Looking "Beyond the Talk", You Will Find

...a great big empty space.

Word has it that our august Superintendent is making the rounds dressed up like Foxy Loxy to alert us that the sky is falling: no class-size reduction, no 'extras' like art and music, massive layoffs.

"Massive layoffs" might be my very favorite part in terms of absolute waste of cash.  The "hard to staff" schools are getting their first bonuses next month.  They'll also take the brunt of the layoffs, so that those "hard to staff" schools will remain so forevermore.  After all, since they're always hiring, they're always filled with teachers whose seniority is negligible.  So despite the fact that teacher retention has a significant positive impact on poor schools, and despite the fact that SFUSD got the voters to pay for programs to increase retention, they're going to go ahead and lay off those teachers anyway.

I have to admit I find the CSR issue somewhat amusing, in a teeth-grinding way.  This is one of those cuts that will save SFUSD significant money on the backs of poor schools.  The District knows that several parent-funded schools have been buying down class sizes in 4th and 5th grades.  I think we can assume that most, if not all of those schools will shift to buying down all class sizes.  Poor schools can suck it.

Ultimately, this is what you get when you hire a guy that spent his last Superintendent job spouting racist epithets to the press.  In theory, we are all "Beyond the Talk" these days.  We're gonna close that achievement opportunity gap, pass out those Jimi Hendrix bags, get serious about educating children of color, make connections with communities with humility, make school funding equitable.

In actuality, we're going to pander to white middle class families (neighborhood! schools! except! for! immersion! programs!), encourage parent funding and give all the Title One schools an extra pair of bootstraps.