Graduations are beginning to take place around The City. And while we celebrate our high school graduates, we also know that what happens next for our youths is one of the most important tests of how well our education system has worked for them. Read More
Six current or former employees of the San Francisco Unified School District are facing embezzlement and fraud charges stemming from the alleged misuse of an estimated $15 million in grant funding, the district attorney announced Tuesday.
Money earmarked to provide students with support services, nutritional programs and violence-prevention programs was allegedly directed into bonuses, slush funds and unwarranted pay increases. Read More
I don’t know if you remember much about being in kindergarten, but I sure do. And what I remember most is my teacher, Mrs. Ellis.
She didn’t speak a word of Spanish and I hardly spoke a word of English. But she liked me. That’s all I knew on my first day. Read More
You probably already know that public schools in California aren’t funded well enough to provide all students with the educational investments they deserve.
And I know you’re thinking, “Right, Richard, we could all use more money.”
But listen to this: California ranks 47th out of 50 states for the amount of funding it gets to educate each student. New York, which also has a high cost of living, gives its K-12 public school districts almost double what California gives us. Read More
Alvarado Elementary School in Noe Valley is a white-walled, two-story building that stretches for a city block just east of Twin Peaks. Nothing on the exterior of the building, constructed in the early 1900s, would lead passers-by to realize that what sits atop it is a first for San Francisco. Read More
When Tanya, a senior at the Academy of Arts and Sciences, started high school, she met with a volunteer counselor from the Bar Association who sat down with her to map out her entire high school career. Because of this, Tanya knew exactly what she needed to do to get to college. Read More
A student was being questioned in connection with a stun gun incident at a Portrero Hill school Wednesday, one day after the campus was locked down on reports that a 14-year-old had a gun.
Just before 9 a.m., police said, officers responded to the International Studies Academy at 655 De Haro St. on reports that a male student had been zapped with a stun gun. Read More
I was pushed around for being skinny when I was a kid. Also for wearing an eye patch, for being the smart kid and for always acting like a performer. And did I mention I was called “Petunia”?
It doesn’t take much to make a child feel like an outsider. Most of us have felt that way at one time or another. What can be hard is helping children feel like they belong — like they are part of something bigger than themselves.
That’s what I always worked for as a teacher. Read More
Black and Pacific Islander students in The City have been graduating high school at a higher rate, and local educators say the key has been changing the mindset of kids living in disadvantaged communities. Read More
Last month, Sophia kept her 8-year-old daughter out of school because of alleged bullying that she thought was not being properly addressed by school administrators.
Tired of waiting for a satisfactory official response to a situation that she says began in August, Sophia called police after her daughter was allegedly thrown to the ground by her neck. That’s when she removed the girl from class. Read More
