When district reforms like common enrollment come up, OUSD is besieged by arguments about how outsiders are driving policy. And until we can pay for these things ourselves we shouldn’t do them. Funny to hear the deafening silence from critics around outside funding when they agree with the spending. Case in point: the Oakland Promise, which…
Month: January 2016
Real Innovation in Education
The revolution will not be computerized, to riff on Gil Scott Heron. No the education revolution will not be computerized. The innovation we need in schools will not be technology based. No algorithm is going to reach and teach our most vulnerable students, nor will a panopticon manage their behavior and develop the social and…
Bad Arguments Against Common Enrollment Part 2
The debate over creating a common enrollment system for parents that includes charters and district schools rages on. I attended the recent OUSD engagement session and the Oakland Post also ran an op-ed critiquing common enrollment by Rosie Torres, “’Common Enrollment’ is a Misfit for the Problems that Plague Oakland Schools Retaining and improving…
We’re 46th , We’re 46th (In education spending)
Education Week’s finance issue came out recently and the bad news—California was fifth from last in per pupil spending, 46th counting the District of Columbia. The numbers are a few years old, and we have maybe passed Oklahoma over the last couple of years (yee-haw?), but it’s even worse than it seems. These numbers are…
Valid Critiques of Common Enrollment
Last week we broke down some of the crap arguments against common enrollment flying around Oakland. This week we address some real ones, and the need to make any system work for underserved families. Having one system where families can review school programs and quality, rank their choices and have a match created makes a lot of…