Saving the southeast

Foreclosure wave speeds SF's black exodus while city officials focus on new condo construction

This map of all foreclosures in San Francisco shows a heavy concentration in the southern part of the city, home to many low-income communities of color.
When Mayor Gavin Newsom and Sup. Sophie Maxwell convened a task force in July 2007 to figure out why African Americans are leaving San Francisco and how to reverse this trend, the subprime loan market crisis was about to send a shock wave of home foreclosures sweeping through southeast San Francisco.
Hope SF, the promised rebuild of the city's public housing projects, is underway at a cost of $95 million. The city's certificates of preference program, giving housing priority to black residents displaced by redevelopment, has been expanded and extended. But little has been done to address the immediate problem.
Instead political leaders have focused on a plan to subsidize Lennar Corp.'s construction of thousands of new condos in the southeast section of the city — the heart of the San Francisco's remaining African American community — and have done nothing to promote a plan that could convert hundreds of foreclosed homes into affordable for-sale or rental units there, right here, right now.
African American Out Migration Task Force (AAOMTF) members recall warning that the crisis would likely hit San Francisco's already dwindling black population extra hard. And Sup. John Avalos, who was running for election in District 11, remembers seeing impacts in the Excelsior District as early as 2007.
"I was telling people in early 2007 that this was a problem in District 11, and even real estate people didn't believe me," recalled Avalos, who is exploring legislation to hold banks accountable and spoke at an ACORN protest in support of Excelsior homeowner Genaro Paed, a Filipino native who just staved off eviction orders pending the outcome of his lawsuit against Washington Mutual concerning what Paed describes as "a predatory loan" secured in 2006.
Avalos also planned to introduce legislation on May 12 that would expand protection of renters, including those in foreclosed homes who are now being evicted by banks.
This isn't the first time city leaders have studied the African American exodus or ways to prevent low-income and minority households from being preyed upon or displaced. Indeed, this task force's initial findings, (released last summer after Lennar spent millions to persuade voters to support building 10,000 condos in the city's southeast) suggests San Francisco's entire black community is at risk unless proactive and immediate steps are taken.
According to U.S. Census data, the city's African American population shrank to 6.6 percent of the city's total population by 2005 (a 40 percent decline since 1990) and will likely slip to 4.6 percent by 2050, according to the California Department of Finance. And these findings were made before the foreclosure crisis heated up.
In 2008 Maxwell and other elected officials convened a Fair Lending Working Group (FLWG) to figure out how to respond to the wave of foreclosures. By year's end, there were 667 home foreclosures in San Francisco, almost all in the city's southeast sector.
These numbers sound small compared to Contra Costa County or Oakland, where thousands of foreclosures occurred. And they aren't big enough to qualify for the first round of President Barack Obama's National Stabilization Program grants, which were released earlier this year. Based on a census-driven formula, the grants sent $8 million to Oakland and no money to San Francisco.
But with half the city's foreclosures in the Bayview, home to most of the city's remaining African Americans, the fact that little has been done to save these homes — or to follow early recommendations to do so — is a gentrification crisis in the making.
Ed Donaldson, housing counseling director at the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation in the Bayview District, served on the FLWG and remembers suggesting a two-tier track. First, take steps to protect renters in places that have been foreclosed and second, buy as many foreclosed properties as possible with the aim of reselling or leasing them as affordable units. While the FLWG liked the renter protection angle, it did not support the foreclosure acquisition program.
"The idea fell on deaf ears," recalls Donaldson, who was disappointed his foreclosure purchase plan didn't make it onto FLWG's recent recommendation list. FLWG members include financial institutions such as Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, and Patelco Credit Union; community-based organizations such as Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, SFHDC, Mission Economic Development Agency; and city agencies. The agency also has received staff support from Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, the Mayor's Office of Housing, Treasurer Jose Cisneros and the Office of the Legislative Analyst.
"We'd already seen the spike in foreclosure numbers, so how did these recommendations get pushed out? We need something with teeth," Donaldson said.
