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School Beat:Re-Examining School Closures
In the face of fiscal pressures, any smart business plan addresses both the bottom line (costs) and the top line (revenue). The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) school closure process has only discussed costs--why haven’t we discussed the revenue side at all? Cutting costs through closures is short sighted and amounts to an incomplete solution. Attracting families into the public school district is a better strategy.
According to a 2002 study, private schools have a significant share of the San Francisco student enrollment (http://portal.sfusd.edu/apps/departments/school_operations/docs/fmpIV.pdf). Tuitions at these schools are typically over $20,000. For a family with two school age children, attending public rather than private, represents a $40,000 cost savings. That’s more than most mortgages! I can’t imagine a better affordable housing plan.
What keeps families from partaking in this incentive plan is the perception that the schools are low quality, overcrowded, difficult to enroll in, mismanaged, and unstable. That the public receives only bad press about the schools only solidifies these impressions. This is particularly true for white families whose public kindergarten to birth enrollment ratio is less than 20% (compared to a city average over 50%).
There is an opportunity to grow enrollment and consequently revenue if we can change perceptions.
All of the hard work and time spent in this closure process by the District, the Board, the parents, community organizations, and the City could have been directed toward a positive campaign to fill our schools. Instead, we all have been fighting the wrong fight, fighting one another. Consequently, all of us will be wounded when this battle is done.
More
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=2830#more
What keeps families from partaking in this incentive plan is the perception that the schools are low quality, overcrowded, difficult to enroll in, mismanaged, and unstable. That the public receives only bad press about the schools only solidifies these impressions. This is particularly true for white families whose public kindergarten to birth enrollment ratio is less than 20% (compared to a city average over 50%).
There is an opportunity to grow enrollment and consequently revenue if we can change perceptions.
All of the hard work and time spent in this closure process by the District, the Board, the parents, community organizations, and the City could have been directed toward a positive campaign to fill our schools. Instead, we all have been fighting the wrong fight, fighting one another. Consequently, all of us will be wounded when this battle is done.
More
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=2830#more
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If the interested is really in getting more students enrolled into San Francisco PUBLIC schools, then the school board needs to allow more students into their neighborhood school.
Otherwise, forget it. I know many parents who are fed up with the current system and find it easier to just enroll their child into a PRIVATE school. The *top* schools like Stuart Hall, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Hamlin, Katherine Delmar Burke all charge in excess of $20-25,000 per student. The same goes for the parochial schools, none of them have any NO PROBLEM attracting students.
A return to a more sensible enrollment plan that allows students "priority" at their local schools will get these students back into public schools.
I know, "what about diversity?" You know what, the neighborhoods are not diverse, why force the students and their families to bear this burden? Students will face enough "diversity" in their life, let them go to NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS NOW!!!!!!
Otherwise, forget it. I know many parents who are fed up with the current system and find it easier to just enroll their child into a PRIVATE school. The *top* schools like Stuart Hall, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Hamlin, Katherine Delmar Burke all charge in excess of $20-25,000 per student. The same goes for the parochial schools, none of them have any NO PROBLEM attracting students.
A return to a more sensible enrollment plan that allows students "priority" at their local schools will get these students back into public schools.
I know, "what about diversity?" You know what, the neighborhoods are not diverse, why force the students and their families to bear this burden? Students will face enough "diversity" in their life, let them go to NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS NOW!!!!!!
san francisco should shut down all their schools because they are all unsafe places for our children to be.drugs houses all around, gangs you cannot wear red or blue. when your child gos on a field trip you as a parent must sign a waiver thats made up by the sfusd lawyers that clearly states that in the event of an accident ,EVEN NEGLIGENCE ON THE SCHOOL STAFFS PART! that they are not RESPONSIBLE!
What are they responsible for?and the list go's on. people you should go on strike yourself as parents and REFUSE to send you children to school under these conditions.SINCERELY!
What are they responsible for?and the list go's on. people you should go on strike yourself as parents and REFUSE to send you children to school under these conditions.SINCERELY!
I'm not really sure which schools you are speaking of, but they do not represent all of the public schools of SF - not even the majority! My children are in a WONDERFUL public creative arts school in the Western Addition. Our school is small and VERY diverse. We have a wonderfully rich arts progam and our test scores are high. Do your research before lumping ALL SF public schools on the closure list together. My children are getting the equivalent of a private education for free! It's people like you, who have obviously not done research about their options of all public schools in SF that give the enitre SFUSD a bad name.
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