Susan Ellenberg, SJUSD Trustee Area 2 @area2newsviews - Tumblr Blog

Disability Awareness Day

This Thursday our County will highlight a Disability Awareness Day for adults and children who are both typically and atypically abled.

Disabilities take on a range of forms, from specific learning challenges and cognitive or developmental atypicalities to generalized emotional/behavioral conditions, and many of these children are struggling to succeed in our schools. Nationally, only 40 percent of students with emotional/behavioral conditions graduate from high school, compared to the (national) average of 76 percent. The majority of students with any form of disability who drop out of high school tend to have emotional/behavioral disabilities (52.3 percent), speech or language impairments (29.4 percent), or learning disabilities (29.1 percent). Even more troubling, 73% of students with emotional/behavioral disabilities report never having received special help for emotional or behavioral problems in school.

From poor eyesight and dental health to unstable housing and financial insecurity, as well as the vast arena that comprises emotional, behavioral, and mental health needs, many of our students need significant support in order to meet the academic challenges presented to them by caring teachers in their classrooms. I have persistently advocated to strengthen the partnerships we have with our County and nonprofit service providers to help us provide programs that truly make a difference in our student’s lives. Internally, our district works exceptionally hard to meet a wide variety of student needs. We have recently reworked our special education services and we’ve built a strong partnership with County/School Linked Services to provide a range of counseling and other options for students in crisis. However, school day access to comprehensive mental/behavioral health services remain scarce, particularly for our youngest students. School districts must advocate for expanded County/School Linked Services to provide more counseling for a wider range of students. Our most vulnerable children are suffering and we have to do more to meet their needs.

I encourage all community members who are interested in understanding this challenge, as well as those who want to meet the families and students who confront and work to surmount a range of challenges every day, to participate in this Thursday’s Disability Awareness Day programs, including a resource fair and screenings of UNSTUCK: An OCD Kids Movie, 4 Quarters of Silence, and Bottom Dollars at 10am and 2:30pm at the Hammer Theater. Full details regarding the day’s activities are available at: https://bit.ly/2y6gVrH

#education #special education #disabilties

A QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE

4TH QUARTER 2018 PROGRESS REPORT

This 4th quarter newsletter of my 4th year on the SJUSD board of trustees is my last, as my term will come to an end in November. I am very proud to have been a part of this board and school district and would like to take this opportunity to share my reflections of the past 4 years and the progress our district has made in improving student outcomes.

The 30,000 foot/statewide perspective: San Jose Unified is a highly functional and progressive district, led by smart, competent professionals of strong integrity and commitment to high quality public education. Our district is recognized across the state as a model in many ways:

Our strong relationship with the San Jose Teachers Associationresulted in the creation and implementation of a salary formula, ensuring that teachers receive an increase in compensation whenever the district receives increased funding; a robust teacher evaluation process, resulting in an environment of supportive coaching, professional growth and high expectations that are consistent across every site; and the most progressive maternity/family leave policy of any school district in the state.

SJUSD is regularly hailed as a model district for our early adoption of A-G graduation standards, rollout of common core, implementation of the local control funding formula and clear presentation of the state required local control & accountability plan. We are a district of continuous improvement, searching for newer and better ways to serve and improve outcomes for all students.

SJUSD takes a leadership role in legislative advocacy and the quest for clarity when current law that impacts public education is ambiguous. These actions have resulted in clarity around zoning laws, investigation of charter school practices, and probationary periods for new teachers, to name a few. Leadership is currently advocating for the 11th grade SAT exam to replace additional state testing requirements for high school juniors, maximizing the days available for academic instruction.

The 15,000 foot/district wide perspective: Through the lens of equity, San Jose Unified is committed to the academic success of all students.

We were the first district in the state to administer the SAT exam to all juniors at no cost to them on a school day. In this, our third year of administering those exams, we are also offering at no cost to students SAT prep courses.

We overhauled our Special Education program in order to find better, more effective ways of meeting students' and parents' needs.

We are intensifying our focus on the particular needs of our Latino (male) students, working to engage them in learning with relevant material, scaffolded support and an inclusive environment.

We partner with Strive San Jose to provide professional internship experiences to juniors and seniors.

The 10,000 foot/district wide perspective: San Jose Unified also recognizes the importance of addressing the social/emotional needs of students as essential to their ability to thrive in school.

We partner with School Linked Services to provide counseling services.

We employ the principles of Positive Behavior Intervention to reduce suspensions and expulsions and better understand the root causes of challenging student behaviors.

As a result of student advocacy, we have make available gender neutral bathrooms so students or all identities feel safe and comfortable during the school day.

On the ground school/student perspective: Strong leaders, caring teachers and staff members, parents and mentors create environments where students can thrive.

I have volunteered as a student mentor for 5 years in Lincoln High School's future vision program, as well as a regular story reader and walkathon supporter at Horace Mann Academy, a project based learning judge at and an "ethical community presenter" at Bachrodt, a student shadow at Burnett, a classroom visitor at Grant, a reveler at Hoover's masquerade ball, and an enthusiastic audience member for kindergarten performances at Trace. Getting to know the students, parents and staff members at the 7 area 2 schools has been a great joy and a tremendous education. Beyond area 2, I have attended River Glen fundraisers, organized a year long new book program at Empire Gardens, judged the Young Chef competition at Gunderson, spoke to leadership students at San Jose High School and learned about Pioneer's service learning curriculum. I have been able to effectively advocate for the needs of students and staff because I see what happens at the school sites and I listen to everyone who will share experiences with me.

As I prepare to leave the district, I do so knowing that my leadership made a difference, that numerous processes, policies and outcomes are better as a result of my voice. The final project in which I'm engaged is a district wide effort to better promote and market all 41 schools in our district. Locally, the many strengths and successes of SJUSD are a too-well kept secret and we need to change that. SJUSD deserves to be valued and appreciated for its schools of choice, outstanding programs, relentless pursuit of excellence and caring staff.

Finally, in my continued commitment to engagement and transparency, what follows is my assessment of the developments in the 5 areas that defined my "Quest for Excellence" in my 2014 campaign for this office.

P.S. My Facebook is updated regularly and is the easiest way to stay current with Area 2 news!

#education

Little Children, Big Challenges

Since the school year began last month, board members and district staff have been made aware of and are intensively addressing a deeply concerning trend: extreme behaviors by very young children - kindergartners through second graders. Those with a long history in the district report never having seen situations like this before. This circumstance is not endemic to San Jose Unified. There are reports of younger and younger children across the state and country who are exhibiting violent, aggressive behaviors and signs of mental health crises. In fact, the Children’s Hospital of Orange County recently opened the state’s first inpatient program for children, making available 18 beds that will be reserved for children 3 to 17, with priority for those under 12. Certainly, these are trying circumstances for everyone involved. Parents may be confused and feel responsible or ashamed of their child’s behavior and hope their children will outgrow the behaviors as many (if not most) do. Research indicates that it often takes families seven years before they ask for help with a child in crisis. Experts report that mental disorders can develop or progress if not properly treated and that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14.

We have a responsibility to educate every student in our district, including those exhibiting extreme behaviors, and at the same time we are committed to the safety of every student. When a classroom is disrupted by one child’s extreme behavior, staff and board members are beset by parents of that child’s classmates to remove the offending student from the classroom. Although this may seem like a reasonable response and is an understandable reaction, it is in reality extreme and comes with the strong potential of causing long term damage, as well as running the risk of violating the student’s rights or prematurely diagnosing a child, which may result in improper placement of a child. When these difficult situations arise, testing of the student is generally initiated and during that process (which can sometimes take a couple of weeks), staff provide additional adult supervision/support in and out of classrooms, help other students understand and empathize with a child who is struggling, and guide children to keep themselves safe. We take our obligation to EVERY student seriously and are particularly sensitive about long term impacts.

The type of extreme behavior challenges we are encountering may represent more enduring disorders, but they can be, and often are, results of situational stressors in a child’s life. The fact is that more of our families are experiencing stress as a result of unstable housing, inadequate nutrition, inconsistent health care, socioeconomic struggles, family instability, and/or parents experiencing mental/behavioral health crises or facing immigration concerns, along with the prevalence of increasingly uncivil language and behavior on regular and social media and further challenges to our quality of life including traffic and time spent commuting every day, and that impacts our children. Children readily absorb the stresses of their families and communities and this fact is not lost on our teachers, staff or board. And our school district (as any other) needs external support to help address this crisis.

SJUSD has a strong partnership through County/School Linked Services to provide a range of counseling and other options for students in crisis. However, most mental/behavioral health services only treat kids beginning at age 11 or 12 and the range of services necessary to effectively address many of the underlying socioeconomic issues are scarce or beyond our purview. It is no secret that in order for kids to do well in school they need stability at home. School districts must look to expand County/School Linked Services to provide more counseling for a wider range of students, not just during the school day but also after school for our families who are struggling. Our young children are suffering and we have to do more to meet their needs.

#education

A Social Contract Reduces Social Dependence

(thoughts on the Janus decision)

This morning, the Supreme Court ruled in Janus v AFSCME that unions can not collect fees from non-members to help defray the costs of collective bargaining. This ruling threatens the funding models of many collective bargaining units and may make it more difficult for them to adequately advocate on behalf of the employees they represent.

San Jose Unified School District has a strong relationship with our collective bargaining units and, as a result, together we’ve been able to make great strides on behalf of our employees that would have been very difficult, if not untenable, with less trusting relationships. Some results of these strong relationships include:

* a salary formula, tying salaries directly to state funding levels, insuring that when the district receives more funds, employees benefit. This formula also frees up negotiation meeting to talk about greater ideas and innovations.

* a progressive family/maternity leave policy. At the time this was created, it was the most generous of any school district in the state.

* an integrated evaluation model, designed to support the growth of employees and promote retention.

* a model/master teacher model to support career advancement, coach new teachers and fill challenging positions.

Two years ago, when a case similar to Janus was on the Supreme Court docket (Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association), SJUSD signed onto an amicus curie brief in support of requiring non-members to contribute to the costs of collective bargaining on the premise that they would benefit from the agreement. [Justice Antonin Scalia died shortly after that case was argued, essentially leaving the question unanswered definitively.]

