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In a report released Thursday, a San Francisco Civil Grand Jury has recommended that the San San Francisco Unified School District should dump its “confusing, time-consuming, alienating” system of assigning students to schools via lottery, and instead assign students to schools in their neighborhood.

It was tough to hear over the “Oh HELL yeah” emanating from local parents, but the grand jury insulted the lottery system on all fronts: it’s expensive, it’s confusing, it chases intimidated families out of the city, and worst of all, it doesn’t even work. One 2005 study found that more than 50 percent of the SFUSD’s schools were “severely segregated.”

The lottery was only a stopgap solution anyway. As a story in the San Francisco Examiner explains, a 1983 NAACP suit caused a federal court to order San Francisco to integrate its public schools. Another lawsuit in 1991 said that using race to assign students to schools was also unfair. Thus our bizarre lottery system, which assigns weight to such factors as the languages students speak, their socioeconomic background, and the performance of individual schools.

For parents the process is stressful and confusing; for taxpayers the lottery’s expensive: it costs $2 million a year just to maintain the 29-member staff necessary to help parents with the application process. And here’s the real kicker: The federal order to desegregate the schools expired in 2005, so there’s not even anyone making us run it anymore.

Does that sound racist? I’m not jumping up and down that schools are so segregated. I drive by the nice, expensive private schools in town and see only white faces, and then by the schoolyards in the neighborhoods I can afford to rent in and see only brown ones. It bums me out because weren’t we supposed to be over this by now? Actually melting together in our melting pot?

It’s not working, but the lottery isn’t the solution we need either. And it’s a stressful time-suck for the parents and students who have to research scores of schools, and who can’t be sure which (if any!) of their ultimate choices they’ll get. And maybe they get School X all the way over on the other side of town, and either Mom or Dad are hauling them, or they’re getting up at 5:30am to take two buses in order to get there on time.

School board president Mark Sanchez agrees that the lottery ain’t working, and this fall there’ll be discussions and probably changes.

Yippee.

If you have a kid in the city, you’d better be rich, or just get used to renting. According to a fascinating article in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled “Exodus of S.F.’s Middle Class,” the median price for all houses in the city is a sickening $790,000. A source estimates the yearly income needed to buy a house in San Francisco to be in the neighborhood of $200K.

Do you know who can make $200K and afford a $790,000 house? Two people making excellent full-time incomes. You know who can’t? Parents that cut their working hours to take care of the kid(s). The Chronicle story agrees:

The social consequences for a city where moderate- and low-income families can’t get by are manifold. Many believe it’s the primary reason San Francisco has the fewest children per capita of any major metropolitan area in the United States. In 2006, a group of Potrero Hill parents concerned about declining public school ranks surveyed families that had left San Francisco to find out why they had done so. Fifty-three percent cited the schools; 70 percent blamed housing costs.

For most of the decade, San Francisco Unified School District has lost an average of 800 students per year, which has meant losing an additional $4 million in state and federal funds each time.

“So we offer less for kids in terms of programs and classes,” said Mark Sanchez, president of the San Francisco Board of Education. “It definitely hits us hard.”

So you shell out an insane amount of money monthly to live here, and if you want your kid to get a great education, you have to shell out even more to pay for private schooling. No wonder people split for Redwood City and Pacifica.

Puppet shows, county fairs, star shows and a chance to let trained professionals wiggle and strap your car seat into submission.
Zanzibar Puppets present Cinderella

Extraordinary puppets, a classic story, and a swanky venue. Drag out the velvet dresses for this one.

When: Sat., 6/21, 11am, 1pm, and 3pm; Ages 3+; $15-25.

Where: Harry Denton’s Starlight Room in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, 450 Powell St. (at Sutter St.), San Francisco, 415-391-8619, zanzibarpuppets.com.

Alameda County Fair

Watch the pig races, join the pie-eating contest, and take a chance on the whirling rides — will your kid throw up cotton candy and corn dogs? It’s all part of the fun at this old fashioned fair. Admission is free for kids under 12 on Fridays and always free for kids under 6.

When: Fri. 6/20 to Sun. 7/6, 11am-10pm Mon.-Thu., 10am-10pm Fri.-Sun.; All ages; Free-$10.

Where: Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Avenue, Pleasanton, 925-426- 7600, alamedacountyfair.com.

Lake Chabot’s 125th Anniversary Free Family Fun Day

The venerable planetarium/science center throws itself an anniversary party with admission, movies, free planetarium shows, and special space games, all free. Design a rocket, play space bingo, and kibbiz with Bill Nye the Science Guy.

When: Sat., 6/21, 10am-6pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Lake Chabot Space & Science Center, 10000 Skyline Blvd. (at Redwood Road), Oakland; 510-336-7300, chabotspace.org.

CPMC BabySteps Kick-Off Event

Oh, you got the carseat in your car — but is it in properly? Professionals give it a check at this launch party for a new California Pacific Medical Center parenting networking site. You can also get toys tested for toxic lead levels, eat a free healthy lunch, and enjoy a storytime and face painting for the kiddies.

When: Sun., 6/22, 12pm-2pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Fisher Family Hall in the Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St. (at Presidio St.), San Francisco, cpmcbabysteps.org.

Must be a busy time at the Oakland Unified School District–the word is that lots of Oakland parents aren’t sure what school their kids are assigned to for the fall, and that no one who answers the phones at the OUSD has a clue, either.

Put down the phone and try the brisk-and-accurate Oakland Unified School District’s School Finder tool, which allows you to type in an address and then click to find out what elementary, middle, and high school your area is pegged to. If you are within the boundaries for the school of your choice, you don’t have to go through the lottery system–unless the school is over-enrolled, which has been happening in some Oakland elementary schools.

