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Silicon Valley schools superintendent to resign following spending on energy healer and other questionable expenses
www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/mountainview-19886203.php
A Silicon Valley schools superintendent is resigning amid scrutiny over the district’s finances, including money spent on an East Coast public relations firm and $1,200 per session for an energy healer to provide guided meditation for administrators.
Ayindé Rudolph — one of the highest paid superintendents in the state — announced Friday he would leave the Mountain View Whisman School District, a tiny elementary school district that struggles with a persistent achievement gap despite being in one of the region’s wealthiest areas. He resigned the same day Santa Clara County education officials were finalizing a contract to bring in a state fiscal oversight agency to perform an “extraordinary audit,” specifically a review to determine whether any illegal practices have occurred, including fraud or misappropriation of funds.
Rudoph is expected to leave following a Thursday vote by the school board on a separation agreement, which would include payment of three months of salary, or just over $98,000, with both sides giving up any present or future legal claims.
Some families questioned the severance package, which also gave him an extension on repaying a low-interest home loan for up to a $1.6 million loan
“Don’t the taxpayers deserve to know why the school board feels it necessary to give him $100K of our children’s educational money, when we are not obligated to give him anything?” said one parent, who the Chronicle agreed not to name under its confidential sources policy. “Can you think of any other job where an employee resigns amidst a pending audit for fraud, and his employers give him a gift of $100K and a release from all future claims and liabilities?”
The parent, who feared retaliation added, “Why is the school board trying to protect Dr. Rudolph instead of protecting our children’s interests?”
School board President Devon Conley told the Chronicle Monday that, if approved, “the three months severance is less than what is typical for such an agreement,” she told the Chronicle Monday.
The superintendent, who was hired in 2015, cited a need to focus on his health and family.
“After much reflection, following a health scare, I have come to realize that the demands of the job continue to have an adverse impact on my health,” he said Friday in a statement posted on social media. “As the scripture says in Micah 4:4, ‘Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid.’
“I look forward to sitting under my own fig tree and starting the next chapter of my family’s life.”
Rudolph did not immediately return requests for comment.
Rudolph previously went on temporary leave after county education officials recommended the audit and following a closed-door school board meeting over the disciplining or firing of an employee, presumably the superintendent. No action was taken.
The Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, or FCMAT, is expected to conduct the extraordinary audit, sampling transactions from 2022 to the present. FCMAT is often called in by state or county education officials to evaluate or help districts in financial distress.
The upheaval in Mountain View Whisman followed a Chronicle story in late August that outlined the district’s questionable spending on training executives, polishing the elementary school district’s image and administrator wellness, despite a significant achievement gap among the district’s 4,500 students.
Parents raised the alarm about spending after questioning budget cuts, which included reducing classes in middle schools.
Among the expenses was just over $315,000 in contracts for district leadership to receive $1,200 meditation sessions with a Sacramento woman who identifies as an energy healer and who uses sacred geometry and chakra clearing in her practice.
The district defended the spending as “research proven,” that could help lead to better productivity and performance.
The district’s $110 million budget also included $600,000 annually for leadership coaching from various companies across the country and a $180,000 contract with a Washington, D.C. public relations firm.
“I think down the road it’s going to pay off exponentially,” Conley, the school board president, said of the PR firm at the time of the Chronicle’s original reporting.
Rudolph also hired Peter Gorman, the former superintendent at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district in North Carolina, where Rudolph was a principal, to be his coach. Gorman’s contract was renewed annually starting in Rudolph’s first year in 2015, costing taxpayers a total of $370,000.
Yet parents, during public meetings, pointed to a growing achievement gap in the district, saying none of that money was helping students. More than 80% of white and Asian American students were proficient or above in math and English last spring, compared with 31% of Hispanic students measuring at grade level in English and 22% in math.
“Our district spends a considerable amount of money for both our teachers and our administrators to make sure they can perform at their highest rate to make sure they can close the achievement gap,” Rudolph said at a board meeting in late August after the Chronicle story.
Rudolph’s most recent salary is nearly $370,000.
In addition, the school board gave him the fringe benefit of a loan to buy a home, with the amount not to exceed $1.6 million. The loan agreement required Rudolph to pay off the loan within 180 days of leaving the job, with the district getting 40% of any appreciation on the property.
The separation agreement extends the timeframe and would require Rudolph to pay the loan back by June 30, 2025.
Reach Jill Tucker: jtucker@sfchronicle.com
www.sfchronicle.com
Silicon Valley schools superintendent set to resign after hiring energy healer to guide meditation
D.C. charter school accused of violating law for students with disabilities
A member of the D.C. Public Charter School Board called the findings “a parent’s worst nightmare.”
www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/11/04/seed-dc-charter-school-students-disabilities/
D.C.’s public charter school board issued a “notice of concern” to the SEED School of Washington, D.C., after it was accused of flouting laws that protect students with disabilities. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
By Lauren Lumpkin
November 3, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EST
The SEED School of Washington, D.C., a rare charter boarding campus in the District, has been accused of flouting local and federal education laws that protect students with disabilities — drawing outrage and a “notice of concern” from the city’s charter school board.
A September audit found the high school, one of D.C.’s oldest charter schools, suspended students without first holding federally mandated meetings that are supposed to determine whether a child’s behavior is the manifestation of a disability or the result of an IEP — or individualized education program — that has not been fully implemented. IEPs are legal documents that detail a student’s special education needs and how they should be met.
It also said SEED D.C. was unable to provide records of services provided for at least three students with disabilities who had been expelled or suspended for 10 or more days, suggesting legally required services “were not provided, representing a compliance breach,” Michele Gray, who oversees school performance for the D.C. Public Charter School Board, told the governing body last week.
The school’s officials also underreported the number of students they expelled last school year, the charter board’s staff said.
SEED D.C. leaders said the campus is improving its data-tracking practices and committed to regular internal audits. “We are absolutely committed to making sure that these deficiencies are addressed and rectified,” said Desa Sealy, who chairs the school’s board of trustees.
The charter board issued SEED D.C. a notice of concern, an official warning that prescribes changes the school needs to make to avoid more consequences. Staff recommended lifting the notice in June if the school complies.
Without making changes, the school could lose its charter and be forced to close.
