Beating Adwords - Does It Live Up to the Hype?

If you have been searching the internet for ways to make money online, you know all too well how many opportunities are out there. These opportunities range from selling your own product to affiliate marketing to multi-level marketing. The ebook Beating Adwords is one such opportunity that focuses on Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing. In simple terms, PPC marketing allows you to display your ad next to search engine results for a certain term and in turn you are charged every time someone clicks on your ad. This article will take a look at Beating Adwords and highlight some of the positives and negatives of Beating Adwords.

The authors of Beating Adwords, Kyle and Carson, are two successful affiliate marketers who met in school while earning their Computer Science degrees. That is when they first entered the world of internet marketing. It is during that time that Kyle and Carson developed their techniques and strategies for being successful in PPC marketing. Beating Adwords contains the exact techniques and strategies that the authors have used and are currently using to earn a living. Kyle and Carson have learned what it takes to make successful marketing campaigns and they share this information in this step by step guide.

Beating Adwords is written in an easy to read (and understand) manner that both beginners with no internet marketing experience and expert marketers who need help fine tuning their marketing campaigns will find refreshing and informative. For the beginner Beating Adwords provides step by step instructions (including screenshots) through the entire process. This guide will teach you how to select a product and build a successful campaign around that product. The experienced marketer will learn how to deal with Google’s Quality Score and how to optimize Adwords. Beating Adwords also provides advanced techniques for testing and analyzing your campaigns. Kyle and Carson are continually improving upon their techniques and strategies in order to keep up with the changes in Google’s Adwords system. Beating Adwords does include free lifetime updates so that you can keep up with the changes as well.

The main negative associated with the type of marketing outlined in Beating Adwords is that there is a lot of competition. This can be overwhelming for a beginner. Things will not just happen overnight. This is like any other business. In order to be successful you must be willing to apply yourself and be willing to dedicate a significant amount time to your efforts. That being said, there is a tremendous amount of information provided in Beating Adwords that allows you to beat the competition. The book does provided everything that is needed to produce profitable Pay Per Click marketing campaigns.

Trying to find the right opportunity amidst all of the outrageous “Get Rich Quick” claims can be a very difficult decision. The authors of Beating Adwords do not make any such claims. This is a case where lack of promotional hype is a good thing. What Beating Adwords offers, in lieu of hype and outrageous claims, is an explanation of basic principles that allow you to setup a sound business model that can be effectively repeated time after time. Understanding these basic principles is the key to operating a successful business whether it be online or offline.

George Snyder is a successful internet marketer. Learn how Beating Adwords can make your marketing campaigns successful. Get more information at http://www.BeatingAdwordsReview.com

San Antonio Schools’ Enrollment Is on the Decline, and Trend Is Expected to Continue

The findings of a demographic study, commissioned by Superintendent Robert Durón last fall and conducted by Harner and Associates, was presented to the San Antonio schools’ trustees in February. The study cost $51,000 and will help San Antonio schools’ officials to handle their declining enrollment problem.

The study findings were not positive, expecting declining enrollment within the San Antonio schools to continue over the next ten years with no discernible improvement. It was found that enrollment has been on the decline for a decade with recent years seeing the most student departure. Between 2001 and 2002 school years, the San Antonio schools lost 864 students. Between 2005 and 2006 school years, they lost 1,340 students, representing about 18 percent of its student population. Some new student enrollment did help to offset these departures.

The study notes that the increasing enrollment decline is not unusual for urban school districts. San Antonio schools, in particular, have a shortage of new developments for those families exiting to the suburban areas. San Antonio schools also must improve their programs to attract new families - and new housing cannot take care of the problem alone.

The current San Antonio schools’ enrollment is 55,364 students. The study predicts a worse case scenario of 51,669 students by the 2016-2017 school year. The best case scenario is 54,574 students by the 2016-2017 school year. The average scenario of the worse and best case is 53,122 in ten years, which is the figure the San Antonio schools’ officials will use for planning purposes.

Some proposals currently up for discussion by the San Antonio schools’ officials are:

–School closures and consolidations, using the study findings. With the continual departure of students from the San Antonio schools, this avenue is a given for future planning.

–San Antonio schools board Vice President James Howard has recommended consolidating with neighboring school districts with enrollment declines, including Edgewood, South San Antonio, and Harlandale. Such suggestions in the past have been met with controversy within Bexar County, which has 16 school districts. As Howard pointed out to the San Antonio schools board, however, growth is to the north of the city. It needs to happen for everyone’s benefit.

