A well-regarded charter school chain has been denied permission to open a school for low-income students, clearing the way for appeal to a state board often more favorable to such institutions.
It’s a path charter school backers frequently travel to circumvent the objections of local education officials who oppose them.
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Kids in San Francisco bolted from high school at a much higher rate last year than the year prior, according to data released by the California Department of Education — but officials in The City might have the answer for keeping them in class.
In the 2009-10 school year, an estimated 521 out of 18,296 high school students left San Francisco schools without a diploma. That number is up drastically from the 2008-09 school year, in which only 325 of 19,074 students left school early.
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No Child Left Behind, the controversial federal education law that created a nationwide system of high-stakes standardized tests, is long overdue for a Congressional reauthorization. Now, frustrated by lawmakers’ inaction, Obama administration officials say they will offer states waivers for some of the law’s requirements.
That came as good news to California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.
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Three years after South San Francisco Unified School District was looking at potential bankruptcy, it is cutting costs and creating jobs by partnering with one of the country’s largest solar energy companies.
The district is using funds provided by Measure J to pay Chevron Energy Solutions, whose parent company is San Ramon-based Chevron Corp., to create the largest K-12 solar and energy-efficiency program in San Mateo County, projected to save the district $1.5 million a year over the first five years in energy costs.
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Making tap water available to schoolchildren is now much harder since federal regulations will require districts to provide it by the start of this school year — no exceptions.
The San Francisco Unified School District is taking inventory of its 120 school sites to meet the requirements. According to federal regulations, National School Lunch Program participants, which account for more than 95 percent of schools nationwide, must “make potable water available to children at no charge in the place where lunch meals are served during the meal service.”
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The University of San Francisco is adding a new “hub” to its rolls: 101 Howard St.
The 150-year-old private university announced that it is purchasing the historic Folger Coffee Building for $36 million in hopes of “reaching a broader base of students.”
The building — which is 100,000 square feet, according to USF spokeswoman Anne-Marie Devine — is located near the old Transbay Transit Terminal and closer to BART than the university’s main campus.
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Cyndy Simms, the new superintendent of one of San Mateo County’s largest school districts, brings a wealth of entrepreneurial experience that she hopes will help her find funding for the cash-strapped district.
As a superintendent in Steamboat Springs, Colo., her district became the first in the state to levy a half-cent sales tax — raising around $2 million a year for her schools. As top dog in Mercer Island, Wash., she said she worked with a community foundation to cold-call every parent in the district — also yielding about $2 million.
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The start of the school year is just few weeks out — summer’s days are numbered — and back-to-school preparation is already under way.Backpacks, notebooks and pencil cases may be at the top of some parents’ school supply lists, but for some San Francisco families, new shoes are the items most needed to start the school year off on the right foot.Thanks to donations from one nonprofit organization, some 440 children living in Chinatown single-room occupancy hotels each received a pair of new shoes to help them look and feel confident as they return to school Aug. 15.
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A tuition increase of 9.6 percent at all University of California campuses was approved by the UC Board of Regents on Thursday in San Francisco.
UC regents are the second governing body of higher education in California to raise tuition this week. The California State University board of trustees approved a 12 percent tuition increase Tuesday at its meeting in Long Beach.
The increase approved Thursday is the second such hike the UC system has seen in eight months. An 8 percent increase was approved by regents in November.
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When students stay in school, they receive an education. But their school district also receives more money from the state.
It’s no surprise, then, that San Francisco Unified School District officials are making a special effort to employ the people who help keep attendance up.
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URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/archive/17506/17506?page=29&type[story]=story
