December 6, 2007
1) Call to Order/Roll Call
The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Faye Woo Lee at 1:35p.m. A quorum was present.
Members Present
Commissioner Faye Woo Lee, Molly Baier, Rich Bondoc, Larry Chatmon, Cameron Douraghy, Jerry Jones, Patrick Regan, Ken Stram, Norma Tecson and Adrian Trujillo
Members Absent
Commissioner Carlota del Portillo, John Crowley,Warren Mar, Ronnie Rhoe, John Weber
Staff Present
Chris Iglesias, Director, Frank Anderson, Linda Chin, Kabir Hypolite, Mary Gin Starkweather
Guest
Phyllis McGuire, Associate Vice-Chancellor for Workforce and Economic Development, City College of San Francisco at Evans Campus
2) Approval of Agenda
Rich Bondoc moved and Cameron Douraghy seconded the motion to approve the agenda. The agenda was approved unanimously.
3) Adoption of October 4, 2007 minutes
Molly Baier offered the following correction to the minutes: page 3, second paragraph, sentences 1 and 2 – “Less than 10% of the workers in the construction industry are women. Mr. Struthers was not able to give figures on the numbers of girls participating in Santa Clara’s program.”
Rich Bondoc moved and Larry Chatmon seconded the motion to adopt the amended minutes. The amended minutes were adopted unanimously.
4) Public Comment for Items not on the agenda
None
5) Commissioners’ Report
Commissioner Faye Woo Lee introduced Chris Iglesias, the new Director of the Human Rights Commission. The members introduced themselves and Mr. Iglesias spoke about his commitment to employment. He also complimented the guest speaker, Ms. McGuire and spoke of her invaluable assistance with the CityBuild program.
6) Staff Report
None
7) Old Business
Report of the Working Group – Analysis of Proposed State Legislative requirement regarding reintroduction of Career Technical Education into the SFUSD –
The following areas were discussed:
Patrick Regan reported that he had spoken to Senator Tom Torlakson’s office about SB672. He said there was a study that showed a 17% decline in the drop-out rate of students who received technical education classes in high school. Mr. Regan will do more research to locate the source of the study information. Senator Torlakson wants to tie SB672 to SB 681, which would extent the school day by 50 minutes and dedicate more funding to the tech education programs. The main concern is funding.
Larry Chatmon suggested that the committee look into existing law regarding the general obligation bonds to modernize the existing facilities and confirm that the need is being met. He said that we need to determine if the applications seek money for more space and if not, how needs will be met. He wants to know if what justification is provided if a bill does not authorize sufficient funding.
Jerry Jones said he recently gave a presentation at an all-girls private school on the Peninsula and not one of the girls expressed an interest in working in the trades when he asked.
Patrick Regan said that he felt that tech education should be available for students who will not go to college.
Ken Stram emphasized the importance of applied academics in high school.
Larry Chatmon said that we need to find out why there are underperforming students.
Jerry Jones was concerned about the large numbers of minority students who are leaving high school with out being properly educated.
This matter was put over until February 7, 2007, at which time the entire meeting will be dedicated to the discussion of the status of the Senate and Assembly Bill of whether or not the Committee wishes to support technical education (especially as it relates to the trades) in San Francisco High Schools.
8) New Business
1) Phyllis McGuire, Associate Vice-Chancellor for Workforce and Economic Development, City College of San Francisco (CCSF) at Evans Campus gave a presentation on Career and Technical Education programs.
CCSF is the largest City College in California, serving 10 campuses and a very diverse population of over 100,000 full and part-time students.
The college offers both credit and non-credit classes in Business, Communication Arts, Computer Science, Engineering, Health, Horticulture, Hospitality, Service, Technology, Trades and Transportation.
City College offers a broad range of construction education and training opportunities through five departments. In addition to over 40 credit and noncredit courses held during the day, evening and weekend, CCSF works with several partners to develop and deliver training programs that meet particular community needs. CCSF collaborates with the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development to offer trade skills construction classes to CityBuild participants at the Evans Campus and partners with Charity Cultural Services using a model similar to CityBuild. CCSF’s Apprenticeship Department offers classes for seven Apprenticeship Programs including Bricklaying, Plastering, Plumbing, Refrigeration/Air Conditioning, Roofing/Waterproofing, Stationary Engineering and Steamfitting. Additionally, CCSF collaborates regularly with the San Francisco Unified School District and serves on the District’s Construction Trades Advisory Board.
