Teachers 4 Social Justice

“Teaching for Social Justice: Building Power, Making Change”
Saturday, October 11th, 2008 • 9am-5pm
Mission High School, San Francisco, CA
To register, visit http://www.t4sj.org.

• Keynote Speaker – Dr. Antonia Darder: Professor of Education Policy and Latino/a Studies
• Workshops – Building Classroom Community, Media Literacy, Ethnic Studies, and more!
• Resource Faire – Dozens of local artists, book publishers and authors.  Come visit Rethinking Schools booth at the conference!
• Networking – Meet teachers from New York, Washington, Oregon, L.A. and right here in the Bay who are committed to the struggle for educational justice.  This conference is attracting a national audience, come take part!

* Childcare – space is limited, please sign up asap.

THIS EVENT IS FREE AND WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE!  Visit http://www.t4sj.org to register and for more info.

Thank a Teacher for Social Justice, May 30th

Here’s a great way to support progressive public education happening in classrooms all over the city in San Francisco and the Bay Area—a celebration of social justice teachers (please nominate one or more!) and a fundraiser for Teachers 4 Social Justice, a non-profit grassroots educator organization.

To learn more about T4SJ (and all the work the group does) and to nominate a social justice teacher who should be celebrated, please take a look at www.t4sj.org.

Thanks, and see you at Space180 on May 30th!

Pui Ling Tam
T4SJ.org

Please consider leading a workshop for fellow educators at this year’s 8th annual Teachers 4 Social Justice Conference! This conference is all about grass roots professional development for teachers by teachers and community educators so that we can collectively build power and make change in our classrooms, our practice, in the community at large, and for and with the youth. We need your contribution to continue making this conference a powerful experience and place of real learning for all! Last year’s T4SJ conference reached 1200 educators from the Bay Area and across the country and featured 40+ social justice teaching workshops for teachers to choose from—these workshops are really the heart of the conference.

Conference Details:

8th Annual Teachers for Social Justice Conference: Building Power, Making Change
October 11, 2007
San Francisco, CA
9:00 am-5:00 pm

You can download the Request for Workshops 2008 at the T4SJ website, www.t4sj.org.
The deadline to submit a workshop proposal is by July 11 (for community organizations) and September 9 (for teachers).

A Visual Literacy Workshop for High School Teachers and Media Educators
Thursday and Friday, June 19 and 20, 2008

The Pacific Film Archive presents a two-day intensive teacher workshop, How to Read a Film, now in its tenth year. This popular practicum is designed to help high school teachers and media educators equip young people with the critical viewing skills necessary to master twenty-first-century visual culture—from cinema space, through the video trace, to the vastness of MySpace—while encouraging the exploration of film and video as unique art forms.

For information about presentations, fees, and enrollment, please contact PFA Video Curator Steve Seid at (510) 642-5253 or seidtrak@berkeley.edu.

How to Read a Film: A Visual Literacy Workshop for High School Teachers is made possible by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bernard Osher Foundation, and the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Download the How to Read a Film brochure (PDF).

Included in the year of intensive training is:

· 90+ training days at Building Excellent Schools’ central offices in Boston led by expert Building Excellent Schools’ staff and nationally recognized experts in charter school design and operation.
· Visits to 20-25 of the highest performing urban charter schools in the Northeast and beyond.
· Extended residency in a high performing urban charter school.
· Ongoing coaching and support around board and charter application development
In its quest to build and perpetuate educational excellence, BES holds the core belief that academic performance drives every element of a school, including design, leadership, culture, decisions, and governance. BES further believes that the only legitimate measure for a school’s performance is the academic achievement of its students.

For more information please visit our website at www.buildingexcellentschools.org

If you are interested in applying please contact:
Shayna Kent
skent@buildingexcellentschools.org
415-515-7271

Teachers 4 Social Justice wants to extend the invitation to join our caravan of educators and allies to Sacramento to unify and put pressure on the state legislator to stop the governor’s proposed cuts in education. We are asking that you send 1-3 representatives from you organization to join and help connect the dot’s between all our areas of work. GET ON THE BUS, with Teachers 4 Social Justice and fight for quality education for all our children.

We will gather and have a  GET ON the BUS to fight the cuts to education RALLY on the steps of City Hall next Friday, May 9th, 2008 @ 11am before heading to Sacramento. Return to SF at 8pm.

The Rally in SF will be the final stop (before going on to the State Capitol in Sacramento), for the A.R.E. (Association of Raza Educators) San Diego to Sacramento Caravan of Educators to Fight the Budget cuts.
We are saying our children deserve better. From San Diego to The Bay and up to Sacramento let our voices be heard. Join the California Caravan in Support of Funding Public Education and investing in the children of CA. Join Teachers 4 Social Justice, ARE (Association of Raza Educators), SFABE and many other local and statewide community based orgs for a Rally on the steps of City Hall in San Francisco
Rally at 11am. Bus departs for Sacramento @11:45. Return to SF at 8pm.

Please let us know if you will be able to join us on such short notice. We encourage allies to bring folks to the rally and select a few reps to join us on the bus. Space is limited so please RSVP as soon as possible. Let us know.

