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Emily M. Murase, PhD

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During a fascinating panel on this topic sponsored by the California Adolescent Health Collaborative, I learned that a new trend that healthcare providers are now receiving training on is how to deal with "reproductive coercion" where boys are sabotaging girls who use contraceptives in an attempt to impregnate them and expand their control over them.

The good news is that interventions work -- having trained healthcare providers initiate a conversation about healthy relationships has dramatically expanded knowledge of existing resources for youth and enabled them to leave abusive relationships.

This event was held at Wallenberg Traditional High School.

Emily M. Murase, PhD

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What a party! As the 91 year old friend and legend Jane Morrison said, Renee Golanty Koel has many more years to enjoy! Such a lovely family and devoted husband. Best wishes for many, many more birthdays.

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Dr. Ravitch is a former senior official of the Bush Administration in education who has repudiated high stakes testing. She gave remarks tonight at Herbst Theater about the assault on public education.

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Emily M. Murase, PhD

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Emily M. Murase, PhD

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Emily M. Murase, PhD

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Emily M. Murase, PhD

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Closing the Inauguration of Mayor Ed Lee is the world famous Beach Blanket Babylon hat!

Emily M. Murase, PhD

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It's going to be a great administration, inclusive, diverse, dedicated!

Emily M. Murase, PhD

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Senator Feinstein swears in Mayor Ed Lee!

Emily M. Murase, PhD

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--At the Women in Public Service Project conference convened by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Washington, DC, December 15, 2011.

Emily M. Murase, PhD

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I cannot believe the 2011-2012 school year is in full gear! First report cards have gone out and students (and parents!) are beginning to think (dream) about the Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks.

We opened the school year with excellent news -- the San Francisco Unified School District has registered a 10th year in a row of improving test scores. In recent years, San Francisco was the top performing urban school district in California. This year, we were edged out by San Diego, but we’re still ahead of Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Jose

November Means Elections are Here! Election Day is November 8.

Tomorrow, October 24 is the last day to register to vote!

Proposition A: Fix and Repair Our Public Schools

This November, voters will be asked to approve a very important school bond measure Proposition A. This bond will fix and repair over 50 of our public schools, including my alma maters Argonne Elementary, Presidio Middle School, and Lowell High School. For a complete list of schools, go to www.repairsfschools.org/about/. We need your help to donate, walk a precinct, phonebank with us, and spread the word!

I am hosting  a precinct walk on Sunday, October 30, 2 pm, beginning at my house, 142 Clearfield Drive, near Eucalyptus. Drop by between 2-2:30 pm to join a team of supporters to walk precincts in the Lakeshore and Sunset neighborhoods. Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring your friends! Please RSVP to me at emily@emilymurase.com so I can be sure to prepare enough materials!

SFUSD Enrollment Fair, Saturday, November 5, 2011, 10 am - 3 pm @ Concourse Exhibition Center, 635-8th Street

The most important event in the fall for families seeking to enroll in San Francisco public schools is scheduled for November 5. Visit informational booths for all of our public schools. Learn about the application process for Lowell High School. Hear about Special Education options. For further information about this free and public event, go to www.sfusd.edu.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Truly,

Emily

Emily M. Murase, PhD

San Francisco Board of Education Member

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Emily M. Murase, PhD
"Each day is an opportunity to reinvent yourself, your work, your community."

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Dear Friends,

This year, San Francisco public schools let out on May 27, the Friday before Memorial Day weekend(!). This was due to an earlier start of the school year (August 16) and forced school closure days due to the budget crisis. However, the school board continued to meet through June and concluded its last meeting of the year on June 28.

Since beginning my term of office on January 7, I have learned so much...about the amazing things happening at our schools, the abominable way in which our state has underfunded public education, and the many ways in which parents and students organize around issues that they care about.

Amazing Things Happening at Our Schools

At the school level, our hard-working school staff members, including principals, teachers, attendance clerks, nurses and counselors, parent liaisons, custodians, cafeteria staff, bus drivers, and others, in partnership with parents, non-profit afterschool programs, and sometimes with the support of local businesses dedicate themselves to educating our kids.

