Last week–Celebrating Black educators, Measure AA loses in court, a look at the Lazear community story, later start times in CA, disproportionate suspensions for Native students, segregation and the opportunity gap, mental health awareness in children of color, all that and much more with links, please read, share and get involved
Oakland:
- Celebration of Black Educators with the State of Black Education in Oakland
- Town Hall on Impeachment and the Racism of the Trump Admin
- The Little School that Could; How a Relentless Community Fought for Lazear Elementary and Won
- Why Students Are Skipping YOUR Class: Improving Teacher Practice from a Student’s Perspective
- The “Privatization” Debate we Need
- The Way We Grade Students is Biased and Unsound: A Conversation on “Grading For Equity”
- The Geography of Opportunity in Oakland; And How Kaiser and Sankofa Became So Different
- What Should OUSD do with the Vacant Piedmont CDC Building
- Oakland loses education Measure AA lawsuit, judge calls it a ‘fraud on voters’
- Judge rules against Oakland on education measure that fell short of votes
- 5 Oakland Schools With The Best Teachers For 2020
- The Sky Is Not the Limit – Emani’s Story
California:
- California mandates later start times for middle and high school students
- California law pushing back school start times may mean more sleep for some local students
- Native American Students Suspended From California Schools At Twice The Rate Of Other Students
Other Stories:
- Anti-Reform Bona Fides Now a Litmus Test for Some Democrats Willing to Attack Anyone Who Steps Out of Line — Including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren
- What’s so Special about “Special” Education?
- Mental Health Awareness and Help for Black and Brown Children Is a Need, Not a Want.
- My son was admitted to a specialized high school. Then the school told us it couldn’t accommodate his disability.
- Attacking the Black–White Opportunity Gap That Comes from Residential Segregation
- School Security Assistant Fired for Repeating Racial Slur Aimed at Him
Oakland:
- Celebration of Black Educators with the State of Black Education in Oakland
- Please join the State of Black Education in Oakland (SoBEO) to break bread, share a drink and celebrate some of Oakland’s Black heroes and sheroes.
- Town Hall on Impeachment and the Racism of the Trump Admin
- A town hall on impeachment sponsored by the Equal Justice Society, Free Speech for People, By The People, and Vigil for Democracy on October 19 at the Oakland Marriott will feature speakers including Congressman Al Green, Nakia Woods of Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Prof. Bill Ong Hing, Dorsey Nunn of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, and Linh Nguyen of Indivisible East Bay. The town hall, which will also feature cultural performances to inspire and uplift, is free and open to the public, but we request attendees register in advance.
- The Little School that Could; How a Relentless Community Fought for Lazear Elementary and Won
- In 2012 Oakland Unified moved to close Lazear Elementary School as one of five casualties of enrollment reductions and budget cuts. But the school, and the community that fought for it, are still here and thriving.
- The Geography of Opportunity in Oakland and How We Change it; Mapping Inequality in Housing, Health and Schools
- Some neighborhoods in Oakland provide ample opportunities, safe parks, high achieving schools, clean air, and a wealth of opportunities. Other neighborhoods don’t. And it is not a coincidence, who lives where, who benefits, and who suffers. These are the ghosts of legal segregation, and they continue to haunt us, and will until we exorcise them.
- Why Students Are Skipping YOUR Class: Improving Teacher Practice from a Student’s Perspective
- A school is a place that we are supposed to be getting “educated.” If school is such a beneficial place for us, why are there so many students failing most of their classes? Why are students complaining every day about coming here?
- The “Privatization” Debate we Need
- There’s a “public” school in Oakland that is 5% free and reduced lunch, 2% English language learners, 8% Latino and 8% Black. In Oakland… The average housing price in that neighborhood is $1.6 million. It’s also one of the highest achieving schools.
- The Way We Grade Students is Biased and Unsound: A Conversation on “Grading For Equity”
- Joe Feldman‘s new book, Grading for Equity disembowels the way we grade students, hanging the entrails to show how inequitable and really illogical our present grading practices are, and how we can improve them– which he has been doing in real life for years with schools, it’s a must read for educators and those who want to improve how schools function. After his book launch in Oakland, we discussed the book and his work.
