NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND PUBLIC HEARING HELD ON Wednesday, January 18, 2006 SAN FRANCISCO MAIN LIBRARY KORET AUDITORIUM 100 LARKIN STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 1 1 MODERATOR: WILLIAM MILES 2 HUGH VASQUEZ, Executive Director 3 4 5 HEARING MEMBERS: 6 HENRY DER 7 CAROLYN GETRIDGE 8 HYDRA MENDOZA 9 LISA VILLAREAL 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2 1 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 4:11 p.m. 2 3 ---oOo--- 4 5 MR. VASQUEZ: All right. We're ready to begin. 6 I ask that if you can take your seats, we'll 7 get going on the hearing. 8 I want to welcome you. Good afternoon. I'm 9 Hugh Vasquez. I'm the executive director of the 10 San Francisco Education Fund. 11 The first announcement that I want to make -- 12 a couple of announcements, one is that we do have 13 translation, if you need translation, then the back two 14 rows is a good place to be. We have Cantonese and 15 Spanish translation. 16 Now, if you're not bilingual, you won't 17 understand what I just said probably, and that makes 18 translation a little bit difficult already. But go to 19 the back if you do want translation, and we have 20 headsets there for you. 21 We also want to welcome you. The hearing will 22 go for several hours. You have agendas in the back of 23 the room. And child care is provided if you hadn't seen 24 that sign outside. 25 So on behalf of the Education Fund, on 3 1 behalf of the Berkeley Public Education Foundation and 2 the Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute and the 3 Public Education Network, we want to thank-you for 4 coming this afternoon to participate in this hearing 5 on No Child Left Behind Act. 6 We'll spend the afternoon hearing from 7 various groups about the impact of No Child Left 8 Behind to gain, hopefully, a greater understanding of 9 the impact of this legislation, and how it has 10 affected our communities in real life. 11 This law was passed with what I believe to 12 be a well-intentioned effort to assure that every 13 child has access to equal educational opportunities. 14 Probably the best description that I've 15 heard of No Child Left Behind was a speaker at the PAN 16 conference of Public Network Conference in November 17 that talked about the good, the bad, and the ugly when 18 it talked about No Child Left Behind. 19 It actually has quite an array of impacts 20 and we want to learn about those impacts with the hope 21 that our voices that come today will join with other 22 voices around the country to influence the legislation 23 of No Child Left Behind. 24 We believe that -- at least I believe 25 that -- this is an act that ought to and could work if 4 1 we are able to influence the legislation. 2 So this hearing is all about that. It's 3 hearing from the views of teacher quality, of 4 standards, of involvement in communities, of parent 5 support. We want to hear your testimony so that 6 Washington D.C. and our voice from California can be 7 heard. And again, we thank-you for being here. 8 Before going further, I to want introduce to 9 you Katie Albright who's the director of your public 10 engagement initiative with the San Francisco Education 11 Fund who will help you understand the agenda and how 12 we're going about that. So, thank-you. 13 MS. ALBRIGHT: Thank-you, Hugh. 14 As you indicated, I'm Katie Albright, the 15 director of the Ed Fund Public Engagement Initiative. 16 We are holding this hearing today because we 17 want law makers in Washington and Sacramento to hear 18 from students, parents and community members, and 19 understand your opinions, stories and experience about 20 the impact of No Child Left Behind. 21 In past decades -- in the past decade, many 22 questions have been raised about where is the public in 23 public education in public schools. Many have 24 questioned whether Americans are really committed to 25 public education and whether community relations to our 5 1 schools is eroding. 2 We could spend an entire afternoon talking 3 about that issue alone. But let me just talk about one 4 point surrounding this issue: Laws impacting our 5 educational system are written by policymakers who often 6 have no experience teaching in the classrooms or working 7 with our young people or helping families. Often 8 education laws are written with little or no input from 9 parents, young people and community members. 10 This is certainly true when No Child Left 11 Behind was originally drafted in 2002. But that said, 12 public voice should not be an afterthought in law 13 making. This Bay Area hearing on NCLB, which is one of 14 ten hearings that the Public Education Network is 15 holding around the country, is our chance to speak out 16 about what is going on in our public schools. So 17 thank-you for joining us here today. 18 We had a great deal of help in organizing 19 this event. And if I could take a few minutes to 20 thank a few people in the organizations. 21 First, thanks to Safi Jiroh of the Marcus A. 22 Foster Educational Institute, and Trina Ostrander of 23 the Berkeley Education Foundation and the many staff 24 and Public Education Network. 25 These organizations along with the 6 1 San Francisco Education Fund were created to support 2 and advocate for quality education for all students in 3 our country's public school system. 4 Thank-you also to our many partners who 5 worked every day to support children, help families, 6 and improve the educational system in the Bay Area. 7 These organizations were tremendous in getting out the 8 word about these hearings. 9 We are honored and proud that they joined 10 us. They are: the American Indian Child Resource 11 Center, the California PTA, California Tomorrow, 12 Chinese for Affirmative Action, and the Center on 13 Asian American Advocacy, Coleman Advocates for 14 children, youth -- Home and Advocates for Children and 15 Youth, the Community of Leadership Academy and 16 Emergency Response, East Bay Agency for Children Grade 17 School dot net. La Raza Centro Legal, NAACP in 18 San Francisco, Parent Institute for Quality Education, 19 Parents for Public Schools-San Francisco, and the 20 San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. 21 Thank-you also to my colleague Brian Fox, 22 the director of the Peer Resources Program who had the 23 privilege of working with the youth panel here today 24 in preparing their testimony. 25 Finally, thank-you to our hearing officers, 7 1 our panelists and you in the audience for your time 2 here this afternoon. Your thoughts and your 3 experience, your voice and opinions are critical. 4 Now, I would quickly like to introduce a new 5 colleague Don Ernst who will give us a brief overview 6 of the No Child Left Behind Act. 7 Don was recently named the senior program 8 officer for the public schools program at the Stewart 9 Foundation. We are lucky to have Don at this hearing 10 and certainly in the Bay Area. He brings to us years 11 of experience working in the public education arena in 12 Washington D.C. 13 Thank-you. 14 MR. ERNST: Thank-you, Katy and thank-you, Hugh. 15 And thanks, also, to all of the other leaders committed 16 today who fully engaged the citizens of the Bay Area 17 about the most important thing on earth in my view, and 18 that is the education of the children, specifically, and 19 the role of our national federal government in that 20 process. 21 This is very important work, and I'm honored 22 to have a small role in this. And, in fact, as I was 23 reflecting on preparing for today, I was reminded of 24 that famous observation by Upton Sinclair -- who by the 25 way in 1934 ran for governor of California. 8 1 But if you recall -- and this is from his book 2 The Jungles -- Sinclair noted there are two things in 3 the world we never want to see being made. And those 4 two things are: Sausage and legislation. 5 And it occurs to me that the third part of 6 that might well be a summary of any particular 7 legislation. 8 So what I'm about to try to do in less than 9 ten minutes is to provide a summary of 1,200 pages of 10 legislation that was passed in the fall of 2001. So 11 please bear with me as I hopefully don't cure any 12 insomnia that you might have. But nonetheless, I think 13 it's important to provide some at least basic 14 understanding of the provisions of the bill. 15 I'm honored this afternoon to represent my new 16 work, The Stewart Foundation. I'm lucky to have a 17 couple of my colleagues here today, and I'm proud of 18 that. Thank-you. 19 The Stewart Foundation is dedicated to the 20 protection, education and development of children and 21 youth. And we work toward ensuring that all children 22 grow up in caring families, learn in vibrant and 23 affected schools and have opportunities to become 24 productive members of their communities. 25 I want to start really in the summary with a 9 1 quick political history because I think the political 2 context, as in all context, are important to understand 3 sort of the larger specificity, if you will, of No Child 4 Left Behind. So let me just take you back for a moment, 5 if I might, to August of 2001. 6 NCLB, No Child Left Behind, the 7 re-authorization of the elementary, secondary education 8 act of 1965, in some ways, the NCLB was born of the need 9 for finding some common political ground in the 10 aftermath of 9/11. 11 In fact, in August of 2001, as I recall, there 12 was very little hope that No Child Left Behind the 13 re-authorization of ESA would pass at all. There was 14 partisan bickering, there was real strong disagreement, 15 there were issues of choice versus how much to fund. It 16 was really very, very divisive. 17 And in fact, I would argue, in August, ESA, No 18 Child Left Behind, was essentially more of this and 19 locked in this partisan debate. 20 Following 9/11, clearly, the leadership of 21 both the House and the Senate felt the need to find some 22 common cause, some common purpose in this country 23 following obviously the trauma of 9/11. 24 Well, there is some irony in this in my view 25 of this common cause in the sense that, essentially, 10 1 four or five folks thoughtfully and well-intentioned, as 2 Hugh I think suggested, met. And for a course of, oh, 3 four to six weeks -- and those, essentially, were 4 leaders of both the House and the Senate education 5 committees respectfully, bipartisan. In fact, one of 6 the Bay Area congressman George Miller from just across 7 the bay was a very important and key to that process. 8 But even with that -- and I want to say that I 9 mention this because the truth of it is and I hope and I 10 think that all of the senators and congressmen will 11 acknowledge this, that there was a rather closed effort 12 in the final construct of No Child Left Behind. 13 Which let me just say, and pause for a moment 14 to say, that this hearing and hearings like it are 15 essential, it seems to me, in the next process of 16 re-authorization. So this is wonderful, and this is 17 important work. And congratulations again to everyone 18 who is taking the time to engage citizens thoughtfully 19 on this federal legislation. 20 And in fact, the political debate ultimately 21 in the Senate and in the House there were overwhelming 22 bipartisan votes for No Child Left Behind. But I 23 think it's important -- sometimes when you look at 24 votes like that, you can take -- you can learn some 25 things. 11 1 And one of the ironies of the final debate 2 in the United States Senate was who actually opposed 3 the bill. And the irony of that was the likes of the 4 most conservative members of the United States Senate, 5 people like Jesse Helms, and also some of the most 6 liberal members such as the late and great 7 Paul Welstone. 