SFHDC executive director Regina Davis says she suggested a foreclosure purchase and resale plan as an AAOMTF member and was concerned when she noticed that her recommendation was not included on the list discussed at the April 23 meeting. Billed as a closing-out session, that meeting took place at the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and was attended by Davis, chair Aileen Hernandez, Redevelopment director Fred Blackwell, the Rev. Amos Brown, Barbara Cohen of the African American Action Network, Tinisch Hollins of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, and former supervisor and assessor Doris Ward, among others. The AAOMTF is finishing up its work this week.
"I got involved because I believed that in exchange for participation, we would see things done and/or funded. Part of what we want to see are real action items that keep African Americans in San Francisco or bring them back. So we really want this issue to move forward with substance," Davis told the Guardian.
Recognizing that San Francisco is facing massive budget constraints, SFHDC is proposing to borrow $1.5 million from Clearinghouse CDFI, a Los Angeles community development financial agency, to acquire and rehabilitate these foreclosed properties.
Davis' group would then turn it around and offer residents several options: buy (if the prospective buyer qualifies for the city's $150,000 downpayment assistance and a $50,000 loan from the California Housing Financing Agency); lease (in which SFHDC sells the home to the buyer but leases the land, making the price affordable), lease-to-own. Or, Davis adds, people could rent the units at affordable rates.
But to make the plan work, SFHDC need the banks to sell the properties AT below market rates. Noting that foreclosed properties are still selling in the Bayview for $400,000, Davis says her nonprofit intends to purchase 100 to 200 homes during a 24-month period at less than $200,000 mark.
Yet Davis remains optimistic about the plan's chances as SFHDC negotiates with major banks for a 50 percent discount, noting that there is a monthly average of 50 foreclosures in the Bayview-Hunter's Point, and SFHDC has access to 100 qualified buyers.
Blackwell said the Redevelopment Agency hasn't developed an initiative or a funding pool to respond to the foreclosures in the city's southeast sector. But, he said, the agency is looking at ways to apply for National Stabilization Program funds even though "federal guidelines mostly don't apply well in expensive markets like San Francisco.
"We are engaged in advocacy so San Francisco can take advantage of any federal stabilization funds, but we don't have an agency-specific proposal," he continued.
"Frankly, I think community-based organizations are the best to do programs like that, especially since there is so much anxiety about the Redevelopment Agency and property acquisition in the southeast," Blackwell added.
He believes that given the city's current budgetary constraints, the AAOMTF "will likely look for leadership from the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors in cases where members have made recommendations and there is an opportunity to bring in public money."
Blackwell feels the city is still getting its mind around its foreclosure problem. "We've been spared the wholesale neighborhood-by-neighborhood devastation that places like Antioch faced," Blackwell said. "So, there wasn't the same sense of urgency. And there's a need to look more closely at the data. A lot of the information is based on anecdotes."
Yet the feds seem willing to help if city officials take the initiative. Larry Bush, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's regional office, says San Francisco and Oakland could file a joint foreclosure plan application.
"If they can identify 100 homes, they'd be eligible for $5 million," Bush said, noting one snag that could unravel the plan locally. "Foreclosed properties must be vacant for at least six months. And as you know, in San Francisco, foreclosed homes still sell."
Maxwell says the city could do more to confront predatory lenders and enforce tenant rights, as well as developing a plan to buy foreclosed properties. "But in San Francisco it's an issue because of relatively high prices," she told us.
Yet the city's high prices are the very problem pushing out low-income residents. African American home ownership actually increased after 1990, even as out-migration among black renters increased. But now, if the foreclosures stand, that exodus will likely accelerate.
Asked if she supports SFHDC's current foreclosure plan, Maxwell said, "It makes sense to me. If that could be done, it would be optimal."
Myrna Melgar of the Mayor's Office of Housing says she's not sure that a foreclosure resale plan would work in San Francisco for folks who bought a couple of years ago, when house prices hit $700,000, only to see house prices fall to around $400,000.
"San Francisco is a very different universe from Detroit," Melgar said. "Properties don't sit around empty and vacant. They are bought by speculators who are betting that in two or three years, their values will go up. So if we had money to buy these properties, which we don't, we'd be in competition with the speculators, who have lots of money with no strings attached, and who drive the prices up."
Another difference, Melgar said, is that San Francisco banks are holding onto 50 percent of their foreclosed properties, whereas Antioch banks are only holding onto 22 percent. "We'd like to keep folks in the homes," Melgar said. "But it's a policy issue related to the reality that we have such limited funds."
Wednesday May 13, 2009

