All the Oakland ed news fit to link and more -last week- the school year starts with some questions, a new faces at OAL and Rainin, a powerful educator story on RJ, a look at the Kaiser merger/closure issue, the coming Prop 13 reform (hopefully), debating integration, how parents get info, all that and much more, please read, share and get involved.
Oakland:
- New school year, new backpack giveaway in Oakland
- “Ima shoot it up and look for u” From Crisis to Community and How Restorative Justice Bridged the Gap
- Rainin Foundation Appoints New Education Director
- Oakland CORE Data Collaboration: Oakland Schools Addressing Chronic Absence
- Oakland Unified School District is proud to announce that the Oakland Athletic League (OAL) now has a new commissioner at the helm
- ‘It’s All About Race’: Parents Want Say in How Oakland Schools Integrate
- My PE Experience as a Trans Student; Swim Class, Changing Rooms and Sometimes Ignorant Adults
- Volunteer Police Watchdog
- OUSD Board Candidate Campaign Themes 2019
- Epic Theatre Ensemble: Free Performances throughout the Bay Area
- Questions Remain As Oakland Students Return To The Classroom
California:
- Ready or Not? How Los Angeles Families Get Information About Their Children’s Learning and Academic Progress
- Ethnic studies may soon be mandatory. Can California get it right?
- Wealthy San Francisco Suburb Agrees to Desegregate School
- Effort to change Prop. 13 revised in bid for passage
- Walters: California’s achievement gap question remains unanswered
Other Stories:
- With Trump’s New ‘Public Charge’ Rules, the War on Immigrants Just Got a Whole Lot Worse
- ICWA Held Constitutional in Big Win for Indian Country
- When It Comes to Integration, Stop Debating Who Said What in 1970. Start Talking About What We Can Do in 2019
- Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true.
- Where Do Educators Turn to Address Instructional and Behavior Challenges?
- American Capitalism is Brutal. You Can Trace that to the Plantation.
- Arkansas Woman Charged Over Holding Four Black Teenagers at Gunpoint
- In El Paso, Hundreds Show Up to Mourn a Woman They Didn’t Know
Resources:
Oakland:
- New school year, new backpack giveaway in Oakland
- Thousands of Oakland kids received a treat Monday as they headed back to school.
- “Ima shoot it up and look for u” From Crisis to Community and How Restorative Justice Bridged the Gap
- How does a school community react when a student threatens extreme violence? This inspiring guest post describes how we can build better communities amidst the fear and struggles. This a true account of a real threat that took place at an Oakland school.
- Rainin Foundation Appoints New Education Director
- The Kenneth Rainin Foundation announced the appointment of Shaheena Khan as the Director of Education Strategies and Ventures. She joins the Foundation as it celebrates 10 years of formal grantmaking in the Arts, Education and Health. Khan will guide the Foundation’s Education investments in early childhood literacy strategies that produce more equitable results for all Oakland children.
- Oakland CORE Data Collaboration: Oakland Schools Addressing Chronic Absence
- It’s hard to believe it’s already back to school season – where did the summer go? As thousands of kids return to school, or in my daughter’s case enter school for the first time, I’d like to highlight the importance of attendance.
- Oakland Unified School District is proud to announce that the Oakland Athletic League (OAL) now has a new commissioner at the helm
- Oakland Unified School District is proud to announce that the Oakland Athletic League (OAL) now has a new commissioner at the helm. Francisco “Franky” Navarro has taken over the role, and will keep all athletics and the associated competitions running smoothly. “It’s a dream job for me,” said Navarro.
- ‘It’s All About Race’: Parents Want Say in How Oakland Schools Integrate
- The issue of what it would take to integrate across a racial and class divide, and whether parents of privilege are willing to do so, is a problem facing other urban districts across the county: How can the district create equitable schools in districts shaped by a history of redlining and racially segregated housing?
- My PE Experience as a Trans Student; Swim Class, Changing Rooms and Sometimes Ignorant Adults
- Being transgender and trying to comfortably take a PE class is nearly impossible. So much of it revolves around gender, whether it be the changing rooms, teams, or simply passing the class.
