More of the same, that’s what the School Board voters approved in Oakland last week.  All the incumbents prevailed as well as our local school bond, with a whopping 81%.  There was a lot of heat and money poured into Oakland around these races, to very little effect. The results are a good thing.  We…

“OK, let’s go save these kids.” This was the expression used by a fellow teacher before the school year began. As I heard the expression, I wondered if the remark had any degree of truthfulness. Serving a community that is notorious for its poverty and high crime rate, as is the city of Richmond, CA,…

Election day hurt bad, it still hurts.  I was in two Oakland schools.  One in the West, and one in Fruitvale.  Little girls in hijabs lined up alongside voters in one school.  And in the other school, which is 60% English language learners it was picture day, beautiful site with little kids beaming in the…

There is a crisis in Black achievement, and one of the solutions is Black teachers.  But the latest report from Education Trust, “Through Our Eyes; Perspectives and Reflections from Black Teachers“, which actually asked them about their experiences raises some troubling issues about the conditions they teach in, and what we need to do to…

It’s odd to hear someone who says they support parents and teachers to argue for less school funding in Oakland.  But that is the contorted place we find ourselves, with the so called “Oakland Parents United,” opposing the latest parcel tax that would fund Oakland middle schools. Oakland’s schools are underfunded. And I haven’t been…