All the Oakland education news that is fit to link– this week– lots of strike coverage, including teacher narratives, the fact finding report, the superintendent’s response, and some of the underlying causes, plus new transparency legislation for charters, a study on Black college completion, and much more with links, please read, share and get involved
- Oakland:
- Oakland Teachers Union Calls for Feb. 21 Strike Over Pay, Class Sizes
- Sobrante Park BBQ – Free!
- Black Joy Parade Official After Party Powered by Toasted Life
- The State of Quality Education in Oakland-“I Deserve An Education System That Is Working as Hard as I Am” -A Student Perspective
- Report says Oakland Unified can’t afford to pay teachers the 12 percent raise they want to avoid strike
- Teacher Strike Update: What we learned from the independent fact-finding report about compensation, class size, and more
- Oakland school district addresses how special education will be addressed during the strike
- What we learned from the independent fact-finding report about compensation, class size, and more- A guest post
- An Oakland teacher explains why he’s going on strike
- Oakland superintendent: District must choose ‘imperfect solutions over strife’
- Forum on the Road: Oakland Teachers Strike Begins
- Oakland school strike: Teachers picket, classrooms empty and no end in sight
- Opinion: How Oakland schools can solve financial crisis
- Why I am on the picket line, not in my classroom
- About Being a Black Female Leader in Oakland
- Oakland teachers will continue striking Friday
- Oakland teachers strike against a district that’s also broke
- Oakland school rebuild means construction disruption to angry neighbors
- See where California teachers have the toughest time paying rent, mortgage
- Some Oakland Unified School District moms provide emergency daycare during teacher strike
- Charter schools are a flashpoint in California’s teacher strikes—here’s where and how they’ve grown
- California Schools Have More Money than Ever, So Why Is OUSD Broke
- California:
- Opinion: California success requires Newsom fix education inequity
- Webinar: California’s School Pension Crisis
- California’s black students lag in college completion despite some gains
- School of Public Health study links unhealthy diet to mental illness in California adults
- California charter schools facing new oversight under fast track legislation
- Support, strengthen education reforms in California, new report urges
- Other Stories:
- How You Can Help:
- Resources:
Oakland:
- Oakland Teachers Union Calls for Feb. 21 Strike Over Pay, Class Sizes
- The Oakland teachers’ union on Saturday called on its 3,000 members to strike after negotiating with the Oakland Unified School District for more than a year and a half.
- Sobrante Park BBQ – Free!
- Calling all our Sobrante Park neighbors! Join us on Saturday for a BBQ at 105th and Edes in Oakland. Free food, diapers, immigration physicals, raffles, and more!
- Black Joy Parade Official After Party Powered by Toasted Life
- After the Black Joy Parade let’s continue the celebration at New Parish where Toasted Life will be hosting the Official After Party starting at 830pm.
- The State of Quality Education in Oakland-“I Deserve An Education System That Is Working as Hard as I Am” -A Student Perspective
- We are referred to as “student” as if we weren’t placed on earth with a name that matters. The quality of our education is unsettling and our intellectual freedom sometimes feels nonexistent.
- Report says Oakland Unified can’t afford to pay teachers the 12 percent raise they want to avoid strike
- In a non-binding “fact-finding report” released over the weekend, arbitrator Najeeb N. Khoury acknowledged that the district’s offer of a 5 percent raise over three years won’t keep pace with inflation but also noted the Oakland Education Association’s demand for a 12 percent increase over three years is beyond the district’s means.
- Teacher Strike Update: What we learned from the independent fact-finding report about compensation, class size, and more
- On the eve of a teacher strike in Oakland, a few things are clear:
- Teachers in Oakland are woefully underpaid, leaving them struggling to make ends meet, and putting the district at a disadvantage in recruiting and keeping talented teachers.
- Oakland is a district in a financial crisis, and is far from having the resources to support our teachers and students the way they deserve.
- A key root cause of our problems here is that California deeply underfunds our public education system. We must come together to advocate for our elected leaders in Sacramento to radically shift our funding models.
- On the eve of a teacher strike in Oakland, a few things are clear:
- Oakland school district addresses how special education will be addressed during the strike
- Many parents are fretting over what to when the Oakland teachers go on strike Thursday. And the parents of special education students have even more specific worries, over transportation and medication challenges.
- What we learned from the independent fact-finding report about compensation, class size, and more- A guest post
- We are hopeful that the fact finder’s perspective can serve as a starting point for continued negotiations that result in a contract that provides better wages for our underpaid teachers and keeps brief a strike that will have negative impacts on our most vulnerable students.
- An Oakland teacher explains why he’s going on strike
- Earlier this week, we followed Alejandro Estrada, a 4th grade teacher at International Community School and the union representative for his school, as he prepared to walk the picket line. Estrada, who has been teaching at the school for eleven years now, says he doesn’t want to strike, but is doing it for his students.
- Oakland superintendent: District must choose ‘imperfect solutions over strife’
- We need to invest our resources in supporting our children and retaining high quality educators. To this end, Oakland Unified’s core priorities of fiscal vitality, organizational resilience and access to quality schools are all deeply interrelated. Our teacher retention issues are, in part, rooted in our financial issues, both underfunding and mismanagement.
