Last week, lots on the Mack closure and underlying issues, the science of reading, and some personal stories, the data on API students, the rise in autism cases and the need to reform SpEd in Ca, the other Prop 13, and how you can help Mack students travel to HBCUs, and much more, please read, share and get involved
Oakland:
- Why Aren’t Kids Reading: Science Denial & Racism’s Impact on Black Students
- Parents graduate college after overcoming drug addiction
- One Grandmother’s Struggle with Reading, and the Push for Literacy for All
- Rocquel Johnson, Foster Youth Advisory and Parent Student Advisory Committees in Oakland Unified School District
- Overcoming History; How the Cole Family Moved from Shelters to Graduate Degrees
- How are Oakland schools serving Asian Pacific Islander students?
- OUSD Spelling Bee Winners Are Now Preparing for Alameda County Spelling Bee
- Councilmember McElhaney Weighs in on the Mack Closure
- Community meeting hastily called over McClymonds campus contamination
- Cancer-Causing Chemical Found At Oakland McClymonds High School; Campus Closed For Testing
- Environmental Racism is the Cause, Mack’s 38 Nearby HazMat sites, and the Debt the City Owes West Oakland
- Black History Month: A Celebration of African Heritage at EOYDC
- Air Testing Underway at McClymonds High School This Weekend; Preliminary Tests Results Are Promising
- Oakland Parents Demand Answers After Toxic Groundwater Forces McClymonds High To Close
California:
- Dual enrollment’s great promise; also, #MeToo movement in high school
- California must face reality: Autism cases are increasing
- Column: There’s a new Proposition 13. It would send billions to California schools that need it
- Video: Gavin Newsom Opens Up About His Dyslexia
- Report: Special education in California an ‘urgent priority’
- Special education in California in need of overhaul, researchers say
- California to officially apologize for the WWII internment of Japanese Americans
- Working with UCSF, California Surgeon General Aims to Cut Adverse Childhood Experiences by Half
- The arguments for and against Proposition 13
- For California lawmakers, charity can begin at home
- California’s declining school enrollment doesn’t justify $15 billion Proposition 13 school bond
- Opinion: California’s children cannot thrive in dilapidated schools
- California Students Sued because they were Such Poor Readers.They Just Won $53 Million to Help Them
- ‘California Complete Count — Census 2020’ Plans Education And Outreach Campaign
Other Stories:
- Michael Bloomberg is running for president. What you should know about the billionaire’s education record in New York City
- The Law of School Catchment Areas
- ‘The Secret Shame’: Educators say student achievement rates are divided along racial lines
How You Can Help:
Oakland:
- Why Aren’t Kids Reading: Science Denial & Racism’s Impact on Black Students
- Topics: Structured Literacy, Integration and Expectations, Learner’s Bias, Dyslexia, K-12 Finances, Science & Research Consensus, Educator Prep, and Vulnerability.
- Parents graduate college after overcoming drug addiction
- One Grandmother’s Struggle with Reading, and the Push for Literacy for All
- Connie Williams shares her story of graduation from an Oakland high school unable to read or write.
- “You shouldn’t have to live like that.” She has been pushing for better for her family.
- “I’ve been singing the same song for so long, from my kids to my grandkids.” And she finally feels like she is being heard, when she connected with The Oakland REACH and their Literacy for All campaign.
- Rocquel Johnson, Foster Youth Advisory and Parent Student Advisory Committees in Oakland Unified School District
- “One of the things I always tell any parent—whether they’re foster youth or not—jump in. Jump into the work. We really need to have people who care enough about our students, who want to see policies that support them to….be the best they can.” RocQuel Johnson, a long-standing leader on the Foster Youth Advisory and Parent Student Advisory Committees in Oakland Unified School District has plunged into the work locally.
- Overcoming History; How the Cole Family Moved from Shelters to Graduate Degrees
- Podcast from Dr. Boyce Watkins, talking history, challenges, the hustle and overcoming with our own Dr. Charles Cole III. Please take a look.
- How are Oakland schools serving Asian Pacific Islander students?
- At first glance, most people would categorize me as being a part of the “model minority,” a term used to describe Asian Americans, including Indian Americans, as being a shining example of hard work whose example other minority groups should follow. It’s a myth rooted in deeply harmful stereotypes. Look a layer deeper and that myth is quickly dispelled. In the 1800s, my ancestors were taken from India to the Fiji Islands by British colonists to work as indentured laborers on the islands’ sugar cane fields. My family spent over a century in Fiji before my parents migrated to the Bay Area. While I was born and raised in the Bay, I can feel the islands coursing through my blood, and it’s the place I feel most at home.
- OUSD Spelling Bee Winners Are Now Preparing for Alameda County Spelling Bee
- Some excited OUSD students are getting ready for the next phase of their competition in their chosen craft, spelling. Six young people from across the District took first, second and third place honors in different divisions at the 2020 OUSD Spelling Bee on February 6.
- Councilmember McElhaney Weighs in on the Mack Closure
- Today, OUSD announced a precautionary closure of McClymonds High School after tests revealed that a cancer-causing chemical called trichloroethylene (TCE) was found in the onsite groundwater. Director Jumoke Hinton Hodge contacted me to let me know that teachers and students were notified of the temporary closure on Wednesday night.
- Community meeting hastily called over McClymonds campus contamination
- California EPA officials told community members Thursday that they will do extensive testing after a chemical linked to cancer was found in groundwater underneath McClymonds High School in West Oakland.
- Cancer-Causing Chemical Found At Oakland McClymonds High School; Campus Closed For Testing
- A leaching, cancer-causing chemical has been found at McClymonds High School in Oakland, prompting the temporary closure of the campus, according to officials.
