>> we are going to start today first talking about the data and then after that, we want to actually put some faces behind the data, so we will hear from some of our district leaders as well as a school principal and a student here at washington high school. we will try to make it sink, and we will stick around at the end to answer questions, of course -- we will try to make it sink -- we will try to make it succinct. >> thank you so much, and

welcome to our press conference. i have the opportunity to present these wonderful results. we see an upward trend for this year. the students were tested in the month of may. as you can see, they have moved in english language from 47.5% to 57.4%, so you do see a double-digit increase from 2006 to 2011 in an english-language arts. we have seen over these years a 10% -- approximately 10% -- increase. come on, let's hear it for san francisco. [applause] and our spectacular students, outstanding teachers, and greek leaders. let's move on to mathematics.

the mathematics test is given from grades two to seven, and after that, they start taking algebra, geometry, algebra ii. you see that the scores have gone from 56.6% to 66%. again, an upward trend every single year. again, let's hear the joy. [applause] ok, when we look at other content areas like science and social science, we do see similar patterns. especially in science, both at the middle school and elementary school -- grade five and a grade 8 -- you see almost 60% of the students performing at advanced.

in social science, both at the middle and high school levels, you see the students performing at proficient or advanced, more than 50% of them. ok? those are the other content area scores. the other thing the district has been charged with, and it is always focusing itself around, is narrowing the achievement gap. here are the results for our targeted students. we say we are narrowing the achievement gap if the student groups as a whole showed greater improvement than even the district. ok? so, they have to show greater improvement than even the district. this year, for the third year in a row, i am proud to announce that the african-american students in english language arts and the latino students in math and samoan students in both are narrowing the achievement gap. come on, let's hear it. [applause]

ok, so those were some of the results you have seen charted in here. if you picked up the press release, some of our school- level successes are also included in there, so i would ask you to look at those. as compared to the state, we are higher than the state in ela and math. we look at the results for our program students as well, both english language learners and math, and we saw similar success is where they are going -- growing at a great rate. last were our superintendent zone schools in both the mission and the bayview. successes as well, and i think that deserves a mentioned. with that, i will turn it over. >> thank you. she brings all the good news.

first, i wanted to recognize a few of our board members who are here. emily, grace, joe, and dennis, one of our partners, president of the teachers association. welcome. this is really exciting, not only because it is the first day of school -- you always feel like a kindergartner all over again because you get a chance to start over again -- and running around our schools makes you realize how lucky we are to have such a dynamic, great teachers that are doing a fabulous job -- to have such a dynamic, great teachers that are doing a fabulous job -- to have such dynamic, great teachers. you are wondering how we can do all this when in reality, if you

look at our funding, it would be a steeper decline in terms of how much money we get, and yet, we are improving student achievement. especially in a school like this that took it upon themselves. the staff here -- they had some assistance by different groups. what is the name of the group that helped you guys quite a bit? yes, national urban alliance actually stepped up to do a lot of training. it makes people realize that if we really do want to close the achievement gap, it will not happen by accident. nothing happens by accident. we have to be strategic and ask ourselves what we can do better. if we cannot do better, we ought to get out of the way and let somebody else do the job. the reality is teachers here in san francisco, principals, staff can do it better. i am really proud when we took on a strategic plan that we

adopted in 2008, we said that we would make a priority to have african-americans, latinos, and pacific islanders to show some growth. unfortunately, they have always kind of been at the lowest levels, and that has been unacceptable to the board and, i think, to our community. everybody stepped up and said that it was a social justice issue, and modern-day apartheid, having an achievement gap. who is affected by it? the neediest people in our city. we made a point, and every school convened with their staff and community and say -- and said, "what can we do about this? this is a civil rights issue. what difference can we actually make?" everyone got together and started thinking differently. we noticed in some of the schools, some of the kids did not have access to things that

