The Oakland Education Week in Review: 4/1-4/7

All the Oakland Ed news from last week– continuing strike coverage, including the fact that the County still needs to sign off, parent stories of the challenges of choice, the Kaiser closure issue, celebrating the latest OUSD state champs in hoops, the changes at the OUSD budget office and how the County is stepping in, the first Middle Eastern honor roll, looking at funding in CA, Freedom Schools registration is open, all that and much more with links, please, read, share and get involved

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  • OUSD STRIKE 2019 – CALCULATING THE IMPACT
    • Thankfully the Oakland teachers’ strike is over and kids and teachers are back in buildings. This was a painful time in Oakland for many of us and there is still healing that needs to happen.  There are both tangible and intangible costs to this all—and while we can calculate the lost revenue to OUSD, lost salary to teachers, and lost learning to students, we may not be able to quantify the costs to the community so easily.
  • No One Prepared Me for This; Parenthood in the Age of School Choice
    • When school tours and info nights started it felt like all we had to do was go to confirm the final order for our district choices and check the boxes for our charter choices. Easy, right? What neither my partner nor I expected was the depth of the conversations we would dig into, the shift in priorities, and what would emerge as her learning journey into the world of public education in Oakland.
  • ‘On account of my melanin, I cannot vote to accept this agreement’: Reflections of an Oakland Unified School District teacher formerly on strike
    • “We’re not activists. We’re just teachers.” The statement was made by a teacher who was a member of the Oakland Education Association bargaining team. Shouldn’t the bargaining team be made of activists? I had so many questions and comments that I censored for the sake of getting through the meeting.
  • Update from Jody London, District 1 School Board Director
    • Congratulations to Claremont Middle School, which was recently named as a 2019 California Distinguished School by the state Department of Education.  Claremont is one of 162 middle and high schools in the State – and the only one in Oakland – to receive this recognition this year.
  • A Home You Can Afford, Brought to You by…Facebook?
    • Tech giant funds 22 low-cost homes for teachers
  • Teacher Strike Settlement Still Not Approved
    • The Oakland Unified School District’s overseers—the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT) and the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE), which for practical purposes  are running the district for the state – have not yet approved the contract that came out of the teachers strike.
  • Huge Announcement: Energy Convertors Student Voice Podcast Now Officially on Apple Podcasts
    • We are happy to announce that the EC Student Voice Podcast can now be found on Apple Podcasts. Our student fellows are incredibly excited about this opportunity.
  • When Nipsey Hussle Brought his Marathon Mindset to Oakland
    • Yesterday Nipsey Hussle was murdered in Los Angeles. Bullets took the life from his flesh. But through his music and the impact of his actions, his mindset lives on. Hussle’s appeal was his mentality. Beyond the music, Hussle, born born Ermias Asghedom, was a benefactor to the black community of South Central Los Angeles.
  • OUSD Celebrates Gender Diversity
    • Students from across Oakland came together recently for an event that celebrates the city’s well-known diversity.
  • Parents Fight to Keep Kaiser Elementary Open
    • As Oakland’s School Board and Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammell attempt to implement their Community of Schools Plan, which calls for closing up to 24 schools, many Kaiser Elementary School community members are frustrated.
  • It’s a Mess: Oakland Elementary Schools Vandalized
    • Vandals hit Manzanita Community School and Manzanita Seed schools in Oakland, but the schools were open today.
  • Alameda County Launches ‘AC Boost,’ A Home Down Payment Assistance Program for Educators and More
    • The Alameda County Board of Supervisors recently announced AC Boost, a county-wide down payment assistance loan program funded by the county’s 2016 Measure A1 Housing Bond. The program offers shared equity loans of up to $150,000 to first-time homebuyers who live, work or have been displaced from Alameda County. Educators (including all public school employees) in Alameda County may have double the chance to access AC Boost funds.
  • Faced with budget cuts, the future of school libraries in Oakland is uncertain
    • While the teachers’ strike ended weeks ago, the Oakland Unified School District’s financial troubles are far from over. Less than 24 hours after the strike, on March 4, the school board narrowly voted to cut $22 million dollars from next year’s budget. The move was to keep the district from financial ruin, but school libraries are among the programs being affected by the cuts. We focused on the story of just one library at Frick Impact Academy in East Oakland to see what it meant to students and what its future might be.
  • Oakland’s Celebration for OUSD’s Two State Champion Basketball Teams Continues at A’s Game on Wednesday Night
    • Three nights after the Golden State Warriors honored the Oakland High Wildcats and Oakland Tech Bulldogs girls basketball teams for winning the California Division 3 and Division 4 Championships respectively, the Oakland Athletics are scheduled to celebrate the teams, as well.
  • Community Schools City Wide Plan
    • On Thursday, April 11th, join us at Acts Full Gospel for a community forum with Superintendent, Kyla Johnson-Trammell. We want YOU to learn about and provide your input on the district’s recently passed City Wide Plan. You don’t want to miss this conversation! This is how we make change for OUR children!