8 So that ought to give us some pause as we 9 reflect on the future of how to engage in this 10 conversation about re-authorization in 2007 of No 11 Child Left Behind. 12 And now the exciting part. Let me just run 13 through, if I might, some of the key provisions of No 14 Child Left Behind. And by the way, if I miss 15 anything, and it's a good chance that I will in the 16 1,200 page piece of legislation, the exact legislation 17 can be found on the United States Government and the 18 United States Department of Education's website, 19 www.No Child Left Behind.gov. So you can find even 20 more detail on that website. 21 The key provisions: The overall requirement 22 of No Child Left Behind is to have all students, that 23 is a hundred percent of every single student in the 24 United States, obtain proficiency. And let's be 25 reminded that proficiency is determined by every state 12 1 in its own definition. Every student attain 2 proficiency by 2014. 3 Between now and 2014, states, districts and 4 schools must take serious specific steps toward that 5 goal. The law requires that they focus on challenging 6 academic standards in reading, math and eventually in 7 science, and test based on them. 8 Accountability for the performance of every 9 child and the guarantee of highly qualified teacher in 10 every classroom. 11 Although all schools and districts are 12 subject to NCLB goals and reporting requirements, only 13 schools or districts actually receiving Title 1 funds 14 will be subject to specific requirements for 15 corrective -- for corrective action unless the state 16 chooses to extend them to non Title 1 schools or 17 districts. 18 So this really is focused on Title 1. 19 Although, a lot of people will tell you that the way 20 this is now being implemented obviously is impacting 21 to effect the entire discourse of school reform in 22 this country. 23 Key provisions: Accountability, 24 essentially, testing and achievement. States set 25 specific academic achievement levels known as 13 1 proficiency levels under reading and math 2 assessments -- eventually science. 3 Since each state defines proficiency, the 4 level of student knowledge and skills considered 5 proficient varies from state to state, obviously. The 6 assessment should then reflect State academic 7 standards and then align to them. 8 Secondly, states next set student 9 performance goals which must be the percentage of 10 students overall. And a percentage of students for 11 each subgroup expected to achieve proficiency again 12 based on test results from previously years. 13 The goals may be different for math and 14 reading, and maybe different by grade level under the 15 law. 16 Student performance goals will be raised on 17 a regular schedule between now and the end of 2013 18 school year. So that by that day or 2013, all 19 students and all subgroups of students will be 20 performing at the proficient level. 21 Test scores must be reported not just for 22 schools but for each subgroup within each school. And 23 these or, in essence -- these subgroups belong to 24 racial, ethnic and minority students with disabilities 25 or limited English proficiency and several other 14 1 categories. 2 However, reporting is not required if the 3 subgroup is not large enough to maintain the 4 confidentiality of individual student scores. In 5 other words, if you have only two students in a 6 particular school in one of those subgroups, that 7 subgroup would, in fact, be excluded. 8 By 2005-2006, this upcoming year, states 9 will test every student annually in reading and math 10 in grades 3 through 8, and once in these subjects in 11 grades 10 through 12. 12 By 2007-2008, states also must test students 13 in science at least once during the grades 3 14 through 8, grades 6 through 9 and grades 10 15 through 12. 16 Schools and districts must demonstrate 17 annually that all students and all subgroups of 18 students are making State goals for percentages of 19 students performing at the proficient level to be 20 counted as making adequate yearly progress -- AYP, one 21 of the acronyms that my guess is some of you are very 22 familiar with, and will be talked about tonight and 23 this afternoon. 24 Schools and districts will be counted on as 25 making AYP. If any one or more of the subgroups -- of 15 1 the student subgroups and the performance that they 2 achieve in either reading or math -- it doesn't matter 3 if the school misses the goal by a little or a lot or 4 by one group of students or many -- if any doesn't 5 make it, if any of those groups don't make it then, in 6 fact, the schools does not meet the AYP. 7 All subgroups must meet the goals of both 8 content areas for the individual areas to be tested 9 and for the school to make AYP. 10 At least 95 percent of the students in the 11 school and each of the subgroups in the school must 12 participate in each assessment. So you can only have 13 five percent of the kids in any given school who, in 14 fact, for whatever can be excluded. Now, there's been 15 some additional flexibility added in this in recent 16 years by Congress and by administrative decisions. 17 If schools or districts do not make AYP for 18 two years in a row, they are considered schools in 19 need of improvement. States may limit such 20 designation to when one or more subgroups fail to make 21 AYP in that same subject, but may not limit it to the 22 same subgroup of students not meeting AYP. 23 If schools in need of improvement receive 24 Federal Title 1 funds, special requirements apply to 25 them. These funds are supposed to be received -- the 16 1 schools are supposed to receive both financial and 2 technical assistance and are required to develop to 3 implement school improvement plans. 4 In addition, the school must spend 10 5 percent of its Title 1 allocation on increased 6 teacher/professional development. And parents will be 7 able to transfer their children to other public 8 schools if the school does not make AYP for three 9 consecutive years. 10 So if you don't make AYP, there is a 11 provision that allows you to look beyond that existing 12 school. 13 School improvement efforts must then focus 14 on programs and approaches that receive -- that have 15 research as evidence that demonstrate their 16 effectiveness. This is actually a provision that is 17 actually gone unnoticed. And that is that the 18 definition of what research stands actually I think is 19 worthy of inquiry and investigation. 20 If schools that receive Title 1 funds 21 continue to fall short of AYP, they will face more 22 extensive changes in the course of several years 23 including possible restructuring, State takeover or 24 management by some sort of private firm or third-party 25 manager. 17 1 Testing the English language learning and 2 students with disabilities. This is a very important 3 part of both the confusion and the provisions of the 4 law. 5 Students with limited English proficiency 6 must be included in assessments administered to other 7 students whenever practical. Now, there's been some 8 added flexibility to that in recent years. 9 LEP students in their first year of 10 enrollment in U.S. schools may participate in State 11 reading language assessment and must participate in 12 mathematic assessments. 13 However, these first year scores can be 14 included in school or district results for purposes of 15 adequate yearly progress, but also may be included 16 toward meeting that 95 percent participation 17 requirement of the law. 18 Teacher and professional and 19 paraprofessional quality. In every public school, all 20 teachers of core active in each subject: English, 21 language arts, math, science, foreign languages, 22 civics and government, economics, art, history and 23 geography must be qualified by this year -- actually, 24 2005-2006. 25 Between now and then or up until now, every 18 1 newly hired teacher in programs supported by Title 1 2 funds must be highly qualified. 3 And highly qualified really goes right back 4 to the state's definition to their own certification, 5 licensing process. 6 Highly qualified teachers are defined by the 7 law as those holding at least a bachelor's degree or 8 license certified by the state as mentioned. And 9 states must develop plans that ensure all teachers are 10 highly qualified by 2005-2006. My guess is we have 11 work to do. 12 Studying these measured goals for districts 13 and schools, schools and districts must report 14 annually on their progress on percentage of teachers 15 getting professional development to help them become 16 highly qualified. 17 Additional flexibility and time lines and 18 methods for meeting the highly qualified requirements 19 are available in the following categories: Teachers 20 in rural areas who teach more than one subject and are 21 highly qualified in at least one subject. 22 Multi-subject teachers including teachers of 23 multiple science subjects and middle school teachers. 24 Additional flexibility in areas around special 25 education have also been enacted. 19 1 Title 1 schools must notify parents annually 2 that they can request information on their child's 3 teacher's qualifications. 4 So you as parents, have the right, in fact, 5 perhaps even the responsibility in connection with the 6 school, to inquire about your teacher's 7 qualifications. 8 One of the additional parts of the law was 9 to structure paraprofessionals newly hired in the 10 Title 1 schools after January 2002 must have two years 11 of college or associate's degree. 12 Now, I just want to run very quickly to 13 conclude here with some of the major time line issues 14 that I think might be relevant to your inquiry and 15 your ongoing conversation about what's next. 16 By January 2006, all Title 1 17 paraprofessionals must meet the new requirements, as I 18 mentioned. 19 By the end of last year, states must ensure 20 that all teachers are highly qualified. 21 By 2007-2008, states must measure student 22 progress in science at least once during each of the 23 following grade spans: 3-5, 6-9, 10-12. 24 By the end of 2013-2014 -- it's hard to 25 imagine that we can actually think that far ahead -- 20 1 states must demonstrate that all students are meeting 2 the federally required goals for proficient level 3 achievement. 4 The schools in need of improvement that 5 receive Title 1 funds must also take the following 6 steps proceeding to the next process if they continue 7 to fall short of the AYP goal. 8 After two years, schools must adopt two-year 9 improvement plans, invest in professional development 10 for teachers, and give various options to transfer to 11 parents -- to transfer their children to a higher 12 performing public or charter schools in the district. 13 And using those same Title 1 funds to pay for 14 transportation. Priority to transfer must go to the 15 lowest achieving, lowest performing students. 16 After three years, schools continue previous 17 improvement activities and they're also subject to 18 corrective action, which must at least include one of 19 the following activities: Implementing a new 20 curriculum, replacing the school staff, appointing an 21 out-of-school expert as adviser, extending the school 22 day or year or restructuring the school. 23 After five years, schools must plan for 24 restructuring, which may involve replacing staff, 25 contracting with a private firm to manage the school 21 1 or turning school operations over to the state 2 education agency. 3 After six years, schools must implement 4 their restructuring plan. And then, one hopes that 5 proficiency is met. 6 I just want to take a final minute here to 7 reflect on the history, if you will, of No Child Left 8 Behind and the importance of your gathering here 9 today. 