It is not yet clear how the Janus decision will directly impact our collective bargaining partners, at least in the short term, since very few of our employees have opted out of the unions that represent SJUSD employees. In other school districts, where more employees have opted out, the impact is likely to be felt much more swiftly and severely.

SJUSD intends to continue its current practice of inviting union representatives to attend new employee orientations and speak to the employees about union membership (this is not a standard practice in many districts). I have personally witnessed in our district many strong outcomes that have resulted from robust bargaining among parties that demonstrate mutual respect and trust. I will stand by our employees so that they can effectively advocate for the tools and resources that will allow them to excel at their professions in service to our 30,000 students.

#education #unions

A QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE

3RD QUARTER 2018 PROGRESS REPORT

Congratulations to the more than 2,000 members of the SJUSD Class of 2018, as well as their parents, families, mentors, teachers and others who supported the students and helped to make their proud walks across the stage possible!

A very heartfelt thank you also to the 3,000 employees who teach and support our kids; transport & feed them; offer counseling, keep their schools & grounds clean, well maintained and safe; and run this giant operation smoothly and efficiently.

Along with improved outcomes for Latino male students and promoting our school district's strengths to the community, improved Special Education Services has been one of the three areas of emphasis for the board this year. After a long and careful search, Seth Reddy recently was hired as the district's new Director of Special Education (SPED). This hiring signals the district and board's renewed commitment to highly effective, empathetic and efficient delivery of SPED services. In his previous role as an administrator for strategic projects, Mr Reddy had spent much of the past year reviewing and assessing the district's SPED policies and practices, talking with parents, educators and service providers, and creating strategies that will lead to greater success for our students and higher satisfaction for our families. Please join me in welcoming Seth to his new, vital role in our district.

Board of Education meetings now feature an enhanced focus on student achievement through receiving reports on how schools are meeting benchmarks for K-3 literacy, 8th grade math and high school honors courses. We are working to promote an environment in which school principals feel supported in their work and comfortable bringing forth challenges, as well as successes, so that solutions can be collectively identified. We welcome the opportunity to engage with our schools and gain a deeper understanding of the unique issues each individual school must address. This effort will also allow board members to make more informed and effective decisions that will drive greater student success.

District staff is currently developing a spending plan for Measure Y funds in the 2018-2019 school year, in close coordination with our school site staffs and employee bargaining units. Click here to review a preliminary draft of the plan, which has been presented to the Board of Education and the district's Budget Advisory Committee during public meetings. A final spending plan will be submitted for the board's approval at our meeting on June 28, 2018.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Community is everything! I was proud to be on hand at the grand opening of a new Farmers' Market in the parking lot of Lincoln High School and pleased that I was able to play a small role in facilitating a partnership between the school district, Shasta Hanchett Park Neighborhood Association (SHPNA), West Coast Farmers Market Association largely under the dominant leadership and persistence of community activist Alex Shoor. Our public school facilities should be used to the greatest extent possible during non school hours and should benefit our communities. Can't think of a better use than one that allows folks to gather on a weekly basis, enjoy healthy foods and support local vendors. Join us Saturdays from 10am - 2pm.

Members of our CSEA bargaining unit (the wonderful clerical workers, secretaries and other staff members who make sure our schools run smoothly every day, greet our families and ensure that everyone feels supported at school) raise funds every year to provide scholarships to students of their members. This year the recipients are both seniors at Leland High School (San Jose, California). A special thank you, Jacquelyn Dreher and Sharon Calhoun, for your lovely presentations! The generosity of CSEA and enthusiastic support for your members' children is inspiring.

Local Kiwanis clubs distributed dozens of $1,000 "Turnaround scholarships" to high school seniors who have overcome significant challenges and are now poised to begin college in the Fall. Students from several San José Unified School District high schools were recognized, including some from Lincoln and the Lincoln Plus Program! All students briefly (and bravely) shared their stories of perseverance as they took the stage to be recognized for their tremendous accomplishments. Listening to their stories was emotional and humbling and I marveled at every one of them for achieving significant goals in the face of tremendous obstacles.

SCHOOL LINKED SERVICES

A significant contributing factor to the opportunity gap is the divide between children who have had at least 1 year of preschool prior to kindergarten and those for whom kindergarten is their first formal educational environment. Through legislation passed last fall, the Individualized County Childcare Subsidy Plan now allows counties to determine their own eligibility criteria instead of relying on state criteria. The new county-specific threshold takes into account the exceedingly high cost of living in our region and provides more families with early education. San José Unified is one of ten public school districts participating in a pilot program to expand access to preschool for low income families. I'm proud of the work our district is doing not only to close the opportunity gap but to prevent it from ever taking hold in the first place. Find more information and eligibility criteria here.

Our Coordinated School Health Collaborative has approximately 320,000 dollars from LEA funds, that we can award for use on special projects within our district. Our funding priorities for the next year include additional: education and resources for district staff on student health and mental health, mental health counselors, and behavior support for our students.Approximately 75% of our funds will be used on our top funding priorities, and the remainder of our funds can be used on any project within our district. Past grants that have been awarded include: $209,000 for additional mental health counselors, $67,000 for Family advocacy programs through the Bill Wilson Center and $5,000 for Recess 101 programs at Olinder Elementary and Almaden Elementary Schools.

CHARTER AND NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL COLLABORATION

On March 15, our board approved the renewal of Downtown College Prep's El Camino middle school. DCP is working to improve outcomes for their students and support their efforts as they move from middle to high school and then onto college.

In compliance with a court order, district staff is working to present a facilities proposal to Promise Charter School. Promise's charter was approved at the state level with the significant revision that it operate as a K-8 rather than a K-12 school. The high school program was not approved. Staff will work with Promise, as it does with every charter operator, to identify a facility that conforms to the law and meets the same quality standards as any of our own 41 schools. When a lease is signed, I will share that information on my Facebook page.

As a trustee, I am committed to ensuring that students who live in our district boundaries have high quality options for public education. This is one of the reasons our district is, in fact, a "district of choice" and parents may request to send their children to schools other than their own neighborhood schools when they desire particular options that aren't available at their "home schools" - for example (a non-exhaustive list of examples):

Horace Mann, Peter Burnett and San Jose High School offer the globally prestigious International Baccalaureate program

Hacienda offers an Environmental Science specialty program

Hammer Montessori offers a unique developmental program

RIver Glen offers a 2 way bilingual program for every student in grades K-8 (plus 10 school offer 2 way bilingual program strands for students who choose that option)

Trace, Hoover and Lincoln offer a nationally recognized visual and performing arts strand

Gunderson High School has a strong visual & applied arts program

Leland High School offers a nationally recognized and award winning speech and debate program

Pioneer High School exposes students to service learning through a strong sophomore year program

A number of high schools offer mock trial programs

9 of our elementary schools offer an ALA (academic language acquisition) program for native Spanish speakers

12 of our elementary schools house preschool programs for eligible students

San Jose High School offers Project Lead the Way, a four-year program designed to prepare students for engineering and design careers through a hands-on project and problem-based approach, adding rigor to traditional technical programs and relevance to traditional academics

All of our high schools partner with Strive San Jose, which provides year round job shadow and summer paid internship opportunities

Broadway High School offers a program with high quality child care for students who are also parents

Liberty High School offers flexible learning schedules for students for whom the typical comprehensive high school schedule isn't an option

STUDENT SAFETY

Homelessness is one of the most urgent crises in our community. In our district alone, more than 200 students report being homeless or unstably housed (which includes living in cars, sleeping on friends' couches and sharing apartment units with multiple families). I am deeply appreciative of the strong partnership between the Bill Wilson Center and San José Unified School District. In the past school year, BWC helped to house 70 students and their ongoing dedication to supporting our students and their families is invaluable. Students can't thrive or even think about academic success if they don't know where they will do homework, eat or sleep that evening. I will continue to strengthen our partnership and advocate for affordable housing solutions for our community.

Check out SJUSDs dedicated Immigration Services page

See here for important Teen Dating Violence resources

Kids of all ages are swiping and scrolling, totally transfixed by screens of all sizes. Welcome to the new frontier of parenting. If you have questions on how to take control of, or at least keep up with, the technology in your kids' lives, check out Common Sense Media.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Our 41 schools celebrated the best of the best at the SJUSD Employees of the Year Ceremony and Reception in May. Congratulations to the employees and teachers of the year from Trustee Area 2 schools:

Lincoln High School Rashada Melendez, teacher; Moramay Cortez, Instructional Aide

Burnett Middle School Jelani Canser, Teacher; Kari Barton, School Secretary

Hoover Middle School Mark Hartung, Teacher; Steffany Carrabino, School Secretary

Bachrodt Elementary School Nydia Arauz, Teacher; George Valenzuela, Custodian

Grant Elementary School Elizabeth Rotolo, Teacher; Gina Romeo, Clerical Office Assistant

Horace Mann Elementary School Clare Maeda, Instructional Coach; Hortencia Martin, School Secretary

Trace Elementary School Amber Stagi, Teacher; Reina Baca De Silva, Campus Supervisor

I was happy to attend a dinner celebration for our classified employees at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was an awesome opportunity to recognize and show appreciation to the many, many folks who keep our schools running every day!

We are always hiring! Contact our Human Resources Department and job portal here.

BEYOND THE BOARDROOM

Many of my personal efforts serve to inform my role as a trustee, build relationships, and think strategically about how best to improve outcomes for all SJUSD students. I am actively participating in a number of projects related to education policy and social justice:

As many of you know, I declared my candidacy for Santa Clara County Supervisor in 2017. I am very pleased to share that I was the top vote getter in the June 5, 2018 primary, thus securing a spot in the top two finishers who will move on to the general election this November. It is the poignancy of the economic divide in our community which led me to seek the Supervisor seat. I see so many kids in our district who are struggling, not because of academic challenges, teacher quality or even class size, but because they are unstably housed, inadequately nourished, have not received consistent health care services, did not have access to high quality early childhood education programs and more. While SJUSD places an extraordinary amount of time and resources in partnership with organizations that do address these challenges, we are at the heart an educational system and can't fully address the roots of these socio-economic challenges. Those levers are at the County level and, should I be successful in November, I will continue to focus at that level on the needs of struggling children and families. When we invest in those populations, outcomes are better for everyone: we see safer neighborhoods, a better educated workforce and a more stable economy.