  • Oakland Freedom Schools Summer 2019 Registration is Open
    • Greetings Families! The enrollment for OFS Summer 2019 is now open as of 4/2 and spots are already filling up fast. There is a $250 registration donation fee for six weeks of program, and a $50 non-refundable donation fee due at time of registration. Families can apply for scholarships when they register. To register, please visit www.oaklandfs.org
  • McClymonds High School to Host “Athletes Code” Event on Thursday
    • On Thursday afternoon, April 4, dozens of OUSD student-athletes will converge on the Best Buy Teen Tech Center at McClymonds High School for the Oakland Athletes Code Sports and Tech Workshop hosted by SPAAT, the Student Program for Academic and Athletic Transitioning.
  • A’s Players Stop by Local Elementary Schools for Recess Takeover
    • Remember recess as a kid? We would actually be forced to take a break from our multiplication tables to go play? Ahh yes … those were the days. And what if during your break, you were greeted with a fluffy, adorable elephant named Stomper? Or a few members of the Oakland A’s? That’s exactly what happened when Aaron Brooks and Sean Manaea arrived at Vincent Academy in Oakland on Tuesday.
  • Oakland Unified gets unprecedented help with fiscal practices
    • As attention turns to how to pay for the four-year contract, Oakland is again in the spotlight for the unprecedented help it has received from the Alameda County Office of Education to overhaul its fiscal practices.
  • Oakland OUSD Holding First Ceremony Honoring High Achieving Middle Eastern Students
    • On Saturday, April 6, the Oakland OUSD Office of Equity Middle Eastern Student Achievement (MESA) Initiative will honor 230 Middle Eastern students in grades 6 through 12 who have maintained a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher and who are on track to attend college.
  • Friday Five: Weekly news for Oakland charter
    • We have some great content to share with you, including: news that the Alameda County Office of Education is providing OUSD unprecedented help to overhaul its fiscal practices; with the deadline passed for accepting school offers for next school year, some perspectives from parents and administrators on the often-difficult process; sad news of the vandalizing of Manzanita Community School and Manzanita Seed (you can support the school’s recovery here); and much more.
  • How peer pressure is helping get kids to college
    • Kimberly Wong was just looking for a quick bit of advice on scholarship applications — and maybe a quiet place to eat her lunch — when she walked into Oakland High’s center for college and career counseling last fall.
  • Warriors and A’s Honor Oakland Girl Basketball Champions
    • The Golden State Warriors and the Oakland A’s this week honored the Oakland High Wildcats and Oakland Tech Bulldogs girls’ basketball teams for winning the California Division 3 and Division 4 championships respectively, Wednesday evening. Before Oakland took on the Boston Red Sox, the A’s welcomed the Wildcats and Bulldogs onto the field to be recognized in front of the home crowd. The head coaches of the teams, Oakland High’s Orlando Gray and Oakland Tech’s LeRoy Hurt, threw out the ceremonial first pitches.
  • Edsources video on the changes in the OUSD budget office
    • Here are some short video clips from last night’s joint audit and board budget committee meeting that include the CFO explaining changes in fiscal operations and the county role, along with board members Shanthi Gonzales and Aimee Eng discussing their frustrations with the budget reduction process, and Eng saying she doesn’t believe the district needs to pay for the county’s help, even though the FCMAT report says it does.
  • OUSD to Host Screening of Remarkable Movie About People with Intellectual Disabilities and Public is Welcome to Join the Viewing & Discussion on Monday Evening
    • OUSD’s Community Advisory Committee for Special Education invites you to a special screening of the award-winning film, “Intelligent Lives.” The film challenges destructive ideas about “intelligence” by following the school and community experiences of 3 courageous young people with intellectual disabilities.
  • Oakland’s Hello Yello doesn’t care what it’s supposed to sound like
    • In some ways, the story of Hello Yello can be summarized quickly because, well, the Oakland band only began releasing music last fall. The trio started with a string of singles before sending out the band’s new EP, “Love Wins,” a precocious sampler of alternative tracks, with elements of grunge and light traces of a poppy, hip-hop past.
  • East Bay School Districts Take Education Funding Battle to Sacramento
    • About 300 students, educators, administrators and parents from Alameda County took time out of their Spring Break holiday this week to hop on buses and make a trip to Sacramento where they rallied in support of increased state funding for education.
  • Expert Weighs in on Efficacy of Education Spending
    • The question of how much we should spend on education is taking on new
    • urgency following this year’s teachers strikes in Oakland and LA.

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  • The 2 Real Rules of Expulsion Hearings
    • Four hours in an expulsion hearing gives you time to think.  And afterwards, you are wrapped tight so it takes a little time to unwrap and you need to think more.  I do these things too often as part of my work. Well I don’t get paid for it, so “work” may not be the right word… as part of my duty.  Experience has taught me that two rules govern the vast majority of these proceedings, proceedings that can forever change a child’s life.

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