Mirkarimi, Ashcraft, and Davis oppose latest round of Western Addition proposed school closures

January 4, 2006, 6:00 p.m.

Supervisor Mirkarimi, Dei Ashcraft and Sheryl Davis will speak to the impact of the San Francisco Unified School District's proposed closures and mergers to six schools in District 5 in a press conference Wednesday.

The 6:00 p.m. event will be held at Ida B. Wells School, located at 1099 Hayes Street.

Proposed closures disproportionately impact District 5

-- Three of five school closures last year were in District 5 including the District's only middle school.

-- Many of the students affected by last years' closures are now in schools that are targeted for closure this year.

-- The proposed closures and mergers disproportionately affect our City's African American community.

-- Area schools have established programs with community support that are starting to show results (Learning Garden, CPUC volunteer tutoring, Beacon Center, etc).

--SFUSD's unilateral and arbitrary criteria and process will adversely
impact our kids.

-- There has been no outreach or discussion with families, students, civic leaders in the affected area.

-- School test scores, size and capacity data are arbitrarily being used to reduce neighborhood schools.

-- Artificial deadline created to meet self-imposed enrollment deadlines, not the needs of our students.

Closures would directly affect at-risk students

-- Support services at these schools would be dismantled or moved.

-- The targeted schools have a combined total of eight classes for special need students.

-- These are the students who most need the stability of their School environment. These are the students who will be most severely affected by being forced to move.

Each school closure or merger results in students leaving the SFUSD Public school system (10% per school by many conservative estimates).

-- These losses exacerbate the declining enrollment in the SFUSD. These losses result in less money coming into the SFUSD.

-- These closures and mergers (and subsequent student losses) further strengthen the perception of the SFUSD as an inferior school system, resulting in fewer enrollments in future years and a continued flight to charter and private schools.

-- We save money in the long run by strengthening our current schools, keeping our children in school, safe and learning, and bringing more new Families into the SFUSD instead of forcing them out of our public schools.

WHEN: Wednesday, January 4, 2006, 6:00 pm
WHERE: Ida B. Wells School, 1099 Hayes Street

For more information, contact Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, 415-554-7630; Dei Ashcraft, Beacon Center, 415-749-2714; or, Sheryl Davis, Community Liaison, 415-205-0806.

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