ought to have access to. we started thinking about what an equity-centered school will look like. what you see is the dreams and aspirations of a great community like san francisco with the school board, the teachers' union -- everybody, administrators, classified workers saying this is a civil rights issue and our children deserve a better education. and they are doing it. that is a tribute to the folks out there. the doctor does not want me to brag a lot about stuff, but why not? everyone is always pointing out what is wrong with education. today, i am going to tell you what is right. 82 percent of our students now are graduating from our high schools -- 82% of our students now are graduating from our high schools in san francisco. it is only 74% in the state of california, so we are doing with better than everyone else. when you look at drop out rates,

the state is 18%. our rate is 11%. we are doing some great things. when you look at suspensions' over the last few years, in the last five years, we have reduced over 1000 kids getting suspended in the school district -- when you look at suspensions over the last few years. what good is it to suspend the same kid over and over again? let's find out why they are getting suspended. we talk to their families. everybody is pitching in to make a difference, and it is paying off. one of the things that we brag about, 10 years now, we have had increasing test scores in this school district, for 10 years. that is something that is amazing. if you look at the last three years, what we have done with african-americans, latinos, our samoan brothers -- they are

showing the most growth of any group in san francisco. they are showing the double digit -- they are showing double-digit growth. find me anywhere else in america where that is happening. when you start looking at some of our superintendent zones. we identified some of our schools under the school improvement grants, and when you look at the growth they showed this year -- go visit everett middle school. go see why they had double-digit growth in math and language arts. we were at paul revere this morning. look at the growth they had. i always tell people those people in the public who are the naysayers who do not believe it can be done -- to us a favor -- get out of the way of the people in the school districts who are doing this fabulous work because they get it done every day.

i think this is something we ought to be celebrating, the success of our children. we want to continue because even though we are closing the gap, that is not good enough. we have to eliminate the gap. until we eliminate it, shame on us. there is still work to be done. our goal is sunday, the word does not exist in our vocabulary. there is no such thing about talking about a gap because we are providing equity and access in the basic fundamental civil rights to a proper education that every child in san francisco deserves. you're so excited that all of you came -- i am so excited that all of you came. has the mayor had a chance? then he ought to get a chance to speak. mayor lee: it is my pleasure to

be here and, certainly, to come to one of the most beautiful campus is in san francisco, by the way. washington high -- when you go out there, it is a wonderful campus. [applause] there are so many things we are doing to engage and be supportive of the school district. even the physical place we have here, we will be sponsoring a $30 million bond this november to help make sure that all of our schools are seismically safe. i will be a leading proponent of that because it is so important to have every school site as safe as possible for our kids. i have been here many times, and i want to thank the kids that are here today, the students that are here. you have probably seen me before. we were doing this saturday cleanups' together in the whole neighborhood and respecting the neighborhood where the school is located, and that has been wonderful, but these data -- i

do not have to repeat them, but they are worth always paying attention to because they do tell the story of what we're doing here. i am not a teacher. i am not a principle -- principal. i am the mayor of san francisco, and i know at the heart of those relationships, it is about the school district. years ago, the school district was seen as separate, and when they failed, it was seen as their problem. never again will that happen in san francisco. it is our kids, our residents, our families that are here wanting to see help from the city, whatever we can do, and we have been helping a lot, and it has been something i have been proud to do. when i heard, for example, earlier this year that may be about 900 kids from all over the city might not be able to make

it through graduation because they had failed their courses in math and science, we went right to work. we found extra money for summer school, and those kids got that summer school where every other jurisdiction in the whole area cut off their summer school. we found that money to make sure kids got a second chance. there are many reasons why they get distracted, and we understand that, but we were not going to let go of those kids and have another generation of people not able to graduate. without that math and science course, i knew and everyone else knows in this city, they would not be able to qualify for graduation. that is the standards set for people to be able to graduate, enter into college. if you do not get that college degree, you will not have the basic foundation to get those jobs we are trying to create in the city at zynga, twitter, salesforce, really good paying