Once you know what school your child is assigned to, calling the school directly to ask questions is generally much more efficient than bugging the overburdened OUSD. Getting in touch with the school’s parent association will net you even more good inside information.

Got other questions? The OUSD website isn’t bad. Visit webportal.ousd.k12.ca.us and click on the “Parents” tab to find out how to navigate the enrollment process. Most all the information is in PDF files (why do they do that?), but it’s still easier than calling. Trust me on that one.

A small-but-interesting study suggests that babies delivered by C-section are more likely to develop asthma and allergies. Researchers analyzed the umbilical cord blood of 50 babies born by Caesarean and 68 babies delivered vaginally, with at least one of the baby’s parents afflicted with asthma or allergies.

Says Dr. Ngoc Ly, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor of pediatrics at UCSF, “We found a dysfunctional cellular response in the normally protective immune system among C-section babies. And although more work needs to be done to follow how long this response might endure, we think this disrupted immune pathway may influence the development of asthma later on.”

The researchers also theorized that vaginal delivery could expose infants to immune-building microbes.

This seem particularly rich to me given that the U.S. has the highest rate of C-sections in the world. And despite UCSF’s pride at their C-section rate of 22.8%, lower than the national rate of about a third, and also lower than the going San Francisco rate of about a quarter, that’s still almost 1 in 5 women going home with a big slice across their bellies, and an infant who may be affected for life, in ways we don’t even really yet understand.

Interestingly, another of the study’s lead authors, Dr. Wilfried Karmaus, is involved in other crunchy-compliant projects, such as a study to determine the best diet for breastfeeders and a long-term project linking exposure to environmental toxins to immune system damage. Could be a good idea to keep an eye on that guy.

If you have an indifferent nurser or a bad latcher, you may find yourself getting a little paranoid that your newborn isn’t getting enough milk. Is she getting anything at all? How much? Why aren’t there ounces marked on your breasts, anyway?

A call to the pediatrician will net you the following sage advice: if the baby is breastfeeding and gaining weight, he’s getting enough. But who knows if the kid’s gaining weight when she only weighs as much as a economy-size bottle of detergent? How can you tell the difference between 7 pounds and 7 pounds, 1 ounce? Are you supposed to whip out the postal scale or what?

Here’s a better option: soothing retail outlet DayOne (locations in San Francisco’s Laurel Village and Palo Alto) offers gliders and nursing pillows aside precision baby scales. You bring in your baby, strip him down and weigh him, then breastfeed and weigh again. There, you see! You’re doing just fine. Stick around DayOne to browse the parenting library, attend a support group, or just sit with other mamas nursing their babies; the store’s a vital resource for parents of infants and young kids.

Hi parents of kids aged 3-4! I know that you just yesterday got your kid into preschool, but it’s already time to start thinking about kindergarten. You may have heard your friends with older kids having anxious conversations about the San Francisco Unified School District’s lottery school-assignment system. It all starts with info-gluts like tonight’s Kindergarten Information night, a festive evening of chatting with administrators and teachers from more than 60 kindergartens around the city. Get ready for handouts, because Good Parent Regulation 602.31 requires your attendance.

When: Wed., 5/7, 6-8pm, Adults only; Free.

Where: Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St. (at Presidio), San Francisco, 415-292-1283, jccsf.org.

A night out looks a lot pricier from this side of the baby divide. Even if you only have one sprout, most babysitter charge upwards of $15 an hour. Add that to the cost of dinner and a movie and date night starts to empty Junior’s college fund.

A better option, for those whose kids have left the pull-up stage: San Francisco Gymnastics’ Parents Night Out, a bi-monthly party for kids age 41/2 and up. Parents drop the tot at 5:30 or 6pm (depending on if it’s a Friday or Saturday) and race off to enjoy themselves, while kids are stuffing their faces with pizza, playing games, navigating obstacle courses around the gym, and watching a movie. According to one savvy mom I know, most kids bring their pajamas and a sleeping bag for the movie portion of the evening, and by the time parents return at 9:30 or 10pm the kids are exhausted, pliable, and ready to fall asleep like a lil angel in the car. The best part? Parents Night Out is just $25 for singleton kids, $20 for each sibling.

Find out more at sanfranciscogymnastics.com.

It’s becoming more and more clear that exposure to bisphenol-a, a.k.a. BPA, is harmful for humans — particularly teeny ones. That particular hormone-disrupting chemical nasty, found in many plastic baby bottles, sippy cups, can liners (most notoriously cans of baby formula), sealable storage containers, etc. etc., can leach into liquids and thus be ingested, potentially causing everything from breast and prostate cancer to early puberty.

How to minimize your exposure? SafeMama has a great list of BPA-free bottles, milk and food storage systems and sippy cups. Print it and take it when you when you buy baby supplies, because even though San Francisco banned the sale of BPA-containing baby bottles in 2006, you can still find plenty of tainted polycarbonate on grocery and drugstore shelves around town.

For the sippy-cup set, BPA-free SIGG kids’ water bottles are all the rage amongst San Fran parents. You can buy gorgeously patterned ones at the ACE Hardware/Standard 5 ‘n’ 10 in the Laurel Village shopping plaza, at most Whole Foods, or REI, though they don’t have as many cute kids’ bottles as Whole Foods or ACE. My own kid’s wild about a Hello Kitty BPA-free Thermos FUNtainer we got at Target, but you’ll look a whole lot cooler carting around a SIGG, trust me on this one.