My move to the general election does mean that I will conclude my time as a school board member when my term concludes in December, 2018. It has been an absolute privilege to have a hand in this important work for four years and I do believe that we are stronger than we were in 2014: our graduation rates are higher, more students are meeting key performance measures, programs have expanded, we've secured additional funding, improved communication, built new partnerships, and our district has become a model to school districts throughout the state in several areas, including our progressive maternity/family leave policy, our teacher evaluation system, our implementation of the LCAP. We are actively lobbying at the state level for increased funding and greater equity. We are exploring options for teacher housing. There is so much more work to do, but we've accomplished a great deal in the past four years and I look forward to supporting whatever new trustee is installed next winter.

If you are interested in learning more about my campaign for County Supervisor, please visit my website www.susanellenberg.com or follow my campaign on facebook.

#education

INSPIRATION FROM A MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADUATE

I found the graduation speech by Rista White, Hoover Middle School, June, 2018 especially inspiring. It was powerful and upon meeting Rista I was even more so impressed. Her speech is below and is a wonderful read:

Good morning and welcome Hoover administrators, honored guests, families, and fellow graduates!

As we think about our steadily approaching day one of high school, let us take a moment to remember that first day one at Hoover. Many of us remember waking up excited and terrified for the day ahead. Our parents probably stopped us on the porch to snap that very same picture they have been taking on the first day of school since kindergarten. We awkwardly sported our new khakis and polos and hesitantly walked into school. We searched for familiar faces and saw many new ones. Looking a little tense, we finally found our way to our first class, dropped down our backpacks and finally took our first breath. That nervous tension was soon replaced with excitement for the year ahead.

Fellow graduates, ponder this with me. Which year was your best academically? For me, sixth grade. Which year did you go to the most school events? Probably, sixth grade. We can agree that most sixth graders, not all, but most go into their first year of middle school with a sort of adrenaline rush. As 10 and 11 year olds we were fascinated by the sheer fact that we were at a new and bigger place and were living an unprecedented reality for ourselves. We were intrigued or exhilarated about the possibilities and opportunities that came with a new beginning. One thing that really prompted us as sixth graders was our questions. Being the youngest kids on campus and thus at the bottom of a school hierarchy, we learned that we had to work our way up to be respected. We had to ask questions and grow. This growth mindset of maturing ourselves and trying to fit in with the older kids around us, ultimately saw us through sixth grade. Now, as eighth graders, truthfully ask yourself this; do you still have that motivation? Do you still try to grow yourself everyday? I don’t know your answer to this question, but from evaluating myself and my peers I’ve come to the consensus that, the level of energy we have to grow ourselves and our knowledge of the world around us is incomparable, to that of three years ago. Our keenness to tackle a new chapter of our life and impress those around us are UNRIVALED to that of incoming middle schoolers.

It is this natural excitement we have as young kids that makes the sixth grade class the majority of students at dances, sports tryouts and club meetings. In sixth grade we had a youthful enthusiasm that drove us to try new things and do our best. Naturally, as time goes by we grow more knowledgeable about the world we live in and become more cautious. We become aware of the “what ifs” in life and people’s judgments of us. The fire in our eyes we have as children begins to fade, especially during middle school. To live in an opportunistic and fun way allows us to be successful. We must rekindle that spark within us. We cannot let our egos outgrow our hearts.In a couple of months we’ll be faced with that day one all over again. Except this time, we are not freshly graduated elementary students, we are recently promoted eighth graders.

So, now going into ninth grade, instead of thinking about the unknown or the things we do not understand, yet, let us think of high school as a fresh opportunity. A brand new day one. Even if we do not know what new people we want to hang out with, or the what things and ideas motivate us, and even if you do, let us be inspired by finding the joy in something new. Let us be motivated as we walk into a new building with a lot more doors for opportunities than the last, Metaphorically and literally. Let us take advantage of the unprecedented experiences that we will have and be eager to approach them with our ever-evolving growth mindset. To be successful in 9th grade I suggest that we take all of our understanding and even more importantly, questions, from middle school and adapt them to our new high schools. However, to be successful AND happy in high school, I suggest that with us, we bring the knowledge we have acquired as sixth, seventh, and eighth graders, and most importantly….I challenge you to THINK like a sixth grader, by harnessing that youthful enthusiasm and fearlessness to test new waters, which lies deep inside each and everyone of us. Ultimately, it is THIS mindset that will push us towards success.

#education #speech #graduation

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Challenges

In his book, Far From the Tree, journalist Andrew Solomon writes about families raising children who present with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia and other severe physical and cognitive and often multiple atypicalities. Solomon observes that, while each of these characteristics is potentially isolating for child and family, the experience of difference within families is universal and that on the deepest level, it is that diversity that unites us all.

Parents of children with atypical needs and challenges are ordinary people who are confronted with extraordinary challenges every day. What I have learned from my niece who has down syndrome and my cousin who has cerebral palsy is that there is a deep well of compassion that vulnerable children tap into. They often bring out the best in us and remind us that every person brings value to the world and it is our job to recognize and nurture that value.

To the graduates today who are earning your certificates of completion, congratulations to you and your families! Some of you will be moving on to adult programs and some of you may be transitioning out of your parents’ homes to group homes and that will be a big change for all of you. Some of you will continue with your current programs or move on to high school and I hear one of you even has a job waiting at Crema Coffee, which is my favorite coffee shop!

What you all have here that is most significant is a community. Parents, caregivers and professionals who can support one another, provide advice or just listen to each others fears and frustrations when those seem to overtake the joys and blessings are an absolutely essential piece of raising an atypical child and, for that matter, any child. I honor all of you, for the love you show, for the expectations you’ve had to adjust and for the fortitude that is required to move through each day. Congratulations and God bless you.

#education #public education #special education #atypical needs

SMALL BUSINESS & EDUCATION

Together Making Silicon Valley a Place Where Everyone Can Thrive

I received an award from the Industry Council for Small Business on May 3, 2018 for outstanding community service. What follows is the text of my remarks which focus on opportunities for small businesses to help improve educational outcomes for local youth.

In the mighty Silicon Valley where marquee corporations line the exits of highways 280 and 101, small businesses can go unnoticed, which is deeply unfortunate.

It is small businesses that make up the bulk of our daily lives, help us buy and sell our homes, try new foods, products and services, move through our days more smoothly and efficiently, and give our neighborhoods character and a sense of belonging. Small businesses support our schools and kids’ sports leagues; you sponsor neighborhood parades and serve multiple generations of families. You are the fabric of our community!

So, why exactly am I up here? I have never owned or run a business, large or small. My work, in fact, has involved taking business professionals out of their realms of comfort and expertise and exposing them to issues of social urgency in the hope that they/you will feel inspired to use your resources to help make life better for someone who is struggling.

This, ultimately, is the work of which we all need to be a part. We are all responsible for one another - and whether you want to make that argument from a social justice or a straight economic perspective - when the most vulnerable among us are thriving, the results are better for everyone: we have safer communities, a healthier and better educated workforce and a more stable economy.

Let me share an example with you.

The phrase “opportunity gap” is a frustrating euphemism for the well documented circumstance that brown and black kids as a group tend to be less successful academically than white and Asian kids. Schools have been trying, with various degrees of success, to close this gap for decades. Yet it persists. Why?

Economics. On the supply side, California ranks in the bottom ten states in per pupil funding. So as a baseline, our schools are severely underfunded. On top of that inequity, individual school districts receive funds from local property taxes, meaning that schools in Palo Alto and Los Gatos receive nearly twice the dollars per pupil as do students in San Jose. On the demand side, the needs of California students tend to be among the highest in the nation: a large percentage of our students are English language learners and far too many children are living below the poverty line, which means that their access to early childhood educational opportunities, sufficient nutrition, consistent health care and general family stability are often in short supply. So we have students who are underprepared entering an underfunded system with underpaid professionals and we expect miraculous results. I’m not making excuses for the shortcomings of public education - I’m simply noting the immensity of the challenges. So what does that mean for all of you?

Property values are lower when school quality is perceived as lower (though I would argue that the quality of the schools are generally not lower; their populations tend to be more transient and have higher needs than their “better” counterparts whose children come from well resourced, stable families).

Communities are less safe when students feel disenfranchised from public education and make questionable choices with their time and activities. Our public dollars underwrite the bills when they end up in Valley Medical Center’s emergency room or in the County jail.

We face shortages in our employable workforce if our students are not graduating from high school and constructively pursuing careers, apprenticeships or post secondary education.

Under- and unemployed young adults cannot afford to live stably here, have health insurance or begin to build their own futures, leading to an increase in homelessness and the directly related health issues, the costs of which are ultimately borne by all of us.

So how do you, the small business community, fit in to this picture? What can you do?

Get involved with your neighborhood schools. Mentor, volunteer, donate, underwrite, treat teachers and other staff members to complimentary meals and discounted services - let them know that you value their work!

Advocate at the state level for more funding for schools and for a more equitable model for distributing those funds.

If you are in the real estate field, think about creative partnerships to build teacher and staff housing - teachers generally make more than the upper income limit for tax subsidized housing, but can’t afford to live in many of our County’s exorbitantly expensive cities.

Advocate at the local level for an expansion of services for children born into low income households.

Make sure your own businesses are family friendly - do you provide onsite day care or subsidized access to high quality day care? Do you provide schedules to your employees weeks in advance so they can manage their other responsibilities? Are you paying a living wage? I know - small businesses are trying to survive themselves and some entrepreneurs truly believe they can’t afford to be so generous with their workforce - but all economic indicators point to greater long term growth when you invest meaningfully in your workforce.