The action comes after Eagle Academy Public Charter School, which had locations in Southeast and Southwest Washington, closed abruptly in August after years of financial problems and a failed plan to merge with a larger school. The debacle prompted the charter board to examine its oversight practices and has heightened public scrutiny of the privately run, taxpayer-funded network of schools that educate almost half of D.C.’s children.
SEED D.C., located in Southeast Washington, was lauded as the nation’s first public charter college-prep boarding school when it was founded in 1998. It now enrolls about 250 students, who attend free. Most students are Black and from lower-income homes, city data shows.
But after receiving complaints about discipline, understaffing and compliance with federal law, the city’s charter oversight agency started an audit of the school in July. One complaint claimed school officials had manipulated attendance data and were not recording suspensions.
The audit’s findings sparked scathing commentary from charter board members and questions about SEED D.C.’s practices.
“I’m the parent of a special-needs child, and I’ve got to tell you, reading what was happening in these pages, it’s like a parent’s worst nightmare,” charter board member Nick Rodriguez told SEED D.C. leaders. “I sincerely hope that you will take that seriously as you think about what needs to happen going forward.”
This is not the first time SEED D.C. has been scrutinized for its treatment of students with special education needs. An earlier audit published in March 2023 found high numbers of suspensions and expulsions at the school compared with other charters. In some cases that involved students with disabilities, the audit found there was limited rationale to explain why the child was disciplined.
The back-to-back reports paint a portrait of a “multiyear pattern of violations,” said Jim Sandman, vice chair of the D.C. charter school board.
Gray said SEED D.C. submitted inaccurate data, missed deadlines when the board asked for information and demonstrated problems with the legally required disciplinary meetings — called manifestation determination review, or MDR, meetings — during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years.
After the 2023 audit, the charter school board’s staff recommended several changes — such as confirming in meeting notes whether a child is getting special education services — and asked the school to show it had updated its practices to align with federal law. The school eventually complied, the charter board was “satisfied,” and the city closed the audit. Charter board staff members said they would “continue to monitor” SEED D.C.’s discipline data for students with disabilities and could take further action if the board received “a series of complaints that constitute a pattern of the same or similar issues.”
The findings of the latest audit led staff members to recommend the notice of concern.
At the charter board meeting, Roseyn Hood, SEED D.C.’s head of school, acknowledged there have been “gaps in [the school’s] processes” and shared plans to improve.
“This is unacceptable, and I am grateful this situation has afforded us the opportunity to strengthen, address and enhance our practices with regards to special education compliance and protocols at SEED,” Hood said. She added the school has started using new software to track data, hired an assistant director of student support services with a “strong background” in special education and expanded staff training, among other changes.
The audit studied violations during the 2023-2024 school year. City officials found that out of four students with disabilities who were expelled from the school, two did not have MDR meetings before they were dismissed. School leaders told the charter board’s staff that the students’ parents did not respond to requests to schedule meetings or appeal the expulsion decisions, according to the audit.
Meanwhile, the audit found just one out of five students suspended for more than 10 days last school year received an MDR meeting. Three teens were instead given “reflection” meetings — which do not meet legal requirements, “potentially leaving students without the necessary protections and interventions,” the charter board’s staff said. The final student did not get a meeting at all; school leaders said they were unable to get in touch with the child’s family.
The MDR meetings are “critical,” said Julie Camerata, executive director of the D.C. Special Education Cooperative, an advocacy group. Before a child is disciplined, a school should “at least make a decision based on whether or not the behavior was a manifestation of the child’s disability.”
If a student’s behavior is related to their disability, Camerata said, a meeting gives the school a chance to figure out whether it is providing that child with the right services, such as counseling or occupational therapy. “Because if it was related to the disability, you can’t discriminate and [exclude] a child.”
The audit also found the school broke D.C. data policy by reporting and validating inaccurate disciplinary figures. Officials discovered in February that SEED D.C. had not reported any expulsions, despite enrollment data that revealed 10 students had been removed from the school, according to the charter school board’s staff.
The findings led to a meeting between charter board staff members and SEED D.C. leaders in April, Gray said. Staff members found more data discrepancies in August and gave the school until Oct. 18 to make corrections. As of the Oct. 28 board meeting, that had not yet happened, Gray said.
“My view is that you’re on very thin ice,” Sandman told the high school’s leaders.
The data issues follow the March 2023 audit, in which the charter board’s staff noted that SEED D.C. had a “very high number of discipline incidents.” The high school had expelled 19 teens, according to data it shared with the charter board in October 2022. By the end of the 2022-2023 school year, nearly 8 percent of its students had been dismissed, city data shows. The expulsion rate across the city’s schools was a tenth of a percent that year.
Students with disabilities, who constituted more than 27 percent of SEED D.C.’s student body that year, also made up about a quarter of the expulsions. Across D.C., students with disabilities make up 18 percent of the student population but almost 30 percent of suspensions and expulsions, a report from the 2022-2023 school year shows.
Meanwhile, the boarding school’s overall out-of-school suspension rate by the end of that year was 29 percent — five times the charter-sector-wide suspension rate of 5.8 percent.
While SEED D.C. disciplines students at higher rates, as a boarding school it also keeps students for twice as long as the typical campus. This school year, Hood said, she has tried to make sure students have more structure at night, such as study hall or in-dorm activities — although students have about as many incidents during the day as they do in the evening.
“We’ve increased some of our safety protocols, too,” Hood said, including checking bags and using metal detectors.
D.C. charter school accused of violating law for students with disabilities
www.washingtonpost.com
The SEED School of Washington, D.C., a charter boarding campus in the District, has been accused of flouting local and federal education laws that protect students with disabilities.
Argentina University occupations: a new stage in the struggle against the Milei government
prensaobrera.com/english/university-occupations-a-new-stage-in-the-struggle-against-the-milei-gov…
Partido Obrero takes on the task of calling for Milei out!