Any Questions please contact: Karen Zapata at 415-516-0338 or teachers4socialjustice@yahoo.com

Peace and Empowerment,

Jeremiah Jeffries, Teachers 4 Social Justice

In these days of state standards and so called “failing schools”, many teachers fantasize about not subjecting their students to the mandatory state standardized tests. For those teachers who have flirted with the idea, read this article about a teacher in Seattle who decided to take his “civil disobedience” into the classroom, defying state law and state academic standards. Right or wrong, it provides a great read and a poignant lesson in modern day civics.

Here is the link to the full article:

TEACHER REFUSES TO ADMINISTER STATE TEST

High school seniors in special education classes will be required for the first time this year to pass California’s exit exam to qualify for a diploma after lawyers for the disabled failed to get them an exemption.

A legal settlement, expected to be filed today in Alameda County Superior Court, will end a 7-year-old lawsuit that challenged a state law requiring all students – including those with mental or physical disabilities – to pass the test of basic math and English skills to graduate.

Passing the exit exam became a requirement for all seniors in 2006, but lawyers from Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley won exemptions for special-education students in 2006 and 2007.

Both sides said today’s settlement includes no exemptions.

That means Shaneka “Precious” Washington and other seniors in special education who have met all other graduation requirements will not get diplomas on graduation day unless they pass the test in time.

“I would be heartbroken,” said Washington, 18, a senior with learning disabilities at Balboa High School in San Francisco. “I don’t like to cry in front of people, but that would be the day I would.”

Continue reading…

FROM TEAMS FELLOW EMILY RIGOTTI:

Dear friends and family,

Life Academy, the Oakland High School where I work, is fighting for
its life right now. As of Monday, we were informed that we would no
longer be allowed to continue to operate at our current facility next
year. If you didn’t know, seven years ago, we transformed a former Red
Cross building, then Adult Education building to become the welcoming
school it is today. We’ve poured in our blood, sweat and tears to make
it one of the most successful inner-city public high schools in
Oakland. We consistently rank at the top of our district in test
scores, attendance, graduation rates, student, staff and parent
satisfaction, and innovative professional practices. Last year, we
graduated over 30% of our senior class to a University of California
school.

Many alumni accredit our small school family atmosphere setting with
their success and now the district wants to move us to an unknown
site, most likely to be shared by another school in an overcrowded
space. When asked what might happen if no appropriate site is found,
our District representative simply answered with, “I don’t know.” This
answer seriously concerns us with the possibility that the district
may even break up our school if no site is found.

Recently one of the Oakland Tribune reporters blogged about this move
and offered copies of the letter we received from the district.
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2008/03/19/life-academy-to-be-uprooted/#more-521

Based on the letter alone, it seems like we have several openings for
a legal argument. On the first line of the third paragraph, it states
that, “the District has determined that the Life Academy facility
probably does not comply with Field Act standards for housing K-12
students and staff.” Not a very strong statement to be making when
they are trying to move an entire school of 250 students.

We are desperately searching for individuals who can help us in this
struggle, Politicians, Media sources, Education Law experts, and just
you as a concerned individual wanting to promote social justice and
keep our under-served youth from being once again mis-placed. Please
disseminate this email widely.

The future existence of Life Academy depends on it. If you’d like to
learn more about our school, please visit our website at
http://www.lifeacademyhighschool.org/

Finally, there will be a mass demonstration of support from the
community and our supporters on Wednesday, April 2nd at the OUSD
Administrative building (1025 2nd Avenue, 4th floor, Hunter Hall,
Oakland, CA). Please invite as many people as you can, especially
those who have been touched by Life Academy.

Thanks for listening.

Emily

Looking for a teaching job in a school that set its teachers up for success?

RISE is a non-profit organization committed to keeping effective teachers in schools serving low-income communities so all students can achieve at high levels. Teaching positions currently available in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

What does RISE offer?
RISE provides an online network where pre-screened teachers and schools with a shared commitment to low-income education connect to find a good fit. Unlike other teaching job sites, RISE offers a listing of teaching jobs and…

• Insight into Schools – Teachers at RISE Partner Schools complete a Teaching Conditions Survey to provide feedback for school improvement in five key areas – information available to you in each school profile on the RISE Network so you can make an informed decision:
  Leadership, Teacher Empowerment, Use of Time,
  Professional Development, Facilities & Resources

• Efficiency – One RISE application connects you directly to more than 100 leaders at selected schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Chicago that share your commitment. Read more about RISE Partner Schools>>

• Ongoing Commitment – RISE supports teachers beyond the job search by forming lasting partnerships with schools to improve teaching environments year over year through the Teaching Conditions Survey improvement tool.

Read more about the application process and apply >>

Minimum Qualifications
To apply to RISE, teachers must have:

• A belief that all students can achieve at high levels.
• At least one year as a full time classroom teacher in a K-12 school in the U.S. serving a low-income population. (This does not include student or substitute teaching.)
  • NOTE: RISE defines a low-income population as at least 50% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
• A valid credential or current enrollment in a credentialing program.
• Eligibility to work in the U.S. (without visa sponsorship).

Read more about qualifications and the application process >>