Hire students as summer interns or extra weekend help - teach them how to run a business and pay them while they are learning.

In short, if you support public education in a meaningful way, more children will thrive and will grow up to become vital members of our community. They will become your clients and customers and yes, your competitors, and that is good for all of us.

I will continue my work in the public and nonprofit sectors and I look forward to partnering with all of you, the essential small businesses that play a crucial role in expanding our workforce, modeling diversity, providing products and services, contributing your time, talent and treasure to your communities, strengthening our economy and making Silicon Valley a place where everyone can thrive.

Thank you again for this recognition today and let’s all be the leaders our community needs.

#education #community #opportunity gap

THE GENERATION OF TOMORROW IS DOING THE WORK TODAY

It was an honor and a pleasure to address the Notre Dame High School (San Jose, California) seniors and their families as they celebrated the completion of their social justice service & advocacy projects. What follows is the speech I delivered:

Thank you so much for including me in this important evening. Thank you, particularly, Mary Beth Riley, not only for the invitation but for the work you do here every day in support of excellent girls’ education that is committed to preparing these young women not only for professional success but for ensuring that they/you understand that being engaged in your community and working toward a world with less suffering is equally your mandate.

I went to a girls school in Pennsylvania much like Notre Dame, but our uniform rules seemed to be a lot stricter. Not only were our blouses and pinafores proscribed (and yes we called them blouses and pinafores) but our belts, socks and shoes as well, leaving little room for creativity or self expression. Not to be stymied by administrators but also slightly wary of the out-of-uniform fines, my 10th grade class settled on the brilliant plan to all wear colorful long johns one winter day that showed beneath our jumpers and ran down to the tops of our shoes. Of course, we were immediately admonished and told we would be fined when, as a class, we all announced with complete sweetness and innocence, “you want us to take off our UNDERWEAR??” We had actually outsmarted the dress code police - there were no rules regarding undergarments in the uniform code. No one was fined, no one got detention . . . but two days later, every family in the school received an updated dress code policy strictly prohibiting any visible undergarments, including long underwear or the like. Only regulation green or white tights would be permitted on cold days.

The long john incident, as it came to be called, may have been my first act of political insurgence. It was mostly a prank but the “joke” showed us that we could take rules into our own hands and compel change. We weren’t punished for what we knew wasn’t acceptable, because we demonstrated that we weren’t technically wrong and we were clever enough to exploit the loophole.

So often, real injustice operates in the opposite way -- a rule or law may be technically enforceable but is morally, ethically or socially wrong. Or is enforced in an unfair manner. What is our obligation to speak up in those circumstances? How do we find the courage, especially when the risks are not fines or detention, but far more serious?

In what circumstances do YOU find courage? What are you willing to risk to change the course of history or just a dress code?

There was a letter to the editor in the Mercury News [this morning] in which the author chastised the Los Gatos HS student who walked out of his classroom in support of the national Walk Out day that was organized in response to school shootings. The student was frustrated to have received an F on a test he missed during the walk out. The author felt that it was not OK to have walked out simply because “he feels bad about something”. You know what? Sometimes it’s not only OK, but it is the right thing to do. Here’s the thing, though - I understand the teacher’s thinking as well - he (I believe he is a male teacher) did not want to be in the position of excusing some absences of this type and not for other issues, perhaps with which he disagreed. I think it was unfortunate, but not outrageous, that he gave the student an F. And that is part of the calculation you will always have to make when you feel you need to stand for someone else - what is your exposure and are you willing to take the risk? In my opinion, while school is a student’s primary responsibility, there are absolutely choices you can make that will be worth the risk of failing a test. Sorry to the parents.

I want to state the obvious, just in case you haven’t noticed. I’m guessing that a lot of adults, although maybe not those you know personally, have let you down recently. Whatever your personal politics may be, there is a litany of adults in positions of power - and most of them are men, let’s be real - who are behaving badly, acting on behalf of the very few, and driving us toward a society that is increasingly divided - along racial, ethnic, economic and religious lines.

It is the young people - many of whom are girls - who are speaking truth to power and who are being strategic and effective in their work toward a greater common good.

From Malala to Emma Gonzales, the 18 year old student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who gave an impassioned speech recently at a Ft. Lauderdale rally for gun control, girls are owning their power and their voices and are demanding justice. I suspect that a lot of you may be participating in the March for Our Lives tomorrow and I hope some underclass women join you as well - they can all take the break from homework and SAT and AP prep. Seriously.

I point out the significance of girls’ and young women’s engagement not because ONLY women are engaged in fights for justice but because the way we fight and the outcomes we achieve are significant. When women are engaged in critical numbers, whether it is in executive positions at companies or nonprofits or in elected office, OUTCOMES CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. There is a lot of talk about the need for gender parity in business and politics and it’s not just because women should be equally represented - of course we should - it is because we do things differently and we are effective. Women tend to work more collaboratively than do men, we focus more on outcomes than on personal credit and we bring to the table issues that don’t often see the light of day - for example, how business or political decisions impact children and families whether through caregiving and transportation challenges or salaries and career advancement. The Center for American Women in Politics has found that women legislators have increased the extent to which business is conducted in public as opposed to behind closed doors. And in the U.S. Senate, the women from both parties meet informally for dinner once a month - a real feat in today’s partisan climate.

So back to you, young women literally on the cusp of exploding into the world. You are part of an emerging generation of activists who are making their voices heard. From protesting police violence against Black communities and holding lawmakers accountable for failing to prevent gun violence in schools to rallying for your peers who came to this country as Dreamers – young people have made it clear they will not tolerate injustice.

And from free speech to privacy rights, mass incarceration to voting rights, human trafficking to gender pay equity, environmental protections to intimate partner violence, your generation is speaking out, standing up and demanding better from the adults who are in positions of power. You are not the generation of tomorrow - you are doing this work today, right now - and thank goodness because we really, really need you.

So I guess I am not here to inspire you so much as to thank you and urge you to continue your work. You may not be able to solve every instance of injustice in our world, but I and so many others are calling on you to do your part.

You also may not yet fully appreciate what an incredible opportunity you have had here at ND to meaningfully explore issues of social urgency, engage in volunteer service and develop your own advocacy tools. This level of engagement is extremely rare in public schools and I believe that is a gaping hole in public education. But I believe that along with privilege comes immense responsibility. You have knowledge, skills and experience and it is incumbent on all of you to use your powers for good on behalf of those who haven’t been trained as advocates and don’t even imagine that they could speak up and create change if they wanted to. But don’t just speak FOR others - include them and train them to speak and advocate for themselves and then stand WITH them. Serve as supports and backbones as well as leaders. Sometimes you need to be in the background as an ally rather than on the front lines advocating for someone else.

You won’t always be successful. Who cares. People who are always successful don’t try many things. And you certainly have no prayer of success in whatever issue you are trying to address if you don’t make an effort.

As you move from the incredibly empowering environment of Notre Dame into college or whatever you are doing next, don’t lose this spark. Speak up, stand up and be heard. After my all girls high school, I went on to Barnard College, and then to Columbia Law School. I’ll tell you, I could spot a woman who went to a girls’ school in a hot second. She never prefaced her questions with “this may be wrong, but” or “I was just wondering,” - they asked questions with force and pride and if they were wrong, fine - they learned the correct information. They didn’t issue disclaimers beforehand and they did not apologize for what they did not yet know.

I want to leave you with three requests this evening, three ways in which I believe you can continue to lead and expand your spheres of influence:

1. Make sure you know how government works at every level and build relationships with your elected representatives. So much change in this country happens through legislation, at the local, state and national level. Be involved, make sure your voice is heard and that your opinion is not just acknowledged but sought.

2. Read and learn and use your tools of critical analysis to examine everything you hear, read and see. Ask what the bias of the author or producer is, who is paying for the material, what is the end goal of a particular piece of information. Don’t be swayed by the largest headlines or most alarming websites. Investigate, figure out who you trust and why, and verify information before leaping into action, outrage or celebration.

3. Be empathetic. Include in your circles people whose backgrounds and experiences differ from yours and learn about them. When you encounter someone who holds an opposing viewpoint, take a step back - don’t immediately equate the entire person with their perspective on a single issue. Learn about the person’s experiences, life journey, and challenges. Along the way you will no doubt identify some commonalities with that person and develop some empathy for why she/he/they holds a particular position. Even if you don’t agree, you now see a whole human in front of you and it’s a lot harder to hate or dismiss someone with whom you’ve shared a meal or meaningful conversation or a long walk.

I am inspired by the work you’ve done at Notre Dame. I am grateful and relieved that there are young women like yourselves who take responsibility for the world around you. Thank you for inviting me to share a piece of your celebration tonight. Now please go out and run the world.

#public education #education #protest

A QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE

2ND QUARTER 2018 PROGRESS REPORT

When I was elected to the board presidency position by my co-trustees in late 2017, I announced that our board would focus its greatest attention on 3 specific areas within our existing strategic plan, including: Specical Education, Closing the Gap for our male Latino students and promoting SJUSD as a district of excellence. Since announcing those priorities, I am pleased to share the following:

Special Education: After the previous director of Special Education left the district more than a year ago, Jackie Zeller, the assistant superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, led a team in a thorough investigation of all department practices, policies and procedures. They tightened systems and uncovered bottlenecks and other challenges to smooth and effective service delivery and conducted a study of best practices in other school districts. The district hired an administrator of Strategic Projects, Seth Reddy, to oversee the thorough review of special education and just last month, Mr. Reddy was appointed to the permanent position of Director of Special Education.In addition, the district will pilot a full inclusion preschool program and has engaged in conversation with a parent group that is seeking to create a full inclusion model for our district.

Male Latino Students: For the most part, SJUSD mirrors the demographics and graduation rates of the State of California. However, in the early 90's, SJUSD lagged 15 points behind the state graduation rates for Latino students. SJUSD has made great strides since then and has more than tripled the previous rate as of 2016. This is decent progress, but if you compare the Latino graduation rate at SJUSD with Asian and Caucasian student graduation rates, there is still an unacceptably large gap. Drilling down even farther, there is even a gap between Latino male and female students, with girls outperforming boys. We are committed to increasing outcomes for all Latino students, with a particular focus on our Latino boys & teens, by focusing on the following:

1. Addressing the disadvantage that English Language learners experience with academic language. For native-English speakers, the development of academic language builds progressively on conversational skills, but the challenge for English-language learners is to learn both conversational and academic language concurrently.

