2008.10.05: October 5, 2008: Headlines: COS - Guatemala: Hispanic Issues: Politics: Education: Sacramento Bee: Kevin Johnson takes RPCV Joe Serna for inspiration in race for mayor of Sacramento
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2008.10.05: October 5, 2008: Headlines: COS - Guatemala: Hispanic Issues: Politics: Education: Sacramento Bee: Kevin Johnson takes RPCV Joe Serna for inspiration in race for mayor of Sacramento
Kevin Johnson takes RPCV Joe Serna for inspiration in race for mayor of Sacramento
Johnson said he views as his model the late Mayor Joe Serna Jr., who in 1996 backed a slate of candidates to take over the board of the Sacramento City Unified School District, which at the time was experiencing infighting, high-level staff turnover and low test scores. "What mayors are doing around the country all started in 1996 with Joe Serna," Johnson said. Serna's move ushered in uniform math and reading curriculums and passage of a $195 million bond to repair decrepit schools. Sacramento won attention as a national model for improvement. The late Joe Serna served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala.
Kevin Johnson takes RPCV Joe Serna for inspiration in race for mayor of Sacramento
Mayor's race: Foes have 2 schools of thought
By Mary Lynne Vellinga
mlvellinga@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Oct. 05, 2008 | Page 22A
[Excerpt]
Serna's 1996 move cited
Johnson said he views as his model the late Mayor Joe Serna Jr., who in 1996 backed a slate of candidates to take over the board of the Sacramento City Unified School District, which at the time was experiencing infighting, high-level staff turnover and low test scores.
"What mayors are doing around the country all started in 1996 with Joe Serna," Johnson said.
Serna's move ushered in uniform math and reading curriculums and passage of a $195 million bond to repair decrepit schools. Sacramento won attention as a national model for improvement.
The newly constituted board set in motion the opening of six small high schools. It also made a decision that remains controversial to this day: turning over troubled Sacramento High School to Johnson's St. HOPE organization, which in 2003 reopened it as a charter high school with nonunion teachers.
The Sacramento City Teachers Association unsuccessfully sued to stop St. HOPE's takeover. The union now backs Fargo in the mayor's race.
Today, St. HOPE operates Sacramento Charter High School; P.S. 7, a public charter K-8 school; and Triumph preschool, which is privately funded. All the schools are in Oak Park, and serve a largely African American population.
While he cites Serna as an inspiration, Johnson said he has no plans to back a slate of candidates for any of the city's six school boards. The Sacramento City Unified board – which oversees the bulk of the city's schools – is poised for substantial change this fall, anyway. For the first time, candidates will be elected by geographic district.
Since Serna made his move 12 years ago, Sacramento schools have seen test scores rise. But a stubborn achievement gap persists between affluent white students and those from poor neighborhoods, many of whom are African American and Latino.
The comprehensive high school with the highest dropout rate in Sac City Unified is Hiram Johnson, where 35.4 percent of students in ninth grade don't graduate. Sixty-one percent of Hiram Johnson's families are considered disadvantaged.
"Poor and underserved communities are not getting high-quality options for their education, and that determines the rest of their lives," Johnson said.
A pause in progress?
Some community leaders who closely follow the schools said progress at Sac City Unified has stalled since Serna died, the school board turned over and Superintendent Jim Sweeney left.
"It's not that Sac City is significantly worse, but in terms of someone convening people and trying to work on a larger vision, there hasn't really been a leader that has done that," said Jim Keddy, executive director of Sacramento Area Congregations Together, which focuses on youth issues.
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Headlines: October, 2008; RPCV Joe Serna Jr. (Guatemala); Peace Corps Guatemala; Directory of Guatemala RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Guatemala RPCVs; Hispanic Issues; Politics; Education
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Story Source: Sacramento Bee
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