are there members of the public that wish to speak on this item? i only received one speaker card, and that was for norman yee, so if there are other members of the public that wish to speak, please line up in the center aisle. first speaker, please. >> good morning, supervisors. i am the staff person to the child care planning and advisory council feedback. this is a feedback that is appointed by the board of education. it was initially engaged in conversations and discussions around the potential alignment of city-wide services. in october 2009. representatives met with the mayor's office at that time and were asked to report back in 30 days with recommendations for what this office might look

like. so although no formal position was taken regarding for the office might be housed, which the permit would be in from members voted and approved guiding principles for early care and educational alignment at the feedback meeting in november 2009. no public agency representatives were present at the meeting, so it allowed people to talk freely about what this to look like. i actually have copies of those principles. i hope that any conversations that take place around the alignment and consolidation take some of these into consideration. i would like to give these to supervisors. thank you. >> thank you. i will call the names i've just received in terms of cards as well. donna k. hilkayhill, gretchen a. >> i am the chair and director

of the san francisco child care providers association. i want to thank supervisor avalos for all of your leadership on this issue. these discussions about creating office have been happening for nearly three years now. during in which time the family child care association, san francisco child cares association and voices have come out in support of the office. there has been a lengthy commute of the process -- community process. obviously having an office will create efficiencies in the system. if this will enable us as a city to better leverage funding for the system, which is particularly important given the enormity the deficit we're facing. this will best serve the families in france for it -- but in san francisco.

we need now more than ever to create -- unite around the creation of this office. these false economies hurt the field come and give it to create unnecessary division. the office will include all of these aspects of early childhood care and education. we cannot wait another year for the creation of office. a lot of time and energy has gone into this, and there is an emergency for this office to be created out. i also of a couple of parent letters that are in san francisco advocating today. >> good morning, supervisors. and norman yee, president of the school board. i am here as an individual advocate today.

i wanted to thank supervisors of a loavalos and chu and others tt this office together. it has really been of long time coming. i was brought into this discussion several years ago when people were talking about needing to have this office and whether my perspectives as a former executive of an organization that rallied around child care programs or being on the first five commission or being at the code-share of the preschool for all program in san francisco, this resolution makes sense to me. creating this office makes sense to me. we need to reduce the confusion that is happening in the field in terms of what direction we want to go in san francisco. we need to make things more

efficient for the government, and for those reasons alone, it would dictate we need to create this office. i am glad to hear from commissioner hydra mendoza, my colleagues on the school board that this will be budgeted in the mayor's budget, because without that, we will not have this office. i am here to support it. i want us to follow the guidelines that the community has brought out already. this discussion has happened over and over again, so i am looking forward that this will be a quick discussion to see what office looks like, but we must have one. thank you very much. >> good morning, supervisors. can this long, director of the low investment fund. thank you, supervisor avalos for

your leadership in bringing forward the creation of office of early childhood education. it takes exceptional leadership to engage the mayor's office and colleagues on the board to move this forward through the process. i also ask that you respect the process and recommendations from the community. i want to thank the co-sponsors. thank you in advance supervisor given as a good idea when you hear it and i trust you will support it. there was three years of discussion in the bay, and the convening of a joint community and city task force. i believe creating the office under the of human services agency is good public policy, government, and business. it is a logical place for the office. it will exist as the part of the city and county, and the department or most of the state funding flows. this is the department that looks like the whole system of

care. the centers in the school district. under the leadership of director trent roar and martha rutherford, we've grown to meet the needs of families. they have had the vision to ensure all children have access to quality early learning and garments to prepare our children for school in future success. this is a department with experience for families in does sound policy and planning to build a sustainable system to serve them. this advocates to protect city and county interests and is mindful of innovation at the state and federal level with recognize credibility. as we are speaking today, parent voices and sacramento standing for children to advocate against the child care. the early care in digitation system continues to face the

devastating cuts of over $29 million in san francisco alone. i ask that our colleagues in city government and that of community come together in the best interest. thank you. >> good morning. my name is priced schofiebryce . i fully support the ece with the central office being housed at hsa. i have gained a fully -- full understanding of the needs of the community. every city government has personality shenanigans come and i know our city is no different, but what has unfolded in this process has affected negatively and the multi-department systems

do not serve the very children and parents in the best way we can. there have been several mysteries put forward by some affected stakeholders. we no change, even when it is obviously the smart thing to do can be difficult, but like many of their current policy landscapes, a minority of the community has repeatedly attempted to undermine forward- thinking change by using tactics. for example, child care, early childhood education is not education come and we need to keep these things separate. this is a silly idea to me. the second, community input. after three years we have had many opportunities and venues to bring people together with them as they calder's through the community, yet repeatedly it has been said that we have not been trying to bring people together, and there has not been a voice.