Everyone at Rosa Parks Elementary knows the kind and dedicated Mr. Manny who takes care of the kids who are late to school in the morning, watches over kids during recess, and generally keeps the peace among students at all times. He recently retired to spend more time with his family.

Legendary Social Studies Teacher Irene Collier of Presidio Middle School receives a commendation upon her retirement at the Asian Heritage Festival organized by the Asian Week Foundation.

The Honorable Hiroshi Inomata, Consul General of Japan, and I were asked to give the graduation address to the 5th graders of the Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program at Rosa Parks in May. Founded in 1973, the JBBP has received a commendation from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for promoting Japanese language and culture in San Francisco public schools.

Photos above: JBBP students singing at the Lunar New Year Festivities in Golden Gate Park; the Association of Instructors of Music Honors Orchestra playing at Lowell High School; Young at Art exhibit of works by public school students at the De Young Museum.

Abominable Way California Underfunds Public Education

The magnitude of cuts we faced this year, roughly 20% of our operating budget, is the equivalent of a 4-day school week. As preposterous as this may sound, the public schools in Hawaii were forced to adopt a 4-day school week for much of this past school year. Essentially, here in California, we are delivering a 9-month school year with funding for just 7-months. Grimly, California has been ranked 47th in the nation in per pupil spending. The solution requires greater state tax revenues. Since the passage of Proposition 13, the tax base has shifted away from corporations and onto families. For more information, check out the California Budget Project, www.cbp.org. To read about an important initiative to reform Prop 13, see www.closetheloophole.com.

An amazing group of San Francisco public school moms have banded together to form Educate Our State, a grassroots but state-wide effort to demand sufficient funding for public education. On May 24, they organized "WAKE UP CALIFORNIA!" events throughout California. I stopped in to lend my support at the San Francisco rally on the corner of Van Ness and McAllister. I am here with Educate Our State Founder Crystal Brown. For more information, see www.educateourstate.org.

Parents and Students Organize

When a controversial issue arises related to the public schools, school board members are the first to be contacted. The most controversial has been to change the current choice system of middle school assignment to a feeder pattern from elementary to middle schools, where middle school assignment is determined by which elementary school a child attends. Detailed information about the policy is available at the school district website, www.sfusd.edu. The school district partnered with Parents for Public Schools and the Parent Advisory Council to conduct dozens of community meetings for feedback.

In addition, I received hundreds of messages from parents on both sides of the issue. Based on the tremendous amount of feedback we received, the proposal was modified in several key ways: the full implementation of the feeder patterns was delayed for 6 years, until all of the entering kindergartners are graduated; siblings received a higher preference for assignment than originally proposed, and the school district committed to addressing concerns about Honors, music, and arts programs at the middle school level.

Heartfelt Thanks

As many of you know, serving on the school board has been the fulfillment of a long held dream of mine. Thank you for your part in helping to make this happen.

State Superintendent of Public Education Tom Torlakson, United Educators of San Francisco President Dennis Kelly, Vice President Linda Plack, Retired Educator Robin Brasso and me at the PRIDE Breakfast in June.

I also want to thank my colleagues on the school board: President Hydra Mendoza, Vice President Norman Yee, Commissioners Sandra Lee Fewer, Kim-Shree Maufas, Rachel Norton, Jill Wynns, Student Delegates Athena Creer and Elvina Fan as well as Superintendent Carlos Garcia and his staff. They have all been a pleasure to work with.

Have a great summer!

Emily M. Murase

Commissioner, San Francisco Board of Education

Emily Murase for SF School Board, FPPC# 1304864, www.emilymurase.com

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Mayor Ed Lee with members and Friends of the Commission on the Status
of Women at today's Pride Parade. Over a million people in the City by
the Bay to celebrate diversity!

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Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Education, UESF VP Linda Plack,
Pres Dennis Kelly, retired educator Robin Basso and me at the Pride
Breakfast, Yank Sing, this morning!

