No, you are not imagining it. Despite folks telling you to just “act normal”. Despite the loosening of mask restrictions. We ARE in a COVID spike.  For those of us who are taking all the precautions because we are immunocompromised, or live with family members who are at high risk (or maybe we just like to be safe!) it may feel like we are screaming into the wind. Nonetheless, we must all continue to raise our voices for the most vulnerable in our communities, namely our little ones. It is shocking to think that over 2 years into a pandemic, kids under 5 STILL don’t have a safe vaccine! W ..read more

My girls are finally going to be seniors! It’s hard to imagine when it seems like yesterday we were getting ready for their first day of kindergarten. That said, many of you are just beginning the journey. I’m revising this list of picture books I posted many years ago for families looking to ease the transition to PreK and Kindergarten. This time I’m including links to YouTube Read-Alouds. If you have favorites that aren’t on this list, please share your favorites in the comments below. Kindergarten is a great place to make new friends!Top 10 Video Read-Alouds to Get Ready for the First Day o ..read more

This chart shows changes in Freshman enrollment at Lowell High School. In years 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021. Lowell utilized selective a “merit-based” admissions process using state test scores, essays and grades. In 2021-2022, Lowell High School utilized a “choice” based lottery-admissions process. Not shown here is the total enrollment for Lowell High School, which also includes grades 10, 11, and 12. Native American, Samoan Pacific Islander, and Arab students are too low to report. Data by Race/Ethnicity Student groups at ten or below are not shown to protect student priv ..read more

For folks wanting to more about how to protect themselves from the Omicron 2.0 Surge, there is no one better to listen to than Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding. He’s been spot on since he began talking about micro-particles in the fall of 2020. He warned us about Delta and the Omicron surge months before they arrived in SF. I’ve been following him on Twitter (@DrEricDing) where he shares all the research. Listening to him in this interview is a treat though because it becomes really clear that public health policy is not always about science. Rather it has often been about popular opinion and politics. Whi ..read more

[The following is a Twitter thread I posted earlier this morning.] Yesterday, Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews sent out a message to staff and families. As a result, SFUSD community members are asking questions about what the District and City are doing to protect students, staff, and their families during the current Omicron surge. As we prepare to return to schools on Monday, January 3, @SFUSD_Supe shares a few steps we are taking to keep our school communities safe. Make sure you: Get vaccinated + boosted Get tested Follow safety practices Go to https://t.co/bqTXJQaJ6I for more re ..read more

@SFUnified during #Omicron… If you want to know what it’s like in classrooms, ask people who work there, not folks who do press conferences. (This teacher’s story is shared with permission. I will share parent and students stories in later threads.) @UESF A thread. 1/ https://t.co/f2WNTBQgUq — Alison Collins 高勵思 (@AliMCollins) January 22, 2022 @SFUnified during #Omicron… If you want to know what it’s like in classrooms, ask people who work there, not folks who do press conferences. (This teacher’s story is shared with permission. I will share parent and students stories in later threads ..read more

(A note to the reader: This post is not a short read. But, it is every you need to know about the forces working to undermine racial justice work in our city, in our schools and in our country, all in one place. I will probably work on breaking it up later. For now, I’m just glad to get it out to all of you!) SFUSD’s equity audit moves forward Last Wednesday, I attended the second official SFUSD Equity Audit Action Committee (EAAC) meeting, convened by the Education and Civil Rights Initiative, a project of the University of Kentucky and NAACP. Participants seemed visibly relieved that the mee ..read more

I’m so grateful for the partnership of families and educators who have raised their voices over the past year to ensure our district is doing all that it can to ensure our students and staff stay safe in our schools. Because our advocacy has paid off, all classrooms have air purifiers and we have increased access to testing for students. I am grateful to the families who helped me and President Lopez draft the Roadmap to COVID Recovery Resolution to ensure we continue our work in having the safest classrooms in the nation. I’m also grateful to our Governor, who has made California the first st ..read more

In September of this year, in light of our current budget crisis, I requested an update on grants that SFUSD has applied for this year. Many of the grants are one-time funds which will not help us immediately address our challenge of demonstrating “fiscal solvency”. The state is looking for us to demonstrate that we can meet our financial commitments year-to-year on an ongoing basis and our current budget forecasts show that spending and revenue are not aligned. Based on the fact that most of our ongoing spending is allocated to staffing costs, the Board discussion has focused on a proposal to ..read more

I am always impressed when students reach out directly to me as a Commissioner to make their voices heard. Lately, I’ve been receiving a multitude of emails advocating to support various programs across our district, specifically AVID, a class for first-generation college-bound students. AVID stands for, “Advancement, Via, Individual, Determination”  is designed to help middle and high school students prepare for their future. I am hearing directly from students that the program helps students achieve their goals and lifetime aspirations. Included in the list of praises about the program ..read more