Our recap of all the Oakland education news- OUSD’s latest sanctuary stance, the need for education reporters in the Town, the Board’s raise while school budgets are cut, a look at high schools with high graduation rates, attendance zones and segregation in Oakland, the effects of school closings, the inequity in OUSD budget cuts, advice for parents of children with special needs, all that and much more please read and share
Oakland
Oakland Unified to help Salvadoran students and their families
2 education reporters … for a metro region of nearly 8 million people
Amid budget cuts, Oakland school board gives itself a raise
High Schools That Oakland Families Should Consider Based on the Latest Test Scores
How OUSD Reinforces Segregation and What We Can Do; The Results From a Recent Analysis
Connecting with Kyla – Detail Page
Would Closing Schools in Oakland Save Money or Raise Academics?
The Second Best Charter School in NYC and the Perils of “Accountability”
Equity, Equality, and Who Really Feels the Pain From Budget Cuts
My Experience with Tracking – Energy Convertors – Medium
Don’t Talk to Me About ‘Privatization,’ Because Your ‘Public’ School Is Hardly Public
Bay Area schools vie for teachers amid statewide shortage
California
Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature plan for low-income schools gets full funding in his new state budget
How to hire a teacher: Report offers California schools advice
ANOTHER VIEW: Funding For Vocational/Technical Education
Best of the Rest
10 Ways to Give Your Child With Special Needs a Head Start
How to Reform Remedial Education – Center for American Progress
A Conversation With Black Parents, Teachers and Students
We can draw school zones to make classrooms less segregated. This is how well your district does.
How you can help
Click here to support Protect ICS Kids from Budget Cuts organized by Natalee Kēhaulani
Oakland
Oakland Unified to help Salvadoran students and their families – President Trump announced Monday his administration is ending the Temporary Protection Status Program for nearly 200,000 Salvadorans in the United States. Oakland Unified reacted by vowing to help those families who may face deportation.
Don’t Talk to Me About ‘Privatization,’ Because Your ‘Public’ School Is Hardly Public – In Oakland, one of the highest achieving schools in the city is Hillcrest Elementary. It’s a “public” school that is 5 percent free and reduced-price.
Amid budget cuts, Oakland school board gives itself a raise – Amid budget cuts and layoffs, the Oakland school board has voted to give itself a raise, with trustees calling it a token increase to acknowledge their work. The board voted 5-2 on Monday to raise their pay by $39 a month apiece, to $826.
High Schools That Oakland Families Should Consider Based on the Latest Test Scores – Where you send your child to school is one of the most important decisions you can make. The new school quality data was released by the state recently, and I wanted to highlight some of the schools making progress with Oakland children, and encourage families to visit.
How OUSD Reinforces Segregation and What We Can Do; The Results From a Recent Analysis – The residential segregation in Oakland is recreated in the schools—that was the finding from an interesting recent analysis in vox.com. On their site you can enter your city and see how the gerrymandering of school neighborhood attendance zones either reinforce or reduce segregation.
Connecting with Kyla – Detail Page – The superintendent’s latest reflection
Would Closing Schools in Oakland Save Money or Raise Academics? – ….there exists little evidence that closing schools is a successful strategy for fiscal solvency or increasing student academic success.
The Second Best Charter School in NYC and the Perils of “Accountability” – I worked with one of the top scoring charter schools in NYC. It was also one of the worst schools in the City. This school is a cautionary tale for the unceasing push to simplistic accountability formulas and how schools can manipulate the numbers while not really delivering the goods.
Equity, Equality, and Who Really Feels the Pain From Budget Cuts – We talk a lot about nuanced versions of equity in Oakland but don’t live them. Case and point OUSD’s $120/per student across the board budget cuts visited to Hills and Flatlands schools alike. All schools are treated equally which is incredibly inequitable. Let me explain.
Bay Area schools vie for teachers amid statewide shortage – SAN MATEO County >> The Burlingame School District highlights its Maker Spaces and technology program. The Belmont-Redwood Shores district promotes its partnership with a Columbia University reading and writing workshop.
Ron Bridgeforth, Brotherhood of Elders Network, the People Behind the “Gem” of a Library at Frick Middle School. – On the first Saturday of every month, a group of about 30-plus men meet to discuss efforts to better Oakland, and the world beyond. Ron Bridgeforth is one of the participants in this collective of three generations of African American men, known as the Brotherhood of Elders Network.
California
Lifting up California’s Latino students in 2018: 4 big things parents say they want to see in their schools this year – In 2018, Latino parents and advocates are preparing to fight for more funds and better support for their students, from kindergarten to a college degree, as data show California’s Latino students are not succeeding at the same rate as students from other ethnic groups.
2 education reporters … for a metro region of nearly 8 million people – California’s Bay Area shows what it looks like when a region’s education reporting gets whittled down to nearly nothing. By Joanne Jacobs “Black students in San Francisco would be better off almost anywhere else in California, reported Joy Resmovits in the Los Angeles Times in a Jan. 2 story on San Francisco’s “state of emergency” for black student achievement.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature plan for low-income schools gets full funding in his new state budget – Gov. Jerry Brown’s landmark law that sends additional dollars to K-12 students from disadvantaged communities will meet its funding goals two years ahead of schedule under a budget proposal to be unveiled in Sacramento on Wednesday.
Reducing Class Sizes is Popular With Parents, but Not Education Experts. New Research on CA Program Might Change That – Lowering class sizes for elementary students in California — a controversial move that has received a lukewarm reception in some prominent research studies — resulted in greater learning gains than previously thought, according to a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
‘Disappointing but not surprising’ — California’s ESSA plan gets some of the harshest feedback yet from Washington – On Tuesday, the state has invited to the public to a stakeholder meeting in Sacramento to weigh in on California’s response to the federal feedback, which the state board published Friday. People can also watch and react online.
How to hire a teacher: Report offers California schools advice – Bay Area school districts are coming up with innovative ideas to attract new teachers.
ANOTHER VIEW: Funding For Vocational/Technical Education – Schools must prepare students for college — or for work. Every good paying job does not require a college degree and every student is not going to get a college degree. Statistics support these facts. Thankfully, California’s education policy is starting to support these facts as well.
Best of the Rest
10 Ways to Give Your Child With Special Needs a Head Start – Since having a child diagnosed with special-needs, I’ve learned so much about navigating the special-education process. First thing: the special education system is a hot mess—even for savvier parents, it’s incredibly difficult to navigate. The second thing: Early intervention can make all the difference.
How to Reform Remedial Education – Center for American Progress – Policymakers, colleges, and school districts should take steps to successfully reform remedial education for recent high school graduates.
My Experience with Tracking – Energy Convertors – Medium – Ever since my elementary and middle school years, I’ve never felt like I was genuinely learning something significant, or something that I could perhaps be even interested in. Although the staff of my elementary or middle school may have tried to help this complaint in the past, they’ve failed. When I look back, and at some of my peers, I feel academically robbed.
A Conversation With Black Parents, Teachers and Students – VIDEO SERIES: We recently brought together a group of Black teachers, parents and high school students to talk about their experiences with public schools.
We can draw school zones to make classrooms less segregated. This is how well your district does. – Is your district drawing borders to reduce or perpetuate racial segregation?
How you can help
Click here to support Protect ICS Kids from Budget Cuts organized by Natalee Kēhaulani – Oakland Unified is facing another enormous budget shortfall. District level budget cuts are being shouldered by teachers and families, with each school being asked to cut on average $120 per student.