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Emily M. Murase, PhD
"Each day is an opportunity to reinvent yourself, your work, your community."

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Newly-elected School Board Commissioner Emily Murase with daughters Izumi and Junko as guests at the Community Peace Service, Jones United Methodist Church, January 2011 

Dear ,

It is a tremendous privilege for me to serve on the San Francisco Board of Education. I am so grateful for your friendship and support that made this all possible. I want to report on my first 100 days in office!

TOP 10 MOMENTS

10.          Swearing-in Ceremony January 7

Many of you joined me in person and in spirit at the Tenderloin Elementary School on January 7 to see judge Gail Dekreon of the San Francisco Superior Court swear me in as the first Japanese American to ever serve on the San Francisco Board of Education. I enjoyed a fabulous weekend of celebrations, including a cozy reception at the Blue Muse, a delectable buffet dinner at Hanazen Restaurant on Pier 39, and a kid-friendly family potluck at my house. Thanks to all of you who made the weekend celebrations so successful!

School Board Commissioners Jill Wynns, Hydra Mendoza, me, Kim-Shree Maufas, Sandra Fewer, Norman Yee (Rachel Norton not pictured)

9.            Fred Korematsu Day at SFUSD

One of my first actions was to sponsor a resolution marking January 30 Fred Korematsu Day at the San Francisco Unified School District. As many of you know, Oakland resident Fred Korematsu challenged the wartime evacuation of Japanese Americans but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against his case. In 1983, a team of aspiring young Japanese American attorneys reopened the case and his felony conviction was overturned in a landmark coram nobis case that is studied by law students throughout the country and the world. For more information, see the Fred Korematsu Institute, founded by his daughter Karen Korematsu and the Asian Law Caucus, www.korematsuinstitute.org.

SFUSD kids Jordan, Junko, Malia, and Nobumi join me at the 1st Fred Korematsu Day Celebration at UC Berkeley

8.            African American Student Honor Roll

In February, African American Heritage Month, I was in a delegation presenting medals to the 1200 African American public school students who achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher, including a core of 2 dozen 4.0 (straight A!) students. Over 1000 people gathered for the event, organized by the San Francisco Alliance of Black School Educators Association, and chaired by Virginia Marshall, a long-time administrator in the district.

7.            5 Keys Graduation

The 5 Keys School is the only school of its kind, providing inmates in the San Francisco County Jail and recently released now probationers the opportunity to complete their high school education not by correspondence course, but in actual classrooms staffed by fully credentialed and compassionate teachers. At the graduation ceremony I attended, probationers donning graduation caps and gowns spoke about their previous lives battling drug or alcohol addiction, bored with school, lacking direction. The faculty and staff of the 5 Keys School, under the leadership of Principal Steven Good and long-time commitment of Sheriff Michael Hennessey  have transformed these lost individuals by imparting to them new knowledge and opportunities. Truly inspirational.

6.            Leola Havard Early Education Center

Reverend Amos Brown of the Third Baptist Church was in the hospital recuperating from a serious stroke, reading a history book when he learned that Peter Burnett, the first governor of California, held extreme views about African Americans and other minorities. For example, when Burnett served in political office in Oregonviews legalized the flogging of African Americans as a way to move them out. In California, Burnett actively supported the Chinese Exclusion Act and the extermination of native Americans. Clearly, these values conflicted with the values we hold dear here in San Francisco today. Reverend Brown was aware that the school district had a property named the Burnett Child Development Center which was indeed named for the first governor of California, and, from his hospital bed, launched a community initiative to rename the school. The broad-based initiative resulted in a school board resolution to rename the school in honor of Leola Havard, the first African American principal to serve in the district who, at 91 years young, was still residing in San Francisco. The outpouring of community support at the school board meeting where we took action was incredible as we heard about the importance of this action from young and old from across the City.

5.            Cherry Blossom Festival Grand Parade

On a beautiful spring day, I rode the Rosa Parks Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program cable car in this year's Cherry Blossom Festival Grand Parade. The Rosa Parks JBBP is a signature program of the school district, offering Japanese language and cultural instruction for grades K - 5. Many of you know that my parents were among the Founders of the program, my older daughter is a graduate, and my younger daughter is a 3rd grader in the program.