2. Promoting the use of Systematic Instruction that breaks skills down into individual components for students and helps students to fully comprehend the new skills and learning objectives of the instructions.

3. Enhancing our Academic Counseling efforts to develop academic/career plans consistent with the stated goals, abilities and interests of our students. Our counselors will focus sessions on providing accurate information to students about policies, procedures and requirements, again with particular attention paid to the success of Latino male students.

District of Excellence: It is important that we as a district make time and resources available to promote all of our schools, but particularly those that are under-enrolled. Too often, community members are unaware of exciting programs in our district, such as the International Baccalaureate track at Horace Mann, Peter Burnett and San Jose High School, the two way bilingual immersion programs at River Glen, Bachrodt, Trace, Hoover and Lincoln; the championship debate program at Leland High School, the state of the art engineering facility at San Jose High, robotics at Gunderson, environmental science at Hacienda, our own Montessori program at Hammer, partnerships with the Tech Museum of Innovation and more. Our schools offer exciting and rigorous options for San Jose families and we need to shine lights on our schools and shape our own narrative. I have recommended a video program and other efforts to highlight our schools with 2 goals in mind: the "soft" goal of improving each school's reputation in its neighborhood and the "SMART" goal of increasing enrollment across the district. Stay tuned for more on this topic.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Almost 200 people participated in our Town Hall on February 5th. SJUSD has provided written responses to several questions/comments made. You can read those here. The next Town Hall will be held at Lincoln High School on April 30th at 6pm. One of the highlighted topics will be the allocation of Measure Y (parcel tax) dollars - please join us to weigh in on how you would like to see those dollars used. See you there!

The state legislature is proposing a requirement that would prevent classes from starting prior to 8:30 a.m. The audience from the recent town hall heard arguments from both sides. They were polled for their opinion at 51% supporting later start times, 39% opposed and 8% not sure. San José Unified School District is interested in knowing your thoughts on this hot topic. You can weigh in by emailing [email protected]

SJUSD has secured a seat on the City of San José's Station Area Advisory Group (SAAG), which addresses the future Google campus at Diridon Station. SJUSD will advocate for our schools to benefit from the Google development. The tax revenue generated from a business of this size in our city would transform SJUSD from a revenue limit to a basic aid district, significantly increasing the amount of money we would have to spend - on classroom resources, staff salaries and more.

A Farmer's Market is coming to the Lincoln High School Parking Lot! Beginning Saturday, May 5, the West Coast Farmers' Market Association will be setting up shop in our neighborhood. For more details, consider attending a community meeting scheduled for March 29 at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Shasta Avenue at 6:30 pm.

SCHOOL LINKED SERVICES

San José Unified School District was lucky to have Give Kids a Smile, a group of dentists and support staff that provide free dental screenings in schools, visit several of our schools including Bachrodt Charter Academy. Kids without regular dentists received assistance when found to have serious issues. Partnerships like these have such a positive impact on a child and I am so grateful for Give Kids a Smile and all their work.

SJUSD has partnered with MySchoolBucks to provide an opportunity for members of the community to make tax-deductible donations toward paying off student meal debts. While we would never refuse a meal to a student, debts can quickly grow to hundreds of dollars. Any member of the community can visit this online portal to make a donation.

SJUSD partners with the Santa Clara County School Linked Services program, which refers students to behavioral health and other social services. We work to connect students with immigration, housing and nutrition services. We hire and support teachers who seek to understand the myriad challenges faced by students, whether stressed by academic pressure, facing trauma or living in unstable environments.

provide safe, soothing places on campus for students to de-stress.

create environments for students and teachers to connect around non-academic challenges.

engage families in support of student challenges, ensuring that the messaging is positive and not punitive.

try to do more work internally, reducing cross-agency communication gaps and privacy issues that limit comprehensive approaches.

A number of students recently had the opportunity to tell their teachers & administrators exactly what is keeping them from attending school, caring about their grades or working toward the goal of graduation at Santa Clara Unified School District. Several students felt disheartened that their teachers did not ever smile at them, ask how they were doing or show any interest in them in class or in the hallways. The catharsis was double edged: previously marginalized students felt valued and heard and numerous teachers had the opportunity to connect with students on a new level. Some of my takeaways from talking with the SCUSD Director of Health & Wellness (Ben Gonzales - a Lincoln & Hoover parent, btw) and a few of the fabulous counselors and staff members:

A not insignificant detail: the budget for this program is in excess of $3 million per year. SCUSD is a "basic aid" district and has access to far greater resources than does SJUSD but it left me thinking, what more can and must we do with our more limited dollars to meet more of the needs of our students?

CHARTER AND NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL COLLABORATION

The spirit of collaboration has felt challenged lately as two charter schools that were approved by the State Board of Education seek to locate within the SJUSD boundaries. Both schools, Perseverance and Promise, want to locate in downtown San Jose and their preference is to co-locate with one or more of our downtown elementary schools. Perseverance intends to serve students in grades 5-8; Promise, grades K-8.

Currently, there are nine SJUSD elementary schools serving downtown, (Grant, Bachrodt, Anne Darling, Empire Gardens, Olinder, Lowell, Washington, Gardner, Horace Mann), most of which are showing declining enrollment due to the high cost of living in this area, particularly for renters. There are three charter middle schools (ACE, DCP, and Sunrise) already operating in and near downtown San Jose and not one of them is at full enrollment capacity. It is difficult to justify providing facilities for yet more schools in an area that is already saturated. In addition, parents at our elementary schools have expressed concerns about middle schoolers being on their campuses, campuses that are designed for younger and smaller children.

Finally, SJUSD is seeking clarity in charter school law which often feels unclear. The question to which we are seeking resolution is, when a school district rejects a charter petition, whether the appeal body must consider only the petition that was initially reviewed and affirm or overrule the district's decision OR whether that body may consider other information not provided in the original petition or approve the petition after having made substantial revisions to it.

STUDENT SAFETY

Hundreds of SJUSD high schoolers, and one second grader from Merritt Trace Elementary school, walked out of their classrooms today in protest our Congress's failure to promote sensible gun legislation. Students used the power of their feet and their voices to make a powerful statement that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. A helpful resource for this time can be found here: Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers

The physical and emotional safety of all of our students, as well as all of the adults, on our campuses is of paramount importance. Particularly in light of the current political climate, we need to be particularly vigilant in guarding against speech or action that could be described as motivated by prejudice, bias or discrimination against any group of people. I encourage staff members, parents and students to speak up if they feel unsafe or targeted for any reason. Almost all of us are feeling vulnerable and need to have one another's backs.

Check out SJUSDs dedicated Immigration Services page

See here for important Teen Dating Violence resources

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

California's 6th District PTA Annual Lunch on March 2nd was brimming with parent leaders, district employees & board members from throughout the County. It was a wonderful experience to spend time with these individuals that are so deeply invested in our students.

Following the resignation of Paymon Zarghami Board Trustee Area 4 in February, we appointed Michael Milillo to fill the vacancy. Michael will serve until December 2018, when the term of office expires. Seven strong community members applied for this position - it was exciting to have such a deep pool but very difficult to make a decision when any number of them would have made excellent trustees. Michael is a data scientist with Apple, serves on the SJ Library and Early Childhood Commission and is the father of 2 children who attend Reed elementary school.You can learn more about him here.

We are always hiring! Contact our Human Resources Department and job portal here.

BEYOND THE BOARDROOM

I attended the recent Children's Summit Conference sponsored by Kids In Common, which oversees the compilation of the annual Santa Clara County Children's Agenda Data Book. The Data Book tracks the condition of children across a range of measures including hunger, homelessness, foster care, juvenile justice engagement, access to health care, developmental assets, emotional health and well being, school readiness, key academic performance measures and high school graduation rates. The conference included a number of breakout sessions. Most fascinating to me was a proposal to pilot two programs for the Franklin McKinley and Alum Rock school districts that will investigate how to coordinate and develop universal access for all parents to early childhood services, including prenatal care and programs for children lasting from infancy through third grade. The initiative aims to strengthen ties between the local school districts and families with young children in order to create a better transition from preschool to kindergarten. The pilot is also targeted at better coordinating the services families receive from the County, improving children's opportunities to be successful in school. If successful, this program is one that I would recommend adopting for several of our downtown elementary schools.

I am a member of the County Civics Education Initiative and our committee is working hard to expand civics education within the county. We are currently working on the logistics of rewarding a "County Seal of Civic Engagement" to area schools, expanding partnerships with civically engaged organizations, and ensuring diversity is emphasized in our efforts.

#public education

A QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE

1ST QUARTER 2018 PROGRESS REPORT

Happy New Year to the San Jose Unified School District Community, neighbors & stakeholders! For the third year in a row, SJUSD kicked off the new year with a celebration of all of our employees on Monday, January 8 (the day before kids went back to school). It is not only a pleasure to host this fun afternoon of music, food and (donated) raffle prizes, but an important piece of our strategic objective of recruiting, hiring, retaining and supporting high quality staff members. I deeply appreciate the thousands of professionals who work hard at our school district, whether in classrooms, admin offices, buildings & grounds or buses - we need all of you to serve 30,000 students every day.

On December 7, 2017, I was elected by my co-trustees to the position of Board President. I view this role as a privilege: I look forward to this opportunity to facilitate public meetings based on the feedback my co-trustees have provided over the last several months, and as a responsibility: to keep us focused on those elements that will enable staff to feel that they have clear direction and are well supported to do their work on behalf of all of our 30,000 students.

To that end, I shared my initial thoughts during our January 18 meeting.

1. I intend to make sure that our board meetings represent a reasonable balance of operational requirements and student achievement, with as much focus on students as possible. It is true that a large portion of our role as trustees is contract approval and we must take that work seriously as we are fiduciaries of a $350 million dollar annual budget. I ask that we are as efficient as possible with operational and procedural items so that we have more time for discussions of student outcomes.

