I find it ironic that Kevin Johnson is so interested in teacher tenure or seniority. He doesn't allow union teachers at St. Hope or PS7. Why should public education be of conern to him when he's able to skirt around rules and regulations by having independent charter schools.I wish he would pay attention to his job as Mayor.

Oh poor KJ, there he goes again whining about St. Hope and not getting to recruit. That's what happens when you are an independent charter. KJ wants it both ways, no oversight from SCUSD but when it comes to enrollment, he thinks the District should bow down and give him equal access. It doesn't work that way. If he became a dependent charter, the doors would be open. He opted for this when he didn't want anything to do with the District. I am tired of his whining and pouting about low enrollment. Move your school before the District does.

Tickets are $100 each and the event is at the corner of 37th & Folsom Blvd. Expect to see some of the big wigs-Sac 60.....maybe I'll hold up some picket signs like-KJ pays off young girls to keep quiet, KJ owes the Feds money, KJ uses students to do his dirty work....it goes on and on

William Burg..I don't often agree with your comments but this one is very profound. It's quite possible that KJ doesn't even realize why folks are against SMI;. I also agree with Rhonda. I want specifics. How can having the SMI help fight crime, homelessness, the economy. The devil is in the details and we just haven't seen any. For that fact, we've been purposefully excluded from the process.

I got an invitation to this event. LMAO. They obviously don't know who his constituents are-Republicans.

To Joe Devilin, actually Sac high wasn't the worst performing high school. That honor went to Hiram Johnson. The ONLY reason Sac High was turned over was because Johnson showed up with Gates money and said, "I want this school." The District purposefully, intentionally and willfully let that school go to waste because they knew they had someone waiting in the wings to take that elephant off of their hands. Yes, KJ started with a gift of 1600 students. Enrollment is at 615 for in-district and 277 for out of district. Hell yes, they should be graduating students to 4 year universities. Sac Charter doesn't educate it's special ed students (the District provides those services). And they don't educate English Language Learners. So, as they say about West Campus, I guess Sac Charter-has the cream of the crop. St. Hope's claim of educating the most needy is a load of crap. Be real. It's only the St. Hope folks who think they are doing God's work. Nobody else does.

To Ms. Millin..not only does the Bee enable St. Hope, it continues to try to boost their enrollment by printing photos of Sacramento athletes, ad nauseum in their rag. I guess the Bee still needs to protect their financial interest in St. Hope.

Using the names Schenirer and Kevin Johnson in the same sentence is asking for trouble. These two clowns have a long history together.Years ago, Kevin Johnson got Schenirer, Jennings and Young all elected to the school board in the late 90s.(See the AG report) They were the puppets for Kevin Johnson. Then, as Kevin requested, the school board President Schenirer, Young, Jennings and Fong, handed Sacramento High School to Kevin Johnson on a silver platter. Schenirer needs to be reminded of what his decisions did way back in 2003 because they have had a long-lasting impact on this community. No one has forgotten.

To StevieGee..the school board members each represent their districts, they get paid a very nominal amount-something like $500 a month. They each are on numerous committees and attend endless meetings. To thsas...do you really think teachers are the problem with the budget. I am not a teacher, just a parent of two students that go to our neighborhood schools. it annoys me when folks who have no clue rattle on about essentially, "lazy" teachers. There are a few but for the most part teachers are some of the hardest working folks, I've ever met. Try working all day teaching 30+ students, grading papers, preparing for the next day, playing social worker, nurse, mom and dad. It's a true passion with most teachers and we should be thankful that there are still folks who WANT to do this job. I could never be a teacher.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why this school continues to exist. The charter states that the school should represent the demographics of the surrounding areas. They have failed to do that, even with the significant amount of outreach, they can't get the enrollment numbers above 950. It's a reasonable statement to suggest that they have segregated themselves. Look at the schools demographics. Additionally, according to their charter, they should be financially solvent. They are not. I really don't care about the charter itself. What I do care about is the "occupation" of that school that all of us are paying for. If the District is not going to fulfill the court order, we should at least get Sac High back.

Mr. West, you certainly drank the kool-aid served up by your brother. It is impossible for you to be unbiased and impartial, as you have a financial stake in his becoming a strong mayor. You even spew the same words...status quo, jargon....gag me. Your brother has way too much baggage from his past indiscretions and illegal activities to ever allow this initiatve to pass.

Johnson's has had two education summits since taking office as Mayor. I attended the first summit with the expectation that I would hear innovative and thought provoking discussions about education. What I heard was that the only way to accomplish education reform was to support the strong mayor initiative and by closing failing schools and creating more charter schools. ALL of the speakers supported the idea of a "strong mayor". Nothing else was discussed except charter schools. Johnson is clearly aligning himself with national education bigwigs so that when the money falls from the sky he'll be around to catch it. He has no business, as Mayor, being involved in the education of my children.

So here are my observations.My immediate concern is why the mayor of Sacramento is even involved in the issue of education reform at all. He doesn't have an education background. He doesn't even have kids. As a Mayor, shouldn't he be involved in helping city council run the city. Why does he feel like it's his job to court the U.S. Secretary of Education? Oh..follow the money. That's his mantra...maybe the Secretary of Education can get Mr. Johnson to pay back all the money he owes CDE and SCUSD and Americorps. That would be a start.

No, Mr. West, aka--Kevin's brother. I believe it was the Bush administration that has perpetuated the idea that we can blame all of the education problems on teachers. When Bush created the No Child Left Behind, he left out one important detail...funding. If the proper amount of funding existed to attain and achieve the standards set by the NCLB act we wouldn't have failing schools. Congress didn't fund the schools properly to hire extra tutors, after school programs and interventions on behalf of the low performing students. There would be no need to bash the teachers. Teachers can't do everything-be a teacher, nurse, mom, social worker, etc. Charter schools take funding away from where it's needed most, students whose parents can't or won't participate in their education. Public schools must educate ALL students, not just the ones whose parents are involved in their education. All children should be so lucky. That makes schools successful-active parent participation.

Joesac..isn't the strong mayor initiative a lot like the cart before the horse? In my opinion, that doesn't usually work very well. Much like the strong mayor initiative.

The ink isn't dry yet, Mr. Johnson. Why are you in charge of parading Mr. Duncan around? Is it because of your indepth knowledge of robbing the government blind? Is it because you owe CDE $150K for the uncredentialed teachers you hired? Is it because your charter school, Sacramento Charter High School, continuously operates in the red? Is it because you owe SCUSD $1,000,000? Is it because you owe Americorps $400,000 for the $800,000 you stole from them. Get a grip and get back to something you know how to do....dribble a basketball...duh.

If Kevin Johnson's charter school, Sacramento Charter High is an example of a good performing school, then we are all in trouble. Charter schools are popular because when Bush instituted the NCLB act and created standards and achievements he forgot to support this with any money to help the schools and teachers attain and sustain these unattainable goals. it's fine and dandy to have standards but you need to put your money where your mouth is. Independent charters, such as Sac Charter High get around the "legality" of standards by self-reporting and cherry picking their students. Most students who can't cut it are "counseled out" in the spring ending up at McClatchy, Johnson, Rosemont and any other school that will accept them. Kevin Johnson is pulling the wool over everyones eyes when he says his school is successful. An example, they graduated 194 seniors this year and the school lost 190 students to transfers. Is that successful?