Commissioner Sandra Fewer joined the JBBP for the Grand Parade.

4.            Ida B. Wells Art Show

For students who are behind in graduation credits for a variety of reasons (unstable housing, dysfunctional family, behavioral issues), Ida B. Wells Continuation High School offers a solution. Through a team of faculty and staff who care for students on an individualized basis, troubled students get back on track. I attended the annual art show and observed enthusiastic DJs, artists, sculptors, and musicians. Reception food was provided by the school's culinary students.

3.            Celebrated Author Hiroshi Kashiwagi and the Asian American Curriculum Project donate Swimming in the American to San Francisco Public Schools

Thanks to the generous donation by the Asian American Curriculum Project and the Takahashi Foundation, Hiroshi Kashiwagi’s book Swimming in the American, a memoir of his eventful life growing up Japanese American, will be made available to public high schools throughout San Francisco. Special thanks to Greg Marutani of the Japanese American Citizens League San Francisco Chapter and Florence Hongo of the Asian American Curriculum Project for coordinating this effort.

Emily with Author Hiroshi Kashiwagi and Commissioner Rachel Norton, Chair of the Curriculum Committee

2.            Raising Money for the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund

As I mentioned in my last message, the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Northern California launched the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. To date, the Fund has collected over $2 million! Thanks to many of you who contributed generously. Among other things, the Fund is underwriting the efforts of the Kobe YMCA for resettlement of survivors ($130,000), the Sendai YMCA for shelters ($200,000), the Morioka YMCA serving the hardest hit coastal towns ($200,000), and the Tochigi YMCA to serve evacuees of the areas surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant ($200,000). Donations continue to be accepted by calling 415.529.1322, on-line at www.jcccnc.org, or by check payable to the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund mailed to the JCCCNC, 1840 Sutter, SF CA 94115. The JCCCNC is a 501c(3) non-profit and donations are tax-deductible to the extent of the law.

Japantown Girl Scout Brownies at the Community Memorial for Northern Japan Earthquake Victims held in San Francisco, April 11, 2011

1.            Lincoln High School Hall of Fame

On May 2, I had the honor of introducing legendary AP English and Poetry teacher Florence “Flossie” Lewis at the 2011 Lincoln High School Hall of Fame. Flossie began her career teaching in San Francisco in 1952 at Lincoln, where she introduced students to the finer points of English literature and schooled them in drama. She later taught at Lowell for many years. Upon retirement, she pursued a doctorate in English literature at UC Berkeley and, at age 74, became the department’s oldest ever graduate, delivering the commencement speech at her graduation.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS FRIDAY?

If you don’t already have plans, please join performers Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and me at the Filipina Women’s Network’s production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, a must-see show playing for one-night only! This theatrical sensation treats indelicate topics with sometimes hilarious, sometimes somber results, challenging audiences to consider the meaning of genuine love, gender power dynamics, and to call out abuses of women around the world so that we can address them. Join me for this powerful show. You will be glad you did!

7:30 pm, Friday, May 13, 2011

Herbst Theatre

401 Van Ness Avenue

San Francisco

Tickets are available at a special rate of 2 tickets for the price of 1: $30 General Admission, $90 VIP Seating. Purchase tickets at the Filipina Women’s Network’s website, www.ffwn.org/events.  Register at the website to receive the discounted rate. Pick up tickets at the FWN Will Call Table by 7pm on Friday when theatre doors open.  When you click on the type of tickets you want, you will automatically be granted 2 tickets. 

STAY CONNECTED

I plan to send out more regular updates to friends and supporters. If you are in San Francisco and you want to hear about hyper-local events and issuesl (such as upcoming school fundraisers, key school board meetings, etc.), subscribe to my blog at www.emilymurase.com.

Emily M. Murase

Commissioner, San Francisco Board of Education

Emily Murase for SF School Board, FPPC# 1304864, www.emilymurase.com

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