Juan-Garcia-1-1.jpg
Juan García
The proliferation of the occupation of university faculties and colleges throughout the country against Milei’s veto marks a qualitative leap in the struggle against the government. They were combined with strikes and public classes immediately launched by the militant teachers of AGD UBA, and also with the participation of the non-teaching staff. And throughout the country the student struggle conditioned the university unions, even those most closely linked to the rectorates. Occupations are a reaction to the failure of the parliamentary negotiation policy of the rectors, who, together with Peronism and radicalism, sought to restrict the budget fight to the parliamentary arena but could not ensure that their own blocs would uphold the rejection of the veto. The students reacted to official intransigence by stepping up the ante and resorting to student movement’s historic methods of direct action and struggle. For the first time in his presidency, Milei has to face a massive struggle that clearly goes beyond the corset of isolated mobilizations to negotiate, put up by both the employers’ opposition and the trade union bureaucracy.
Therefore, the ongoing student mobilization marks a turning point in the struggle against the government. The defense of the public university has become the focal point of the national debate. Students and teachers respond to Milei’s statements, that pointed out that the poor do not enter universities, by stating that his government is responsible for having accentuated the massive dropout rate among the poorest students. Contrary to what Milei argues, the university that the government wants to take away from young people is seen as a mechanism for social advancement by broad layers of workers, in a country where 70% of the youth population is below the poverty line.
This explains the enormous popularity of the university struggle, which garners massive support in the face of a government that has failed to isolate it from the workers as a whole. The other central point of this student strike is the struggle for wages, against a government that is condemning millions of workers across the country to wages below the poverty line. In this way, University struggle is connected to the struggle of the entire working class, which is being deprived by the government’s policies, in a country where consumption has fallen by 15% year-on-year. Without going any further, the workers of Garrahan Hospital are coming from days of strikes and massive mobilizations and are preparing a new large mobilization in unity with universities for next Tuesday 22nd. They were joined by residents from different hospitals, such as the Bonaparte Hospital against the closure. In Rio Tercero, four thousand people mobilized with the trade union and chemical workers against the closure of a large plant. As yesterday with the pensioners, popular sympathy is being expressed despite the collaborationism of the trade union bureaucracy.
Milei’s hypocrisy knows no bounds, because the taxes ‘paid by the poor’ have been reinforced by his government measures while those paid by the rich are reduced (as is the case with Personal Property) and because the whole intention of his budget is that these taxes do not go to universities but to finance the ultra-millionaire international creditors, beneficiaries of a clause that authorizes the entire budget to be adjusted to guarantee the payment of interest on the external debt.
The other argument, audits, falls apart when 92% of the budget is spent on salaries whose amounts are deposited by the national government and whose payroll is available to all state agencies, except for the thousands of ad honorem, who of course work for free, so their funds could not be misappropriated. The radical-peronist cliques manage the tendering and hiring regime, but that is another matter, perhaps the libertarian “fachos” would like to have that control as in Insfrán’s Formosa.
In this way, students speak out for the silent majority that had been abandoning Milei in the polls and that was the one that starred in the ratings blackouts of the last national presidential network. The atmosphere of struggle that the national crisis is taking on will challenge all political strategies of both the government and the opposition.
University of the workers, not of the cliques
The occupations also revealed a divergence of methods and objectives between the student movement and the university cliques that had been the visible expression of the demand.
While the university conflict develops, radicalism of Yacobitti and Lousteau, who governs Santa Fe with Maximiliano Pullaro, has just applied a brutal pension reform against teachers and provincial employees. Opposition to this reform gave rise to a large popular mobilization. The government of those who present themselves as progressives in the university had five teachers’ and provincial employee leaders of the province arrested and prosecuted. Radicalism applies its own blows to public education and wages, as well as to democratic freedoms.
Therefore, the clash between Milei and the university cliques should be characterized as a circumstantial dispute over the magnitude of the budget cut and the speed at which the university should be subjected to a privatization process. It is by no means a principled opposition. The radicals and Peronists who co-govern universities collaborate by appointing officials to Milei’s government in the PAMI. They have been pursuing a privatization policy in the university for decades and they never lost sleep over the fact that a full-time job was not enough to cover the family basket long before Milei applied the current cuts. Only extraordinary pressure from Milei’s government, which put them on the ropes, led them to stage two street demonstrations. That is why they are now going to aim all their intervention at deactivating the occupations. Inevitably, the independent intervention of the student movement and the militant teachers will draw conclusions about who is who in the university.
The coup is Milei’s and it’s against the people
The government’s other reaction to the mobilization was to denounce that students were hiding behind the left with the intention of destabilizing the government. This is the classic McCarthyist way of attacking the student movement, because what the students are demanding is the basic budget for the university to function. It is Milei who places them in a ‘destitute’ field because he understands that his government will falter if it is unable to bring the country into line with the demands of international financial capital in order to squeeze every last peso for the payment of the foreing debt.
As always, the appeal to McCarthyism seeks to avoid responding to the most basic demands. Gabriel Solano responded by pointing out that it is the government itself which, by vetoing every popular demand, raises the problem that it is incompatible with health, education and salaries. This incompatibility raises, in the eyes of people who see their basic rights confiscated, the question of the struggle for the fall of the government.
A government that closes hospitals, that intends to starve pensioners, that destroys jobs in factories, closes down and destock soup kitchens and liquidates labor rights and that proposes to align Argentina seamlessly with imperialism and the Zionist genocide and bring it to its knees in front of the international creditors, pouring every penny into the payment of foreing debt.
Milei Peronism debates its 2025 lists, whilst Partido Obrero how to defeat Milei
In light of this situation, it is of enormous significance for the popular movement that Máximo Kirchner returned with his argument that the veto is a presidential power, while calling to form lists to go to the polls in 2025, and that Juan Grabois, in the same vein, proclaimed his candidacy for deputy. Meanwhile, La Cámpora in all University faculties manoeuvred to avoid occupations or to submit to them when they were a fait accompli. The PJ of La Matanza even sent a mob against the students who occupied the local university. The call to fill the Congress with representatives of Peronism ‘against the veto’ comes just after the deputies elected by this force in Catamarca and Tucumán gave their votes to Milei’s veto against the public university.
Against this orientation, Partido Obrero takes up the challenge posed by the political situation as a whole, pushing for Milei Out! This slogan must be developed with the intervention of working class as a whole in the political situation. That is why we associate it with the support for all struggles and the preparation of the general strike. And to debate a political alternative and a programme to overcome the catastrophe to which all capitalist political forces have led the country. With this objective in mind, we call on all the sectors in struggle throughout the country to join forces, and we will develop a campaign and a big central event in Lezama Park on 9 November, as well as events and talks in the rest of the country.