- The Geography of Opportunity in Oakland; And How Kaiser and Sankofa Became So Different
- The disparities in our schools are by design, not accident. When we have schools like Kaiser and Sankofa, geographically not far apart, but in other ways demonstrating chasms of difference. A Kaiser parent did a great job of pulling some of these issues out. But let’s dig in some on now we got here and why it matters.
- What Should OUSD do with the Vacant Piedmont CDC Building
- There is no broke landowner in Oakland sitting on as much vacant property as OUSD. They are one of the City’s largest landowners, but cant pay the bills. The Piedmont CDC building has sat vacant and cost the district roughly $250,000 in upkeep, its market rental value is roughly $230,000. So we lost $2,300,000 in potential rent and paid $250,000, for a building that has sat vacant for a decade.
- Oakland loses education Measure AA lawsuit, judge calls it a ‘fraud on voters’
- Ballot measure needed two-thirds voter approval, judge says
- Judge rules against Oakland on education measure that fell short of votes
- An Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled against the city of Oakland on its embattled plan to fund early childhood education and college readiness, preventing the city from enforcing Measure AA and collecting the tax.
- 5 Oakland Schools With The Best Teachers For 2020
- The beginning of the school year is a good time to do a little research on how your teachers stack up against others — whether you’re sending your children to kindergarten for the first time or if they’re preparing to graduate.
- The Sky Is Not the Limit – Emani’s Story
- Emani’ Lewis, a graduate of KIPP Bridge, a Tipping Point-funded school in Oakland, reminds us of the power of education within the complexities of poverty. While her trajectory is remarkable, Emani’ refuses to be satisfied with her own success and is bringing opportunity to more people in her hometown and beyond.
California:
- California mandates later start times for middle and high school students
- Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Sunday that will mandate a later morning start for most middle and high schools, choosing to side with pediatricians and the PTA rather than the state’s leading teachers union and groups representing school boards and superintendents.
- California law pushing back school start times may mean more sleep for some local students
- California will become the first state in the nation to mandate later start times at most middle and high schools under legislation Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Sunday.
- Native American Students Suspended From California Schools At Twice The Rate Of Other Students
- A new statewide report from the Sacramento Native American Higher Education Collaborative and San Diego State University confirms why she has these conversations. It shows these students are suspended at twice the rate of other kids.
Other Stories:
- Anti-Reform Bona Fides Now a Litmus Test for Some Democrats Willing to Attack Anyone Who Steps Out of Line — Including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren
- This week, a poll released by Democrats for Education Reform revealed that “voters know that a one-size-fits-all approach to education doesn’t work” and that 81 percent of Democratic primary voters support public school choice, including charter schools.
- What’s so Special about “Special” Education?
- “Special” education shouldn’t be that special. Our current system artificially divides students, provides excuses for failure, and tends to hurt rather than help the intended beneficiaries, all the while walling out a whole range of students who should benefit from additional resources but don’t technically qualify.
- Mental Health Awareness and Help for Black and Brown Children Is a Need, Not a Want.
- Black and Brown children are too often denied their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by teachers and school officials whose unfulfilled purpose is to support these children, not harm them. All children go through hardships but from my vantage point (the only one I can in fact speak from with any authority), Black and Brown children withstand adverse experiences in their childhoods more vividly and at a greater rate than their white peers. These experiences can have long-lasting detrimental effects.
- My son was admitted to a specialized high school. Then the school told us it couldn’t accommodate his disability.
- I knew that if my son attended Brooklyn Tech, the school would theoretically be required to meet the needs outlined in his IEP. My experience and that of other parents, though, told me that if a school isn’t providing such classes, they’re unlikely to start. Today, just over 1% of Brooklyn Tech students have disabilities, and I knew sending him there would mean him sticking out.
- Attacking the Black–White Opportunity Gap That Comes from Residential Segregation
- Residential segregation between black and white Americans remains both strikingly high and deeply troubling. Black–white residential segregation is a major source of unequal opportunity for African Americans: among other things, it perpetuates an enormous wealth gap and excludes black students from many high-performing schools. While some see residential segregation as “natural”—an outgrowth of the belief that birds of a feather flock together—black–white segregation in America is mostly a result of deliberate public policies that were designed to subjugate black people and promote white supremacy.
- School Security Assistant Fired for Repeating Racial Slur Aimed at Him
- Marlon Anderson told the student to stop referring to him by a racial epithet, which officials at a Wisconsin high school said violated a zero-tolerance policy on offensive language.
What do you think?