. the question that we posed earlier was, if president obama were to walk to the store and you were to give him one policy recommendation to approved -- to improve the lives of use, what will it be? almost all of you have the whole time to marinate and think about this which side will go first we're going to stand on up. >> like a specific policy because