We do it from the place we have conquered in national political life in decades of consistent struggle in factories, neighborhoods, universities, defending each of the popular demands against the governments of capital that have been sinking the country.
A place that makes us the target of an enormous persecution, which this week had its expression in the summons to question Vanina Biasi under the infamous accusation of anti-Semitism, in a case set up by the Daia and Zionism to silence her denunciation of the genocide in Palestine, while the mega-case against the Polo and the Partido Obrero continues. With this militancy, we launch a big campaign to end the anti-worker government of Milei, to lead the struggles to victory, to defeat all the causes of persecution and to strengthen the struggle for a workers’ government
University occupations: a new stage in the struggle against the Milei government
prensaobrera.com
Partido Obrero takes on the task of calling for Milei out! –
After public school closures, what happens to the real estate?
sfstandard.com/2024/10/18/what-happens-to-public-school-buildings-after-closures/
The San Francisco Unified School District is poised to close 13 facilities. That’s a lot of buildings that would sit empty.
A fenced schoolyard scene shows children and adults gathered outside, with a modern orange and white building in the background. It's a casual, busy atmosphere..jpeg
Rather than pursue sales or redevelopment, SFUSD will focus on “activating” sites where schools have closed. | Source: Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard
By Kevin V. Nguyen
Published Oct. 18, 2024 • 10:00am
A severe budget crisis at the San Francisco Unified School District means that regardless of what happens with the superintendent, a wave of school closures and mergers is likely coming. While reducing costs shores up one side of the balance sheet, generating cash is critical for the other.
As a nonprofit public agency, the district is limited in its ability to raise money outside of government funds (which are tied directly to enrollment) and local taxes and fees (which are sporadic). But one asset the district does have at its disposal is real estate.
In total, SFUSD owns 9.9 million square feet across 155 properties, making it the third largest holder of city-owned property, according to the district’s most recent facilities master plan. Of that portfolio, SFUSD recently identified 13 schools for closure or merger.
In the private sector, companies are incentivized to either sell distressed assets or walk away from underwater loans. Business logic would have the school district do the same, since it claims it can no longer afford to operate or maintain those properties. But in reality, public schools are reluctant to let go of real estate, especially in San Francisco, where the scarce commodity would be difficult to acquire again by a district with limited resources.
SFUSD officials have not said they intend to sell any property, and the district’s master plan makes no mention of doing so. Furthermore, even if sales were to happen, state law restricts SFUSD from spending the proceeds on anything aside from maintaining or upgrading its facilities, meaning teacher salaries or other general operating expenses are off the table.
Rather than pursue sales or redevelopment, SFUSD will focus on “activating” school sites that have been closed, spokesperson Laura Dudnick said in a statement.
Children hold handmade signs during a protest. Their signs say “Save Our School” and “Don’t Take Our School Away!” amidst a backdrop of urban posters.
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A person wearing glasses and a light-colored suit looks upward thoughtfully in soft lighting, with a dark background providing contrast.
Meet the new guy tasked with cleaning up the SF school district’s mess
A person wearing a hoodie and backpack is looking at their phone while walking across a parking lot. The background shows a building labeled "June Jordan School for Equity."
Parents, students face nightmare commutes if schools close
At those sites, the district’s priority will be to make use of those spaces to expand programs such as early education centers, serving preschool and transitional kindergarten students.
“If there are vacant sites once all of SFUSD’s needs have been met, we will consider city partnership opportunities,” Dudnick said, adding that the district will continue paying for custodial and security services at those locations.
Dudnick said that starting next fall, playgrounds at certain elementary schools will be shared with local communities on weekends, while unused rooms and outdoor spaces will be made available under the district’s existing rental program, which allows for nonprofit groups, public agencies, and private or commercial users to book spaces for events, subject to school approval.
SFUSD’s analysis of its portfolio shows its buildings are not being efficiently utilized. According to district data, just 20 of 72 elementary schools are more than 90% occupied, while eight of 21 middle schools and five of 17 high schools meet that mark.
Children holding signs stand in front of a colorful mural, surrounded by adults watching them in an outdoor playground area.
Students gather this month at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy to protest a potential closure. | Source: Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard
Two men sit at a table with laptops and nameplates. One is focused, and the other is speaking. There's a U.S. flag in the background.
SFUSD Superintendent Matt Wayne, right, has agreed to step down after residents and politicians pushed back against the planned closures. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard
Adding to the distress, an internal assessment of the district’s facility conditions estimates that nearly $1.7 billion in repair or renewal costs are needed in the immediate future. Public school advocates are focusing their efforts on Proposition A in the upcoming election, a measure that aims to raise $790 million in bonds for building improvements.
According to district data, SFUSD has 14 other properties that are not being used for educational or administrative purposes and are leased to various entities. These include parking lots and office space for nonprofits and a 75,675-square-foot lot under the San Francisco Centre Mall on Market Street.
SFUSD this year has generated approximately $7.7 million from its leases, the district confirmed.
Meanwhile, SFUSD has two plots of undeveloped land, totaling more than 280,000 square feet. One district-owned site in the Outer Sunset was redeveloped into teacher housing last year; two others have been earmarked for the same.
Private school choice
Whereas public schools are stuck with excess they can’t get rid of, private schools are often hungry for bigger space.
For most of his time leading the Chinese American International School — one of the city’s most sought-after private dual-language immersion schools — Jeff Bissell has had to cobble together small bits of real estate as it has grown.
The image shows a modern building with an orange and gray facade, featuring large windows and a prominent arched entrance, surrounded by greenery.
The former Mercy High School is now home to the Chinese American International School, which purchased it for $40 million in 2021. | Source: Emily Steinberger/The Standard
The image shows a white building with a modern design featuring large windows. The stone plaque at the base reads "St. Paul's Primary School."
St. Paul’s Primary School in Noe Valley was transformed into condos after the school sold the building in 1999 and relocated down the street. | Source: Emily Steinberger/The Standard
In 2020, the religious institute Sisters of Mercy closed its all-girls preparatory school. CAIS purchased the 82,000-square-foot property the following year for $40 million.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to consolidate,” Bissell said.