10 In the new forward to his book, What Schools 11 Are For, John Goodladen was reflecting in 1968 -- this 12 is three years after the original 1965 ESEA was 13 passed -- when President Johnson announced his 14 decision not to run for a second term, he said to the 15 people that he was too weary and depressed by his 16 inability to end the war. Dr. King was assassinated a 17 few days later. 18 The charge to those of us attending the 19 White House conference on the heels of the 1965 ESEA 20 on education was to ensure that our system of 21 schooling would go down in history as having helped 22 end racial tension and discrimination and brought 23 about world peace. But suddenly, all of this looked 24 too overwhelming. 25 To philosophize about the purpose of schools 22 1 in a democratic society is one thing. To create the 2 educational conditions necessary to advance agendas 3 that might well emerge from sustained discourse, such 4 as this this evening, is quite another. 5 We can all work productively, however, to 6 push aside the blocks in advancing our mission and 7 when even a weak tide is with us, engage the people 8 and the other resources needed to move forward. 9 But we're not going to get far down that 10 road if we remain oblivious to the context of our time 11 and place. Then we must connect our agenda for 12 educational change to the elements of this context 13 that clearly are for the common good. 14 My appreciation to everybody here tonight 15 for trying to contribute to the common good. 16 Thank-you. 17 MR. VASQUEZ: Thank-you, Don, for that. That is 18 the context for the hearing. 19 And I want to introduce William Miles who is 20 in the center table here. William is the director of 21 Policy and Public Responsibility Initiatives at the 22 Public Education Network. And William will be serving 23 as the moderator of the hearing and will take it from 24 here. 25 MR. MILES: Thanks. I want to just provide a 23 1 little bit of context as to what the Public Education 2 Network is and why we decided to do these hearings. And 3 I also need to tell you that I'm going to be the last 4 talking head. After this we're actually going to start 5 listening to testimony and hearing from our first panel 6 which is actually going to be students about what the 7 impact of what this law has been. So bear with me for a 8 few minutes. 9 As Hugh mentioned, one of the roles that I'll 10 play this evening is to act as moderator. And I was a 11 middle school teacher and administrator and vice 12 principal of a middle school for a number of years, so I 13 know how to keep people on task and try to keep us on 14 time. 15 And I will try to respect your time for coming 16 this afternoon and this evening and make sure that we 17 end on time. And we'll do our best to hear from as many 18 people as possible. 19 The Public Education Network, as the name 20 implies, is a national association of community-based 21 organizations across the country. Our members are 22 usually referred to as local education funds. And we're 23 pleased that the three Bay Area local education funds 24 that are members of PAN: San Francisco, Berkeley and 25 Marcus Foster in Oakland really collaborated to pull 24 1 this hearing off. That's a real testament to the 2 commitment of this area to public education. 3 Public Education Network works primarily in 4 low income communities. And we really work to try to 5 bring schools and communities in closer relationship. 6 We think that public schools are only as good as the 7 communities that they sit in. And that community 8 members: Students, parents, educators, business 9 community, citizens need to get involved and take 10 responsibility to ensure high-quality public education 11 for all children. 12 So we work through a network of 90 13 affiliates across the country. And as I think Hugh or 14 Katie mentioned, we're doing a series of hearings on 15 No Child Left Behind. This is actually I think the 16 eighth of ten hearings that we're doing. We did a 17 round of ten hearings last year, and we're going to do 18 another round, kind of, at the end of 2006. 19 Because we think it's really important, as 20 was already mentioned, that elected officials and 21 policymakers that sit way far away in Washington, D.C. 22 hear from people about the impact of this law is 23 having on their lives, on their schools, on their 24 communities. 25 And in talking with a number of people that 25 1 work on Capitol Hill, you should know that -- I know 2 politicians get a bad rap, but to some extent they 3 really are interested in hearing what people think. 4 And part of the struggle is finding the time and the 5 mechanisms to connect people's opinions and thoughts 6 with policymakers. 7 So PAN really hopes to build a bridge by 8 holding these hearings and documenting what we hear 9 and then taking that to Capitol Hill in a way that 10 policymakers and elected officials will be able to 11 absorb it, and hopefully make the necessary changes if 12 that's what's called for in the legislation that are 13 more reflective of the realities of students, families 14 and communities, especially in the Bay Area. 15 I think Don's point was very well made that 16 in the rush to get No Child Left Behind completed, 17 especially in the aftermath of 9/11, it really did 18 suffer more than most federal legislation from a lack 19 of broad-based support and broad-based conversation 20 among lots of different groups. 21 So this is a way to try to fill in some of 22 that. And hopefully, to make the next 23 re-authorization of No Child Left Behind in 2007 that 24 much stronger, that much more relevant, and that much 25 more helpful in ensuring that all kids succeed to high 26 1 levels. 2 We focus these hearings on three broad 3 areas. And Don I felt did a great job of touching on 4 those. As he said, it's a 15- or 1,200 piece of 5 legislation. 6 We really focused on three areas that we 7 thought were of particular relevance and interest to 8 community members. 9 The first was testing and accountability. 10 There's been a lot in the news -- probably you've 11 heard a lot about, you know, where's our students, 12 where do they score on tests, are they doing better, 13 are they doing worse. 14 A lot of the testing and accountability, 15 accountability really being the consequences of not 16 doing well, let's say, on tests really result from 17 NCLB, a lot of media attention, and we think a lot of 18 interest. And certainly, in other hearings, we've 19 heard a lot about testing and accountability. 20 A lot of provisions of No Child Left Behind 21 do speak to the need and the mandate to provide good 22 information, and involvement of key parents, community 23 members and students. 24 The federal government did put in provisions 25 that guarantee rights and access to information for 27 1 parents, community members and students. We think 2 that's a particular interest to all of you to figure 3 out if, in point of fact, you're getting the 4 information. And if not, what can we do to try to 5 improve that. 6 And third, because I think it's probably the 7 single most determining factor of a quality education 8 in terms of what schools can actually do is the 9 quality of teaching. 10 And so as Don said, there are a number of 11 provisions in No Child Left Behind that speak to 12 helping to ensure what is referred to as highly 13 qualified teachers. So we think teaching is a very, 14 very important aspect of the law. It's obviously the 15 critical ingredient in quality public education. 16 So those are kind of the three broad areas 17 that we think have relevance and that we think the 18 public has a lot to say about. 19 Those three areas should in no way inhibit 20 you from speaking about other aspects of the 21 legislation. If there are pieces of the legislation 22 that you've heard about, that you want to comment 23 on -- and I'm going to describe the process really 24 briefly after I'm finished -- you should get up and 25 speak. Those are just the ways that we would try to 28 1 guide and organize the hearing tonight. 2 In terms of the testimony, we are going -- 3 as you can probably tell, this is a little more formal 4 than most of us are used to -- we are going to great 5 lengths to capture what is said here. 6 Over here we have a court reporter or 7 stenographer who is writing or typing every single 8 word that every single person says. 9 We are listening to testimony, it's all 10 being recorded, it's being videotaped. 11 There's an opportunity to submit written 12 testimony if you don't get a chance to speak. Or 13 you're too shy to speak, we'll take whatever written 14 testimony you have. 15 We have a various speed education writer, 16 Ann Lewis, who is also here who will be writing a 17 report on what we heard in all of these hearings. 18 She's been attending all of the hearings as well. 19 And we want to make sure that we capture not 20 just the big ideas but the nuances of the impact that 21 the law is having. So we're going to go to great 22 lengths to make sure that we get very, very accurate 23 documentation. 24 I want to thank in advance the panelists. 25 We have prepared to ask some people to come up and 29 1 speak. If you see an agenda, you'll see that there 2 are three distinct panels. We're going to start with 3 the students, the youth panel. And they're going to 4 have an opportunity to speak and put testimony into 5 the record, into the public record, as it were. 6 And on my left, your right, we have a set of 7 esteemed hearing officers. And their role is to 8 really probe the panelists with questions to get a 9 level of clarity, to get a deeper level of 10 understanding of what the panelists say. 11 So after the three panelists give their 12 prepared remarks, we'll have an opportunity for the 13 hearing officers to do some probing and some 14 clarifying in the form of questions back and forth to 15 the panelists. And that will be the pattern that we 16 follow throughout the evening. 17 At the end of a panel, we're going to 18 provide an opportunity for people to get up and speak 19 at the mike, and I'm going to give you some very 20 specific directions about how that's going to work in 21 a moment. 22 The idea is that we take and amass all of 23 this testimony from these ten hearings from across the 24 country, hundreds of people -- Ann Lewis, look at 25 me -- thousands of pages of testimony, probably, if 30 1 you added it all up. 2 And what we're going to do is consolidate it 3 into a report that we will issue, and we'll make a big 4 deal about issuing it, specifically on Capitol Hill, 5 and making sure that legislators on Capitol Hill and 6 the staff people that work with them listen and hear 7 what the public is going to say. 8 So let me just very briefly outline the 9 process that we're going to follow: As I said, we'll 10 have a formal panel that's seated. They will give 11 testimony. They are being timed. I think they each 12 get three minutes. There will be an opportunity for 13 the hearing officers to ask them questions to go back 14 and forth. 15 When that is over, we will have open mike 16 time for audience participation. Audience speaking 17 times occur pretty much on the hour, if we were to 18 stick to our schedule of 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00 o'clock. 19 And if you intend to speak and have not 20 already done so, please sign the testimony sign-in 21 sheet and release form at the back table in the room. 22 And Vivian who is in the back, will make sure that you 23 get your name on the sheet. 