Final School Law and Policy Paper

Disaggregation of East and West Side Elementary Schools in SFUSD

Final Paper by Sunny Dawn

Mills College

Educational Leadership Program

EDUC 412 – Fall 2012

School Law and Public Policy

My second year being laid off from SFUSD created the catalyst of being clued into the deep divide between East side versus West Side schools. Although as a society we are used to teachers being laid off all the time I was not o.k. with it! Not for your obvious reasons of losing my job but, because my daughter who was a student at the East Side school where I taught, was about to lose all the new and dedicated teachers at the site. At the time it was a crazy to me that my daughter was going to have to experience losing the teachers she loved at the school including her mom. It was as a parent knowing that West Side schools did not face these issues during “lay off season” I decided to transfer my daughter to a West Side school in the district. This single action has to this very day changed my entire perception of schools in San Francisco and the culture of East vs. West side disaggregation in schools. In this paper 2 hypothesis surrounding East and West Side elementary schools will be explored. The first hypothesis is that West side elementary teachers have more experienced teachers and retain them at a higher rate. The second hypothesis is that racial segregation and racial disparities can be seen between and East and West Side elementary schools and teacher experience. Furthermore, teacher turnover although very complex in nature can actually be summed up in 5 top reasons teachers leave the profession as Huffington Post article; burnout, threat of layoffs, low wages, testing pressure, and finally poor working conditions (Smollin, 2011). Other implications surrounding these issues will be explored because as a teacher who has worked in an East side School for over 5 years and who has now had a daughter at a West Side School for over 3 years, I know these issues are more prevalent in East Side schools versus West Side Schools.

Looking at 24 elementary schools:

The schools were chosen from areas to distinct East and West geography in San Francisco; Districts 9,10,11 versus Districts 1,2,4,5,7

12 schools on each side of the city were chosen with 3 schools in similar approximation to each other. Although many variables can be explored when looking at these geographically separated schools, the main focus when exploring the data will be overall teacher experience and teacher experience in SFUSD. Detailed links between certain districts and teacher retention will also be highlighted.

When looking at school wide demographics and teacher retention a website called, www.greatschools.org was used due to the accurate summarization of 2008/2009 CA. Dept. of Education statistics. I chose this website for two reasons , the first being it is always the website that pops up when doing a search for a school. When a parent researches a school or even a neighborhood and wants to know what schools are in the area Google automatically goes to this website with a visual score and ratings. The second reason is although the data was 4 years old I visited 18 schools in the last 3 months and found that the student demographics had not changed too much from the last four years.

After analyzing the data for these 24 schools the contrast below was found:

(see power point attached for graphs)

This did not surprise me as a teacher or a mom dealing with West for East Side schools in San Francisco. After looking at the number however this did surprise me the number of years teaching experience for teachers who teach children who African American versus Asian.

(see power point attached for graphs)

To further explore why teacher retention and experience is higher in West Side vs. East Side schools each category of Teacher Turnover will be discussed addressing the theory that in the East Side schools the likelihood of each tenet is experienced at a higher and more profound rate.

Burnout

Researchers are thinking that extended hours are burning out teachers (Huffington Post, 2011). Although teachers in general work long hours past their allotted payday, of 7 hours, in East Side schools and Superintendent Zone Schools (or low performing schools) teachers work even longer hours. Many administrators of these schools do not abide by contract hours and expect teachers to put in the extra time needed to serve the high needs of a low income or Superintendent Zone school which create this Burnout (Dawn, 2012). In a 2009 report released by The New Teachers College, 2 out of 5 teachers hired in SFUSD plan to leave the district in five years from now but may continue to teach some where else. When consolidated or voluntary teachers were given a survey as to why they wanted to leave SFUSD the top five categories were: Dissatisfaction with Administration, School Reputation, Student demographics, Geographic location, and Student Behavior Issues were reported. It is important to note that East Side schools suspensions are still higher than district norms and that bad principals transfer to East Side Schools, emphasizing issues of Administration, School Reputation and Student Behavior Issues in the East Side of San Francisco(Bundy, 2012; Wikipedia-Sanchez, Kloberdanz, 2012). It is important to note that in my observations at 18 of the 24 schools I visited and interviewed teachers that both sides of the district are working hard because that is what teachers do, but the energy and attitudes are very different. A majority of teachers on the West Side are more willing to do extra hours because of a sense of commitment to their profession or community of students/school where as the East Side schools have a more victimized mentality due to high pressure from administration or many teachers are new and do not know what their rights are.