–Lastly, Superintendent Durón and his staff are developing a new office within the San Antonio schools at a preliminary estimated cost of $200,000. In the past, the San Antonio schools’ officials had made no effort to track departing students, though the Texas Education Agency has available resources for them to use. They knew that many of their students were leaving the San Antonio schools for Northside, North East and Judson school districts, as well as abandoning the traditional public schools for charter and private schools. The new office will help the San Antonio schools do a better job of tracking student departures, gather data on families leaving the district, and survey those who remain. The purpose is to gain a better idea of what families need and want from the San Antonio schools. This proposal has yet to go before the San Antonio schools’ board.

Patricia Hawke is an expert researcher and writer on real estate topics such as economics, credit improvement tips, home selling advice and home buying preparations and education for relocating families. For more information please San Antonio Schools

Are You Harming Your Dog with Their Dog Food? Health Concerns Stemming from Commercial Dog Foods

Do you like eating foods laced with preservatives, fillers and potentially dangerous chemicals? I’m going to take a safe guess and say no-but most dog owners serve this to their beloved pets every day.

Death Due to Dog Food

Commercial dog food health concerns are being raised as more and more people are exposing the potentially harmful practices of commercial dog food manufacturing. On Friday March 16th a major dog and cat food recall was announced by Menu Foods, the company that makes 48 brands of pet foods including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba pet food. The Menu Foods recall was announced after it was discovered that 10 dogs and cats died and an unknown number affected from kidney failure as a result of eating these pet foods.

Do you know what’s in Your Dog’s Food?

The truth is many commercial dog foods have ingredients that would shock you.

Your Dog’s Food Could Contain:

Worms
Rancid Animal Fats
Diseased or cancerous meat
And…

Sodium Pentobarbital used to euthanize animals!

Yes, I’m sorry to tell you but dead animals could be in your dog’s dinner bowl. According to author Ann Martin, author of “Protect Your Pet” and “Food Pets Die For” it is a common practice that euthanized animals are routinely rounded up from veterinary clinics and sent to processing plants to become your dog’s food.

Now tell me-would you knowingly feed your beloved pet this type of food? Of course not! But commercial dog food health concerns stem from the fact that the manufacturers don’t have to tell you what happens to the meat before they get their hands on it.

Discover How To Feed Your Dog a Healthy, Life Enhancing Diet

The key to providing dog food health benefits is to feed your beloved pet the nutrients and vitamins they need-without the preservatives, fillers and tainted meat. Just as you take care to cook healthy meals for you and the rest of your family, you can easily create healthy recipes for your dog. Making homemade meals for your dog isn’t expensive, it isn’t difficult and it will dramatically improve the health and well being of your dog.

On the days that you may not be able to “cook” for your pet you can substitute a safe brand of kibble. You will have to study up on your pet food labels but there are a precious few commercial dog foods on the market that are designed with your pet’s health in mind…but you need to read those labels to be sure you’re giving them the correct brands.

Feed your dog a healthier, chemical free diet and they will:

Have stronger immune systems
Suffer less skin conditions
Better all over health including less chance of heart conditions and kidney failure
Live much longer

If you have a dog you know what a cherished member of the family they become. What you may not know is that you may be putting them at risk for disease and a significantly shorter life span every time you serve them their dog food. Health and happiness for your dog can be as simple as taking the time to learn the truth about commercial dog foods and learning how you can better feed your four legged friend

Cindy McKie is a freelance writer and owner of a 15 year old Bichon Frise named Molly. Learn how to start feeding your dog a healthier diet today with the 5 Free Tips to a Better Dog’s Diet mini-course.

A Passion For Pink Wedding Favors

When you were growing up did you love the color pink? I know I did! I’ve been a girl
in love with the color pink all my life as I’m sure many other girls have. During my teenage
years I kept silent on my love for this feminine color because I didn’t like being
teased but my heart just could not to be denied.

I love pink and eventually that love broke through like sunshine after a heavy rain storm, now I just smile and indulge myself. Let me make this clear, I love all hues of pink, ranging from pale pink to peach to rose pink. I also love to incorporate my favorite color in planning weddings. Ladies if you love pink like I do, go ahead, indulge your passion for pink! Now, let’s get busy, I’m going to give you some great ideas for pink wedding favors. Pay attention!