emotionally-charged decision making has no place is in the field of education using the definition that includes 0-5 population. integrity in trust and honoring our children does have a place and responsibility. it is not only the department and serves poor people. this agency looks at the bigger hole, the historical agency gives me and many others the confidence that the new office will not only better streamline the system, but will also relieve the serve our family and children. supervisor chu: thank you. >> my name is donna kayhill, executive director of holy family day home. 50 percent of our children are extremely low income, and another 20 percent signed, their parents make a few dollars above the thresholds for scholarships

above the 80% line of the state median income. a fall 70% of the families are extremely low income. because of that, we have to fund raise $800,000 every year, so the bulk of my time is raising money, while my staff is closer to the children and parents. we depend on partnerships with all of the departments in san francisco with the state, federal government. any way that this can be streamlined is critical to the ability to serve our children. office of early care and education is not a new thing. the department of aging did this many decades ago, i believe, and

it is an obvious next step for the city that has worked together so collaborative way. you will not see many directors in line, although you will see a few of us, because we want all of our funders to partner with us and be happy. it has been a difficult journey going through this, and a very stressful journey, and we are looking for this to be solved. i speak for the lion's share of directors for the chip -- san francisco child care providers association. we really want office of early could relate -- early childhood education. supervisor chu: thank you. two more names. >> my name is [inaudible] i am an independent consultant. i want to thank the supervisors for their leadership on this issue.

i have been an early childhood education for the past 25 years. i am familiar with this process and all the players that are here today. i want to first of all acknowledge the leadership in this room from first five, cpac, ddcyfdcyf, is to the leadershipd coming together that we have been able to make progress we have been able to make today on these issues. however, this process is not enough. the field of early childhood education is under attack. it is a field that historically characterized by fragmentation. we do not need more fragmentation. batf office of early childhood education simply makes sense. it makes sense because we need leadership on this issue.

it makes sense because hsa has the infrastructure to provide leadership, and it makes sense because the personnel have demonstrated a willingness in the priority of vision to provide the leadership. the first step of creating the office is actually a bit easy step, and that is the step that stymied the process to date. the real hard work comes after the creation but everyone has to collaborate and work together. i support and urge this process to move forward, and to streamline the system further and make further progress, acknowledging all of the great leadership in the room today. >> i am gretchen aimes. we evaluate the quality of child care, and have an initiative to support the quality, and i would like to start by saying think

you so much for bringing us this issue. i think the leadership has beeny fabulous and i am grateful to all of supervisors who have been having this conversation and facilitating and taking a leadership brawl. san francisco has a history of investing in a lot of ways. we are lucky that there are a lot of different departments involved. it has been a strength but has also been a challenge because the system is fragmented. it is definitely time -- i want to underscore the urgency of this matter. particular the because we have tombaugh's coming down from the federal level. it is more important now to have a unified voice and unified leadership on this matter. thank you very much and let's keep moving forward. . supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

as executive director of the mimi and peter haas fund, i want to thank commissioner avalos are working on this idea and bringing it to reality. the president of our foundation has worked for this to happen for more than 20 years, and i know that she thinks you. we ask that we now take the time to create an independent office under the mayor's office that can be a model across the country. this issue and debate of child care versus early education has continued throughout the country for the last 30 years. san francisco can step forward and do something different and be a model. there are best practices that can best inform the work that director mendoza will lead leadfirst 5, dcyf, hsa, and the

school district. i hope the supervises include the philanthropic sector that is committed to support an early education for low-income children, and for children and their families throughout the city. we are here to be a part of this. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning, supervisors chu, kim, and avalos. thank you for allowing me and us to have this opportunity to speak. i am here for two quick issues. one, loudly and clearly, for the creation for the office of early childhood education. thank you, supervisor avalos, for the stress on independence. i think that is probably the

crowning glory for this office, because this way, hopefully, we can digress from some of the difficulty this field has had over the past few years, and come together for the good of the children and families of san francisco. i was part of the initial task force for the three years meetings we have done. supervisor avalos has shown great leadership in taking this forward. it has not always been an easy project. i just want to speak of an issue that is of some concern to me. it is the semantic or linguistic argument that i hear, which is care nurses to education. -- versus education. i work with young children every day.

there is truly no difference except a linguistic difference between care and education. if someone changes a diaper, they are caring for and educating a child. if someone is helping a child learn the sounds of an alphabet, they are caring and educating a child. i want to see those differences out of the picture consolidated. i feel this office should be housed under a tsa --hsa because they have a good model under the program for aging. delay, we can take our individual strands and put them into a quilt. supervisor chu: next speaker please. >> it is time that we look ahead not behind it is time you flip wilson money

around bring into all the districts in this town it is time that you make it shine you are going to make it all turned out fine it is time budget and finance budget and finance go together like education and science ask the president of the board norman yee and you'll find it is a very elementary try to understand it it is no illusion budget and finance budget and finance supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker.