Bayview class overcoming hurdles 13 years later

Carver key to bold plan for black childrenLouise Jones, who is now retired, was chosen to be principal of Carver in 1983, after the court crafted a plan to improve academics at the most segregated schools in San Francisco. (Kim Komenich / The Chronicle)

As the camera shutter clicked 13 years ago, the 28 students standing on the risers in their matching blue sweaters had just started kindergarten in San Francisco's Bayview district. Their futures were wide open, their dreams fully intact.

The 5-year-olds with their goofy grins and say-cheese smiles didn't know about the statistics that showed black students were more likely to fail in school.

Across California, at least a third of African American students drop out of high school, according to state estimates - a higher dropout rate than for any other ethnic group. That trend is one of the most vexing problems facing public education and has failed to improve despite tens of billions in tax dollars and decades of attempted reforms.

Many, particularly those attending schools in inner-city neighborhoods such as the Bayview, cope with disproportionate poverty, crime, health problems, drugs and broken families.

With only the photo as a starting point, The Chronicle set out to determine what happened to the students in Kanikah LeMon's 1995-96 kindergarten class at Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary School. The newspaper wanted to see how they fared against tremendous obstacles as they worked toward their high school diplomas with the class of 2008.

Of the 28 children in LeMon's class, The Chronicle reached all but one: 21 have graduated from high school and another is expected to receive her diploma next week and the other five have not finished high school and appear to be dropouts by the state's definition. Two of the five have completed their coursework and only need to pass the required High School Exit Exam to get their diplomas. These Carver children are the sons and daughters of postal workers and bus drivers, musicians and airport workers. Some had parents on drugs. Others grew up without knowing their fathers. At least three had parents who had been incarcerated. Many grew up to the sound of gunshots, and nearly all knew someone who died from one of those bullets.

Jeremy Beasley, fourth from the left on the bottom row in the photo, had a father in prison serving a 30-year sentence for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and federal tax evasion.

Tiara Mitchell, top left, saw her father go to jail, her parents divorce, and her family split up as her brother struggled - successfully - with leukemia.

Keshia Evans, top row second from right, experienced homelessness and a move to public housing after the sale of her grandmother's house, and personal tragedy when her cousin and then a close friend were killed.

They all graduated.

When they attended Carver in 1995-96, almost 80 percent were poor enough to qualify for the federal lunch program.

"Some of the children came to school very tired. They'd been awakened by gunshots. Drugs were rampant," said their principal, Louise Jones. "I'm positive it affected how they felt. But I always kept my eyes on the prize, and the prize was always the children."

Carver opened in 1974 and quickly drew the attention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP sued the state and school district in federal court, saying Carver was among several San Francisco schools with mostly black students that received less money and fewer experienced teachers than other schools.

A judge agreed and issued an order in 1983 to reverse the unfair treatment and desegregate the schools.

Carver's annual funding grew substantially, and change began to happen.

"Carver 'got it' in terms of what was needed: A positive environment, high standards, and high expectations," said Peter Graham Cohn, one of the NAACP lawyers. When the 28 children walked in the door of LeMon's kindergarten classroom in the fall of 1995, Carver was ready for them.

So far, 14 of LeMon's former students have enrolled in college, and several more plan to go. Two others are enrolled in a vocational training program.

Terrell Gunn, bottom right, who had watched friends turn to gangs, headed for California Baptist University in Riverside.

Latasha Allston, third row up on the right, grabbed her running shoes and left for Jackson State University in Mississippi, where she competes in track and field.

Cris Seals, top row second from the left, who had an aptitude for listening to classmates' troubles, enrolled as a psychology major at California State University Los Angeles.

LeMon (formerly LeMon-Jones) remembers all 28 - 27 African Americans and one Filipino-African American. Her goal for them was clear: teach them to read, to write and to learn, and, in 13 years, get them to graduation day.

"I just treated them like they were my children, and I wanted to get them ready for school," LeMon said.

Many inner-city schools are not equipped to confront the issues these children face. The teachers are often less prepared for a class of children with complicated problems, the facilities and materials are subpar, and parental help, the backbone of success, is sometimes absent.

While educators aren't responsible for the problems found outside the school's walls, understanding the lives of the children can help them overcome their barriers to an education.

"The expectation is that because you are in a predominantly African American school, you won't be successful," said current Carver Principal Emily Wade-Thompson. "I think we exemplify the African proverb that it takes a village."

The Carver kids' journeys to adulthood offer insight into the roles the homes, neighborhoods and schools have in overcoming academic challenges.

Several families sought out the suburbs.

Kenetta Hampton, far right in second row, moved with her family to Santa Clara when she was 12, one of several students who said their families fled the violence and negative influences that could keep them from finishing school.

"Two of my brother's friends were killed, shot in a car," said the Mountain View High School graduate. "So we knew we had to get him out of there."

Kenetta was among those who set their sights on college and took a straight path through 13 years of school and now attends California State University East Bay.

Some attended private schools, while others attended small, alternative high schools that offered more individual attention and flexible schedules.

Gerrine Washington, for example, third from left in first row, went to the alternative John Muir Charter School campus on Treasure Island. A mother at 16, she carried her daughter to class where her teachers held the baby girl while Gerrine took tests. She graduated in July.

"When you're little, you think you're going to do stuff," Gerrine said. "And things happen."

George Washington (no relation), third from left in second row, also finished late, completing his graduation requirements in a juvenile detention facility, where he had been sent for possession of a weapon, which was also a parole violation, according to his mother.

Mager Webb, second from right in second row, who graduated from San Francisco Unified's John O'Connell High, said Carver started his education off right.