Wrapped chocolate bars personalized with names and wedding date and adorned with an image of a pink rose is just one great idea, or you might also consider personalized mint tins. One of my particular favorites is the gorgeous pink gladiolus design, and your guests will enjoy the refreshing mints.

Moving right along, let’s take a look at some of our newest favors. We call them personality favors. These favors range from love letter openers, Victorian key bottle openers, or love measuring spoons in personality boxes. You just decide on the box color and design and voila! You have a gorgeous wedding favor ready to present. It’s that easy! Of course these favors come with matching tags you can have personalized. These favors are both practical and smart so you don’t need to worry about being embarrassed you’re going to get stuck with some silly frou frou favor your guests will toss in the trash as soon as they leave. One more thing, these favors can be given to the fellas as well and make practical yet handsome gifts they can use again and again.

Unique Wedding Favors -We offer elegant wedding favors, bridal shower favors, keepsakes, wedding gifts
and wedding accessories you are sure to love.

Make The Most Out Of Your 401(k)

This year (2007) you can contribute up to $15,500 to your employers’ 401(k) plan. If you are older than 50 add an extra $5,000 in catch-up contributions for a total of $20,500. If you are eligible to participate and your employer offers matching contributions there is really is no reason for you to say “no” to this free money. This is probably one of the best ways to achieve your desired retirement income.

Benefits of 401(k) participation:

It’s easy & helps lower your taxes - You decide how much you want so save. Your contributions are automatically deducted from your paycheck before federal and state income taxes are calculated. This reduces your taxable income by the amount of your contribution and saves you tax dollars.

Your money grows faster - Your contributions and company match may grow further through investments in stocks, mutual funds, and money market funds. The important point is that this is tax-deferred growth. Taxes are paid when you withdraw the money at retirement; usually at a much lower tax rate.

Rollover option - When you change jobs you have an option to rollover your vested 401(k)balance into an IRA or a new 401(k) plan. Do not cash it out or take possession of that money. Instead, use a direct rollover and your current company will send your check to the new IRA or 401(k) trustee.

Flexibility - Most 401(k) plans have hardship withdrawals and a first time home buyer provision.

Visit your employer’s human resources department and learn everything you can about 401(k) plan offered. Your financial advisors should be willing to give you advice as well. Start as early as your can. Time (number of years investing), compounding interest, and persistency all work in your favor.

Art Of Saving is a
personal finance education company. Our
Savism programs empower
consumers to save money, plan for retirement, increase their net worth, and
achieve financial goals.

A Taste of China - Seattle Schools New Guest Teacher Shares Language and Culture of Her Native Home

The Seattle schools have a new “guest” teacher. Zhu Dan arrived in the Seattle schools in January and will stay for an 18-month guest teacher program. Dan, who teaches college-level English in her native Kunming, China, has the option to extend her stay for another year.

Dan is one of 34 guest teachers in 19 states that are participating in a new partnership between China’s institute Hanban and the College Board, a nonprofit organization that administers the Advanced Placement exams and SAT testing). Plans are for an additional 100 guest teachers across the United States by this summer and 250 by 2009. The partnership is part of China’s large-scale effort to promote the Mandarin language and getting people in other countries to learn it.

This is the perfect program for many Pacific Coast states that do a lot of business with China. Chief Sealth High School principal John Boyd traveled to China as part of a Hanban program and was inspired to offer a course in Mandarin to his Seattle schools students. He and Noah Zeichner, who heads up the high school world language program, wanted to expand the international focus in his Seattle school. They already have a student exchange program from Chongqing, China.

Zhu Dan teaches the Mandarin language in three Seattle schools - Denny Middle, Madison Middle, and Chief Sealth High Schools. While the institute Hanban pays her a stipend, the Seattle schools provide housing, airfare and cover other fees. Dan is residing with Sealth teacher Frank Cantwell and his family.

Dan applied for the guest teacher program for three reasons - to improve her own English skills, to help Americans understand more about China and its culture, and to help get the program started within the Seattle schools. She wants to leave her students with enough knowledge of the Mandarin language to survive a trip to her country.

Before traveling to the United States and the Seattle schools, Dan had to take a two-week crash course in Beijing. It covered our culture and education system, our money system, and how to write a check (something seldom done in China).

