A new target for tech disruption: Illiteracy. A product marketer and freelance web developer have started a site that collects recurring donations from Bay Area residents with something to spare, and converts that money into books that go to local schools that need them by providing credit to a subsidized bookseller. Founders A.T. McWilliams and Holman Gao both have a longstanding...
The first time Richard Carranza stepped inside a classroom, he didn’t speak a word of English. Now, decades later and armed with years of experience in teaching and education administration, Carranza has full control of the classroom. In fact, he is the newly appointed superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District. “I’m going to all these meetings, with all...
On average, children in the Mission District perpetually skip class or arrive late to school more frequently than students in the entire school district. Schools in the Mission are also making significant strides to change that. San Francisco Unified School District officials recently lauded significant declines in district-wide truancy rates. They pointed to a 12 percent reduction in the number...
Daisey Sanchez enjoys helping people. In the last few years, the Mission District native has helped teach special education classes in public schools in the neighborhood, and this semester she planned her department’s graduation ceremony. As she prepares to move out of state for graduate school, she hopes others will now help her adjust to a new life. Two weeks...
By NOAH BUHAYAR A routine meeting of San Francisco Unified School District’s Augmented Budget and Business Services Committee grew tense Monday evening, as board members and district staff revisited the logic of cutting funding for a school violence prevention program. The committee advises the Board of Education and has no final authority. Nevertheless, its members were trying to reconcile the...