- Volunteer Police Watchdog
- By day, Regina Jackson is CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center, a 41-year-old nonprofit that provides enrichment programs for more than 2,000 youth and adults. But that’s not all. By evening — and weekends, and probably during lunch breaks — Jackson is chair of the Oakland Police Commission
- OUSD Board Candidate Campaign Themes 2019
- 2019 Oakland Unified School District Board of Directors Campaign Themes
- Epic Theatre Ensemble: Free Performances throughout the Bay Area
- Interested in hosting an Epic Theatre Ensemble performance on Aug 22, 23, or 24? We’ve still got evening slots available
- Questions Remain As Oakland Students Return To The Classroom
- Oakland Unified School District students have began their 2019-2020 academic year this week with multiple teacher positions open, which the district says is not unusual. Following last year’s teacher strike, has the situation has improved enough to encourage more people to teach in Oakland?
California:
- Ready or Not? How Los Angeles Families Get Information About Their Children’s Learning and Academic Progress
- How Los Angeles families get information about their children’s learning and academic progress?
- Ethnic studies may soon be mandatory. Can California get it right?
- At its core, supporters say, ethnic studies classes teach students how to think critically about the world around them, “tell their own stories,” develop “a deep appreciation for cultural diversity and inclusion” and engage “socially and politically” to eradicate bigotry, hate and racism. This description, from the draft of the model curriculum, is meant to guide California K-12 educators in creating coursework whether or not the new graduation requirement becomes law.
- Wealthy San Francisco Suburb Agrees to Desegregate School
- A school district in one of California’s wealthiest and politically liberal counties has agreed to desegregate a flailing school that state officials found had been intentionally created for low-income minority children and then starved of resources.
- Effort to change Prop. 13 revised in bid for passage
- A 2020 ballot initiative would dramatically change proposition 13, California’s landmark property tax-cutting measure, is being pushed aside by its backers in favor of a revised plan they believe will have a better chance of passing.
- Walters: California’s achievement gap question remains unanswered
- Jerry Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula redirected many billions of dollars to close the achievement gap
Other Stories:
- With Trump’s New ‘Public Charge’ Rules, the War on Immigrants Just Got a Whole Lot Worse
- For the past year, immigrant rights advocates and anti-poverty activists have watched with horror as the Trump administration prepared to roll out expansive “public charge” regulations as a central part of its war on immigrants.
- ICWA Held Constitutional in Big Win for Indian Country
- On Friday, August 9, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) constitutional, overturning an October 2018 decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that held ICWA unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, declaring that it creates a separate set of practices for a racial group. The Brackeen v. Bernhardt case was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, where NCUIH joined nearly 400 Tribes and Indian organizations in filing an amicus curiae brief in support of ICWA’s constitutionality.
- When It Comes to Integration, Stop Debating Who Said What in 1970. Start Talking About What We Can Do in 2019
- A national conversation around busing and school integration rocketed to the headlines after an exchange between former vice president Joe Biden and California Sen. Kamala Harris during the first-round Democratic presidential primary debates.
- Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true.
- “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” did not apply to fully one-fifth of the country. Yet despite being violently denied the freedom and justice promised to all, black Americans believed fervently in the American creed. Through centuries of black resistance and protest, we have helped the country live up to its founding ideals. And not only for ourselves — black rights struggles paved the way for every other rights struggle, including women’s and gay rights, immigrant and disability rights.
- Where Do Educators Turn to Address Instructional and Behavior Challenges?
- Teachers and school leaders frequently make decisions about which strategies will best support students who struggle academically or behaviorally, but evidence-based information about the quality of these strategies is not always available.
- American Capitalism is Brutal. You Can Trace that to the Plantation.
- Those searching for reasons the American economy is uniquely severe and unbridled have found answers in many places (religion, politics, culture). But recently, historians have pointed persuasively to the gnatty fields of Georgia and Alabama, to the cotton houses and slave auction blocks, as the birthplace of America’s low-road approach to capitalism.
- Arkansas Woman Charged Over Holding Four Black Teenagers at Gunpoint
- The boys were raising money for their football team. The woman, identified as Jerri Kelly, 46, is facing charges of aggravated assault and false imprisonment.
- In El Paso, Hundreds Show Up to Mourn a Woman They Didn’t Know
- Mr. Basco had invited the public to the service this week, worried that he would have to bury his partner of 22 years alone. Ms. Reckard, one of the 22 people killed in the attack on Aug. 3, has children, but Mr. Basco has no direct relatives. When Perches Funeral Homes, which was handling Ms. Reckard’s arrangements, learned of Mr. Basco’s intentions, it extended an open invitation to the service on its Facebook page.
Resources:
- Census 2020 in Alameda County
- As we countdown to Census 2020, the Alameda County Complete Count Committee developed this short video to depict why the Census is important to Alameda County.
What do you think?