jobs. those are jobs i always talk about to kids. when you get a college degree, you join that millionaire club. that is the difference between people who have a college education and people who do not that are in the work force. over that career, it is a million-dollar difference. that is why this data, this improvement is so important for us. i want every kid in our school district system to be successful. not just graduate high school, but get into college and then be successful human beings and get the best jobs that we can possibly offer. that is the ultimate story year. while we are doing that, there will be distractions. there will be shortages of funding. there will be challenges that the city faces. i want to work with every element of our school district from our unions to the teachers and administrators. it is like not only cleaning up the area around the schools, but

when i am notified that tre are some foundations that have special funding to hit at these gaps that are so difficult, and i am going to be there as the mayor of san francisco talking to these foundations. they are also part of the new generation of companies that want our students to be their new work force -- workforce. so they see an investment for 10, 20 years down the road. if they put in an investment into the public/private relationships we have and grants we are going for that are viewed through and processed through the most excellent educational foundations that are gathering this type of money and focused on where the gaps are and, as carlos said, it is not just about the gaps, but if we could make the bridges on the gaps,

with the additional funding, target the things that distract the kids, whether it is -- you know, these tremendous pressures that kids have on balancing looking for a job or going to college. spending time in summer school or trying to get more money for the family. we have family challenges that are not being addressed by the state. what do we do about that? if we can get them identified so the students have all their attention focused on their career building, the academics, their ability to succeed in all the classrooms, the city then will have done a good job. we cannot abandon this. we cannot let them be isolated. that is why i keep hydra very close to me. every two weeks, we are meeting to discuss what we can do for our school district. what -- where can we help? so we are not only using our

rainy day fund properly, but we are doing the added work to identify every single gap so this scoring and performance can continue not just to fill the gaps but to have the highest level of achievement possible for the students here because those companies are going to start recruiting in san francisco even more than they are. companies come in to san francisco -- it is not because we have a good tax system. in fact, they have to pay a lot of taxes to be in the city. it is not because the streets are where they want to be. it is not because there is a must--- mustached mayor sitting in room 200. all of the clean tech companies are coming to san francisco because they are looking for the work force -- the work force --

the workforce that will make them competitive all over the world. they are looking for the talent to help them. the talent can come from every single school that participates in these achievement improvements, and that is the future. that is current, and that is the future of our city. it is not just the tourism we have traditionally had. it is not working in hotels and parking lots and things that have been a great part of our economy in the past. it is now the technology leadership that the city has to offer. the innovation in the medical research field, the innovation in the clean text field -- the clean tech field. all the jobs in the mission bay and the bayview -- it will be about the foundation of talent we can provide. they know that.

they have your future at stake when they say, "we will invest and work with the city together, collaborate in every possible way, whether it is summer school, cleaning up the neighborhood, supporting the principals in all the things they have to do, whether it is giving the resources to the teachers so they can make sure they have the tools to help you." altman, it is thanking the parents of our kids -- ultimately, it is thanking the parents of our kids. the parent/teacher relationships are probably the most important thing we have in the city. as long as i keep the great communication levels on, talk to everybody, make sure the parents feel investing in their kid and making sure you are not distracted by things that will not keep you in school, those are the things that we invest in. i want to thank the students here, and i want to thank the board members that are here today, the parent/teacher

advisers that are here. i want to thank the school administrators. you and i -- it is our jobs, but i think we enjoy success. we enjoy seeing this improvement. every week we have a chance to identify something else we can do for our district improvement, i will be there for you. thank you very much. [applause] >> good afternoon. i am deputy superintendent for instructional information and social justice. mr. mayer, thank you for your words -- mr. mayor, thank you for your words. in 2008, this community made a very bold statement, and the ripple effect went across the country. we are not going to stand for the same old thing. the status quo is not good enough. as long as we have an achievement gap -- our educational system, if it is not