24 And what we'll do is ask five people at a 25 time to go up to the mike and each person will have 31 1 three minutes to provide testimony. 2 Like I said, if you don't have time to stay 3 or to provide testimony, we will take written 4 testimony at any time. Just bring it up to the front 5 and we'll include that into the record as well. And 6 we also have an online survey which you can access 7 through the sfedfund.org, the San Francisco Ed Fund's 8 web page which is an online survey on No Child Left 9 Behind that we're doing nationally, which is fine for 10 those of you who like online surveys. And it's also a 11 great way to get information. 12 So I'm looking at Katie and making sure that 13 I've said everything that I need to say. I need to 14 introduce the hearing officers. That would be nice. 15 As I said, we have a set of esteemed hearing 16 officers. 17 The first is Henry Der who is the senior 18 program officer for equality and justice, immigrant 19 rights and reform and radical -- racial equity at the 20 Evelyn Walter Hass, Junior Fund. 21 And next to him we have Carolyn Getridge, 22 she's senior vice president, Urban Development for 23 Expanded Learning. 24 And Hydra Mendoza has stepped out for a 25 moment. She's the education adviser to San Francisco 32 1 office of the mayor. 2 And we have Lisa Villareal who is program 3 officer for Education at the San Francisco Foundation. 4 And we have our student panel who have been 5 dying to speak for at least 45 minutes. And I'm going 6 to now turn it over to them. And we're going to start 7 with Nanor Demirjian. And then we'll just kind of 8 come down the table to Roger and Leslye Lugo. Okay. 9 Nanor. 10 MS. DEMIRJIAN: Hi, my name is Nanor Demirjian, and 11 I go to Lowell High School in San Francisco, which is 12 the magna school for high-achieving students. 13 My understanding is that No Child Left 14 Behind will not affect my school as much as it will 15 others, but it still does raise questions and 16 concerns. 17 One aspect of No Child Left Behind that is 18 of concern is the multi-standardized testing and how 19 it will not only effect the classroom but also the 20 teachers. 21 Last year I had the privilege of taking one 22 of our schools most interesting and respected teachers 23 for physics. He was an amazing teacher, that taught 24 physics creatively and in ways that we could actually 25 apply a subject to everyday life. 33 1 And this brought about a stimulating and 2 creative learning environment that every student 3 appreciated. But when standardized testing time came 4 around, our teacher felt pressured to teach us certain 5 formulas and technicalities that would appear on the 6 test. 7 This was a big constraint on our classroom 8 and led to a much more boring and uninspiring learning 9 atmosphere. 10 No Child Left Behind calls for quality 11 teachers and higher school scores. But how will they 12 be achieved with constraints put on teachers to teach 13 only information that they will teach -- that will 14 appear on tests. Won't constant pressure to do well 15 on standardized tests discourage students from 16 learning and in a sense make us feel not as smart as 17 they really may be. 18 I suggest that No Child Left Behind instead 19 support teachers like my physics teacher who inspire 20 kids to learn by engaging them and teaching subjects 21 in terms of how it might be relevant to each of our 22 lives. 23 No Child Left Behind should try to fund 24 programs that will train teachers to not only 25 understand their given subjects but also understand 34 1 how to effectively communicate and respectively 2 interact with their students. 3 It should also try to fund programs for 4 students that offer extra support and help kids want 5 to learn and not just memorize formulas for a test. 6 Another thing that I found frustrating about 7 No Child Left Behind was the lack of information 8 available to me and my peers, the people that it 9 actually affects a lot, the most. 10 Even after trying to research for acts, most 11 things that turned up were general, wordy and 12 confusing. Students and families should constantly be 13 kept up-to-date on the act and what it's all about. 14 And it should be presented in simple wording and in a 15 variety of languages. 16 With this information, students would in 17 turn be able to speak up about it and give their ideas 18 and their feedback in ways to better No Child Left 19 Behind. In theory, No Child Left Behind has a good 20 objective, but the fine points will most likely harm 21 schools as opposed to benefit them. Thank-you. 22 MR. MILES: Roger. 23 MR. LE: Hi, my name is Roger Le. And I currently 24 attend Balboa. 25 When I first heard about No Child Left Behind, 35 1 I wasn't sure what it was about and even now I'm still a 2 little skeptical -- I'm a little sketchy on the 3 logistics and the fine points of No Child Left Behind. 4 What I hear from teachers is it doesn't seem 5 like it's such a joyride. A lot of teachers complain 6 that the standardization is a bit unreasonable, the way 7 they have these standards without much additional 8 funding and outside support. I apologize. 9 I mean, to set up these standards without 10 really giving support to teachers, that's pretty much 11 setting teachers up to fail. And the funds that 12 they're getting have -- we have to make sure they're 13 going to the right place, not to -- not to, sort of, 14 target Gray Davis, but a lot of the funds that were 15 for schools weren't that efficient, shall I say. 16 And also, high-stakes testing seems to be a 17 big problem as well. Every single student seems to be 18 getting the same test and not all students are the 19 same. 20 A student that may not -- a student that may 21 have, like, a learning disability may not be able to 22 perform as well as a student that does not. And it 23 just doesn't seem reasonable to have a student that's 24 probably well knowledgeable about the subject to take 25 a test that he or she may or may not understand. 36 1 And another student that could sufficiently 2 read the test but does not have the knowledge around 3 it and may not perform as well as the other student or 4 may, depending on his ability. 5 Along with high-stakes testing, teacher 6 accountability seems to be a great thing that teachers 7 are really being accountable for what they teach or 8 don't teach in the classroom. But again, these 9 standards may limit the teacher in his or her teaching 10 ability. 11 In -- I mean -- I apologize, again. I mean, 12 to put these accountabilities on the teachers, it's 13 not always the teacher's fault that the class may be 14 performing poorly because it could be out of lack of 15 motivation of students. And to have the teacher be 16 penalized because of this, it seems unreasonable. 17 And to not reward teachers for a class that 18 performs well, it's sort of a Stalin tactic, sort of 19 scaring the teachers so their duties of 20 standardization which they may not be interested or 21 the class may not be interested in doing at all. It 22 takes a lot of the students' and the teachers' time. 23 If you just teach these standards and not 24 really work on critical thinking skills or really 25 stuff that really matters to the students as well as 37 1 the teacher, what you're really getting is a bunch of 2 kids remembering stuff. And you shouldn't 3 indoctrinate kids with pretty much memories of what 4 they're taught in school. It's unreasonable. 5 And if they're unable to have critical 6 thinking skills for themselves and actively perform 7 these skills in school, then what really are we doing? 8 MR. MILES: Leslye. 9 MS. LUGO: Hi, my name is Leslye Lugo. I go to 10 School at the Arts High School, I'm a senior there. 11 And I think I'm going to start off by 12 telling a story of an experience of mine that I had in 13 high school, my sophomore year. 14 I was -- ever since I was young, I've always 15 had trouble with math. Math has always been my issue, 16 my problem. And sophomore year, I had a math teacher 17 that did not support me in any way. I didn't 18 understand anything he was teaching. And I also 19 realized that half the class along with me weren't 20 either. 21 The other half had private tutors and other 22 lessons, and the other half didn't. The other half 23 were primarily Latino and African Americans, as I am. 24 And I didn't see that that was fair because 25 the other students were succeeding and we weren't. 38 1 And that made me question, like, that's not fair -- 2 that's not fair at all. So I barely passed that 3 class. And I walked out of that class knowing nothing 4 really of math. And it was a horrible experience for 5 me. 6 But fortunately, I found an organization in 7 The Mission called Mission Dignity. And there was a 8 tutor there that told me "You know what? You're not 9 stupid, you're not slow. You know this, you know 10 this, you just need someone to support you and give 11 you confidence and tell you you know how to do it." 12 And it took me a while, but I started 13 understanding the material, and it's not that hard. 14 Because if my ancestors could come up with the concept 15 of zero, then how come I can't figure out this 16 formula. 17 So it was, like, you know what, I could do 18 this, this is school. And I did it. And I'm 19 fortunate to have run into this organization that 20 helped me out. 21 But what about those other students in my 22 class that didn't? What about them? Some of them 23 dropped the whole class. Some of them didn't -- 24 weren't just -- were -- ended up, you know, probably 25 not, you know, graduating from high school. And that 39 1 sucks. That's not fair. 2 So I think that for this act to work, we 3 need support, we need more resources. We need people 4 to be there to tell you "You know what, you can do 5 it." Not people telling you "You know what, you can't 6 do it, get out of my class." That's not fair. 7 MR. MILES: I want to provide the hearing officers 8 with an opportunity to ask some questions of our 9 students. Can I kind of go down the table. 10 MR. DER: I just wanted to have a follow-up 11 question to Leslye who mentioned that students needed 12 support to be successful on this test. 13 What type of support do students need? 14 MS. LUGO: Well, I think students need resources 15 available to them; I think students need people to tell 16 them "You know what, you can do this." 17 People that know where these students are 18 coming from, what problems they're dealing with, at 19 home, in their communities. Because they're -- they're 20 different environments, we all come from different 21 places. 22 I think that teachers not only should be 23 qualified in their subject matter, but they should also 24 know how to deal with students in different environments 25 and different places, have a broader view of who we are 40 1 and where we're coming from. 2 MS. GETRIDGE: First of all, let me thank-you for 3 your eloquent testimony today. You are certainly an 4 example of students who are doing well in our public 5 schools. 6 Both Nanor and Roger talked about the testing 7 requirements. And we all know that there is the 8 standardized test which determines a school's standing 9 in the legislation. 10 If you were to think about alternatives to the 11 standardized test, what are some of the things that you 12 think should be considered? 13 MR. LE: Well, I mean, I agree that standardized 14 testing is for the most part supposed to be beneficial 15 for teachers and administrators to see where we're at, 16 as well as did we actually learn anything. There's 17 probably other ways you can do it. 18 There's teacher's lab. You have teachers 19 individually test students maybe in a verbal content 20 instead of having the student read for himself. 