The Oakland Education Week in Review: 7/7-7/14

All the Oakland Ed news fit to link, last week–OUSD has new fiscal staff, A mom describes her journey, how Lazear fought and won against a closure, some great summer programs, Title IX and girls sports in the Bay, the conditions Black teachers need for success, research on suspensions and the link to later problems, all that and so much more, please read, share and get involved

Oakland:

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Oakland:

California:

Other Stories:

  • Report Highlights Community-Driven Model for Serving Men of Color
    • BLOOM (Building a Lifetime of Options and Opportunities for Men), an initiative of the California Community Foundation focused on addressing the disparities faced by young African-American men involved in the juvenile justice system, has developed a powerful community-driven model for expanding opportunities, a report from the foundation finds.
  • Why Some of the Country’s Best Urban Schools Are Facing a Reckoning
    • Amid a growing backlash against charter schools, leaders within the movement are acknowledging that some criticism of their schools is warranted.
  • Elizabeth Warren’s first law review article blasted an anti-busing court ruling
    • But on the sidelines of the re-litigated fight over busing — and off the stage that second night — was another candidate who waded into the busing debate in the 1970s on the opposite side of Biden: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
  • Other opinions: Democrats, don’t give up on education reform
    • In advance of a July 5 forum hosted by the country’s largest teachers’ union, leading Democratic presidential candidates affirmed their commitment to America’s public schools. They’re right to, not least because of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut funding for public education. Unfortunately, rather than promoting effective improvements to the country’s K-12 system, too many Democrats are retreating from them.
  • End to random searches of students is a victory for entire school community
    • For the past three years, students and adult allies have built a campaign to end the dehumanizing and demoralizing 26-year practice of randomly pulling secondary students, some as young as 11, out of class — without cause — to search their bodies and their belongings for weapons with metal detector wands.
  • Why Having One Black Teacher Could Help Keep Black Students In School
    • Having just one black teacher in third, fourth or fifth grade reduced low-income black boys’ probability of dropping out of high school by 39 percent, the study found
  • Safety, belonging, and humanity: Black teachers need strong school climates, too
    • In my time at the Education Trust, a large chunk of my work has revolved around how we recruit and retain more teachers of color. And as Black History Month comes to a close, I’ve reflected on the status of black teachers specifically and their experiences in the school building. We know the data: All students benefit from having teachers of color in their classroom, and that’s especially true for students of color.
  • What black students who were bused said about their experiences
    • Last month, the issue of busing with the aim of desegregating schools was reinjected into the national political discourse at a Democratic presidential candidates’ debate when Sen. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.) challenged former vice president Joe Biden about his stance on the subject.
  • Video Shows Son Begging Father Not to Call the Police on Black Man for ‘Trespassing’
    • On July 4, an African American man was waiting for his friend outside an apartment building in San Francisco when a white man, alongside his son, approached him, asking to know the name of the friend he was waiting for and accusing him of “trespassing.” Wesley Michel, a software engineer, filmed the encounter, in which the white man since identified as Christopher Cukor called the police despite his young son begging him not to. 
  • Mother Whose Toddler Died After Leaving ICE Custody Tells Harrowing Story To Congress
    • Yazmin Juárez sat in front of a House subcommittee Wednesday and recalled the most horrible experience of her life…She spoke to the lawmakers about how her 21-month-old daughter, Mariee, died of respiratory illnesses after leaving Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last year.
  • DeVos rewrites rules for school civil rights probes
    • The Trump administration has overhauled the rules for investigating discrimination in the nation’s schools in a way that the Education Department says will boost efficiency but advocates fear will weaken enforcement of civil rights.
  • The Education Connection: Helping Ex-Offenders Return to Their Communities
    • Each year, 700,000 people are released from federal and state prisons. For many, the transition home is not easy. They face obstacles including poverty, drug abuse, family dysfunction, and lack of access to services and treatment. Failure to reconnect can mean that many end up back in prison: Over 50 percent of those released are incarcerated again within three years.  
  • Students Move Further Down School-to-Prison Pipeline With Every School Suspension
    • On the school-to-prison pipeline, school suspensions may be a key shut-off valve…That’s because, regardless of students’ past behaviors, every school suspension weakens their connection to school and increases their odds of committing theft, assault, and other crimes. This is the conclusion of a new national longitudinal study published Friday in Justice Quarterly, a journal of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
  • Tennessee governor signs proclamation honoring early KKK leader, sparking backlash
    • Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a proclamation declaring Saturday “Nathan Bedford Forrest Day,” in honor of the Confederate Army general who was a slave trader and an early member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Resources:

  • Summer S.T.E.A.M Program at Allen Temple Baptist Church July 15-July 26
    • American Council of Teachers Inc., (ACT Inc) is hosting a Summer S.T.E.A.M Program at Allen Temple Baptist Church July 15-July 26, 2019 from 9 am – 3 pm Monday-Friday. The program is designed to engage and enlighten our student’s age 6-16 years old. Hosted by a group of African American Teachers in the Bay Area willing to make a difference in the lives of our students. Cost is $200.00 for two weeks of camp. Please contact Kathie Cage at (650) 468-7888 or visit www.americancouncilofteachersinc.org for details  
  • Advice for New Principals: Make Sure You Have a Mentor
    • In our third installment of advice for new principals, Education Week talked to Sue Park, the head of school at Yu Ming Charter School, a high-performing K-8 dual-language Mandarin immersion school in Oakland, Calif.
  • What Teachers Need to Know to Do Right by Queer Students
    • This conversation, nearly identical to all others I’ve had about supporting queer students, underscores the real reason we still don’t see LGBTQ representation in instructional materials: All our focus is on creating resources, and almost no attention is on actually getting those resources into the hands of teachers and students.
  • Advice From a Parent Volunteer of the Year: Find a School That Will Authentically Partner With You
    • I am a mother of two, single parent, and Bay Area native. I went to OUSD, Hayward and Pittsburgh schools, myself.  The first school my child went to was my neighborhood school. As a single parent with a small support system I wanted to make sure that if something happened to my car I can get to my kid, and I can get her back and forth to school. And it was a familiar name, there were other schools in the neighborhood I wasn’t familiar with. I attended that school in 3rd grade, I didn’t look at the ratings…I didn’t have any sense of how to choose a school in that sense.
  • To Understand and Serve: How Schools Can Uplift Immigrant Students
    • Under United States law, all students, regardless of immigration status, are entitled to a free, public education. But for schools and districts, navigating a complex picture of students’ cultural identities, home languages, backgrounds and wide-ranging academic proficiencies can make upholding the spirit of the law more difficult than simply following the letter of the law.
  • How to Prepare Yourself for an Immigration Raid
    • It is important to be prepared and to know your rights and your family’s rights in case of a raid or other encounter with ICE or local law enforcement. 

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