good enough for those achieving at the lowest end, it is not good enough for anyone. it was a very inspirational, very aspirational stake in the ground that said we are not going to do things the same old way. i am proud to say to you that from the aspiration, we have gotten to the nuts and bolts. one of the things i want to talk about is how we have seen this kind of growth over the last five years continuing to put us on the trajectory to close and eliminate achievement gaps. it is simple when you think about it. it is engaging our parents to understand not only what schooling is about but what their role is in the process. if we fundamentally believe -- which we do -- that the most critical element of any school improvement is the teacher in the classroom, and that is where the magic happens. when the door opens and students and teachers come in, there's a magic that happens in the interaction that budget cuts and

obstacles cannot get in the way up. what we have been able to do and what we are striving to do is to give teachers tools so they are effective in the classroom. we have focused on standard structures, the notion that all students know where they are and at what time and where they are in mastering standards. this past year, we implemented a system of benchmark assessments, which give teachers real-time data to understand what standards students have mastered and which ones they have not quite mastered. the basic premise of what we have done to really build these kinds of communities is to empower all stakeholders -- parents, teachers, professionals -- in using data effectively so that no student is just an enrollment statistic. every student has a name, a story, and their plan. when we talk about the groups of students we have identified --

african-american, latino, pacific islander, and students with disabilities -- we are not leaving any student to be anonymous. they have names, stories, and a learning plan. regardless of what happens as we go through the next few years, and budget times may continue to be rough, but i will tell you -- we have great people in these classrooms. it would be easy to say that these types of games have been made because we are becoming more selective about who takes algebra, for select -- for example. a few years ago, we have very few students at the eighth grade level taking algebra, and we have blown the doors open in terms of access. we have tripled the number of students taking algebra in the eighth grade and being successful in algebra in eighth grade. that means when they go to ninth grade, they are taking geometry. when they get the 10th grade, they are taking algebra ii.

they have completed their requirements their sophomore year. it is very powerful that we have invested in this notion. the other thing i want to say, and i would invite you -- in the press release, you have a list of schools that have shown tremendous gains. i invite you to talk to the teachers and staff members and ask what they did that made such a big difference. another step the district took was to identify 15 schools that historical have not -- historically have not performed well. the things i have just talked about -- using data effectively, instructional practice, standards-based construction -- you will see that many of those schools made tremendous growth this year -- using data effectively, instructional practice, standards-based instruction. no student is anonymous. all students have names and stories. that is what we are here to do,

to meet the needs of our students. as the chief instructional officer of our district, i am very proud that our parents, teachers, administrators -- everyone has gotten us to this point, but we are not done yet. we have a long way to go. probably most importantly, as a parent of two children in san francisco unified, i am proud to say that we are san francisco unified parents. with that, i want to introduce someone i think is absolutely wonderful because she is the principal of washington high school, which has a long and very storied story. how's that for alliteration? la washington high school really did not have a reason to look deeply at what they were doing -- washington high school really did not have a reason to look deeply at what they were doing. but they lived our strategic

plan and said, "who are the students who are succeeding? more importantly, who are the students who are not succeeding ?" they took a good look at what and who and how, and i will let her describe to you what has made a difference in the lives of our children, especially the children we have identified as part of our achievement gap, so it is with great honor and great humility that i present her to you. [applause] >> welcome to washington high school. i want to welcome the board members and the mayor and the superintendent and our union representatives. we are very happy to have you here. i just want to continue with the team we have been talking about. the graduation rate -- i was just given this information for washington high school -- is 90%. it is unheard of.

our dropout rate in comparison to the state at 18%, is 4%. [applause] hour suspension rate has decreased across all grade levels and all ethnicities this past year. our cst data in english for the last two years, 2/3 of our students have increased at least one performance level or maintained, so we are extremely proud of that. [applause] i want to key in on what richard said. i cannot remember your title. i am sorry. it is way too long. are african-american, latino, an english language students -- we really work hard on the students -- our african-american, latino, and english language students. it is not always about tests. it is really about what is