Threat of Layoffs

In 2008 and 2009 I along with my Co-worker were laid off. The toll it took on me as a new teacher and to my family was insurmountable. In the last 4 years over 40,000 educators/teachers have been laid off according to CTA Yes on 30, 2012 Campaign statistics. These numbers are forcing teachers all over to reconsider careers that afford more stability. 65 of the 215 lay offs were in the Superintendent Zone. Last year alone 6 of the 12 teachers received lay off notices Mid Year at Carver Elementary. Although issues of Seniority skip of these Superintendent Zone schools, the illegal act caused a 97% strike vote of UESF teachers last year alone. These constant politics have caused teachers to be so divided around lay offs that it becomes a major part of reason why working at East Side schools are not appealing to teachers in the long term. “On average, 17 percent of teachers in the 14 schools got a pink slip compared with less than 5 percent of teachers in all other district schools,” S.F. Gate reported last May of 2012.

Low Wages

In regards to Low Wages it is important to note two points. Parental support with resources and new teachers who make less due to legislation implemented in 2012 and majority of those new teachers are in low income areas. I will use my own personal story in this section to highlight the vast disparities that are pretty common. My daughter who was at an East Side school, Cleveland Elem., had a PTA that at the most raised 2000.00 for the whole year, which most of that money was used up for buses to field trips or for 4^th grade overnight field trips. Now take her new school Sunset Elem. where the PTA budget is 100,000 and now all of a sudden more opportunities for teachers in the classroom from supplies to field trips. I know for a fact I spend close to 500.00 a year on school supplies or field trips at Cleveland Elem. if I get reimbursed I have to fight with the PTA over it. Now at my daughter’s school in Sunset Elem. if the “Room Mom” finds out that a teacher has been spending their own money they quickly mention it to the PTA and a scholarship/stipend is provided to the teacher or a pooling of capital via quick email so the teacher doesn’t have to experience financial difficulty.

Additionally new teachers who usually can only find entry-level jobs at the low-income schools have higher loan amounts and fewer benefits from the state. This is almost completely undoable in a city that has such a high cost of living and a starting salary of approximately 37,000 per year(Barrow, 2011).

Testing Pressure

Although we here all the time that teachers need to make more money and everyone will agree the real debate is surrounding testing. In SFUSD we have been lucky enough to not have our test scores linked to evaluation due to union efforts. However is currently the great pressure that all educators feel but even more so in the low-income schools. In all District 9 schools they are now considered Strategic Schools or “Star Schools” on top of some schools already being labeled “Superintendent Zone Schools”. Right now the union believes that in these schools there is a narrowing of the curriculum. They have asked for an anonymous survey to see if this is true (www.uesf.org) but we’ll see if teachers feel brave enough to fill this out. Further 2012 data to consider when looking at test scores is to look at average API for the 24 schools highlighted schools.

East Side Schools

District 9 schools: (Hillcrest, ER Taylor, King)= 801

District 10 schools Bay Views Hunter Point/Dog Patch: (Drew, Malcolm X, Carver)= 713

District 10 schools Bay Views Hunter Point: (Bret Harte, El Dorado, Vis Valley)=710

District 11 schools: Excelsior (Cleveland, Monroe,Guadalupe)=763

The total average of all 12 East Side Schools: 746

West Side Schools

Districts 1 and 4: (Sunset, Ulloa, Key)=918

District 1 and 7: (West Portal, Feinstein, Miraloma)=887

District 5 and 7: (McCoppin, Peabody, Lafayette)=883

Districts 1,2 and 5: (Gratten, Sutro, Clarendon)=916

The total average of all 12 West Side Schools: 901

Just by glancing at the numbers disparities are easily scene between test scores and districts. This is common knowledge amongst teachers in SFUSD and is talk in lunchrooms all the time. This pressure and comparison and the threat of looming evaluation tied to job status make working in East side schools a position not sought. In fact according to the survey completed by The New Teacher Project, more than half the total voluntary and involuntary transfers were linked to job location, demographics, and student population. (see slideshow for deeper perspective of data linked to API)

Poor Working Conditions

The last and final comments I will provide will not be from my point of view but from informal interviews done in the 18 of 24 schools. I believe they speak for themselves in regards to how the working conditions although can be stressful for all teachers, extra poor working conditions are experienced at East Side schools.

EAST SIDE Quotes:

•“We are asked to have meetings everyday before and after school,” Carver Elementary Teacher.

•“We are expected to do overtime everyday and our time is never respected,” Drew Elementary Teacher.