21 Maybe even have, like, an activity, a part of 22 a lab that requires students to be more creative other 23 than fill in the little bubbles, which I myself have 24 pretty bad experiences with. 25 MS. GETRIDGE: Any comments? 41 1 MS. DEMIRJIAN: I agree with Roger that the 2 standardized testing is good to see where everyone is at 3 but usually the tests are very systematic and 4 discouraging. 5 I know I have friends that will -- they're 6 just not good in certain subjects and they're just not 7 going to be -- and for them to just kind of break it 8 down and say, like, if, you know, how to do this 9 problem, you're smart. And if you don't know how to do 10 this problem, you're not. That's not really right to 11 me. 12 I feel, like, maybe if there were other 13 sections on the tests or if you were testing from ways 14 like Roger said, like, more interactively, there's a lot 15 of different good ideas. The lab is a good idea to 16 apply things and not just fill in the little circles. 17 MS. GETRIDGE: Thank-you. 18 MR. WANERMAN: Thank-you. I would like to 19 compliment each of you for the courage it takes to sit 20 in front of a crowd like this and speak so eloquently. 21 And I have a question for each of you. 22 Nanor, I particularly appreciated the way that 23 you talked about the importance of student engagement, 24 and the impact No Child Left Behind has had on your 25 teachers and their capacity to deliver on that. 42 1 So the question I would like for you to think 2 about -- and I'll go down the line so you have a moment 3 to think about it. 4 I'd like for you to think about expressing to 5 us the real importance of a teacher's capacity to engage 6 students in the topic, and how -- what kind of a 7 difference it makes for a student's success. 8 Roger, you said some powerful things about the 9 impact of high-stakes testing on students and on 10 teachers. 11 And I would like for you to think about if we 12 think about what students are being measured on right 13 now in order to get out of high school, what are some of 14 the important things that aren't being measured that you 15 think are keys to success as adults that you would like 16 to see folded into the mix. 17 And then Leslie, your comments on the impact 18 of partnerships that come on to school campuses, I found 19 also very, very compelling. 20 And I'd like for you to take just a moment to 21 talk about the impact of the partnerships to provide the 22 necessary resources. Because it sounds like it really 23 has made a difference for you. 24 So Nanor, if you're you ready for your 25 question? 43 1 MR. VASQUEZ: As you speak, would you speak closer 2 to the microphone and a little bit louder. The 3 translates need to hear more. 4 MS. DEMIRJIAN: Well, I just feel, like, the 5 teacher being more interactive and creative with their 6 lesson plan has an amazing, like, impact on the students 7 and what they get from the subject and what they leave 8 the classroom with. 9 I had a range of teachers from the most boring 10 systematic teachers to the most creative and interesting 11 teachers. And I can honestly say about the classes with 12 the interesting creative teachers are the classes that I 13 walk away remembering stuff after two, three years. 14 Like, I can still remember what we did in the 15 classroom, I can still remember what I learned, and I 16 can still apply that stuff to my life every day. 17 As opposed to, like, the more boring, like, 18 uninspiring teachers. They just -- you don't want to 19 learn. You're not motivated to learn when a teacher 20 doesn't interact with you in a correct way, and doesn't 21 try to understand where you're coming from, it's hard 22 for you to do well. 23 And it just encourages kids to learn. It 24 does say that what you're learning is for a reason, 25 it's not just for you to pass a test, it's not just 44 1 for you to get a grade. But it's for you to apply 2 this to your life and be able to be a better person, a 3 smarter person since -- not just you know how to do 4 this work probably but you know how to apply it to 5 your life. 6 MR. LE: Well, currently, there's a lot of subjects 7 that standardized testing or high-stakes standardized 8 testing like the high school exit exam does not go over. 9 What we have are math and English, and you have to pass 10 both in order to pass high school. 11 I can tell you if Einstein were to take this 12 test, he might not do too well with his English 13 section, but I'm sure he'd do okay with math, but he 14 wouldn't pass high school. 15 A lot of other subjects aren't covered, like 16 history. I myself -- I consider myself a history 17 buff, (inaudible) you know, whatever. But history 18 isn't tested as well as sciences. 19 And the other thing is creative arts. A 20 student could be gifted in drawing and architecture, 21 it wouldn't matter if he doesn't pass high school. 22 And to just base high school on English and math, 23 that's very unreasonable. 24 A lot of kids may lose valuable 25 opportunities in their life if they don't pass high 45 1 school. So it should be based on more than just math 2 and English. 3 As well as if you fail one subject, it 4 shouldn't be right that you automatically not be able 5 to succeed in high school if you succeed greatly on 6 another subject. 7 MS. LUGO: Can I ask you to repeat your question? 8 MS. VILLAREAL: Certainly. 9 You talked about the impact of a program 10 called Mission Dignity and the impact it made in helping 11 turn around your performance when you felt like you 12 yourself were a math failure. 13 Could you talk about the importance of 14 partners who come on to school campuses to provide 15 other resources and the importance that you feel these 16 partnerships present to schools, particularly high 17 schools? 18 MS. LUGO: I think that schools should -- should 19 really value, like, the organizations that are 20 surrounding them, the organizations that are there and a 21 lot of times aren't recognized. 22 Because for me, they helped me a lot. And I 23 think that sometimes and a lot of times schools 24 can't -- don't tend to reach some students that are 25 just left there. 46 1 You know, they're not getting the material, 2 they're not feeling comfortable in their environment, 3 they're not understanding it. So why not let these 4 people that can reach them and can help them succeed, 5 you know, go in and help them out. 6 I think, like, partnerships with schools 7 and, you know, CEOs is a great idea. And I fully, you 8 know, encourage that because it's really important. 9 If you're not feeling satisfied and if your 10 counselors or teachers aren't supporting you, then who 11 are. So community-based organizations a lot of times 12 can do that, can support you, can make you feel that, 13 you know, you are valuable, you do have something in 14 you, you do have confidence, you can be a leader. 15 MR. LE: Can I add something? 16 Another thing is some -- I heard that some 17 high schools are actually encouraging kids who have low 18 performance scores to drop out of high school. And 19 which that to me -- it really tells me something. So 20 really -- you really need -- encouraging the students is 21 a huge deal. 22 MR. MILES: Ms. Mendoza, I wanted to give you an 23 opportunity if you did have any follow-up questions. 24 Okay. 25 I want to thank the student panel. This has 47 1 been great -- a great way to start this hearing. So a 2 round of applause. 3 What I'd like to do now is open up the 4 hearing for about 15 minutes of audience testimony. 5 Each audience speaker will have up to two minutes to 6 speak. And then we'll start the parent panel, which 7 is the next panel that will come up onto the stage at 8 5:30 and resume audience testimony again after that. 9 If you intend to speak and have not already 10 done so, as I mentioned earlier, please make sure you 11 sign in on the testimony sign-in sheet located in the 12 rear of the auditorium. And make sure that we get all 13 of your information correct. 14 And I think what we're doing is asking 15 people to use the microphone that's up here in the 16 front. And two minutes each. And we'll take as many 17 as we can up to the time we'll need to break. And 18 then we'll pick up with where we left off. 19 So if you are an audience member and would 20 like to submit testimony into the record, I would 21 invite you at this point -- and you've signed up in 22 the back -- I'd invite you to come up to the 23 microphone in front of the room. 24 MS. MIBEUREYA: Hello. My name is 25 Mary Jane Mibeureya. And I am a former USOE member, 48 1 that was in the '70s. And I now am a retired teacher 2 working the San Francisco Unified School District for 30 3 years. 4 I've already given some written testimony, 5 but I'd like to add to what I'd like to recommend. 6 At this particular time, there is a 7 requirement for scientifically-based research kinds of 8 programs to be put in through No Child Left Behind. 9 These are support for corporations, they're not 10 support for locally developed programs. 11 There is no support for what used to be 12 educational programs that work for Title 1 students. 13 Now, this was in the 1970s. 14 The USOE we put that out, educational 15 program at work. They were validated. They were 16 developed by teachers and school districts. And they 17 were published for replication and adaptation in some 18 way. And I would like to see these come back so that 19 the schools are not forced to choose 20 scientifically-based research only from corporations. 21 And the way it was organized was much better 22 than the choice that we have now. We could pick by 23 content area. We could choose by grade level, 24 methodology. So that if you're looking for some kind 25 of program, you know where to look at it, you don't 49 1 have a menu. 2 Because many of these scientifically 3 researched based ones that are currently approved, are 4 not really what we need. 5 So it would be very helpful if this new 6 legislation that you're going to put in would 7 encourage wonderful successful work to be identified 8 and to be provided. 9 I can tell you right now that there is an 10 outstanding parent involvement program in Visitation 11 Valley, the parents want more programs and it's 12 working very well, but no one really wants to know 13 anything about it. So, you know, give us a chance. 14 MR. MILES: Thanks a lot. 15 MR. BROWN: Hi. My name is Kevin Brown. I'm with 16 the organization called Youth Together out of Oakland, 17 California. And I also attend Castlemont High School. 18 About the No Child Left Behind: I see the No 19 Child Left Behind as a Trojan horse. It messes up a lot 20 of schools in the whole entire United States. For 21 instance, a lot of the Oakland public schools got shut 22 down because of the testing, the critical testing. 23 A lot of the tests that were being taken or a 24 lot of the tests that the No Child Left Behind is 25 implementing has caused schools to shut down, has caused 50 1 low performance. And it's really messed up. 2 The whole thing that -- about No Child Left 3 Behind is turning around is backwards. Because if you 4 have a school that's performing at a high rate, they're 5 already at the top of their game, they're already 6 handling business, and they get money for it. Right? 7 Am I correct? 