"Ms. LeMon, she was like our parent outside of our parents," said Mager, who found a job handling packages in San Francisco. "She taught us respect and to have pride in our race. She taught us basic black history. We were learning that in kindergarten, and understanding it."

It appears that at least five of LeMon's former students are considered dropouts, using the state's official classification for students who did not graduate on time and did not immediately enroll in a class designed to help them earn a diploma.

Charles Gulley Jr., third from left in third row, for example, passed all his high school coursework but has failed the math portion of the High School Exit Exam more times than he can remember. He's planning to take it again and again if necessary.

"I'm determined to get my diploma," Charles said. "But I want to make money before I go to college. I can always go to school."

Sitting in a booth at Denny's recently, he stared at his kindergarten class picture, laughing and pointing at his younger self and ticking off the classmates he still sees or knows.

Charles remembered that Terrell Gunn, now a certified minister and college student, brought a Bible to school even back then.

He remembered that Ja'Bar Gibson, lower left, who graduated from Live Oak High in Antioch and plans to enroll in college soon, made his classmates laugh.

Each student had a story to tell at the time, another to tell today - stories that belie simple stereotypes and statistics.

Everybody still looks the same, Charles said smiling, looking a lot like the 5-year-old in the photo, his dreams still intact, his future - like that of his classmates - still wide open.


A look back: Principal Louise Jones led a bold plan to improve academics at Carver. A19


Chronicle staff writer Leslie Fulbright contributed to this report. E-mail the writers at metro@sfchronicle.com.

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Obama wants to turn around 5,000 failing schools

By LIBBY QUAID, AP Education Writer

Monday, May 11, 2009

(05-11) 14:33 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

President Barack Obama intends to use $5 billion to prod local officials to close failing schools and reopen them with new teachers and principals.

The goal is to turn around 5,000 failing schools in the next five years, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Monday, by beefing up funding for the federal school turnaround program created by the No Child Left Behind law.

Obama doesn't have authority to close and reopen schools himself. That power rests with local school districts and states. But he has an incentive in the economic stimulus law, which requires states to help failing schools improve.

Duncan said that might mean firing an entire staff and bringing in a new one, replacing a principal or turning a school over to a charter school operator. The point, he said, is to take bold action in persistently low-achieving schools.

"Our students have one chance — one chance — to get a quality education," Duncan said in a speech Monday to the Brookings Institution think tank.

"If we turn around just the bottom 1 percent, the bottom thousand schools per year for the next five years, we could really move the needle, lift the bottom and change the lives of tens of millions of underserved children," Duncan said.

In particular, the administration wants to fix middle schools and high schools, focusing on "dropout factories" where two in five kids don't make it to graduation.

Duncan, a former Chicago schools chief, has plenty of experience with school turnarounds. Chicago targeted several public schools for turnaround, eight of them last year, while Duncan was still in charge. It's too soon to know how the eight fared.

What happens to teachers when an entire staff depends on local contracts with teachers' unions. In Chicago, some lost their jobs, while some reapplied and were hired.

But in New York, many whose jobs were eliminated by school closings wound up in a reserve pool of about 1,100 teachers who have continued to receive paychecks while working mostly as substitutes.

Looming budget cuts recently prompted New York schools chief Joel Klein to tell principals they must stop hiring from outside and look within the teacher reserve pool.

The administration's focus on failing schools is part of an effort by Obama to fundamentally change the perception of what works in education. It comes as the administration prepares to rewrite the No Child Left Behind education law championed by former President George W. Bush.

Obama already has channeled an unprecedented amount of money into traditional federal funding for elementary, middle and high schools in his economic stimulus law, doubling the education budget under George W. Bush.

But Obama also plans big boosts for newer and, some argue, untested ideas, plowing more dollars into school turnarounds as well as merit pay for teachers.

"Here's a chance to do something dramatically different," Duncan told The Associated Press after his speech. "I don't want to lose that opportunity."

Combined with the budget plan released last week, Obama may have as much as $5 billion to facilitate the initiative, which could translate to $1 million for every school targeted for turnaround.

The turnaround program currently receives about $500 million a year. The stimulus legislation boosted funding to $3.5 billion. Obama's budget would add another $1.5 billion by shifting dollars away from traditionally funded programs.

Yet school districts and education groups are unhappy with the administration's plan, because it would mean less money for everyone else.

The Title I program, the biggest source of federal dollars for schools, will rise from $13.4 billion this year to $22 billion next year. But funding would drop to just under $13 billion in 2010, a reduction to help pay for the school turnaround fund.

District officials had already planned their budgets and may have to use stimulus dollars to make up the difference, said Mary Kusler, a lobbyist for the American Association of School Administrators.

"The increases that were provided to districts through the stimulus were not instead of future funds — they were supposed to be in addition to future funds," Kusler said.

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