NO HIGH SCHOOL IN THE BAYVIEW

Rich folks who live in other parts of the City and County and San Francisco like Pacific Heights and in the Marina District really do not know what it takes to live at Hunters Point in Public Housing or in the Bayview. Why would filthy rich folks like Nancy Pelosi and Diane Feinstein really care about poor folks? Why would other rich folks feel for the youth that suffer so much on so many levels? Our children are dying at every level and being killed on the streets just brings death to the highest level of reality. If one single child was shot and killed in the Marina or Pacific Heights there would be a hue and cry at City Hall and in the highest places of power and control. Imagine 10 youth being killed in a week and no action taken on a war footing. In the Bayview we have NO one quality high school and talented children who have to fight odds to survive are bused to far off places to learn what is due them near at home. It is not uncommon for some one to take three buses to get to a school not of their choice. Our youth travel far away in another part of town and world that has no likeness or compatibility to oneีs surroundings in the least possible way. Every psychological barrier is put in the way of our youth to make progress. The youth are never asked how they feel? The adults think they have the answers when the adults have no clue of anything much. Our youth as left to fend for themselves and often time when they take some risk they are put down. Time to understand that our youth need the valid support to make good stuff happen. At one time when the population of Bayview Hunters Point had a large African American population the NAACP thought it would try to spread some quality Blackness around. You know one does get fed up of Whip Cream - and ebony shines while ivory does look good if it is kept spotless. Title VI protects people of color and gives them opportunities. It calls for mitigation and participation. Equal opportunities are what people most ask for. We want nothing on a platter, which the dominant groups have had for ages. They made the laws to better suit their needs before and after the constitution was written. The Civil Rights Movement which took place some 40 years ago changed some of the laws but a lot has to be done to change the mentality of those who do not want to act in fairness. I wonder what the Mahatma or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would say as they reviewed the atrocities of today? If only that was possible! The San Francisco Board of Education and the inept Superintendent who heads the San Francisco Unified School District should be ashamed of herself. Arlene always goes on the defensive and she is prone to do so again and again on serious issues - she should seriously consider herself moving away from this great City that deserves the best in genuine leadership. Things have changed today in San Francisco. In fact it changed 8 years ago but our School System stinks and the San Francisco Unified School District with its past and present Superintendents have no real vision. And if you are talking about leadership, accountability, and transparency - the Superintendents have not an iota of what I think should be the norm. They use information but they are not educated on issues to make genuine progressive decisions. What does Dianne Feinstein, Don Fisher of Gap fame, Richard Blum who is the husband of Dianne Feinstein have in common. I am talking that they are Jewish but really what do they have in common with folks who are poor and from the Bayview. Nada, zip, zilch, zero. I will not call them ignorant but arrogant. They live in some filthy rich palaces and desire to make decisions that affect those folks who are poor and more deny poor minorities Civil Rights attained in 1964 and Title VI of 1994 which guarantees people of color fundamental rights to better there lives. The SF School District should focus on least two qualities High Schools in the Bayview. Right now we do not have one. What is this craze of a school been christened every so many years. Schools should be named and the name should stick just like one christens a ship and that is the name you call the ship - till that day comes when it is moth balled. I have visited some of the High Schools all over the City and in District 10 and the state of affairs is not very pretty. It amazes me how much time is spent on arguing and debating policies and now little time is spent serving the children that go to our schools in San Francisco. Our students have no textbooks that are current. The lockers are worn out. The restroom are filthy and stink to high heaven. Often times the heat does not come on and the roof leaks. Numbers are many and the youth cannot focus on the topic at hand. Most teachers lack good training and support and the youth are more then often left to fend for themselves. Yet we call ourselves civilized when we cannot fulfill our obligations of good education in these days and times of sound information. I am totally aghast at the appointments to the School Board. Arrogance and lack of ethical fortitude in serving the youth in our schools in San Francisco. Politics and snobbery do not belong with the SF School Board and that is what happening on all-important issues linked to education of our children. Our schools should not depend on the Green Party or the Democratic donkey but rather on quality education. The Bayview has the distinction of having youth that have and will attain very high goals. It is a pity that in the last 10 years the City Government has allowed Bayview Hunters Point to fall by the way side. It is a pity that the youth have fallen victim to thugs and crooks that prey upon the constituents with links to City Hall and other places - corrupt. Education is important and it is time we have OUR own High School of Distinction that is over due in the Bayview Hunters Point. Rich folks from the richer parts of the City and County of San Francisco are not kosher in our part of town. For years we have been slaves to their evil policies and the time has come to break away from this feudalistic notion of control and condescending. There was a time when the Mau Mau taught the British a good lesson. There was a time when the Black Panthers united those who were suffering and dying. The time has come to unite and we cannot permit crooks that do not feel with those who are hurting - be the only part of the equation. People power is more important then money and united the community can attain certain goals that money cannot buy. Title VI allows us all that are minorities to mitigate and bring about changes. Minorities include Asians, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and African Americans. It is essential that we study the current statistics of the population of District 10 - then zero in on Bayview Hunters Point and demand our rights for a Quality High School. Right now if one follows the statistics over 70% of our youth from Bayview Hunters Point do not complete High School. Think about that. Out of a 100 only 30 students finish school. Then after they finish high school only a few go to College. This is not so in other areas of our City. The San Francisco Board of Education and the Superintendent has failed Bayview Hunters Point. This is a fact. Time we put in place a Quality High School in the Bayview Hunters Point Area. What do you folks have to say? What does our Board of Supervisors have to say? Over 60 per cent of the people in Bayview own homes and pay property taxes. Where is all the money going? Who should go to jail? Enough is enough. Common folks cannot understand that there are those who talk the talk. What about action? But let me ask you Community Based Organizations - getting millions in grants - who is really walking the walk? To the youth I say - you should fight for your rights because the Elders and the Adults have let you all down. Use your talents to bring about change. Join the Youth Commission and speak before the Board of Supervisors. Write letters to the local papers and articles that reveal to the Public at Large the sad state of affairs in our schools in District 10. Youth, you cannot and should not wait for the Adult to take the lead. They will not because they do not know how. The time is now and the future - as sad as it is - is yours to make or break.

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