2. Without departing from the agreed upon priorities expressed in our strategic plan along with monitoring key performance measures, I would like to emphasize three topics this year:

a. Special Education b. Closing the gap for our male Latino students c. Promotion of SJUSD as a district of excellence

One of the ways in which I would like to promote our school district is through a video challenge for all 41 of our schools, asking each to highlight what is special about their school. I'd like to see and hear where the school is shining, what do staff, parents & students have to say about their school, what makes it special and why everyone should want to come there. I'd like to see us promote those videos through social media like Next Door and the neighborhood associations within our district with two goals in mind: the "soft" goal of improving each school's reputation in its neighborhood and the "SMART" goal of increasing enrollment across the district. Our schools have many things to be proud of and we should be sharing those many points of light!

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Parents: SJUSD wants to hear from you! As part of San José Unified's commitment to prepare today's students to be the thinkers, leaders, and creators of tomorrow, we'd like to hear your thoughts about our schools and your child's education experience. Take the survey here

SJUSD saved property owners more than $3.1 million in taxes by refinancing outstanding general obligation bonds that pay to maintain the 3.3 million square feet of district facilities. SJSUD did this just in time as Congress eliminated municipal issuers' ability to advance refund bonds with the pricing benefit of tax-exemption in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Final Bill).

In response to strong community advocacy that included several neighborhood associations, the district signed an agreement with a Farmer's Market to operate in the Lincoln High School parking lot on Saturdays beginning in April. I look forward to seeing neighbors and school families shopping for fresh produce, flowers and baked goods right here in the Rose Garden.

SCHOOL LINKED SERVICES

Our district depends in many ways on our relationship with the County of Santa Clara and particularly with its School Linked services program to provide resources for students and families ranging from housing and counseling to physical and behavioral health services. I recently received the following notice from the County Office of Immigrant Relations that I am sharing here: Local media is reporting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning a major sweep through the Bay Area to detain undocumented persons.

According to reports, the sweep may occur at any time within the next couple of weeks. While raids are unlikely to occur in our schools, we need to prepare to protect and support our families as well as meet the social-emotional needs of students and staff who are impacted. As community leaders, it is important that educators not contribute to a sense of panic. The best thing we can do is ensure that everyone is informed of their rights and knows what to do in the event of any ICE activity. Last February, our district adopted a resolution to protect the rights of all students and families, regardless of immigration status. (We do not collect this information, nor do we share it with law enforcement agencies.) This resolution makes clear that San José Unified is committed to ensuring that our schools remain safe and welcoming spaces for learning.

All SJUSD community members are welcome to visit:

go.sjusd.org/immigration (English) or go.sjusd.org/inmigracion (Spanish)

to familiarize yourself with the tools and resources we've provided to support you as well as students and families.

All the links listed below have been vetted by the Santa Clara County Office of Immigrant Relations and are meant to provide access to information. They are not meant to provide legal advice or to replace the consultation of a legal service provider. In addition, the Office of Immigrant Relations has created several referral sheets that are easy to use located at the OIR website

Local Legal Resources for Deportation Defense

Local and Regional Immigration Legal Services

Local Organization that provide "know your rights" information

Non-Legal Trusted Resources

Resources to Prepare for Raids and Other Immigration Enforcement Actions

Flyer With Local Rapid Response Hotline Numbers

Red Cards

Know Your Rights Materials

What to Do if ICE Stops You in the Street or in a Public Place (NDLON)

Que hacer si Inmigracion (ICE) le Para en la Calle o en un Lugar Publico (Spanish Flyer) (NDLON)

Know Your Rights and What Immigrant Families Should Do Now (ILRC April 2017, Available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Korean, Russian, Tagalog, and Vietnamese)

Workplace Enforcement Materials

Workplace Raids: Workers Rights Fact Sheet (Legal Aid at work)

What To Do If Immigration Comes To Your Workplace (NELP, NILC 2017)

Know Your Rights: A Guide to Workplace Rights for Immigrants (Catholic Legal Immigration Network, available in English and Spanish)

Video Training Series by Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County English Videos

Know Your Rights - Workplace

Know Your Rights - Police Stop

Know Your Rights - Front Door

Spanish Videos

Know Your Rights - Workplace

Know Your Rights - Police Stop

Know Your Rights - Front Door

CHARTER AND NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL COLLABORATION

On Friday, January 19, the State Board of Education held hearings for Promise Academy and Perseverance Prep at the state level. SJUSD staff, along with staff members from the Santa Clara County Office of Education, attended the hearing in Sacramento to present the district's and county's position and answer any questions the State Board of Education had. After two lengthy discussions, the SBE approved both charters with revisions.

The SBE made a significant change to Promise Academy's charter, amending it from a TK-12 model to a TK-8 due to deficiencies in the high school component of the petition. Promise Academy is close to the 80 in-district student trigger that would require the district to provide facilities to the charter school. District staff is in the process of completing the verification process of in-district students.

The SBE made changes to the Perseverance petition that related to their budgeting process. Perseverance does not have enough in-district students to qualify for facilities under the law but they are interested in leasing facilities with the district. Staff will identify possible locations and will reach out to the parent community at the (potentially) affected site(s).

At the January 18 board meeting, Downtown College Prep's executive director Jennifer Andaluz presented a renewal petition for Downtown College Prep's El Camino middle school. The board also held a hearing on another charter petition for a school called Eureka Inclusive. Eureka's focus is on a fully inclusive program for students of typical and atypical needs. The board will hear staff's recommendation and vote on that petition in February.

STUDENT SAFETY

Check out SJUSDs dedicated Immigration Services page

See here for important Teen Dating Violence resources

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

For the second year in a row, San José Unified School District received the gold (highest) level Family Friendly Workplace Award in recognition of our maternity and family leave policies championed by former San José Teachers Association President Jennifer Thomas. Thank you Renata Sanchez for being on hand to accept the award on behalf of the district! The Family Friendly Workplace Award is given by the SCC Office of Women's Policy in recognition of businesses and organizations that create work environments, through both policy and culture, that support families and recognize that such environments lead to greater productivity, loyalty and longevity.

BEYOND THE BOARDROOM

I attended a meeting of the Domestic Violence Intervention Collaborative, a group of cross-sector professionals who are working to reduce the incidence of domestic violence and better support survivors, who often include children, if not as direct victims then often as victims of collateral damage as a result of the violence in their lives. So many of our students experience trauma on a regular basis, whether as a result of adult violence, unstable family situations, economic pressures or health challenges. The better we understand those challenges, the more effectively we can direct resources, train staff and tailor learning to meet the needs of children and youth who are struggling on a daily basis.

I am pursuing possible avenues of partnership with cities, developers and housing service organizations to see if our district can help to facilitate teacher housing projects. We are all acutely aware of the housing crisisthat impacts not only a growing population of homeless community members but working and middle class families across the county - it is my view that this issue is the moral imperative of our day and must be addressed before we can hope to tackle the numerous other social challenges that beset many of our residents.

I have begun a campaign for the District 4 seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. I am very proud of the work I and my colleagues are doing on the school board and, in another political climate, might be very glad to continue this work. However, I am also feeling the limitations of this role and I want to do more to support families and children who are struggling - with unstable housing, inconsistent access to health care and extremely limited opportunities for early childhood care and education. While there is much work to be done in our schools to close the opportunity gap, there are larger systems that must be addressed if we want to see more children, particularly those from low income households, succeed. By working at the County level to expand the supply of low income housing, protect access to health care here in Santa Clara County regardless of what happens at the Federal level and increase opportunities for our youngest community members to have high quality child care and early educational experiences, I believe that students will ultimately do much better in school, even if as a by-product of these efforts. Please be assured that during this campaign, I remain wholly committed to my present role on the Board of Trustees and intend to use this year to drive greater success in the areas of student achievement, particularly for students with special education needs and for Latino males, and in strengthening the reputation of our school district throughout the San Jose community.

#education #charter schools #public engagement #immigration

10th Grader Tackles Challenges of Chronic Homelessness in our County with flexible hybrid electronic device

Today’s students can’t isolate themselves from ‘real world’ issues, whether it’s the political state of our nation or homelessness in their own communities. When they are given an opportunity, students take on these challenges and offer innovative solutions.

Across San Jose Unified School District, hundreds of students have had the opportunity to participate in an entrepreneurship course created in partnership with NextFlex, a manufacturing consortium that designs flexible hybrid electronics. Below is the story, in her own words, of one student who identified the important connection between chronic homelessness and mental health status and designed a device to address both.

My name is Avianna Davies and I am a 10th grade student at Lincoln High School. I participated in a 6-week course called “Flex Factor,” which teaches high school students how to start a business to address a world problem and pitch it to a panel of “sharks” that may decide to actually build the product.

An enormous world (and local) problem that my group identified is the high population of homeless people. Many of those people cannot get back on their feet because they are not mentally capable of doing so. A lot of them are affected by major mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Many people encounter homeless individuals every day and don’t really think much about them as they walk by. But for me, this situation is very personal.

My older brother, David, got into a lot of trouble in his early teens, and the blame was placed on puberty or hormones. Things got worse as he got older and he was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, which caused him to hear voices and completely lose any sense of reality a majority of the time. My brother has been homeless in San Diego for several years and it breaks my heart.

I shared this story with my group and we began brainstorming for ideas that could help homeless people with mental disorders. We decided to design a flexible, concealed armband that would administer prescribed medications to patients over an extended period of time. This is an advantage for people who can’t remember to take medications, don’t have access to them or feel a stigma around taking them.

This armband would not only provide a transdermal drug delivery, but it would also contain an electronic grid within the fabric that would track the location of the patient and the patient’s diagnostics, such as their heart rate and medicinal intake, along with a removable solar powered battery unit for those who do not have access to electricity. The location tracker is essential because in the event of an episode, the hospital will be alerted and the families of the patient could be notified as well. Our goal was to create a product that would give people a longer period of clarity in hopes that they could use that time to make better lives for themselves.