Transactions involving San Francisco schools have mostly been made between private groups. In 1999, St. Paul’s School, another Catholic institution, offloaded its property on the corner of Valley and Sanchez Streets in Noe Valley to private developers who transformed the building into condos a decade later. In 2005, Levi Strauss & Co. sold its former factory building at 250 Valencia St. to the San Francisco Friends School for $3.5 million.
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After nearly three years of renovations and a fresh coat of paint, the students and faculty at CAIS finally moved into their new campus this fall.
The new location has more room for activities, including a separate arts center and gym. The new location has also opened doors for more students from the peninsula, Bissell said, boosting the private school’s prospects even more.
“Real estate is such a blood sport in this city,” he noted. “It’s expensive, and there is not enough of it. … It’s definitely not for the faint of heart.”
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Kevin V. Nguyen can be reached at knguyen@sfstandard.com
What happens to San Francisco school buildings after closures?
sfstandard.com
The San Francisco Unified School District is poised to close 13 facilities. That’s a lot of real estate that would sit empty. Can they be liquidated or turned into something else?
The Fight To Protect Public Educaiton & CCSF With AFT 2121 Lecturer Rick Baum
youtu.be/cYPbj4tGLfE
Public Education is under attack and one of the targets is the community college system and CCSF in San Francisco. WorkWeek interviews AFT 2121 lecturer Rick Baum who is also a member of the Higher Education Action Team HEAT.
He talks about the long attack by privatizers to sell off and destroy the classes, faculty and staff by cutting classes and selling buildings and properties.
High paid chancellors and administrators along with the accrediting agency ACCJC and FCMAT according to Baum have engaged in an operation to decapitate and destroy the public community college.
He also reports on the plan for a rally to demand more classes, buidling the of Performing Education Arts Center and more parking for more working class students who have to drive to the college.
He talked about an upcoming rally for those demand on October 24th, 2024 at 5PM at the CCSF Board Of Trustees on Frida Khalo drive.
Additional Media:
Organized Labor and the Crisis at City College of San Francisco
youtu.be/aHtOKqAbZls
Teachers Union Against Itself
monthlyreview.org/2017/04/01/a-teachers-union-against-itself/
SF CCSF Students Protest Class Cuts & March To Board Trustee Temprano's House To Oppose Layoffs
youtu.be/DwHh9tCrFVg
CCSF HEAT-CCSF Collective Report Card & Privatization Of Community Colleges
youtu.be/PLxMQibw8bU
Stop The Closure of CCSF Ft. Mason & Other Campuses & Classes At SF Community College
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUlfNdGgUVY
Community Colleges Under Attack, Working People & The Right To Higher Education, Racism & Capitalism
youtu.be/0hjRt8kcV-s
CCSF Art Students Do Art & MusicTo Save Ft. Mason & Stop Privatization Of Balboa Reservoir
www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3jdKvOHzls
Protest To Stop The Destruction of CCSF Through Elimination of ESL, Shuttering of Campuses, Privatization & Union Busting
youtu.be/GzGEZRrOWqY
Stop The Cuts! Hundreds of CCSF Students & Faculty Protest 300 Class Cuts AT BOT Meet-SF & CA Demos Lead The Attack On Public Education
youtu.be/7ohpgRD_cOg
CCSF Board Of Trustees At Meeting All Support Chancellor Rocha Cuts & Union Busting
youtu.be/2uwdqug6Ii4
AFT 2121 CCSF Faculty Speak Out On Rocha Budget Cuts & Public Education
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCjhCG0wunc
Students, Faculty & Community Demand STOP The CUTS At CCSF With Funeral
youtu.be/2caDc_WN60g
Shooting Yourself In The Foot & Increasing Executive Salaries At CCSF By Chancellor Rocha
youtu.be/3esO55xUlp8
Speak-out On Privatization of Balboa Reservoir For Developers Which Threatens SF City College
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbeRvY-HRhY
BUSTING up CCSF! CCSF Chancellor, Bd President & Bd Majority Wrecking City College
youtu.be/pizpoBQcQuQ
The Downsizing & Privatization Of CCSF "Vision 2025" & The Secret Illegal CCSF Board Meetings
youtu.be/JhDq_BakeQo
Privatization and Destruction of CCSF
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnDjK5RAkes&t=2s
Build The PAEC NOW! Stop The Privatization & Developers Rip-off Scam
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkGMe_w6JaU
Conflicts of Interest, CCSF & The Attack On Public Education Privatization With Kathy Carroll
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux4mRloWBEA&t=3s
Public Education, Privatization, Corruption And The
Destruction Of Our Schools
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_eu5u70tTE
"Are You Out Of Your Minds"? AFT 2121 Faculty Challenge CCSF Board On Mark Rocha Appointment
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEZpOS8p4gQ
HEAT-Higher Education Action Team
www.ccsfheat.org
sfcitycollegeheat@gmail.com
Production Of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
JOIN THE
RALLY TO DEMAND MORE CLASSES
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2024
5:00 OUTSIDE THE MUB BUILDING
LET THE ADMINISTRATION AND BOARD
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT:
• Schedule more classes for Spring
• Build the Performing Arts Education Building (PAEC)
• Provide more parking for students
FIGHT FOR YOUR FUTURE
Endorsements:
Rodger Scott, Former President of AFT 2121
Allan Fisher, Former President of AFT 2121
PRESS RELEASE
OCTOBER 24th RALLY at CCSF
City College of San Francisco Higher Education Action Team (CCSFHEAT.org) has called for a rally on October 24, 2024, at 5:00 PM in front of the MUB building on the Ocean Campus at Frida Kahlo Way.
We are rallying to demand:
1. The scheduling of more classes for the Spring term.
2. The building of the voter approved and financed Performing Arts and Education Building (PAEC)
3. The parking needs of students be addressed.
For at least the last three terms, many students have not been able to enroll in classes they need to take to fulfill requirements or other classes they want to take to have an enriching well-rounded educational experience.