- Forum on the Road: Oakland Teachers Strike Begins
- Oakland teachers start their picket lines on Thursday after months of failed negotiations with the Oakland Unified School District. The teacher’s union is asking for a 12 percent pay increase and smaller class sizes. The district says they’re too financially strapped to meet the demands. Forum broadcasts from Oakland on the first day of the teacher’s strike and we’ll hear from the school board, the union, teachers and parents about what’s next for Oakland schools.
- Oakland school strike: Teachers picket, classrooms empty and no end in sight
- “There was no type of structure without the teachers,” said Kimouri Jackson, a senior at Oakland Technical High who watched an animal documentary and said only a few dozen students showed up. The school usually has 2,000 students.
- Opinion: How Oakland schools can solve financial crisis
- When I became Superintendent of Oakland Unified School District, I knew the road ahead would be tough. I was born and raised in East Oakland, came up through our public schools, and witnessed the same cycle of controversies plague our district for far too long. I’ve seen them, I’ve been a part of them — and above all, I’m tired of them.
- Why I am on the picket line, not in my classroom
- After spending Day One on the picket line with students, parents and colleagues at our school, I offer you the perspective of one Oakland teacher.
- About Being a Black Female Leader in Oakland
- This podcast series delves into the minds of some of the most influential Black leaders in Oakland (and beyond). When we let great minds just rant, they always leave a trail of gems in their wake. Enjoy.
- Oakland teachers will continue striking Friday
- A strike by Oakland Unified School District’s 3,000 teachers began Thursday as the teachers’ union calls for higher wages to address the higher cost of living in the area.
- Oakland teachers strike against a district that’s also broke
- Of all the teachers’ strikes across the country, this one is especially consequential.Oakland teachers hit the picket lines Thursday, unable to afford the soaring cost of living near Silicon Valley. Some are getting priced out of their homes. The crisis is so dire, the school district is losing almost 20% of its teachers every year.
- Oakland school rebuild means construction disruption to angry neighbors
- For months, Sandra Montgomery has watched from her backyard in Oakland as construction workers demolish and rebuild Glenview Elementary School. Close to “ground zero,” her house is consistently enveloped by a cloud of dust from construction.
- See where California teachers have the toughest time paying rent, mortgage
- California is suffering a persistent teacher shortage. One reason: As home prices rise, teachers in California struggle to afford to live in many of the areas where they work. Many workers in other professions — public and private — face similar problems living in the state’s high cost areas.
- Some Oakland Unified School District moms provide emergency daycare during teacher strike
- Rec centers and libraries aren’t the only places Oakland parents are sending their kids for daycare during the teacher strike. Some moms are taking students into their own homes and watching them while their folks are at work.
- Charter schools are a flashpoint in California’s teacher strikes—here’s where and how they’ve grown
- As teachers picket in the streets of Oakland in their second high-profile strike this year in California, state lawmakers are hearing their battle cry loud and clear.
- California Schools Have More Money than Ever, So Why Is OUSD Broke
- California’s economic growth and investment in education are at an all time high and the latest budget promises even more money. The Mercury News covered this. However, districts across the State are hurting, and very few are hurting more than OUSD, which is facing a series of painful cuts, both in the short term and long term, and a big issue is the pension crisis.
California:
- Opinion: California success requires Newsom fix education inequity
- The role race plays in determining educational outcomes, however, hasn’t gotten enough attention. And the truth is that if we want to create a truly equitable society in California, education is where we must start.
- Webinar: California’s School Pension Crisis
- Who pays and what could be done? Pension costs are placing tremendous strain on school district budgets throughout the state and are also having an effect on labor negotiations. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed providing some relief but the longer term burdens will still remain.
- California’s black students lag in college completion despite some gains
- Black students in California have shown progress in enrolling and completing college in recent years but still lag behind other racial and ethnic groups.
- School of Public Health study links unhealthy diet to mental illness in California adults
- A study has found that poor mental health is linked with poor diet quality — regardless of personal characteristics such as gender, education, age, marital status and income level.
- California charter schools facing new oversight under fast track legislation
- At the urging of Gov. Gavin Newsom, a bill that will require charter schools to be more accountable and transparent is making its way swiftly through the legislature and may be the first of several bills seeking to tighten oversight of charter schools.
- Support, strengthen education reforms in California, new report urges
- Taking stock five years into landmark changes for California’s schools, a new report calls for doubling down on efforts to deepen and strengthen “one of the country’s most ambitious equity-focused education reforms.”
Other Stories:
- I am an immigrant. I am a person of color. I am Asian American.
- While the experiences of immigrants and communities of color are varied and diverse, we share many familiar experiences. Our shared lived experiences serve as our connective tissue. Throughout the civil rights movement, this connective tissue has served as a binding force in the building of coalitions across racial, cultural, and linguistic lines.
How You Can Help:
- African American Female Excellence Presents the Commision on the Status of Black Girls
- African American Female Excellence is searching for OUSD female High School students to be apart of this years Student Commission Team! Students on the Commission Team will serve as the voices for Black girls in the Oakland school district
Resources:
- Oakland Teacher Strike: Resources for parents here
- The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is telling parents “schools will remain open but it will not be ‘school as usual.’” Below are resources provided by both sides and a list of recreation centers, libraries and transportation services that will be affected during the strike.
What do you think?