8 And then you have low performance schools, if 9 they get low test scores they get discredited or they 10 get nothing at all. And I believe that if you put more 11 money into the school that's getting discredited and has 12 low performance test scores because half the time it's 13 in urban areas and it's in places where youth are not 14 really getting encouragement from teachers and the 15 support of the community or the district as well. 16 And also, another thing: Me dealing with 17 being in high school as well, the No Child Left Behind 18 Act has put a lot of stress on me as a senior because 19 they've also implemented the California high school exit 20 exam. 21 And I heard -- when I heard about the 22 California high school exit exam, it just, like, it just 23 hit me. They told me three months in advance. "Okay, 24 the California high school exit exam is this month." 25 I wasn't told about it a year in advance and 51 1 it was unfair to me. And I believe the No Child Left 2 Behind and the California high school exit exam is wrong 3 based on -- because the California high school exit exam 4 is seeing where seniors are. And by trying to get a 5 sense of where they are, they should not hold seniors 6 back from not testing because something wasn't covered 7 in middle school. That is not fair. 8 MR. MILES: Thank-you. 9 Before you begin, I just want to remind 10 everybody who's speaking at the microphone at the end of 11 two minutes, you will hear a timer go off right next to 12 you, that's your clue that the two minutes is up. I'll 13 try to let you finish the sentence. 14 MS. COOK: My name is Ember Cook, and I work for an 15 organization called COLAGE that stands for Children of 16 Lesbians and Gays Everywhere. I'm representing our 17 voice in this matter. 18 And in a lot of ways, our perspective and 19 our needs and our perspective and our experience in 20 schools is very unique, and it does affect our ability 21 to perform. 22 And the No Child Left Behind Act doesn't 23 really affect that in many ways. And you were asking 24 a question about community involvement. And it's 25 great that I found COLAGE and that there are 52 1 organizations that can help us fill the gap that 2 really should be filled by the schools. We should be 3 educating teachers, and I mean, we do. 4 But, like, as funding from government, we 5 need to be supporting every single child and their 6 perspective, their experience, race, religion, and 7 family background, income levels, all of that. 8 And I really feel, like, having a test 9 score -- my mind, my experience is so much more than 10 just a score, a number on a test. And to reduce me to 11 that and to reduce teachers to thinking of us as that 12 and schools and principals, everything, it's just 13 really boiling everything down to a number. 14 And I know that I'm more important and every 15 youth out there and every person out there is much 16 more important than that. 17 MR. BRADY: Hi. My name is Dan Brady. I'm a 18 teacher in San Francisco Unified School District. And 19 I'm going to watch the clock here. 20 My elementary school had four second grade 21 classes: A bilingual class, a special education 22 class. One which was given the preponderance of low 23 scoring and/or behavior problem students -- long story 24 there -- while I had a high-functioning group. 25 Because of NCLB we had the exact same books, 53 1 went through them at the exact same rate. We had a 2 pacing schedule day by day, scripted. Can you guess 3 which classes did well? Okay. 4 Case No. 2, a student qualifies for special 5 education in their academics and they're two years 6 behind their peers. For example, this means a 5th 7 grader is not at the 3rd grade level. Hello. That's 8 how they get in. But they get tested on the 5th grade 9 level. Hello. Stuff they're not prepared for. 10 My particular school has a full strand of 11 special ed and foreign language speaking students 12 comprising about half the school. Yet, they're tested 13 in -- completely in English, and I could go on about 14 that. 15 Testing is everything, and have no time for 16 teaching instrumental music and singing, the school's 17 chess clubs, working on after-school's programs and 18 computer lab, grant writing. It's silly to develop 19 new techniques and a curriculum so completely scripted 20 that time -- and there's no time for any innovation. 21 Okay. 22 Science is just about gone. The reading 23 program is scripted, complex, time-consuming and most 24 of all is done by workshop copying, filling in of 25 blanks. The creativity I used to use has little room 54 1 for expression. 2 If we're -- students don't get their math 3 scores in a particular unit, we're told just go to the 4 next math, math is paced. Okay. 5 Principals enforce such idiocy as this 6 thinking that it will make a difference and it does. 7 The children are bored, discontented so are the 8 teachers. 9 I'm a nationally board certified teacher, 10 and all I can do is read a script and hand out dittos. 11 Hello. 12 I took a sabbatical, how to fix it. 13 Currently, principals are set structurally against the 14 teachers. The teachers have no way of effectively 15 redressing inequities in the system -- some of which I 16 pointed out. 17 The principal is not held accountable at the 18 site, by the site, and for the community. Were 19 principals and teachers both held accountable to each 20 other to ensure they're set in cooperation not in 21 contest, then we have a system for making a great deal 22 of improvement on a site-by-site level, and we'd be 23 working from the ground up. Very little time to make 24 that kind of change. Okay. Thank-you. 25 MR. MILES: Thank-you. 55 1 MS. HALLADEY: Hi. My name is Sandra Halladey. 2 I'm the founder and associate director of Parents for 3 Public Schools in San Francisco. I have two children in 4 public schools in San Francisco. 5 And parents of public schools, the network 6 of parents working towards excellent public education 7 for all children, this bill doesn't help us for very 8 much. I'm here today to talk as a parent. My view is 9 not representative of the organization. 10 There's a million things I'd like to say 11 about No Child Left Behind. But I'd like to start off 12 with a quote by Einstein: "Not everything that counts 13 can be counted." 14 I see this law as squeezing out the love of 15 learning of our children. My children should be 16 coming home from school happy about what they studied. 17 They shouldn't have to tell me about the millions of 18 bubble tests that they did. 19 I'm very concerned about us having honest 20 dialogue with our teacher's union about quality 21 teaching, so that teacher tenure is not the only 22 requirement. So there is a multi-faceted approach to 23 keeping teachers in our schools. 24 I'd like to see San Francisco replicate 25 programs like the Oakland teaching fellows. I think 56 1 there's lots of ways we can grow our own teachers in 2 San Francisco. I don't see this addressing those 3 kinds of issues. 4 I'd like to see us look at states like 5 Connecticut where they have low state testing that 6 those tests are tied to professional development for 7 our teachers. 8 I'd like to see a culture of supporting 9 public education, not punishing children for not doing 10 well on tests and punishing teachers. 11 I'd like to make sure that there's 12 repetition of successes. San Francisco has many 13 high-performing schools. What is not in place is a 14 strategy to replicate those successes. 15 Moscone Elementary School scored a 10 on a 16 similar scored API. Is that principal being taken by 17 the district to work on other schools? There are many 18 successes that we must replicate. 19 I think that schools in need of improvement 20 in the letter of the law need to have the community 21 involved in deciding what that improvement looks like 22 instead of a State takeover, or a child takeover, or 23 private school takeover. 24 I'd like to see the straightjacket of 25 teachers cease. I'd like to have standards and 57 1 accountability but with flexibility, too. Thank-you. 2 MS. KONG: Hi. My name is Michelle Kong. I'm an 3 8th grade student studying in El Dorado Elementary 4 School. 5 I moved here four years ago with my parents 6 as an immigrant. I remember when I came here my mom 7 and I were not English speaking. At that time I was 8 worried I couldn't comprehend what the teacher taught 9 me, and I couldn't make any friends. 10 Luckily, I was assigned to a bilingual class 11 with a bilingual teacher who sometimes explained some 12 terms to us in Chinese to help us understand. My mom 13 could communicate with my teacher, so that she knew 14 what my status was and she could help me accordingly. 15 She also received translated notes from 16 school so that she knew what was happening at school. 17 I hope the school can keep on -- keep up the good work 18 of taking care of families that were not -- that where 19 English is not their first language so that no 20 children are left behind. Thank-you. 21 MS. MUEHLBAUER: I'm Theresa Muehlbauer, I'm 17. 22 And I go to School of the Arts. 23 I want to make the obvious point here: 24 There is no standard student. So why are we using 25 standardized testing to test these students? Our 58 1 country prides ourselves on our individuality, about 2 being able to think for ourselves, and yet we have to 3 teach these tests so that these kids can't succeed. 4 We're setting them up for failure. 5 I'm a student with learning disabilities, 6 yet I'm in all (inaudible) classes at my school, and I 7 work for the district, I work for park and rec. I am 8 not a standard students. 9 The little girl who was just up here, she is 10 not a standard student. How can you hold every single 11 student to the same test when nobody is coming from 12 the same background? We're a nation of differences. 13 Why do we have to boil it down to one single number 14 and one single test, effectively putting our lives in 15 bubbles? Thank-you. 16 MR. MILES: This is going to be our last audience 17 testimony until after the parent panel. So those of you 18 who've been waiting patiently in line, you may want to 19 strategically sit somewhere to be able to quickly get to 20 the microphone for the next segment of open mike. 21 MR. SANDOVAL: My name is Omar Sandoval. I go to 22 Oasis High School in Oakland. And I'm glad I'm the last 23 one to talk. 24 I think this is not good at all because 25 they're categorizing everybody into one class when 59 1 we're all different. Nobody is the same. 2 And another thing: The question was brought 3 up how can you make sure they're doing the work? Look 4 at the grades. You don't need to make tests, just 5 look at all the grades. If they're doing good, then 6 you know that the schools are doing good. 7 And the schools that are doing bad are doing 8 bad for a reason because they're already underfunded. 9 So what you guys are trying to do is get them less 10 funded, and I don't see how that will help at all. 11 And another thing is the tests don't see you 12 as a person. You fill in a bubble, that's not 13 expressing who you are. I understand the writing 14 part, yeah, sometimes you can explain who you are, but 15 you don't really get to say exactly what you're 16 thinking, how you're thinking, and what are your 17 skills. You're just, like you said, filling in a 18 bubble. And I think she really said everything that I 19 wanted to say all at once. 20 And another thing I was thinking of is if 21 it's really No Child Left Behind, what about all the 22 kids that are in jail right now who are receiving no 23 education at all? How are they -- they are left 24 behind because they're not getting any education all, 25 and it's not right because nobody is the same at all. 60 1 Just like you didn't pick the same tie as 2 him and he's not wearing a tie at all. Everybody is 3 different. There's no standard way to dress. Like, 4 I'm not saying your suit is bad, I like your suit. 5 And he's not wearing a tie at all, so since he's not 6 wearing a tie, should he not be up there? I like 7 yours, too. 8 MR. MILES: Thank-you. 9 We would like to invite the parent panel to 10 come up to the stage now. Maria Lucero Padilla, 11 Kim Shipp, Cateefah Simon and Todd Wanerman. Please 12 come on up, and we will begin the parent panel. 