My experience with my brother has taught me not only to never take things in life for granted, but to understand that many others suffer like he does and that people often don’t want to talk about this subject. I’m grateful for the Flex Factor program that gave me and my peers an opportunity to realize that we have the power and skills to solve world problems.

Students like Avianna give me so much hope for the future of our community. We face enormous challenges, from homelessness and affordable housing to health care, climate change and transportation, but we also have young people who are engaged, intelligent and innovative, ready to take on those challenges and work for a greater good for all of us.

#education #county #homelessness #partnerships

Homeless Youth

Audrey, a sophomore at Lincoln high school, and her mom have been living with one of her mom’s co-workers for the last two months. The two of them are sleeping on a couch, which Audrey says is accounting for her exhaustion during the day and tendency to fall asleep in class. When asked, Audrey insists she’s not homeless - “that’s the people who are sleeping on the streets”.

In California, just over 3 percent of the K-12 public school population was homeless last year, according to data submitted by schools to the State Department of Education. Those numbers include students who were living in cars, motels, shelters, on the street or with their families “doubled up” in the homes of others but, even so, that estimate is likely to be low because families are sometimes reluctant to answer school surveys truthfully and because homeless youth drift in and out of homelessness and might not be counted on a particular day.

The bottom line is that too many children and teenagers are not stably housed and, as a result, are far less likely than their peers to succeed in school, thereby severely curtailing their later options for economic stability as adults.

School districts can provide some support for families who are homeless or are in danger of becoming so. The McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program was enacted to ensure that homeless children and youths would have equal access to the same free, appropriate public education as is provided to other children and youths. It is meant to identify and remove barriers to the identification, enrollment, attendance, or success in school of homeless children and youths. In addition, public-private partnerships with organizations such as the Bill Wilson Center also help to bridge the gap for students and families in crisis and the Santa Clara County School Linked Services program works to connect families to local resources that can help them remain in their homes or become rapidly rehoused.

SJUSD is typical of other urban school districts across the state: enrollment is declining as families move out of the area as a result of prohibitive rents and teacher shortages are connected to the high cost of living in communities where they seek to work. Student data shows that when students enter one school and remain there until they are promoted (grades K-5, 6-8 and 9-12), they do much better than their peers who move from school to school (often in the course of one year). Unstable housing is further complicated by other factors related to family stability, access to sufficient nutrition and consistent health care, or engagement with the juvenile justice, foster care or child welfare systems. These complex circumstances lead in many cases to anxiety, physical ailments, trauma and worse, making it nearly impossible for students to focus on school work.

Of course there are students who surmount seemingly impossible odds, who study in cars at night, wake up at 4:30 am to commute 40 miles to school or maintain top grades while working 30 hours a week at part time jobs, taking care of siblings and/or contending with dysfunctional parents or guardians. They are the exceptions. And it’s tempting to hold up and say, ‘look! This kid persisted and had grit and determination and ganas and persevered and stayed away from gangs and drugs and made it . . . so why can’t everyone?’

We can point to the exceptional kids as models and blame the vast numbers of kids who aren’t able to rise above incredibly difficult circumstances . . . . OR we can work to reduce those incredibly difficult circumstances for as many kids as possible. Let me be specific:

Our County must expand the supply of affordable housing by working with the 15 cities in Santa Clara County, leveraging the Measure A dollars to build permanent, supportive housing for our most vulnerable community members, incentivize tax-credit low income housing for working class families and and foster innovative public-private partnerships to make home ownership possible for our teachers, firefighters and other public sector professionals who provide indispensable services to our communities. The housing needs to be developed in concert with expanded public transportation so we are not adding to sprawl, environmental damage or decreased quality of life.

Our County must protect access to health care services and expand services to meet the behavioral and mental health needs of the chronically homeless population as well as the children and youth in our community whose needs are not currently being met in our local community.

Our County must expand access to early childhood care and education opportunities, beginning with parent education about the value of singing, talking and reading to their infants and extending to high quality care facilities for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.

What I experience as a school board member reflects what is happening to our general population across Santa Clara County. In order to see significant transformations at the school and individual student level, we must address the systems and conditions that underlie those barriers to success, not only for the sake of today’s children but for the economic, physical and behavioral health of our entire community.

Inspiration/resources for this piece:

EdSource: Young and Homeless in America by Carolyn Jones

PBS NewsHour: Shelter in Place

#education #school board #work to do

A Quest for Excellence

3RD QUARTER 2017 PROGRESS REPORT

We are more than a month into the 2017-18 school year and all of our school sites are bustling, as is the district office. Here are a few highlights and places my attention is currently focused:

Enrollment Numbers. While the schools in the southern end of the district and in Willow Glen are fully enrolled, many of the downtown schools in the northern end of the district are seeing significant declines in enrollment. Requests for record transfers show that many families are moving out of the area to cities where housing is considerably more affordable than it is in San Jose. The high cost of living and dearth of affordable housing is affecting not only our students, but teachers as well. Part of the teacher shortage we are experiencing is the result of the high cost of renting or purchasing a home in the vicinity of any of our schools. Housing affordability is a regional issue - and, in my mind, perhaps THE moral imperative of our time - and we must find solutions in the very near future. Kids and families can't wait.

Emotional Well Being. While a school district's priority is the academic education of students, we must also pay close attention to the emotional well being of our students if they are to be successful in school. Over the past several months, many students have exhibited greater symptoms of stress and anxiety, often tied to issues related to immigration status. Our district has partnered with the Santa Clara County Office of Immigration to provide information and resources to students and families. Counselors are prepared to address student concerns through this lens. And the board will soon update the resolution we passed last February to include reassurances for any of our employees who are currently protected by the provisions of DACA.

Our board has appointed a number of community members to the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee for a two year term. This committee is charged with ensuring that the dollars collected through the district's first parcel tax will be used exactly as intended: to support teachers and other school site staff members. I am deeply committed to supporting our certificated and classified employees in any way I can - these are the professionals who serve 31,000 students every day and our students will be successful if the adults charged with educating and caring for them are well resourced and supported in their roles.

San José Unified has been selected by Sprint to participate in the 1Million Project. The goal of this five-year program is to provide one million students who do not have adequate internet access at home with the resources they need to be successful in school. Beginning in the 2017-18 school year, the district will be able to offer 242 mobile hotspot devices to qualifying high school students. The hotspot and data plan are provided by Sprint at no cost to the student, their school, or the district. The data plan provides 3GB of LTE data a month, and unlimited data at 2G speeds after that. The hotspots are connected to a Sprint CIPA compliant content filter so that students only have access to content that is appropriate. More information is available from the San José Unified Public Information Office via email or by calling (408) 535-6444

P.S. My Facebook is updated regularly and is the easiest way to stay current with Area 2 news!

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Town Hall Meeting. On September 25, our district held the first town hall meeting of the 2017-18 school year. A number of elected officials plus more than 200 parents, students, teachers and classified staff members gathered at Willow Glen High School to receive an update on the district's strategic plan and to share comments, concerns and compliments about personal experiences with SJUSD. The comments were thoughtful varied and provided a good sense of the type of experience people are having with our schools. Some of the common themes that were raised include the following:

need for student internships at local businesses

concern for undocumented families and how the district is ensuring their safety

special education: meeting student needs in a timely and satisfactory way

parent involvement: too much, too little, reliance on parent fundraising to provide supplemental student programming

social emotional & physical well being of students

desire for rigorous academics but not too much homework

advantages and disadvantages of a later school start time for high school

District staff members took copious notes to capture individual and global concerns. They will reach out to individuals whose questions are child specific and will create a general information document on the foregoing topics that will be available to ALL stakeholders.

Stakeholder input is extremely valuable if our district is going to continuously improve and grow to meet the needs of our students and the expectations of our community. I am grateful to all of you who took the time to attend the meeting, particularly if you shared your thoughts with the group. Thank you to State Senator Jim Beall, Assembly members Ash Kalra and Evan Low, San Jose City Council members Dev Davis and Don Rocha for sharing your policy priorities that impact education and especially Senator Beall who remained for the entire meeting to hear from community stakeholders; that meant a lot to our teachers, parents and students.

Our new district website is live after the last year of development. We took all of your feedback in to consideration and have made some great improvements:

A new calendar built into the site to make it easier to find events

A blog where you can learn about the latest district news

Expanded information about our schools and programs

Easily accessible resources for parents, students, and community members

An easy-to-use web form for contacting the district

Visit www.sjusd.org and have a look around!

San José Unified's exemption process for our Measure Y parcel tax received and processed nearly 1,200 applications in time for the 2017-2018 tax year, and we're happy to make the exemption application available year round. If you're 65 years or older, or you receive Social Security or disability insurance, you can visit our website, send us an email, or call us at (408) 535-6444 to request an application. You can also pick one up in person at our District Office at 855 Lenzen Ave. in San José.

SCHOOL LINKED SERVICES

Many people aren't aware of the extensive safety net services SJUSD offers to vulnerable students and families, yet these services are as important to student success as are academic programs and resources. As the needs of our community have grown, so have those services. For example:

For many years, the number of homeless students in our district hovered around 120. However, over the past three years, that number has increased by approximately 100 students per year, leading to the current number of 525 unhoused students. Many of these families are truly living on the streets while others are double and triple housed or "couch surfing" with friends or family members. Our Coordinated School Health Council partners with community based organizations such as the Bill Wilson Center to provide immediate services including rapid rehousing, bridge housing and other shelters to get families off of the street.

Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, approximately 20% of our students had MediCal insurance. With the ACA, that number has increased to 35% and our district provides for a wide range of reimbursable services, from insulin shots to anti seizure medication to breathing treatments in response to asthma attacks. We provide 1:1 aids for students with extraordinary medical needs so that they are able to attend school with their peers. In fact, our district has one of the best nurse:student ratios in the state, with 1 nurse serving every 1200 students (the more typical ratio is 1:2400).