Many of her Seattle schools students took her course, because it sounded interesting. Others have friends or family members who speak Mandarin. Within her first two weeks of instruction, Dan’s Seattle schools students could count to ten in Mandarin, pronounce the Chinese names she gave them, work through the pronunciation drills and vocabulary exercises given them, and sing a song about the Chinese New Year to the song “My Darlin’ Clementine”. Additionally, Dan shares her Chinese culture with the students, making her classes even more interesting.

Besides the guest teacher program, many Seattle schools now are offering instruction in Mandarin, as well as Advanced Placement courses in Chinese and the AP testing that earns college credit for the Seattle schools students who pass. For this year, Dan’s Mandarin class at Sealth High School meets after school. It will be part of the normal, daytime curriculum in the fall. Principal Boyd is encouraging elementary schools within his area of the Seattle schools to apply together for a second guest teacher for the Mandarin language.

Patricia Hawke is an expert researcher and writer on real estate topics such as economics, credit improvement tips, home selling advice and home buying preparations and education for relocating families. For more information please Seattle Schools

Teamwork

Teamwork is crucial
Don’t think it miniscule
It means everything
To accomplish anything
It’s called cooperation.
TEAM is an acronym
The meaning enlightening
Together
Everybody
Accomplishes
More
Therefore
We should learn
To work together
Not be hard as leather
Nor soft as a feather
Not be critical and cold
Neither shun being bold
Don’t beat me down
To the dirty ground
But don’t flatter me
And thereby deny me
From being all I could be
I certainly do need thee.
We undoubtedly can’t be
All that we were meant to be
Without a collaborative effort
A hearty commitment to exert
Ourselves together fully
Or drive each other crazy
Produce peaceably collectively
Or perish pathetically individually
Teamwork is the key consistently
The most important ingredient
The sustaining saving solvent
Stay together against deterrence
Improve the national defence
Unite and pledge allegiance
Take rest. Don’t be so intense.
Live together in communities dense
Discover technological brilliance
Engineer and build a Mercedes Benz
Legislate new laws and adherence
Place people over proud pretense.
Get some collective societal sense
Whence you can make a few pence
Thence we can rejoice and dance
Fearlessly take a chance and advance
Kindly forgive, forget, and be resilient
Overcome being emotionally buoyant
Elegantly articulate being verbally fluent
Prefer, get along, and be considerate
Us, over me, as we show sensitivity
Less of me, more of we triumphantly
Teamwork makes us indefeatable
Our energy can be indefatigable
Resources multiply indefinable
Profound intelligence undebatable
Care and compassion supernatural
Mightily power increases exponential
A team is invaluable and monumental
Together for us nothing is impossible.

Paul Davis is a FL real estate professional, life coach (relational & professional), worldwide minister, and change master.

Paul is the author of several books including Breakthrough for a Broken Heart; Adultery: 101 Reasons Not to Cheat; Are You Ready for True Love; Stop Lusting & Start Living; Waves of God; Supernatural Fire; Poems that Propel the Planet; and God vs. Religion.

Paul’s compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul has served in many war-torn, impoverished and tsunami stricken regions of the earth. His Dream-Maker Inc. is building dreams, breaking limitations & reviving nations.

Paul’s Breakthrough Seminars inspire, revive, awaken, impregnate with purpose, impart the fire of desire, catapult people into a new level of self-awareness, facilitate destiny discovery and dream fulfillment.

Contact Paul to minister, speak at your event or for life coaching: RevivingNations@yahoo.com, 407-284-1705.

For additional info:
http://dreammakerministries.com/
http://creativecommunications.tv/

Book Design - Images and Resolution For Print

As far as publishing goes this is perhaps the least understood aspect. At one time what you needed was a photograph which you sent to the printer or publisher who did their magic and voila; the picture appeared in your book. Now in the computer era the picture can be in a variety of digital formats.

An original photograph is referred to as a continuous tone image. The tones move seamlessly from white through grey to black and through the colour spectrum. A photograph does have a grain structure but it is microscopic and contains orders of magnitude more information than a digital image. Digital images also have a grain structure called pixels. Each pixel can have many values (in the millions for a colour image) but the entire pixel has the same value. When we take a picture with a digital camera (or scan a photograph) we do it at a particular resolution. This refers to the number of pixels in the image and is usually given as number of pixels width and pixels height. This is referred to as a raster image due to the way it is imaged on screen — from left to right and top to bottom. This is also the order in which the pixels values are given in the image file.

