The Oakland Education Week in Review: 9/23-9/30

This week, more on the Kaiser situation, some critical looks at the Oakland Promise, the NAACP’s literacy campaign, how should OUSD use its empty buildings, the mental health challenges facing our youth and some and some hopeful responses, Prop 13 reform, all that and much more with links, please read, share and get involved

Oakland:

• David Silver Of The Oakland Promise Rakes In The Dough
• Old Lockwood School
• Student Research Takes a Hopeful Turn in Oakland Unified
• The Oakland NAACP’s Literacy Campaign, Why It Matters and How You Can Help
• Zendaya Coleman Visited Oakland Global Family Elementary School Before 2019 Emmys
• School Board Watch: Superintendent’s Workplan Priorities and Opportunity Ticket Update
• Community Feedback on the Edward Shands Site-Do Something for the Community Now
• Parents, Teachers And Students Protest Planned Closure Of Oakland Elementary School
• Controversy over school closures and mergers in Oakland
• Here are the Bay Area’s 2019 Blue Ribbon Schools
• San Leandro and McClymonds High Schools work to reschedule football game cancelled by threat

California:

• A tiny Marin County district got California’s first school desegregation order in 50 years
• Here’s what 4 California school districts did to reduce the number of students contemplating suicide
• California school confirms racist taunting at football game
• 1 in 5 California high schoolers who responded to a state survey say they have considered suicide, analysis shows
• School boards group committed to tax plan despite legislative setback
• How much would it cost to adequately fund schools in California?
• National Blue Ribbon School Honors for 30 California Schools

Other Stories:

• Arlington schools were named best in Virginia, but a growing chorus of black parents is disrupting that narrative
• 43 Percent of White Students Harvard Admits Are Legacies, Jocks, or the Kids of Donors and Faculty
• Trump administration rule could end free school lunches for about 500,000 children
• A School Put an Autistic Boy’s Desk in a Bathroom, Setting Off a Debate on Stigmas
• Do Districts Actually Want Black Male Teachers?       

Oakland:

• David Silver Of The Oakland Promise Rakes In The Dough
  • David Silver Of The Oakland Promise made $292,000 in total pay in 2016 according to records unearthed by Gene Hazzard and shared with Zennie62Media. That’s more than what Kyla Johnson, the Oakland Unified School District Superintendent, makes at base $189,748. What’s going on, here?
• A Bit of History: Old Lockwood School
  • In 1858 Miss Julia Aldrich was contracted to run a small private school on Isaac (Issac) Yoakum’s farm. Yoakum had built his house on the site of the present Lockwood School, he later moved that house and replaced it with small building to be used as school (see above).
• Student Research Takes a Hopeful Turn in Oakland Unified
  • When Oakland Unified School District began emphasizing solutions in its Graduate Capstone research projects, students became more hopeful than stressed and began taking action on issues close to them.
• The Oakland NAACP’s Literacy Campaign, Why It Matters and How You Can Help
  • Much love to Oakland’s NAACP.  They are taking on the issues that actually matter to families and making a difference.  This was on full display at a packed West Oakland Library, where Education chair Kareem Weaver rolled out the NAACP’s education agenda, and it’s all about literacy. 
• Zendaya Coleman Visited Oakland Global Family Elementary School Before 2019 Emmys
  • Oakland Unified School District’s Global Family Elementary School had a special day last Thursday as TV star and Oakland native, Zendaya Coleman visited students to hand out school supplies.
• School Board Watch: Superintendent’s Workplan Priorities and Opportunity Ticket Update
  • Every year, the Board of Education develops and adopts a strategic work plan to identify priorities for the school year. On August 14, Superintendent Johnson-Trammell presented her 2019-20 draft work plan. During the discussion, the board suggested that her work plan should focus only on the highest-level key performance outcomes, priority areas, strategies, actions, and deliverables for the district. The revised work plan, includes three priorities that build off of previous superintendents’ work plans, the Community of Schools Policy, and the Citywide Plan
• Transformation: Discussing School Redesign with Anita Comelo and Jessica Jung of Bridges Academy
  • Educate78 met with Anita Comelo and Jessica Jung, the Principal and ELD Teacher Leader at Bridges Academy to discuss their experience with our Transformational Schools fellowship and leading their school through a redesign process.
• Community Feedback on the Edward Shands Site-Do Something for the Community Now
  • Edward Shands Adult School was closed in 2012, and it has largely existed as a blighted property since then.  A drain on the neighborhood and the district. At last week’s 7-11 committee meeting, the group charged with “surplussing” properties got an earful from the community.  I hope they were listening.
• Parents, Teachers And Students Protest Planned Closure Of Oakland Elementary School
  • Parents, teachers and students mounted a passionate protest Friday morning, upset over the district’s plans to close an Oakland elementary school.
• Controversy over school closures and mergers in Oakland
  • Parents of one Oakland school are still trying to keep their kids’ school from closing even though those on the board decided it can no longer afford to keep Kaiser Elementary open.
• Here are the Bay Area’s 2019 Blue Ribbon Schools
  • Three Bay Area schools have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as 2019 “Blue Ribbon” schools — a prestigious designation based on a school’s academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among groups of students.
• San Leandro and McClymonds High Schools work to reschedule football game cancelled by threat
  • The high school football match-up scheduled for Friday night between San Leandro and Oakland’s McClymonds will not be played because of unspecified threats of violence at the game.

