In the most tolerate city in America, the students, the few still in San Fran, are getting a rotten education. They learn about sex, how to bully and be a bigot, not academics are an afterthought.
“ What is SFUSD doing about screening, about reading? Co-state director of California Decoding Dyslexia Megan Potente and I recently wrote an OpEd about the crisis in literacy in San Francisco public schools. We concluded, like many others, that the San Francisco Unified School District’s (SFUSD) approach to literacy, and to screening, was failing. Deck chair arranging does not matter on a sinking boat.
This concern is far from new, and parents have been advocating on their own for years, now in larger numbers. At the recent SFUSD Curriculum and Program Committee Meeting, April 11, 2022, parent after parent pleaded with the District to do more. Alison Henry, whose dyslexic son advanced 5 reading grades outside of SFUSD curriculum in under a year, gave public comment: “…it is also imperative that we screen for the students. Remediation becomes orders of magnitude more expensive as time progresses, thank you.”
The only good NEWS IS THAT IN FIVE YEARS THERE WILL BE ALMOST NO STUDENTS LEFT IN THIS FAILED GOVERNMENT SCHOOL DISTRICT..
SFUSD’S MOST VULNERABLE KIDS CAN’T READ
by Laurance Lem Lee, Beyond Chron, 6/6/22
It’s Time for a Major Change
Nearly a year ago, public school parent Havah Kelley lamented the response of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) for screening and remediation of students struggling with reading. “I was put in a series of meetings and [felt] enormous pressure to back off. It broke my heart,” she described. In spite of such hurdles, she was able to get her son diagnosed with dyslexia in first grade.
Dyslexia screening can change lives. Ask Golden State Warriors reserve guard Gary Payton II. He is not only playing in the NBA finals, he won the Bob Lanier Community Assist Award for his dyslexia advocacy through his GPII foundation. Payton said, “After I was diagnosed with dyslexia, it became clear that my mission is to support youth and young adults with learning disabilities thrive and succeed.”
Who has dyslexia? New York City mayor Eric Adams. California Senator Anthony Portantino. California Governor Gavin Newsom. San Francisco Supervisor Ahsha Safai’s son. Maybe 10-15% of Americans have symptoms. Early screening and intervention leads to better outcomes.
What is SFUSD doing about screening, about reading? Co-state director of California Decoding Dyslexia Megan Potente and I recently wrote an OpEd about the crisis in literacy in San Francisco public schools. We concluded, like many others, that the San Francisco Unified School District’s (SFUSD) approach to literacy, and to screening, was failing. Deck chair arranging does not matter on a sinking boat.
This concern is far from new, and parents have been advocating on their own for years, now in larger numbers. At the recent SFUSD Curriculum and Program Committee Meeting, April 11, 2022, parent after parent pleaded with the District to do more. Alison Henry, whose dyslexic son advanced 5 reading grades outside of SFUSD curriculum in under a year, gave public comment: “…it is also imperative that we screen for the students. Remediation becomes orders of magnitude more expensive as time progresses, thank you.”
School district grandfather Rex Ridgeway brings the data, plaintively explaining: “Just look at the reading test scores at Bret Harte ES, 8% [at grade level]; Charles Drew ES, 19%; El Dorado ES, 11%; Carver ES, 16%; and Malcolm X ES, 23%. It is so obvious that the district has failed those schools and their students.”
Literacy is at the heart of equity. The SFUSD graduates kids who can’t read. Only 20% of our 8th-grade Black kids are reading at level.
Here is the District’s plan for screening: a slow roll. Chief Academic Officer Dr. Nicole Priestly’s description in April of the partnership with the well-funded UCSF Dyslexia Center, “We have approved a research project, just in the last few weeks. We are looking to identify a school where we can launch that particular pilot in the fall. That pilot comes with extensive training for the schools— it will come with materials, it will come with investment from UCSF. We’re looking to hopefully launch something very successful with the intent of expanding that in the future years.”
It doesn’t have to be this way. School systems committed to literacy have paved the road. They have put into place systems and practices based on the science of reading. Take, for example, Lodi Unified and Nystrom Elementary, neither far from us geographically. Both show how following the scientific evidence improves reading outcomes. Tennessee has made strong gains in a short period.
New York City and Los Angeles County are trying new things. Yes, Los Angeles has a new Superintendent, just a few months on the job. Red state Texas.
What we need from SFUSD is a commitment to the changes recommended in the curriculum audit. The district maintains a firm grip on a controversial approach widely recognized for failing to meet the needs of many children. SFUSD names its approach the Comprehensive Approach to Literacy, which is more commonly referred to in other districts as balanced literacy.
Lodi takes reading seriously. Nystrom takes reading seriously. Golden State Warrior Gary Payton II takes reading seriously. Will SFUSD do the same?