CCSF is affordable to virtually anyone, with tuition rates of $20/unit or $60 per 3 unit class. Prospective students are asked to complete an Occupational Interest Survey, so that counselors may better assist in placing them in appropriate programs.
Recently, CCSF had a project targeting Bayview Hunters Point residents working at the Shipyard. The project lasted 22 weeks, and initially enrolled 28 people. Twenty-two successfully completed the programs and two completed courses in college level math.
One of the main problems Ms. McGuire sees in the reintroduction of Technical education in the high schools is that it is virtually impossible to find teachers with the State of California required teaching credentials. CCSF does try to bring college to high school seniors through “concurrent enrollment”. However, it is difficult for seniors to add another 3-4 hour class into their week. There is an Introduction to Construction class that is 12 hours a week.
With the introduction of the “No child left behind” program, vocational education, art and physical education classes are being eliminated. Also the cost of equipment has also contributed to the elimination of high school trades programs. There is a “battle” for equipment money.
In answer to a question regarding undocumented persons, Ms. McGuire emphasized that CCSF does education and training, not job placement. In order to receive credit, a prospective student must show proof of residence for a year and a day. No proof of residence documents are needed for non-credit classes.
Answers to various other questions:
CCSF has a career development placement center and free legal services.
Transgender students are tracked.
Regarding formerly incarcerated persons:
1) Past criminal history does not matter in the construction program
2) In order to enter the “Bridge to Biotechnology” program, the record must be expunged and there can be no convictions for drugs or felonies.
CCSF publishes their brochures and information in multiple languages.
ESL classes are offered and students are very motivated.
There are waiting lists for the custodial training slots.
There is a lottery for the “Registered nurse” and “Buyer Academy” programs.
Regarding the dearth of women in the trades; there is a perception from childhood that construction is not a desirable career for a woman. The National Association of Women in Construction can take a role in further outreach to and education of young girls.
2) Cameron Douraghy, the President of Artisan Creative gave a presentation regarding the temporary staffing services industry.
Staffing firms match thousands of people to thousands of jobs. Mr. Douraghy presented statistics that demonstrated the growth and decline rates of different industries served by temporary staffing companies. Information technology and engineering are growing fastest with a 10% growth rate. There are declines in clerical and industrial jobs. Nationally, the temporary staffing industry accounted for $126.1 billion. .
Over 3,400 California staffing companies employed nearly 1,500,000 people for temporary or contract work in 2006 and generated a payroll of nearly $9 billion. The average tenure was 12.4 weeks. About 35% of the employees go on to permanent jobs when they leave the staffing industry. Over 525,000 employees bridged to permanent jobs in 2006. In 2006, California firms employed an average of over 355,000 people per day. Eighty-one percent of the agencies in California are small businesses and 65% are either minority or women owned. There are about 15,500 temp workers in the San Francisco, San Mateo, and Redwood City area. Most workers in San Francisco move from temporary to permanent (perm) work.
A company will pay a staffing agency approximately $25-30/hr. for an office person depending upon the volume of work and the length of time for employment. A staffing company will have about a 30% mark-up with a profit margin of 3-5%.
Artisan Creative supplies artistic people who develop communication media (print, web design, and video production) to design firms and advertising agencies throughout the Bay Area.
Answers to various questions:
The light industrial/hospitality industry accounts for 35% of the temp workers.
Benefits are dependent upon the length of the contract. Average tenure is 12½ weeks. One must work for 2 full months to qualify for benefits and Artisan Creative offers an HMO plan.
9) Announcements and Calendar matters
The next meeting of the Employment Committee will be held:
Date: Thursday, February 7, 2007
Time: 1:30 – 3:30pm
Place: HRC Offices
25 Van Ness Avenue # 800
San Francisco, CA. 94102
10) Adjournment
Rich Bondoc moved and Cameron Douraghy seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 3:30pm.