California:

• A tiny Marin County district got California’s first school desegregation order in 50 years
  • The kindergarten-through-eighth-grade campus in Sausalito, which opened in 2001, has won fierce commitment from parents and staff. It has been recognized as one of California’s top charter schools. But now Willow Creek is at the center of an emotional battle that has brought fresh attention to long-festering racial inequities in liberal Marin County. Last month, the tiny Sausalito Marin City School District was hit with the state’s first school desegregation order in half a century.
• Here’s what 4 California school districts did to reduce the number of students contemplating suicide
  • It takes a village to lower the number of young people who think about killing themselves, according to educators whose school districts have dramatically reduced suicide ideation rates among their student populations.
• California school confirms racist taunting at football game
  • Students and fans were subjected to a racist taunt and other verbal abuse during a high school football game in Southern California, according to a school investigation.
• 1 in 5 California high schoolers who responded to a state survey say they have considered suicide, analysis shows
  • About one in five California students surveyed by their school districts have thought about killing themselves, according to a new analysis by the Southern California News Group.
• School boards group committed to tax plan despite legislative setback
  • Efforts to set ambitious targets for more K-12 funding and to ask voters to pass a higher income tax on the wealthy failed to make it out of the Legislature this month. But their backers are vowing to regroup and move forward in 2020.
• How much would it cost to adequately fund schools in California?
  • California school districts need to significantly increase their education spending to ensure that students have adequate resources and support to provide the state’s content standards and meet its academic goals. Based on 2016-17 numbers, funding schools adequately to meet these goals would have required a 38 percent increase in spending, or $25.6 billion. That would mean an average increase of $4,686 per student in that year, although the amount would vary by school district. 
• National Blue Ribbon School Honors for 30 California Schools
  • The coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools award affirms the hard work of educators, families and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging and engaging content. 

Other Stories:

• Arlington schools were named best in Virginia, but a growing chorus of black parents is disrupting that narrative
  • There is no shortage of praise or accolades for Arlington Public Schools. Students in the suburban D.C. school system outperform their peers on state tests. Most high school students graduate with advanced diplomas. The district spends nearly $20,500 per student, more than any other district in a region flush with well-heeled public schools.
• 43 Percent of White Students Harvard Admits Are Legacies, Jocks, or the Kids of Donors and Faculty
  • This month, a group of researchers have delivered a sobering look at how affirmative action works for affluent whites at America’s most prestigious university.
• Trump administration rule could end free school lunches for about 500,000 children
  • About a half-million students could lose access to free school meals under a Trump administration proposal to limit the number of people who qualify for food stamps, drawing protests from congressional Democrats who say it could harm needy schoolchildren.
• A School Put an Autistic Boy’s Desk in a Bathroom, Setting Off a Debate on Stigmas
  • The 11-year-old student was given a desk over a toilet as a quiet place to do schoolwork. The school’s superintendent said the “idea was well-intentioned.”
• Do Districts Actually Want Black Male Teachers?
  • When it comes to Black male teachers, the question shouldn’t be, “Do we need to hire more?” We know Black teachers, both men and women, are vital; they are particularly critical to the education of Black and Brown children. They also enhance the education experiences of White children. The question shouldn’t be, “Are there any Black male teachers out there to hire?”