For more information – see the 48 Hills article “City College is Depriving Students of Educational Opportunities” at:
48hills.org/2024/09/city-college-is-depriving-students-of-educational-opportunities/
City College is depriving students of educational opportunities – 48 hills
48hills.org
So many classes have been cut that it’s becoming way too difficult for students to get their degrees. It’s a serious crisis
SFSU Palestine Faculty & Students Speak Out At Rally On Palestine
youtu.be/li6tw18nLu
A rally was held at San Francisco State University to report on the fight to get the University administration to divest of stocks of companies that are supplying Israel with military weapons. Faculty and students spoke out about the genocide and what they want to do about it.
Additional Media:
Kamala Harris, Zionism, The Demos, The AFL-CIO Tops, Genocide & US Labor Imperialism
youtu.be/4oKlvqu6GAs
Links Between Zionism, Histadrut, South Africa, CIA & The AFL-CIO At BA Labor For Palestine Conf youtu.be/4oKlvqu6GAs
Zionism, The Histadrut, The AFL-CIO & South Africa youtu.be/_VioS5r1SAw
The Isreali Histadrut, The AFL-CIO, Zionism & Labor Imperialism With Carol Lang
youtu.be/aH2JslHpeZk
AFL-CIO Leadership Tries To Block Affiliates Vote On Endorsing BDS:AFL-CIO Leadership Cited A Procedural Rule To Tell The San Francisco Council It Couldn't Even Debate A Resolution On BDS. theintercept.com/2021/10/21/palestine-bds-san-francisco-labor-afl-cio/ The Israeli Histadrut, Zionism, The AFL-CIO & Imperialism With Carol Lang youtu.be/HLtLDS0FbSE
The Histadrut: Israeli’s Racist Trade Union electronicintifada.net/content/histadrut-israels-racist-trade-union/8121
2015 resolution by the CT Machinists www.thestruggle.org/bds%20resolution%20on%20palestine%20ct%20afl-cio%20oct%2029%202015.pdf Organized labor was among the earliest investors in Israel bonds. www.israelbonds.com/News-Events/The-Enterprise-that-Helped-Build-Israel-Turns-70/An-Impressive-Le…
AFL-CIO, Imperialism, Zionism and The Palestinians youtu.be/o_Eo_ZTuJzM
U.S. Unions Are Voicing Unprecedented Support for Palestine inthesetimes.com/article/palestine-israel-labor-unions-afl-cio-aft-bds-gaza
Palestinian Workers, Human Rights, US Labor, Zionists And How The Zionists Helped The Nazis
youtu.be/MTu5D39yIK0
The ITUC and Global Union Federations condemn the designation by Israel of six Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organisations. Israel’s designation of Palestinian human rights groups as terrorists is outrageous
www.ituc-csi.org/Israel-Palestinian-human-rights Organized labor was among the earliest investors in Israel bonds. www.israelbonds.com/News-Events/The-Enterprise-that-Helped-Build-Israel-Turns-70/An-Impressive-Le…
Additional Information: Labor Education Project On AFL-CIO International Operations
aflcio-int.education
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
www.labormedia.net
Shame On “Democracy Now” Says Green Presidential Candidate Jill Stein youtu.be/q1ruEsImTXU At a campaign rally on August 19, 2024 in Chicago during the DNC with former Seattle Socialist counci…
SF UESF President Says State & Privatizers Have Same Goals As Union
Angry S.F. parents plead with school board not to close schools as district details what’s ahead
Curiel also said that the teachers union has been in contact with state regulators and that while the state, union and district share the same values, it’s the teachers and students who face the brunt of the staffing issues.
www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/s-f-parents-plead-not-to-close-schools-19724406.php
By Carolyn Stein,
Staff writer
Aug 27, 2024
Dy Nguyen tears up after speaking about possible school closings while hugging her child, Mazzi, 8, during an SFUSD school board meeting on Tuesday.
Dy Nguyen tears up after speaking about possible school closings while hugging her child, Mazzi, 8, during an SFUSD school board meeting on Tuesday.
Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
At its first meeting with a new member as well as a new president, San Francisco's school board sought to reassure families angry about proposed school closures, while also grilling the superintendent on what the district gains from the painful and disruptive decision.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first presided over by new Board of Education President Matt Alexander, whom the board voted to take over from Lainie Motamedi after she resigned abruptly Friday for health and personal reasons. The board also chose Lisa Weissman-Ward as vice president.
Public education administrator Phil Kim, appointed by Mayor London Breed, stepped into Motamedi’s spot. Tuesday was Kim’s first meeting as a sitting commissioner.
San Francisco Unified faces a tumultuous school year ahead, with the release of the list of proposed school closures looming on Sept. 18. The board will vote on the list in December, and if approved, closures and mergers would take place in the 2025-26 school year.
Unions representing SFUSD educators protest before a school board meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Unions representing SFUSD educators protest before a school board meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
Commissioners discussed the closures Tuesday, pledging that the district would support families through the process. District officials said letters would be sent directly to affected families and staff and that staff would be on hand Sept. 18 to support families and answer questions.
“Frankly, we do not have a good track record of school closures in this district,” Alexander said Tuesday, describing previous closures as “racist” and acknowledging parental concerns. “We need to center families in whatever will come out of this plan.”
Reasons for the closures include declining enrollment in the district, staffing shortages and budget shortfalls so severe that state advisers now have veto power over the district’s spending decisions. The closures are supposed to help San Francisco Unified shift its resources, although they will not save significant amounts of money in the short term.
“We’re not presenting this as solving our budget problem,” said Superintendent Matt Wayne. “What this is a solution to is, ‘How do we use our resources to best support our students?’”
One way in which the district hopes school closures will help shift resources is by making sure every school is properly staffed, Wayne said.
The school district started engaging families on school closures in March, but parents and educators who spoke Tuesday urged the board not to close schools, emphasizing the stress to families and potential negative effects.
Audience members holds signs during the SFUSD school board meeting on Tuesday.
Audience members holds signs during the SFUSD school board meeting on Tuesday.
Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
"I’m asking you to be responsible to the children in this district,” said Alondra Agron, a parent with San Francisco Community School. “What are the alternatives? What can we do as a community to be involved to prevent school closures? What can we do to make sure these school closures cannot happen?”
Three main criteria are informing which schools would close: equity, excellence and effective use of resources, with equity weighted more heavily than the other categories. Under those three categories, issues such as teacher turnover, student enrollment and academic performance for each school will be considered. The district is also in the process of completing an equity audit in partnership with Stanford University to make sure no community is disproportionately impacted by the closures.
