Your faithful education correspondent was on the story.

A email was forwarded that SFSOS was going to have rally at 6 p.m. to ask Ackerman not to resign. So I thought that I would go and see how many people from SFSOS would show up to show their support for Dr. Ackerman.

One person. SFSOS is so powerful that they can get on a three hour notice for a rally to save Dr. Ackerman-one person (Wade Randlett, the guy sending the faxes and emails. So he probably knew where it was.)

The police showed up to provide security around the rally-but there wasn’t any Arlene supporters rallying.

From the San Jose Mercury News:

GWEN ARAUJO PROVOKED DEFENDANTS, ATTORNEY SAYS

By Yomi S. Wronge

Mercury News

The attorney for the man the prosecution says strangled a transgender Newark teenager in 2002 says Gwen Araujo provoked the defendants.

Michael Thorman, Michael Magidson’s attorney, said Gwen “lied to them to get them to have sex with her.'’

The 17-year-old “had no respect for these people,'’ Thorman said, referring to his client and co-defendants Jason Cazares and Jose Merel during his closing statement today in a Hayward courtroom.

Word has it that Arlene Ackerman did not announce that she is leaving at the School Board meeting tonight. Who knows whether the rumors were true or not, but most were saying that she was going to announce her departure. Wade Randlett from SFSOS even called a press conference about it.

SEIU Local 790, my day job, is in the midst of intense negotiations with the School District and the lead negotiator, LaWanna Preston, is indicating that a strike is in the works. In an editorial published last month in the Bay Guardian, she wrote,

Hey Randy,

Just got back into town from a great vacation away from our wonderful and engaging city. Always nice to get back and re-engage with the delightful folks here.

I strongly disagree with your editorial on labor , particularly your negative impression of SEIU Local 790 and would humbly suggest that before you make comments that you consider attending a meeting or two. I appreciate that since you live in Berkeley is difficult to assess what is happening at SEIU Local 790, but at the last chapter meeting of the School District that I attended, hundreds of rank and file members were itching to strike. It is exciting to see the union activism and would encourage you to come see for yourself.

Happy First Day of School!

Several of my dearest friends are heading for school for the first time as incoming kindergarteners. We have had great conversations on what they hope for their kindergarten year. The top item on each of their lists are new friends.

For students, parents, school workers and their community supporters, the first day of school is a special day. It’s the beginning of new academic year-and it brings the vision of future academic success in the young scholar’s year. It is also exciting for the new teachers that start their teaching career. Approximately 50% of teachers leave teaching within the first five years-low pay is one of the reasons that they give for leaving the profession.

Three years ago, a school auditorium was overfilled with people demanding a home for the Day Laborers program.

After three long years and several setbacks, the Day Laborers will finally be moving into their new home at 3358 Cesar Chavez. Construction should be completed in another three weeks-but they could use funds to complete it.

The Day Laborers’ program is 15 years old-and most of the time they worked out of a trailer at Franklin Square. Without running water, there was not a restroom for people to use. A doctor who volunteer each week to look at laborers who needed medical attention, talked about how she couldn’t wash her hands between treating different patients.

This just in from Equality California:

MANSLAUGHTER CONVICTION TROUBLING IN STABBING MURDER OF TRANSGENDER FRESNO RESIDENT

Assemblymember Sally Lieber Joins Equality California and Transgender Law Center in Calling for Reform

Sacramento, CA - Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that Estanislao Martinez is to be sentenced to the minimum 4 years in jail after he confessed to stabbing Jose Robles to death in August of 2004. The Fresno County District Court and District Attorney’s Office allowed Martinez to employ a “gay or transgender panic” strategy to receive a lenient conviction and sentence. Robles, a transgender Fresno resident, is reported to have been stabbed 20 times by Martinez.

“Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers” by Daniel Moulthrop, Ninive Clements Calegari (director of 826 Valencia, a writing lab for students) and Dave Eggers (editor of McSweeney’s and author of “A Hearbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”) has recently hit the circuit.

The book basically speaks to the idea that if your district wants quality education, they need to pay to attract quality teachers. And if you want quality teachers who are focused on the hard job of teaching and have them stay in teaching, you need to pay them a living salary.

To: Pat Murphy
Thanks for your coverage on the San Francisco Sentinel- I have been out of town and out of the loop on vacation, but I wanted to write in to explain why transgender people cared/care so much about the TG benefits legislation that Mark Leno sponsored and to educate people about how profoundly the TG legislation affected healthcare for all TG people. People think it is just about surgery. I feel that I have been negligent in not educating people. I read some of the pieces on the Sentinel and realized that I bear some responsibility in educating people to understand that it wasn’t just about surgery and it wasn’t just about city employees, although that would have been enough reason to support the legislation.

Robert and Saskia are on vacation this week, and I am off to Burning Man till Labor Day, so we leave you in Kim’s able hands.

Hopefully, by the time I come back, Bush will have announced a pullout from Iraq, Arnie will have resigned, and Gerardo and Phil will agree to share the Assessor’s office.

Unfortunately, it’s more likely that Bush really will attempt to assassinate Chavez, Arnie will steal another few billion from the schools, and we will be at Part VLII of the Sandoval Saga.