Our board passed a series of wellness policies, directing schools to implement wellness programs that focus on a range of topics from nutrition to suicide prevention. A council comprised of district staff members, parents and representatives of community based organizations is charged with ensuring that the policies are actually implemented at the school sites.

An important aspect of early childhood development is access to high quality early educational experiences. Our district preschools serve 600 4 year olds each year whose family income exceeds the cap set by the national head start program ($24,000) but still falls well below the self sufficiency standard in Silicon Valley.

Next month, the SJUSD district office on Lenzen will become the third site for School Health Clinics of Santa Clara County (there are already clinics at Washington Elementary and San Jose High schools). When parents come to the district office to enroll their children in school, they can head down the hall to the clinic to receive vaccinations, sports physicals or connections to more comprehensive services at Valley Medical Center.

Resources for Immigrant Families

CHARTER AND NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL COLLABORATION

Two charter petitions were presented to our board recently and I voted no on both of them (See: Promise Academy). I am committed to ensuring that students who reside within the San Jose Unified School District boundaries have access to excellent educational opportunities and that parents have options to choose the models that are best for their children. A proposed charter school is not a de facto legitimate option if it does not offer a sound academic plan, cannot clearly meet the needs of all students and imposes requirements that are not developmentally or academically appropriate. There are absolutely places in which I would welcome collaboration if there is demonstrated need and a proposal that would address that need in a responsible manner. My focus will always be accountability to the students and families who reside in this school district (wherever they go to school) and I will continue to support the work of our teachers and administrators who work exceptionally hard to serve the 31,000 students who choose to attend any of our 41 schools.

STUDENT SAFETY

Check out SJUSDs dedicated Immigration Services page

See here for important Teen Dating Violence resources

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Congratulations to Allison Pruitt of Washington Elementary! Allison was named Teacher of the Year on Thursday, Sept. 14th, at the Campbell Heritage Theater by the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

BEYOND THE BOARDROOM

I helped to facilitate a County Wide Civics Education Initiative called The Power of Democracy. The purpose of the gathering was to galvanize educators, elected officials and funders to expand access to civics education opportunities in our schools.

In the same vein as the above, I moderated a panel at the 3rd Annual Government and Civic Tech Innovation Showcase in which I spoke with Sid Espinosa, Vice President for Technology & Corporate Responsibility at Microsoft, Emma Humphries, Chief Education Officer, iCivics and David Moren, Bay Area Executive Director, Generation Citizen. The focus of the conversation was the need for businesses and community based organizations to partner with schools to provide more opportunities for students not only to learn how government works, but to experience why political participation is an important part of engaged citizenry.

Civic education in schools has a parallel in civic engagement by adults in our community. I spoke at a Women's Networking Allianceconference on this topic, focusing on civic engagement as a powerful relationship building tool as opposed to a relationship that is focused on transactions; in other words, asking what can we do together to improve some aspect of our community rather than, what can you do to advance my business and what can I do to advance yours? Shared passions is a far stronger and more durable strategy through which to forge relationships which may also yield professional advantages, but create something more significant along the way

In my role as Senior Director of Community Development for The Silicon Valley Organization, I designed and led a day of programming designed to raise awareness of current issues in public education. We began the day with a panel discussion on The Purpose of Public Education that included local Superintendents as well as representatives from a charter school and two nonprofit supplemental education providers. The goal of the day was to raise awareness among business leaders of the (local) state of public education and the challenges to its greater success.

#education #public engagement #student safety #school linked services

Serving on a School Board Matters. Engaging the Community in this Work Matters More.

When I was elected as a school board trustee in 2014, I imagined I would be able to support my school district’s best efforts to create an environment where all students could succeed. Our public schools strive to serve every child who walks through our doors, regardless of their learning needs, emotional challenges or life circumstances. I am confident that the adults in our district believe in the ability of every child to succeed. But when a child moves schools five times in a year due to unstable housing, misses weeks of school for a chronic condition that is not regularly monitored by a primary care physician, or has no consistent, supportive adult in their life, the chances of success are severely curtailed.

Serving on a school board is an honor and a serious responsibility. It is perhaps one of the clearest ways to view all of a city or county’s strengths and challenges in one concentrated environment. If the larger community can ensure that all of its members, including the most vulnerable, have regular access to sufficient nutrition, safe and stable housing, high quality health care, physical safety and the opportunity to do meaningful work that will allow for self sufficiency, all children will succeed in school. This I know to be true.

When students are struggling, it is often not the result of academic limitations. It is unstable housing, insufficient nutrition, inconsistent health care, and/or lack of access to early childhood educational opportunities. A school district plays a vital role in student success, but we cannot do the work of ensuring student success entirely on our own. School districts need partners: county agencies that provide safety net services; community based organizations that provide supplemental support, instruction, enrichment and other vital services; and engaged community businesses and individuals who volunteer, mentor, tutor, fundraise and advocate.

Large urban school districts like SJUSD are bigger than many city governments with an annual budget exceeding 300 million dollars. The district’s primary business is education, but we are also in the businesses of physical and behavioral healthcare, finance, maintenance, groundskeeping, construction, immigrant resources, nutrition, human resources and energy conservation. My first six months on the board was spent learning, listening, building relationships and asking questions. Lots of questions. In many ways, I have been exceptionally fortunate: our board is professional, the Superintendent and her cabinet are deeply committed to student success and operate with complete integrity, and our district’s finances (though spartan) are in order.

Further, my participation on the board has had a measurable impact. My advocacy has led to an extremely progressive family leave policy for our teachers, the passage of our district’s first parcel tax (with the money designated to support school site teachers and staff), an intensified focus on effective communication, a review and overhaul of the delivery of special education services, and the adoption of policies ranging from gender neutral bathrooms and protection of undocumented families to free SAT exams for every high school junior. I have been a part of decisions that included the conversion of our transportation fleet to energy saving buses, the sale and purchase of properties to provide better facilities for students, and the addition of more counseling services for vulnerable students. Our district has a strong relationship with our teachers’ union and together we have been able to create an evaluation model, supplemented by robust coaching and regular support, that is fast becoming a state wide model.

And yet. The greatest lesson I have learned from my experience is that, while my participation on the school board matters, there are circumstances that impede student success that are far beyond the purview of a school board member. From that I conclude that one of the most important things I can do as a school board member is reach beyond our district and inspire the entire community - government, private & nonprofit sectors - to invest in the success of our next generation. I am all in for this work.

#education #school board #community engagement

A Quest for Excellence

2ND QUARTER 2017 PROGRESS REPORT

Congratulations to all of our families, teachers, staff members and, especially, STUDENTS! on the successful completion of the 2016-17 school year. For the third consecutive year, I had the honor of shaking the hand of every graduating senior from Lincoln High School and every promoting 8th grader from Burnett and Hoover Middle Schools. Lots of smiles and lots of hand sanitizer were involved.

What follows are several highlights from the past quarter, as well as some looks ahead at our next challenges and opportunities:

#education #progress #public engagement

The Promise of Charter Schools: Why I Said No

This past Thursday evening, following spirited debate on both sides of the question before the SJUSD Board of Trustees, I voted to accept the district staff’s recommendation not to grant the charter petitioned by the Promise Academy founders for a number of reasons that will be detailed below. I set forth first, however, that my duty is to follow the specific laws designed to walk a potential authorizer through a number of questions, the answers to which will determine whether the petition must be approved. I take this responsibility seriously and am cognizant of the need to be diligent and fair in my review. As an elected official selected to represent my constituency, I also consider each petition from the perspective of how the proposed new school would benefit the students who reside within the boundaries of our school district. Finally, I am cognizant of the current political climate that is leaning toward an expansion of charter school and school voucher programs. This is is a hot political button, as well as a referendum on public education.

Taken as a whole, the model devised by Promise Academy is not one that I believe would make a significant contribution to improving the educational outcomes for our downtown students. As noted above, just 12 of the families who expressed meaningful interest reside within our district’s attendance boundaries so I’m not compelled to believe that many SJUSD students would take advantage of the opening of yet another charter school in our area. In fact, none of the charter schools that have already been authorized by SJUSD are at enrollment capacity. More significantly, however, our public schools must and do serve all students: children who enter with one or more years of pre-k education and children with learning differences; children with highly motivated engaged parents, and those children whose parents are unengaged or unable to provide a stable environment for their children for a variety of reasons. I understand and support parents who legitimately search for alternatives for their children because, for whatever reason, they are not satisfied with their current options. However, it is also legitimate to ask whether Promise Academy would deliver results outside of a curated subset of students with fully engaged parents who are already best suited for success. It has been my observation as a school board member that student success is influenced by many factors of which the quality of the educational program is important, but not most important. Educational success is also influenced by parent engagement, family stability and even nutrition and health care. I did not see in Promise Academy a school that would reach out to students from unengaged families, students with special needs, or those with behavioral challenges. It is these students for whom we need to do a better job as a district and a community in order to raise overall level of academic success. I saw in Promise Academy a school that would target the families of students who were already best positioned to achieve success within the combination of traditional and charter schools that SJUSD already offers. It was not a model that I believed would improve the overall academic achievement of our downtown students about which so many of us have expressed great concern. In fact, to the extent Promise removes capable students with engaged families from the traditional schools, it will diminish the opportunities for the students who remain at the traditional schools to succeed by reducing the number of positive role models amongst the student and parent population, not to mention reducing the already scarce funding available to support the students who remain in the traditional schools. Public schools must operate without the option of counseling out students who don’t meet academic or behavioral expectations or by leaving out children with special needs from the equation altogether. I am not categorically opposed to charter schools. However, the threshold question for me will be whether any proposed charter petition demonstrates an ability to serve the students most in need of an innovative system—those with learning disabilities, those with disciplinary challenges; those who come from unstable and disengaged families; or those who, for a variety of reasons, may simply not be on a 4 year college trajectory. My job is to consider and advocate for educational programs that will improve the educational success for all SJUSD students. In my view, the charter petition proposed by Promise Academy, with its limited support from SJUSD families, its inflexible disciplinary and academic programs, and overlap with existing programs, failed to meet that test.

#education #charterschools

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Susan Ellenberg, SJUSD Trustee Area 2