To get the illusion of continuous tone when a photograph is printed we use ink dots. Don’t confuse ink dots with pixels, they are not the same. These dots are usually printed in a rectangular grid called a screen, measured in ink dots per inch and the dots themselves vary in size. (Screens are often described as lines, of ink dots, per inch.) So as the tone in an image gets darker the ink dots get larger but the screen, dots (lines) per inch, remain the same. You would think that the higher the number of dots per inch the better the resulting picture and you would be mostly correct, but this is dependent on the printing press, the type of paper and the chemistry of the ink. It turns out that we need about 300 pixels per inch to give a good quality image at 130 line screen (130 ink dots per inch).

We talked earlier about laser printers not being able to deliver as good an image as offset. Printing houses today also use laser technology but they call them image setters not laser printers and they produce much higher resolution images. To produce the 130 line screen, the image setter needs to be capable of over 2000 pixels per inch where your laser printer is only capable of 600. A very thorough explanation of this can be found in the book Real World Scanning and Halftones.

So the digital image you sent was perhaps 3,456 pixels x 2,304 pixels. This is the top resolution you might get from an 8 megapixel camera. This image could print a cover about 12 inches across. The salesman may have told you that you could print a poster with these images but he is talking about printing on an ink jet printer not a printing press — different technologies with different requirements. The 12 inches sounds good as far as printing your cover but you only want a small crop of the image. It turns out that the crop you want is only 1,000 pixels wide and 1,600 pixels high. The minimum you need for your cover is 1,800 pixels wide by 2700 high (6 inches multiplied by 300 pixels per inch, and 9 inches multiplied by 300 pixels per inch). So the designer tells you the image is too small or more correctly, isn’t high enough resolution.

If you provide original photographs or negatives the designer or printer will scan them at the required resolution (providing of course that the pictures are of reasonable size, don’t have to be cropped too much and are in focus). If you provide digital images they must be of a high enough resolution.

Just a quick word about original photographs: They do need to be reasonably good quality. I have tried to scan 8″ x 10″ portraits that were so poorly done that it was almost impossible to get a good image. I have also scanned an 1880 era carte-de-visite photo that is only about 2.5″ x 3.5″ that has fabulous detail.

At the risk of confusing you, lets discus a different technology: stochastic screening. Stochastic is simply a fancy word meaning random. (If you are a mathematician you are now jumping up and down, incensed that I would use such a simplistic definition. It’s a little like a fashion designer telling you that aubergine isn’t purple. If this doesn’t mean anything to you believe me when I say that it doesn’t matter, so please don’t loose any sleep over it. ;-) Conventional printing uses lines of varying sizes of ink dots, stochastic printing uses random patterns of small ink dots that don’t change in size but vary in number or density. This is roughly the technology your ink jet printer uses. The benefit is that you might be able to get away with a smaller (lower resolution) image using stochastic printing. Don’t take this as a licence to crop your digital images to death, there is still a great benefit to using high resolution images and stochastic printing will benefit more from very high resolution than conventional printing will.

Although this technology isn’t really new its adoption has been slow in the print industry. If your printer happens to use this type of screening it can be a plus and your designer will make any necessary adjustments to take advantage of it.

I hope this has made the concept of resolution a little clearer as far as the print industry is concerned.

Ten Ways to Add Value to Your Services

The saying, “nothing is for free” isn’t necessarily true especially when you’re talking about added value services you can offer your client. These are services you offer your clients in addition to your regular services. They can be standalone services or they can incorporate existing features of your current services. Either way, they provide an added value to your clients - once that puts you above your competition in your client’s eyes.

What does it mean to add value to your services and why is it important? There are millions of small businesses out there. You need to create ways to stand apart from the crowd. Value added services are one way to do that. What exactly an added value is will vary based on whether a client is a prospect, a current client, or a past client.

Your most important client is your current client - you do the most for them. Keeping current clients happy reduces your recruitment and marketing costs and increases the stability of your business. You’ll need to direct most of your efforts to this group of clients.

Next are past clients. It stands to reason that re-signing them would require less time and resources than trying to sign a new client. Past clients are also more likely to give you referrals. Your experience with past clients makes it easier to identify value added services that would likely be attractive to them.

Finally, the least amount of energy and expense should be expelled on the potential client. They are the toughest and most expensive. Why - mostly because they know nothing about you. You’ll spend a lot of time and money educating them and determining which value added service is likely to appeal to them.