>> good morning. i am the director of friends of st. francis child care center, a nonprofit that serves 30 low- income and middle-income families for the past 35 years. we survive as an organization that can serve low-income families by having a grant from the department of education that need to be supplemented by city funds. we have been fortunate to receive at least three different funding sources from city departments. i am here to support the creation of an officer early childhood education. one of the main reasons for this, i feel it will make our organization more able to provide quality education because it will simplify and unify the various monitoring data collection and fiscal reporting systems, which right now we are constantly jumping to report to each of the agencies

that fund us. we are reporting attended several times. that is one simple example of something that will change in this early childhood office that we will streamline things for us and hopefully bring the whole field together in san francisco. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker. >> i am michelle. i am here to express his support of the family child care association for the creation of this office in the surgeon time of fiscal crisis where we have everything in one spot. it will make it easier to serve children and families. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker. if there are any other members of the public that wants to speak on item 12, please line up in the center of the aisle, otherwise this will be the final speaker.

>> director of programs for an advocate youth. we stand behind the creation of the office. the process has been like this over three years and we cannot wait another year to bring this forward. even before considering the threatened state cuts, we have to remember there are over 3600 children on the list for subsidies, and considering the city-wide need for quality child care systems, we have to move forward with aligning our roles. our priority must be the children of san francisco and their families and what is best for them, meaning we have to move past and not allow this decision to be driven by politics or personalities. my understanding is there is a deep community process through which recommendations for the office came forth to be housed under hsa, one after the department of aging and adult services. thank you.

supervisor chu: are there other members of the public the wish to speak on item 12? seeing none, public comment is closed. supervisor avalos: thank you. i want to call in the mayor's education and family services adviser. ms. mendoza, thank you for being here. i also want to thank members of the public for commenting today and your patience over these past many years. your patience in working with my office over the past two years as well. i think we could have moved more quickly along at times. i know there is a lot of anxiety about how to create this office, moving forward. i think we're in a good spot right now. the stress of an independent office attached to one of these departments is the way to go. i believe the stakeholders, in carrying out these services at the department had level, within

the department, have a lot to offer. in this process of coming together to create this office, i really believe strong dialogue, listening, and meaningful input -- which is heard and acted upon -- will be essential to make sure we create an office that will be able to stand alone and do the work and needs to do to create all of these efficiencies for the field that we need to create. so i want to thank you for bringing folks together. i would ask you, i know time does of the offense -- i know time is of the essence. the mayor's budget comes to us, balanced, on june 1. it does not leave a lot of time to come and bring this together. wondering, if we come back next week, is that too soon? two weeks from now, will that

impinge on a balancing process that needs to happen over the next month? >> i think our desire would be to give us as much time as possible before we have to submit it to the mayor's budget. if the 16th is allowable, i think that would be helpful. supervisor chu: if i could comment. i shared supervisor avalos' idea to move this forward. i would be happy to schedule it when we are able to. i know the agenda is filling up for the 16th. we have some heavy items that week. i do not have the calendar in front of me, but i know it is pretty heavy. we may continue to the call of the chair and wait for an appropriate time to hear it. that is the suggestion, knowing that the calendar is filling up. >> i expect we would get a

progress report. i am fine with continuing to the call of the chair. i suspect even beyond the hearing we have a continued item, other will be work to do. it might be to be continued again to see how things are moving along. that could happen in the summer as well, i suspect. i can motion a continue to the call of the chair. >> we will not solve this issue, as you know, in the next two weeks. our desire is to bring everyone together to come up with, at minimum, the vision of the office, and its creation. we want to focus on the what, and not know where -- the where. we have all the recommendations and priorities that folks have put forward. i just wanted to make sure that people knew that we have all

that information on us and that each department head is bringing forward all that information. what will be really valuable for us to think about it is, -- about is, every organization that is brought forward will give us more meat on the bone for the areas we are focusing on. we are not taking recommendations and eliminating some, taking recommendations from others. each of these recommendations will help us build out the various spaces that need to be under this larger umbrella. i want to be clear about that. we are not clear to pit care providers against early education folks. we want to provide opportunities for all the kids and their families. under this one umbrella will be the bears' option for families to take advantage of. we appreciate the recommendation people are provided to us, because it helps us to build a more robust office that will

address each and every one of the issues that our families and children face. supervisor avalos: i know we are continuing to the call of the chair. i would like to perhaps think it could be next week, get a progress report. we can decide that in the next few days. supervisor chu: thank you. supervisor kim? supervisor kim: i just wanted to give some input. first of all, thank you to supervisor avalos' office for taking this on. i know this is a process you have been engaged in for a while. we are figuring out a way to bring several different silos and entities around early child care and education together. what had been in existence up until now has not worked, as many have said in public comments. i think we have not effectively i think we have not effectively figured out how to leverage our figured out how to leverage our