13 A reminder that if you do want to speak, and 14 there will be time for those of you who were in line for 15 the next round, please fill out a speaker form that's in 16 the back of the room, if you haven't done that. 17 Thank-you. 18 Welcome parents. I'd like to start off with 19 your testimony. And I'd like Ms. Padilla to start. 20 MS. PADILLA: Thank-you. Yes. 21 My name is Maria Lucero Padilla, and I'm a 22 parent. I'm in the Berkeley Unified School. My husband 23 and I have raised five children. Our oldest is 30 and 24 our youngest is 16, and so we've been involved in public 25 education for a long time. And I'm very committed in 61 1 terms of our own work, too, as educators. 2 I myself am a beneficiary of the Johnson 3 administration war on poverty. Some of you remember 4 the trio program. If there hadn't been those kinds of 5 extensive efforts, much as I see what some of the 6 students here today and teachers are talking about, 7 there are a number of us who wouldn't be here. 8 One of the first things I want to say is the 9 fact that we have this public forum. That is so 10 important. Too often, I think there's a lot of 11 miscommunication and misinformation, and as we heard, 12 a high level of emotion involved that leads to a lot 13 of misunderstanding. 14 So we know that No Child Left Behind is the 15 most sweeping federal education law since 1965. We've 16 heard that it's standard based, it's testing based, 17 that there's no incentives to build competency in to 18 focus on the basic proficiencies. 19 Yet what we're hearing I think so acutely, 20 is that we're -- while the values themselves sound 21 good, the actual performance and behavior is sort of 22 belying those efforts. 23 Because there doesn't seem to be that 24 coexistence of higher standards and cohesiveness. 25 There's not a recognition of the shifting 62 1 demographics. The fact that we're coming -- 2 certainly, I can speak about unrepresented ethnic 3 minorities, but we need to talk about all of your 4 emerging needs and where they involve. 5 I myself work hard with local parent groups, 6 particularly Latino groups in terms of how they can 7 become aware of how the system works, how they can 8 work with their teachers, how they can work with their 9 principals and their school districts. 10 The concern I have about No Child Left 11 Behind is the fact that unless there is this paradigm 12 shift of recognizing that just because you treat 13 everybody the same or equally, if you don't recognize 14 that you're not treating them fairly, we're never 15 going to get anywhere. 16 I think that urban schools that in many 17 instances were blamed. The community is blamed, the 18 papers are blamed, even the students are blamed 19 instead of recognizing that there's no stabilization 20 in that funding. 21 That the funding -- even with the funding in 22 terms of teacher development, there's so many 23 loopholes that there is no equity. 24 I want -- I submitted three pages of 25 written, but I want to mention this one thing, very 63 1 important. I want to focus on parents, parents in 2 terms of our participation. There's a lot of level of 3 anxiety. And I wanted to make three references. 4 There was an article in November in the Wall 5 Street journal and it talked about the parents' flight 6 from the South Bay schools. Some of our most 7 well-funded, well-resourced, well-facilitated 8 communities -- I hear the beep. 9 And these parents are leaving these schools 10 because their children, even though they're 4.0 11 students are still only in the second, third of the 12 tier. You know that notion of competitiveness. Even 13 as we talk about in our district with the teacher 14 strike last year, which resulted in students really 15 lagging behind. 16 Educational testing service had a report 17 where they indicated that there was an increasing 18 number of students who are being qualified as learning 19 disabled, and more to be able to accommodate 20 additional time to do well on these tests. There's 21 such this anxiety that's really influencing it. 22 So I think again, unless we as parents and 23 community members come together and talk more about 24 this, we're not going to see the effective kind of 25 change. 64 1 So I'm somebody that really wants to see a 2 change on how it's laid out and more participation. 3 So thank-you. 4 MR. MILES: Ms. Shipp. 5 MS. SHIPP: Hi. My name is Kim Shipp. I am the 6 district advisory chairperson for Oakland Unified School 7 District and that is our big parent group. 8 I have three kids: I have -- I've had an 9 elementary, a middle school, and a high school student 10 all at the same time. What I would like to say is 11 that I have children attending some of the lowest 12 performing schools. However, they're some of the 13 highest performing students. 14 I got involved with No Child Left Behind as 15 a result of my work in Oakland Unified School District 16 when the law, more or less, was re-authorized. While 17 a lot of people don't necessarily like the law, one 18 thing I can say about the law is it has sparked a lot 19 of debate. 20 The elementary and secondary education act 21 has been around for 30 years, but most people did not 22 know about it. There is some good things about the 23 law, and there are some bad things about the law. 24 The good thing about it is recognition. 25 Most people you talk to know No Child Left Behind, 65 1 from some of the smallest of children, and we saw 2 that, to some of our high school students, to some of 3 the eldest people in this country. 4 So with that, I would say that it sparked 5 this kind of debate to more or less look at education 6 in the whole totality. 7 I also think that another good thing is it 8 allows for real accountability. And that 9 accountability says that we're not going to let one 10 group overshadow the other group. Everybody must 11 perform, and everybody should get a quality education. 12 Well, because we're parents up here, what we 13 do is we focus on the parent involvement aspect of the 14 law, and that is 1118C. And so for us, we say that 15 parents now have a law even though it was always in 16 the elementary and secondary act, but this law put 17 stronger teeth to enhance parental involvement. So 18 school, districts, states, departments and even the 19 federal government cannot just give lip service to 20 parental involvement. 21 The law says that it has to be comprehensive 22 and it has to be meaningful and engaging. And for us 23 what that means is that parents should have 24 involvement in every aspect of their child's 25 education. All the way down from the professional 66 1 development to something as devastating as 2 restructuring of a school. 3 What I'm finding is that that aspect of the 4 law has not caught up with state departments of 5 education, with school districts, and definitely down 6 to the school level. 7 Some of the bad things I see with the law is 8 the fact that the accountability piece is not holding 9 enough people accountable. I heard that my time is up 10 and hopefully since we're missing one person, we may 11 get a little more time. 12 MR. MILES: You should run for office. Next -- 13 thanks. 14 Now, we'll hear from Mr. Wanerman. 15 MR. WANERMAN: Hi, I'm Todd Wanerman. I have an 16 elementary school student here in San Francisco and a 17 middle school student, and I am a preschool teacher. 18 And I'd like to thank-you for the opportunity to come 19 and speak about it. 20 I can't speak from the same level of 21 information here, but being a teacher myself, I can talk 22 a little bit about teacher quality and what we've seen 23 over the last few years at our children's schools in 24 that regard. 25 Teacher quality was, of course, one of the 67 1 biggest criteria for my wife and I when we looked at our 2 public schools. And we chose our neighborhood public 3 school because we were so impressed by the dedication 4 and energy of the teachers there, and as well as the 5 fact that they established a very good working 6 relationship with their students. And that they had 7 been given the latitude to apply their own creativity 8 and their personality to the curriculum and that the 9 classrooms reflected that. 10 I just want to say as an aside here, test 11 scores were not very important to us in looking for 12 schools. And I think that's been borne out at Lafayette 13 Elementary here in San Francisco where my children have 14 attended and are still attending. 15 There's a really strong commitment to special 16 education. There are a lot of children similar to the 17 speaker we heard just a few minutes ago who are learning 18 English in school. And both these children tend to 19 bring the testing curve down in Lafayette somewhat. 20 But I cannot say enough how much we feel that 21 the presence of these students has increased the quality 22 of the education at that school. And I can tell you 23 many, many stories about my children and how that's been 24 applied. It's been a real inspiration to us. 25 I work in an educational environment that 68 1 regards relationships as the key to a successful 2 education. Children learn best when a teacher can form 3 an individual relationship with a child, and has the 4 ability and freedom to know that child as an individual. 5 And to adapt the educational curriculum to that child's 6 strengths and styles. 7 All the most important developments in 8 education that I've encountered professionally over the 9 last 20 years, be it multiple intelligences, the sensory 10 integration perspective, brain development or 11 relationship-based education support this. And I could 12 tell you from my own teaching experience that I'm 100 13 percent convinced. 14 I think the story that Ms. Lugo told us from 15 the student panel about having an individual 16 relationship with a math tutor is a perfect example of 17 this. And I just want to tell you one story from my 18 children's educational experience. 19 They both had their best year ever with 20 their 3rd grade teacher, the same 3rd grade teacher. 21 And this is the kind of teacher who's won many awards. 22 Legislators would be crazy to alienate a teacher like 23 this. This is exactly the type of person you want in 24 a school. 25 He used music and art and art history as a 69 1 portal for learning. But he did teach the 2 standardized curriculum and the kids did very well in 3 the traditional subjects. 4 He collaborated with children on projects 5 both in and out of class. He formed a glee club with 6 kids who were interested in music. And his emphasis 7 on different learning modes allowed each child to find 8 their strengths within the class and their 9 contribution. 10 And our children were inspired and excited, 11 and they worked harder than they ever did and they 12 learned things that they talk about to this day. 13 When our younger son entered this class, we 14 asked when the kids would start to learn the recorder, 15 because that had been our older son's favorite part of 16 the entire year. And that may sound a little fluffy 17 but our son had the math concepts, musical notation, 18 how to put parts together into a whole, the rewards of 19 hard work and practice, collaboration with his fellow 20 students all from just this one curriculum element. 21 And the teacher looked at us and he said, "I 22 can't do the recorder anymore, I have to devote too 23 much time this year to teaching the children and 24 prepping them for the standardized test." 25 MR. MILES: I have to stop you there. 70 1 Ms. Simon, are you ready to testify? 