•“Our principal told us that if we followed the contract nothing would ever get done,” Cleveland Elementary Teacher.

•“Our class sizes are very low because children transfer out of the school a lot,” Malcolm X Academy teacher.

•“We are now a Superintendent Zone school because we went to the school board and complained about being laid off in our low income school. So now we are asked to do extra hours and not getting paid for it,” El Dorado elementary teacher.

WEST SIDE Quotes

•“We get along with the Principal here, we think of ourselves as a community,” Sunset Elementary Teacher.

•“We like our Principal here, he is a good guy. We don’t have too many problems,” West Portal Elementary Teacher.

•“We are very comfortable here, a little too comfortable,” Gratten Elementary Teacher.

•“We have to talk in code here,” Ulloa Elementary teacher.

•“We don’t even know who are Union Rep. is,” Key Elementary teacher.

•“We are under extreme pressure because our test scores have dropped,” McCoppin Elementary Teacher.

•“We are not too political here,” Miraloma Elementary Teacher.

Being a teacher and parent I can bare witness to the fact that there are major disparities in physical space due to neighborhood and attention not given to most of these East Side Facilities especially in the Bay View Hunters Point. However some general observations from visiting all these schools that are important to note:

EAST Schools Observations from my visits:

•Not a huge connection to school community

•Teachers deeply worried about funding for their school

•Teachers expected to work past 7 hour day especially in Superintendent Zone schools, extra meetings

•Stressed, Overwhelmed

WEST Schools Observations from my visits:

•Teachers feel connected and part of community they teach in

•Sense of empowerment and that they can affect the larger system

•Are more willing to stand up for themselves as educators to administration or public

•Comfortable, Content

In conclusion I believe my two hypothesis of disparities in teaching retention and experience shows in the data but also interviews. However I would like to end on a note of hope as it is completely possible. In many of these East Side schools although teachers are burnout and tired and many do feel at a loss in the profession there is a movement to reclaim this profession. I strongly feel attached to this movement in 2012 and as I move forward. Teachers are standing up for what they believe as an example of South side teachers striking in Chicago as well as San Francisco coming close to a strike vote last May due to the many factors mentioned in this paper as well as the obvious data that is available to the public. Teacher Unions are trying to take back their profession and demand the respect they deserves as workers which to quote Linda Plack and Susan Solomon, Vice Presidents (past and present), “A teachers’ working conditions are the students’ learning conditions.”

Based on the data and findings the following are encouraged to create more equity around teacher experience in the East Side schools.

Recommendations:

• • Teachers in these schools need additional staff and resources from SFUSD when labeled strategic schools.
• • Increase Hard to Staff School Money that many of the East Side schools receive to 10000.00 more per year versus 2000.00 a year.
• • Create a cross grade level, cross district team of Elementary Teacher Leaders to work on one subject area. Have opportunities for teachers to see other schools outside of their own and provide feedback to each other around subject matter.
• • Have district support for new teachers beyond BITSA who are hired in these challenging schools.
• • Train principals on the dynamics surrounding East Side schools and how to best support staff, especially new teachers.

Bibliography

Barrow, JJ. San Francisco Teacher Glut, March 2011, http://missionlocal.org/2011/03/san-franciscos-teacher-glut/

Bundy, Trey Suspensions skyrocket at SF school struggling with violence

Amid chaos, union says MLK Middle School teachers are unfairly targeted September 11, 2012

Dawn, Sunny. Anonymous Teacher Interviews Regarding Working Conditions: August 19, 2012 to November 3, 2012.

Dawn, Sunny. Interview of Linda Plack and Susan Solomon, UESF Vice Presidents, November 2012.

Smollin, Melanie, Five Reasons Teacher Turnover Is on the Rise

Money and respect are only two things quality educators want more of.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2011/08/09/five-reasons-teacher-turnover-rise, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/11/top-5-reasons-why-teacher_n_924428.html

The New Teacher Education Project, February 2009, p. 53 to 63.

Teacher Hiring, Transfer, & Evaluation in San Francisco Unified School District, http://tntp.org/assets/documents/TNTP_SFUSD_Full_Report_020509F.pdf?files/TNTP_SFUSD_Full_Report_020509F.pdf

Tucker, Jill, S.F. Gate, May 13, 2012 http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-teacher-layoffs-threaten-improving-schools-3554310.php#ixzz2CEoRbNsZ and

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Teachers-union-says-SF-students-shorted-4022126.php

Narrowing of Curriculum Survey, www.uesf.org, November 2012.

Wikepedia, Sanchez, 2012; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Sanchez_(politician)