By Bay City News
Our school district faces a tight budget and increasing pressure to improve standardized test scores. But the most pervasive concern expressed by the San Francisco Unified School District’s students and teachers isn’t about that, at least according to a new study. The biggest problem: unsanitary bathroom conditions.
The San Francisco Youth Commission’s Education Committee issued a report on June 27 criticizing the school district — which is 30 percent Asian American — for failing to provide a comfortable, clean and effective learning environment in the city’s schools.
The commission, which is comprised of 17 youth between the ages of 12 and 23, was created by the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Willie Brown to advise them on issues relating to children and youth.
The commission’s report, “Youth Speak Out on the State of San Francisco Schools,” is a reflection of what San Francisco youth think about their public schools, according to its authors. The report is based on the results of a youth education forum held in January at Mission High School and additional outreach to students in the San Francisco Unified School District.
In presenting the report, Youth Commission Chair Myron Howard Johnson emphasized the disrepair and uncleanliness of many of the city’s schools. He explained that the dilapidated state of many of the schools creates a hostile or negative attitude among students that in turn has deleterious effects on the learning process.
“The classroom environment is not conducive to learning,” Johnson said.
To improve the learning environment, the report recommends that the district take steps including repairing buildings, increasing air circulation and improving the cleanliness of school restrooms.
The 11-page report identifies six problem areas in the city’s schools, including uncomfortable learning environments, inadequate learning materials, unsafe schools, non-nutritious school food, ineffective curricula and poor teaching methods. Each problem area cited in the report is followed by proposed remedies.
Johnson, a recent graduate of The Branson School in Ross, said that school curricula are often dated, not interactive enough and fail to include an array of voices.
“Knowledge is power. We feel that a school’s curriculum is the foundation of knowledge,” the report states. “With a robust curriculum that incorporates all voices and is interactive, students will have the knowledge to affect powerful and positive change in the future.”
School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman praised the work done by the Youth Commission’s Education Committee in soliciting student input and said the school district will take note of the concerns raised.
“I want to commend you on your leadership in developing a policy proposal that speaks to the concerns and issues by youth on the state of San Francisco schools,” Ackerman wrote in a letter to the commission. “This is a tool that will help the school district understand many of the concerns, and continue to address them through our existing plans.”
Ackerman wrote that this spring the district introduced an “Excellence for All” initiative, which she dubbed “a blueprint for academic achievement for all students, equity in the allocation of resources and accountability for all.” |