2 MS. SIMON: I will testify. 3 I want to thank everyone for allowing me the 4 opportunity to be here. I am a parent of a child, a 5 wonderful child, a daughter who attends New Traditions 6 Elementary School, one of the best schools on the 7 planet. 8 And I was very honored to speak on these 9 issues. Because she's a fourth grader, and I'm a single 10 mother, and like many mothers and single fathers in the 11 audience and in San Francisco, I'm shocked last year 12 when I sat down with my daughter's 3rd grade teacher and 13 really learned not only about the standardized testing 14 but about the stress that I saw on the children's faces 15 as they were going through the practices each and every 16 day. 17 And one of the things that I thought also as a 18 student was why and how are we subjecting very, very 19 young children to one way of learning. 20 My daughter came home during the time when the 21 3rd graders were prepping. And she told me about a 22 schoolmate who sat right next to her. And she said, 23 "Mommy, if he doesn't do well, he doesn't go to the next 24 grade. But it doesn't mean that he's not learning in 25 class." 71 1 And if this eight-year-old baby, my baby 2 understood the crazy politics of grouping one group of 3 children in one standardized whole, I just don't 4 understand how the federal government doesn't get that 5 either. Does that make sense? 6 During the testing, my daughter would come 7 home every night, and when she would say her prayers, 8 she would say "God, just let me pass the 3rd grade. Let 9 them know that I'm smart. But Mommy, if I mark this one 10 the wrong way, they'll say I'm not good enough." 11 And we went over the patterns. And I bought 12 the books in the stores -- there's people making money 13 now, I think, off of this whole thing, right. I've got 14 all these things at Walgreens and Rite-Aid and little 15 testing manuals to get my child ready, so that she would 16 understand herself that she was okay. 17 And no matter what I taught her, and no matter 18 what her great, amazing 3rd grade teacher taught her, 19 there was something instilled from the people way up 20 high that she had to prove herself fit. 21 My great wonderful aunt is a principal in 22 Oakland. And she said, "No, Cateefah, this is about 23 performance. And I know there's a lot of politics 24 behind it and some folks are for it and some folks are 25 against this new standardized testing, but it pushes 72 1 teachers. 2 But every day that I would come in and watch 3 my daughter's wonderful teacher prep these children, one 4 of the things that I knew in my heart was that this new 5 way of learning didn't show that child was sitting next 6 to my daughter how he had grown. 7 I want to look toward the day where public 8 education moves to treat children individually so that 9 the beauty and the magic that children experience on a 10 daily basis is not simply just graded or standardized or 11 crunched into numbers. 12 But where young women, like the women that I 13 worked with for over 10 years at the Center for Young 14 Women's Development who are lost in the school district, 15 who didn't necessarily pass the test, aren't thrown away 16 by the system aren't left back because they learn 17 differently. 18 So as a parent and as an activist and now as a 19 student, I know that there's something that we have to 20 do differently. Not only change the policies that sort 21 of overarch our school systems but really teach our 22 children that if you pass or fail a test it doesn't 23 equate your brilliance. That your brilliance goes way 24 deeper than anything that you put in that little bubble. 25 So that's my testimony and that's all I really 73 1 have to say, but we have to teach our children. 2 MR. MILES: I'm now going to ask our hearing 3 officers, and I may actually start at the other end of 4 the table, just to be different and ask Ms. Villareal if 5 she has any follow-up questions for any of our 6 panelists. 7 MS. VILLAREAL: Again, I appreciate your very 8 pointed comments about the power of inclusion and the 9 importance of public information, about the spotlight on 10 the enormous achievement gap, and the accountability 11 that it brings. About the loss of creativity and the 12 powerful impact of that. 13 And Cateefah, your powerful story about the 14 impact on your daughter and making it real for all of 15 us. 16 I would like for each you to think about two 17 things in connection with this legislation: What's the 18 most important part of the legislation as you see it to 19 keep, what's the most important impact to keep, and 20 what's the most important one to change right now. I 21 know that's a little question that's really loaded, but 22 I'd like to hear that. 23 MR. MILES: Who wants to go first? 24 MR. WANERMAN: Well, I'll go. 25 I think the commitment to evening the 74 1 achievement gap and providing a quality education for 2 everyone is inarguable. Who would argue with that? I 3 think we've heard a lot of questions about whether this 4 actually addresses that or not, but I think any serious 5 legislation should be putting that towards the top of 6 the list. 7 I think what's working poorly, and we've heard 8 a lot so far, especially from students, who I think have 9 been very articulate, is that we've sort of gotten it 10 backwards. When there's so much pressure on the schools 11 to achieve in the testing realm and then the curriculum 12 becomes about the testing. 13 And the pressure as Ms. Simon just told us 14 about is so intense that the children are feeling it 15 even more than the teachers. And I can tell you that 16 the atmosphere at Lafayette Elementary has become 17 stressed and it's become tense. And the teachers don't 18 have as much time to think expansively or have 19 relationships with their kids or the parents and that 20 clearly has to go. 21 MS. SIMON: I mean, I think I agree. And in 22 reading through the legislation last night, one of the 23 things that I was thinking was that there's so much that 24 actually needs to change. But one of the things that I 25 do appreciate, I appreciate study, and I appreciate 75 1 young people understanding rigor and the importance of 2 it. 3 But one of the things that I think is 4 difficult is, again, how education becomes 5 non-individualized and streamlined. And so I hope that 6 answers some of your question. 7 MS. SHIPP: I think the most important aspect, as I 8 said before, it has sparked debate, and it has caused 9 America as a country to look at its educational system 10 as a whole. 11 And the impact of that is everyone is 12 accountable. Not only is the teacher from the teacher, 13 it goes down to the parents. And that impact allows all 14 of us to become educated. 15 Because if you look at this legislation and 16 all that it requires, you have to stay up late nights in 17 order just to keep up. And the changes that I think 18 that needs to take place is some of the layers of the 19 law. This is not a law like we have when you go out and 20 say when the light is red you stop. This law is very 21 complex. And there's a lot of aspects of the law that 22 is ineffective. 23 And one being, and I don't want to get too 24 specific, is supplemental education services. So 25 whoever wrote all this legislation, some things were not 76 1 thought through in terms of some of the aspects. 2 Real quickly: Teacher quality, we have to 3 realize that there's another nuance that's going on in 4 this country around teachers. Teachers are not coming 5 to stay any longer. 6 In other words, they come and they basically 7 have a tenure of three to five years at the most so we 8 are constantly having to train highly qualified teachers 9 because the teacher now can become an administrator 10 within a couple of years. 11 So I think that aspect of the law is going to 12 have to be looked upon to see what kind of ways as all 13 of the things that were described here today that we can 14 mesh these things together in terms of -- you know, we 15 all have to have accountability and we have to have 16 standards. 17 A lot of people talk about them, but two plus 18 two was four in 1964 and it's four in 2006. So there 19 are some standards that we're not going to get away 20 from. 21 And so we have to be able to say and remember 22 our focus: Reading, writing and arithmetic. And when 23 we get kids to be able to grasp those basic concepts, 24 all the creativity and all that other stuff will fall 25 into place. 77 1 MS. PADILLA: I just wanted to comment: So much of 2 the legislation is objective driven, right. And how do 3 you quantify quality, right, and that's a difficulty I 4 think we're hearing from the student speakers, the 5 audience speakers. 6 I myself find that when I talk to students and 7 parents who feel like their children are having academic 8 difficulty, it's very rarely about being underachievers, 9 it's usually about the personal extenuating 10 circumstances that are taking place in their lives. 11 Wanting to engage with their teachers and 12 their school administrators in a way that you're 13 addressing those kinds of personal dynamics that 14 interfere with us being able to learn. 15 There's got to be some way as we're reporting 16 that we can take some measurement of success -- and you 17 can end with the student who spoke earlier about the 18 fact that she was surprised that someone was getting 19 advanced tutoring, somebody else wasn't getting anything 20 at all, and that she found her support through the -- I 21 think it was through the Mission Program. 22 Again, a place that treated her as an 23 individual, looked at her specific kinds of needs and 24 tailored that academic program to that. And I think our 25 standards here aren't allowing that, they're too rigid. 78 1 MR. MILES: Ms. Mendoza. 2 MS. MENDOZA: I just want to start with a huge 3 thank-you for being here, for being engaged in 4 questioning what it is that is going on today. 5 I have a couple of questions, some of them are 6 specific to people. 7 So Maria, how can -- how are you working with 8 our immigrant families in terms of getting them involved 9 and keeping them informed? 10 Because I think a lot of times there's this 11 misconception that they don't want to be involved and 12 they can't be informed. And I want to be able to share 13 that with our legislation. 14 MS. PADILLA: And that's not easy. Partly because 15 I feel like I have a real responsibility not to change 16 somebody to be just like me -- but to use these overused 17 words of power -- so for me, it's about looking at the 18 system. 19 I'm focused on one elementary school in 20 Berkeley Unified, I'm working primarily with 21 Spanish-speaking immigrant parents. So it's kind of 22 about breaking the school down, looking at how we have 23 collaborations of partnerships with our other 24 communities. 25 By the way, we know that many new immigrants 79 1 often adopt the same stereotypes and fears, you know. 2 And so for me, it's about, you know, the interaction, 3 how you bring people together. 4 Working with the teachers, sometimes I might 5 be an intermediary in the sense the teacher needs 6 support in the classroom but helping the parent break 7 down what does that support look like, what's 8 contribution. 9 Too often in our society I think and 10 California especially, we throw money at things. It's 11 about money and it's not recognizing that there are many 12 ways that the people can participate. So it's really 13 about individualizing the work with the parents and 14 having them work together. Teach one, right, pass it 15 on. 16 MS. MENDOZA: Great. Thank-you. 17 And Todd, I just want to thank-you for looking 18 beyond the test scores. I think that'