Community Updates – Supervisor Katy Tang

We need our Teachers and our Teachers need Housing

The Teacher of the Year Award is given annually by the mayor to teachers who have

displayed an exemplary history of work in education and who have been

teaching for the SF Unified School District (SFUSD) for at least five years.

This year, two Sunset District teachers received the Teacher of the Year Award.

Daisy Chan, of the Noriega Early Education School, has been teaching

preschool for more than 20 years, and is a first generation Chinese-American and SF

State University graduate.

Betty Momjian, of the A.P Giannini Middle School, also received the award,

and was acknowledged for her commitment to implementing restorative justice

within her school. A sixth grade math and science teacher, Momjian is a National

Board Certified Teacher and also mentors other young teachers.

I would like to congratulate Daisy and Betty as well as the other wonderful

teachers that were recognized this year!

Teachers have the power to transform hearts, minds and inspire change in the

world. But despite their profound and positive involvement in the lives of our

children, they are not compensated fairly and are one of the groups severely impacted

by our region’s housing crisis. For this reason, I am pleased that the City has

recently allocated $44 million to build teacher housing at the Francis Scott Key

Annex (FSKA) site at 1360 43rd Ave. The site is currently owned by the SFUSD and

occupied by a temporary community gathering space and play area called

Playland at 43rd Avenue, which was conceived and built by community members

to re-envision the underutilized parking lot surrounding the FSKA building.

I am looking forward to starting a conversation about how to make the first

housing site dedicated to our teachers and paraprofessionals a reality. Along with the

SFUSD and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development

(MOHCD), our office will be hosting a community meeting in June to have a preliminary

discussion about the proposal to build teacher housing at 1360 43rd Ave.

At this time, a date for the meeting has not been set, so if you are interested in

joining please follow-up with our office at (415) 554-7460 or e-mail

Ashley.summers@sfgov.org.

Updated and corrected information regarding SFUSD senior exemption

Last month’s column contained incorrect information regarding tax exemption

applications for seniors under the Quality Teacher Education Act (QTEA) and

School Facilities Special Tax.

This column provides an update and corrected information.

The teacher act of 2008 and the School Facilities Special Tax of 2010 were

passed by the voters of San Francisco to provide critically needed funds for the

SF Unified School District.

For the 2017-18 tax year, the QTEA will levy a fee of $244.10 for each eligible parcel.

The School Facilities Special Tax will levy a fee of $36.78 for single-family dwellings,

condominiums and commercial properties, and $18.40 per unit for apartments, flats and

mixed-use dwellings.

Both of these measures include an exemption for seniors living on the property provided

that they meet certain criteria. In order for a parcel to be exempt from the QTEA and the

School Facilities Special Tax, the owner of the parcel must occupy it as their primary

residence and be 65 years of age or older as of June 30, 2018.

To apply for this exemption, please complete an application form and submit

it by June 30, at 5 p.m. Parcels that received an exemption in 2016-17 and continue

to meet the eligibility criteria will be automatically exempted for 2017-18.

If you wish to check your status, please send an e-mail to SeniorExemptionOffice

@sfusd.edu with your block and lot number. No late application forms will be accepted.

For more information and the application form, visit the website at

http://www.sfusd.edu/en/about-sfusd/voter-initiatives/senior-citizen-exemption.

Pet Owners Outreach Program

I am sure that many of us have stepped in dog waste accidentally and found ourselves

frustrated by the “poopetrators.” Last month, my office announced a program

designed to curb a prolific problem on our city sidewalks – abandonment of

pet poop. The aptly named “Pet Owner Outreach Program,” or POOP, is a campaign

to educate those who adopt dogs from shelters about existing pet waste laws and to

provide them with free tools to comply.

Both San Francisco Animal Care and Control and the SF SPCA will be providing

education and a free set of dog waste bags and a dispenser along with every dog

adoption.The intent behind the program is to curb the bad behavior

before it begins, by educating dog guardians during the adoption process.

The POOP program follows in the footsteps of former SF Supervisor

Harvey Milk, who was the original sponsor of the Scoop the Poop Act of 1978. Even then,

he knew the law would be difficult to enforce and believed that education and a

culture shift were key to keeping the streets, parks and sidewalks

free of pet waste.

Let’s all do our “doody” and pick up after our dogs!

Katy Tang represents District 4 on the SF Board of Supervisors.