Officials also proposed giving families in closed schools priority if they don’t want to send their children to the site they’re assigned and instead choose a different, high-demand school. The board will vote on that part of the plan on Sept. 10.
Commissioners asked questions about why school closures were chosen over other alternatives, with some members expressing hesitancy over the plan.
Commissioner Kevine Boggess said he felt like Tuesday’s presentation and prior briefings didn’t include enough information, saying that he has “a lack of confidence” that he’ll be able “support what comes forward.”
United Educators of San Francisco President Cassondra Curiel speaks as unions representing SFUSD educators protest before a school board meeting on Tuesday.
Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
In addition to struggling with closures, the district is also grappling with a budget crisis that means district officials need state sign-off before hiring. Dozens of San Francisco union members and educators protested before the meeting, demanding that state advisers lift bureaucratic barriers that would allow the district to hire more staff, citing staffing shortages.
Currently, there are 104 classroom vacancies due in part to a hiring freeze and state advisers having veto power over the district’s budget. Last year, the district started with over 140 vacant teacher positions.
Yajaira Cuapio, a social worker with the district, said she was excited to hire 14 school social workers, but because of hiring barriers, she only secured four of those hires.
“We have eight school sites without a school social worker,” Cuapio said, “This is a direct attack on our students and families who deserve to have fully staffed classrooms, who deserve to have fully funded schools.”
Tuesday’s protesters emphasized the importance of filling positions to support student mental health.
“It’s day seven of the school year, and we have so many unmet student needs,” Cassondra Curiel, president of United Educators of San Francisco, told the Chronicle. “We should be able to start a school year fully staffed.”
Curiel also said that the teachers union has been in contact with state regulators and that while the state, union and district share the same values, it’s the teachers and students who face the brunt of the staffing issues.
“They’re legitimate concerns, and they’re not reasons for students not to receive services,” Curiel said.
Laura Dudnick, spokesperson for the district, said in a statement that the district “continues to work collaboratively” with fiscal advisers and labor partners to hire for unfilled spots.
“We all share the goal of returning SFUSD’s budget to local control,” Dudnick said.
Alexander said at Tuesday’s meeting that the hiring issues will be discussed at the next board meeting.
A student walks through the halls of Hillcrest Elementary School in San Francisco in February. The San Francisco Unified School District will release a list of schools recommended for closure in mid-September, with no indication yet which ones will be on the list.
A student walks through the halls of Hillcrest Elementary School in San Francisco in February. The San Francisco Unified School District will release a list of schools recommended for closure in mid-September, with no indication yet which ones will be on the list.
www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sfusd-list-of-proposed-school-closures-19607758.php
Jessica Christian/The Chronicle
In just over two weeks, San Francisco parent Kyle Woodward will drop off his two daughters at Rosa Parks Elementary, his 4-year-old for her first day of kindergarten and his 8-year-old for third grade.
He expects it to be more than the typical emotional first day of school. Like every other public school parent in the city, Woodward doesn’t know if his school, which is in the city’s Western Addition neighborhood, will still be open a year from now or if it will be on the list of schools slated for closure expected to be released in mid-September.
But one point is clear: San Francisco Unified School District officials said they are looking at schools in every neighborhood and across all grades — and even the more popular or high-performing schools could land on the closure list.
San Francisco district officials say closing schools is unavoidable after years of declining enrollment. The district is about 14,000 students shy of filling all its buildings. Predictions show a loss of another 5,000 students by 2030. There are too many schools, too few students and not enough money to spread staff and other resources across so many partially empty classrooms, they say.
The school board is already under state fiscal control after overspending for years, and while closing schools won’t fix the budget problems, it would allow the district to ensure students still have access to social workers, counselors and other resources despite the massive cuts needed to balance the budget.
Closing schools, however, is arguably one of the most distressing and fraught actions a district can take, usually leading to emotional public meetings and angry protests. In Oakland, the school board’s 2022 decision to close seven schools also led to a hunger strike and a community takeover of a school site.
Woodward said just the possibility of a Rosa Parks closure is already causing his oldest anxiety.
Adding to the stress: District officials still haven’t said how many of the 102 elementary, middle and high school sites will be on the closure list because they don’t know yet. District spokesperson Laura Dudnick said it’s too early in the process to know the number, even with about six weeks left until the list will be unveiled.
“We absolutely understand people want to understand the magnitude of this,” she said. “We understand the community is wanting information.”
Dudnick and other district officials indicated the number of recommended closures would not be small, telling the Chronicle that the district wouldn’t be going through this long and difficult process “just for a few schools.”
“And we don’t want to be doing this again in a few years,” Dudnick said.
Superintendent Matt Wayne said in a statement to the Chronicle that “ensuring that every student gets what they need to succeed is my top priority as the superintendent of SFUSD. I understand the pain and resistance that school closures will bring, but my responsibility is to prioritize our students’ future. SFUSD is tackling these tough decisions head-on, making changes that have been long overdue.”
The complicated process to identify schools includes a ranking system that looks at facilities, test scores, geography, optimal school size and staffing, among other criteria as well as the results of an equity audit and input from state architects. Those factors will be part of what Wayne calls the “art and science” of figuring out which schools to close.
Once the list is announced, the district will hold informational and feedback sessions at each of the schools recommended for closure, followed by a final school board vote in December.
If all goes to plan and the board supports the closures, there will no longer be schools with only one class per grade or classrooms with far fewer students than there should be, for example, district officials said. Classes will be full and taught by a fully qualified teacher at the start of the year.
In addition to the upheaval, families are also worried closures will backfire, pushing parents to send their kids to another district if they can’t stay at their school of choice. If that happens, it could lead to even lower enrollment and less state funding and a vicious no-win cycle.
At San Francisco Parent Coaliton, community manager Giovanna Soto expressed similar concerns, adding it will be critical for the district to ensure the families feel supported and heard.
“If the schools get announced sometime in September, what is the incentive for the parents to keep the kids at that school?” she said. “Why would they not just pull their kid out and put them somewhere else?
“They will if they feel that the process is going really negatively.”
Woodward said he understands why the SFUSD needs to close schools, but he too worries about unintended consequences.