1.-Mail or email an industry-specific article or link to your client with a personal, handwritten note saying “I thought you would find this interesting” etc.
2.-Offer alternative forms of payment. Add value for your customers by providing them several different options when paying. Not everyone has a credit card or a PayPal account. When think about your business processes from your customer’s perspective, you’ll quickly realize the added value they receive.
3.-Gift Cards, Loyalty Cards, and Prepaid Cards. Boost your business with new revenue channels and increase customer loyalty by offering a gift card, loyalty card, or prepaid card program. A more convenient alternative to gift certificates for your customers, gift card programs also help you build brand awareness. Loyalty card programs reward customers for purchases to keep them coming back.
4.-Quarterly progress reports. Send your clients quarterly progress reports and outline what you accomplished together as a team and how you can help them get where they want to go next.
5.-Coffee on you - Many of us “do everything except make” for our clients. Send your clients a coffee card with a note saying “today the coffee’s on me!”
6.-A free sample. Give away free samples of your products or products of local retailers. For example a B&B with a great jam can give away free samples.
7.-Client appreciation night. Give your client a movie night on you. Send movies and popcorn with a note letting them know how much you appreciate their business.
8.-Celebrate some of the more unusual holidays during the year and give small inexpensive gifts - e.g. National Popcorn Day - give out popcorn (can you tell I like popcorn!).
9.-Offer annual meetings to your clients to discuss business at no charge - review progress and goals together for the next year.
10.-Partner with another like business and collaborate on a coupon to offer a discount to your clients.

These are just a few ideas of ways to add value to your services. The idea that works best with each particular client will be the one that best matches their needs and interests. Be sure to do your homework. An impressed client is a happy client.

Laurie Dart, owner of Writing Wisely, provides writing and editing services to entrepreneurs and small business owners from her home office in Portland Oregon. Some of her recent projects include press releases, e-book editing and e-course development. She is the author of the Everyday Guide to Writing Wisely and co-author of The Everyday Guide to Writing and Marketing Your e-book Wisely. For more info, visit http://www.writingwisely.com

Back-Burnered San Francisco Schools Committee Now Moving to Forefront

In 2003, a committee was created with members appointed from the city Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education. In the beginning, the committee was used to discuss joint concerns on issues, such as affordable housing for teachers, student nutrition, and graffiti in the San Francisco schools. Unfortunately, the structure of the joint committee was a matter of contention from the committee’s inception with an imbalance of power.

The Board of Supervisors control the forum. They decide what issues are put on the meeting agendas for discussion. They have the right to make inquiries of the San Francisco schools’ officials, who are expected to respond to all inquiries. Unfortunately, this is a one-way power structure.

The San Francisco schools are funded by the state and not accountable to city or county governments. The structure of the committee makes the San Francisco schools’ officials accountable to the city’s Board of Supervisors and doomed from the beginning. Thus, the committee has met rarely in the past couple of years.

Though the San Francisco schools’ officials and city supervisors were scheduled to meet twice monthly in 2006, it did not happen, according to Jill Wynns, a veteran San Francisco schools’ board member. Unfortunately, 2006 was a year the committee was most needed. There were several San Francisco schools issues in the forefront last year that caused undue tensions within the San Francisco schools and the community. There were several closures of San Francisco schools, for example, as well as decisions on the use of voter-approved enrichment funds (from the city) for San Francisco schools’ expenditures.

A new committee chairman has been appointed to help bring the committee back to life. Chairman Bevan Dufty, a member of the Board of Supervisors, is promising a more mutual relationship within the committee to build more and better communication between the two leaderships.

In order to breath new life into the committee, Dufty plans to approach the forum as equal partners between the city supervisors and the San Francisco schools’ officials, beginning with agenda items. San Francisco schools’ officials now will be able to submit requests to put issues on meeting agendas. Though Dufty still has final say on the agenda items and there has been no commitment to two-way inquiries, this is a major first step toward positive change.

Other members of the committee include veteran supervisor Sophie Maxwell, newly appointed supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, veteran San Francisco schools’ official Jill Wynns, and newly-elected San Francisco schools’ officials Jane Kim and Mydra Mendoza.

It is hoped that the infusion of new people, especially the new chairman, will energize the committee into a partnership for positive change within the San Francisco schools.

Patricia Hawke is an expert researcher and writer on real estate topics such as economics, credit improvement tips, home selling advice and home buying preparations and education for relocating families. For more information please San Francisco Schools