“I’m kind of of two minds. We all understand the resource limitations of the district and the need to consolidate,” Woodward said. “One thing that the district I don’t know fully appreciates: We’ve chosen Rosa Parks out of 70 elementary schools in the district.
“You can’t tell people where they have to go to school and expect to retain the numbers.”
Reach Jill Tucker: jtucker@sfchronicle.com
Anxiety builds over S.F. school closures. Here’s when SFUSD will release the list
www.sfchronicle.com
SFUSD officials say the list of schools recommended for closure will not be small.
Charter School Teachers Vote To Unionize
Citizens of the World Charter Schools tried to balance their books on the backs of teachers. Those teachers are now part of a union.
medium.com/educreation/charter-school-teachers-vote-to-unionize-f2a4a56e2b37
Carl J. Petersen
“Teacher’s working conditions are students’ learning conditions. When we fight for a contract, and improve our working conditions, students benefit.”
– CWC Educator
From the CWC Educators United Instagram feed.
The right-wing has been largely successful in its decades-long attempt to get rid of unions. Since 1983, the union membership rate has been halved so that today only 10% of workers belong to a union. Unions represented almost 35% of workers in 1954. A stagnation in the incomes of middle-class workers has accompanied this decline in union representation.
Private sector employees have been most affected by these losses. While only 6% of these employees are represented by unions, 32.5% of their public-sector counterparts have these protections. One of the ways that right-wing politicians have tried to reduce these rates is to transfer education funds from public schools to privately run schools whose workers are not represented by unions.
Since California voted not to allow school vouchers in 2000, Privatizer’s primary way has been through charter schools. This has been particularly true in Los Angeles which has more students in charter schools than any city in the country. Unions do not represent employees in most of these charter schools, but that is starting to change.
Alliance College-Ready Public [SIC] Schools has spent over $1 million in propaganda efforts to resist having its employees unionize. A judge found that the charter school chain illegally blocked unionization efforts. To slow down the process it took UTLA to court to force the union to treat each of its 23 campuses as separate entities instead of unionizing the entire chain as one organization. After some of these individual schools did vote to unionize, the charter chain changed its governing structure and tried to argue that the votes at those schools did not matter. The chain even closed one of its schools rather than negotiate with the union.
Another charter school operator that has lost its fight to unionize is the Accelerated Schools. After its workers voted to join SEIU 99, management retaliated by firing Hilda Rodriguez-Guzman, a parent and long-time whistleblower at the schools. When parents and other community members attended an open meeting of the charter’s governing board to speak on Rodriguez-Guzman’s behalf they were met with armed security guards.
Armed Guard at Accelerated Charter School’s Board Meeting (courtesy of anonymous)
Citizens of the World is the latest charter organization to have its staff unionize. This nationwide chain of publicly funded private schools has a long history of conflict in the communities where it operates. It was so bad in New York City that the state forced them to shut down. The schools’ relationships with their teachers have not been much better.
The chain’s management admits that a “market analysis showed that [its] teachers, on average, are paid at the 23rd percentile when compared to…competitors.” It did try to raise its standing this year but did so with a plan that increased discontent. Newer teachers would have their pay increased, but the increased expense would be offset in part by reducing incentives teachers received for pursuing additional education credits. The school claimed that reducing the pay of its most skilled teachers would increase its diversity efforts.
In the aftermath of this plan, 90% of Citizens of the World’s teachers voted to unionize. With a margin that large, the union has a strong mandate as it negotiates on behalf of its constituents.
Having a union representing the teachers may also bring benefits to the students who attend Citizens of the World schools. Most importantly, the school will be able to recruit and retain high-quality teachers, increasing educational opportunities. Additionally, unions like UTLA have been able to increase services and opportunities available to students. As an example, students benefited from lower class sizes, more nurses on campus, and the expansion of community schools as a result of the 2019 strike.
With all schools facing teacher shortages and increased competition for a decreasing pool of available students, Citizens of the World is likely not the last charter school chain to face unionization. Will this decrease their value to their billionaire funders who were hoping that these publicly funded private schools would kill off the ability of workers to organize?
Charter School Teachers Vote To Unionize
medium.com
Citizens of the World Charter Schools tried to balance their books on the backs of teachers. Those teachers are now part of a union.
We filed an ethics complaint against Representative Dean Fisher (R-District 53) with the Chief Clerk of the Iowa House.
We believe Fisher is acting unethical with respect to House Ethics Rules by attempting to cash in on private school vouchers through his Tama-Toledo Christian School, a private school he founded and now serves as Board President.
iowacci.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/mailing/view?reset=1&id=6838&cid=82206&cs=3c47bc8c97f0144c0cea25…
We filed an ethics complaint against Representative Dean Fisher (R-District 53) with the Chief Clerk of the Iowa House.
We believe Fisher is acting unethical with respect to House Ethics Rules by attempting to cash in on private school vouchers through his Tama-Toledo Christian School, a private school he founded and now serves as Board President.
Will you add your name in support of our ethics complaint?
Fisher campaigned on private school vouchers, voted for them, and now he’s trying to cash in. He plans to use voucher money to pay the bulk of the school’s operating costs (up to $900,000 – $1.2 million of public dollars every year). If that’s not unethical, I’m not sure what is.
We asked the House Ethics Committee to tell Rep. Fisher he cannot discuss, lobby for, or vote on any future legislation that continues or expands voucher benefits.
Governor Kim Reynolds attempted to pass private voucher bills in 2021, 2022, and finally succeeded in 2023 (House File 68) after the unusual move of primarying several Republican legislators. After redistricting in 2022, House District 53 put two Republican legislators against each other – anti-voucher David Maxwell and pro-voucher Dean Fisher. Fisher received Reynolds’ endorsement and won.
We will be sure to keep you posted on how this develops. In the meantime, we want to show strong support for ethical behavior in the Iowa Legislature. Next week, we will be filing an addendum to our complaint with names of Iowans across the state to show they care about this too. Add your name here!
For an honorable legislature,
Tim Glaza
Special Projects Director
P.S. You can check out the full complaint we filed linked here.
iowacci.ourpowerbase.net
I wanted to let you know that this morning we filed an ethics complaint against Representative Dean Fisher (R-District 53) with the Chief Clerk of the Iowa House.