- Environmental Racism is the Cause, Mack’s 38 Nearby HazMat sites, and the Debt the City Owes West Oakland
- The closure of McClymonds High School for toxic groundwater is a predictable tragedy. Government policies around redlining and zoning created “ghettos” and put hazardous industries next to and within these communities. Things that would never happen in the Hills happened as matter of policy in the West. As a result Mack has 38 Hazardous Materials sites within a half mile of its campus.
- Black History Month: A Celebration of African Heritage at EOYDC
- Please join us at the East Oakland Youth Development Center for this free community event celebrating African Heritage this Black History Month. Featuring performances and presentations by EOYDC Youth and special guests
- Air Testing Underway at McClymonds High School This Weekend; Preliminary Tests Results Are Promising
- Days after McClymonds High School was shut down to students and staff, the campus was bustling with activity for much of Saturday, February 22, as experts in toxic materials and environmental health took dozens of air samples throughout the school buildings. Because of a special piece of equipment, the test results could be seen within minutes. Although these are preliminary test results, they have the experts breathing a sigh of relief. “There is no indication of TCE (trichloroethylene) in any of the areas we have tested so far,” said Cheryl Prowell from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.All the test locations show no evidence of TCE in the air. Prowell added that they didn’t expect to see TCE in the air on campus. “Based on the groundwater results, high concentrations in indoor air would be unlikely but we wanted to use caution and check.”
- Oakland Parents Demand Answers After Toxic Groundwater Forces McClymonds High To Close
- Emotions were raw Thursday night among parents demanding answers to questions surrounding toxic groundwater found under McClymonds High School in Oakland.
California:
- Dual enrollment’s great promise; also, #MeToo movement in high school
- Programs that allow high school students to simultaneously take community college courses, called dual enrollment, are effective in raising high school graduation rates and college enrollment, especially among students who might not otherwise have been college bound. But students in only one in eight high schools in California participate in these programs, according to the Wheelhouse Center at the UC Davis School of Education.
- California must face reality: Autism cases are increasing
- Though we hear little about autism data from our public health leaders or media, California’s autism rates continue to surge, with no plateau in sight.
- Column: There’s a new Proposition 13. It would send billions to California schools that need it
- Proposition 13 is the only measure on the March 3 state ballot — and its number is causing many voters to do double takes.
- Video: Gavin Newsom Opens Up About His Dyslexia
- Did you know that Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor of California, has dyslexia? In this video, Ryan, 13, who also has dyslexia, talks to Newsom about their similar challenges.
- Report: Special education in California an ‘urgent priority’
- The Policy Analysis for California Education findings come as Gov. Gavin Newsom is seeking an additional $900 million in state funds for students with disabilities.
- Special education in California in need of overhaul, researchers say
- Special education in California should be overhauled to focus on the individual needs of students, with better training for teachers, more streamlined services and improved screening for the youngest children, according to a compilation of reports released today.
- California to officially apologize for the WWII internment of Japanese Americans
- For decades, Japanese American activists have marked Feb. 19 as a day to reflect on one of the darkest chapters in this nation’s history. On that date in 1942, during World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorized the forced removal of over 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent from their homes and businesses. On Thursday, the California Assembly will do more than just remember.
- Working with UCSF, California Surgeon General Aims to Cut Adverse Childhood Experiences by Half
- Nadine Burke Harris, MD, California’s first surgeon general, has a bold goal: cut adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress in half within one generation.
- The arguments for and against Proposition 13
- Proposition 13 is a statewide ballot measure that deals with facility repairs, construction and modernization at public preschools, K through 12 schools, community colleges and universities.
- For California lawmakers, charity can begin at home
- It’s legal for Assemblyman Rob Bonta’s nonprofit to give to his wife’s employer. But an author of the state’s political ethics law says it shouldn’t be.
- California’s declining school enrollment doesn’t justify $15 billion Proposition 13 school bond
- Declining school enrollment may have an enormous impact on California’s proposed $15 billion school construction bond, Proposition 13, on the March 3 ballot.
- Opinion: California’s children cannot thrive in dilapidated schools
- We are making steady progress in better educating our students for success. Our statewide graduation rate for the Class of 2018 was 83 percent, up from 74.7 percent in 2010. We’ve made significant investment in what and how we are teaching our children.
- California Students Sued because they were Such Poor Readers.They Just Won $53 Million to Help Them
- “This is a way to get a lot more far-reaching reforms and I think it’s good to remind everybody about the state’s obligations to provide that education for all students,” said Victor Leung, an attorney with the ACLU of Southern California who specializes in education issues. Literacy experts including Nell Duke, a University of Michigan education professor, analyzed school records, depositions and assessment results at the schools named in the lawsuit to determine how well they taught reading. They found problems with classroom instruction, discipline and the lack of adequate intervention for struggling students — all of which probably contributed to the low literacy rates, Duke said.
- ‘California Complete Count — Census 2020’ Plans Education And Outreach Campaign
- California’s Complete Count — Census 2020, is in full swing, laying out its comprehensive education and outreach campaign to make the public aware of activities and important dates leading up to Census Day Apr. 1, 2020.
Other Stories:
- Michael Bloomberg is running for president. What you should know about the billionaire’s education record in New York City
- Curious to learn more about Michael Bloomberg’s education views since he announced his bid for the presidency? You can read the latest on his proposals — as well as what other presidential candidates have said about education — in our 2020 tracker.
- The Law of School Catchment Areas
- While legal and economics scholars have assessed the drawing of school district lines, and others have examined the education policy effects of school catchment areas, this paper’s unique contribution is in describing and assessing the legal and theoretical underpinnings of school catchment areas. First, I will use three large urban school districts – those in New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco – as case studies to analyze the use of catchment areas for school assignments. Next, I will examine the conceptual justifications for using school catchment areas in the context of local government theory. Finally, I will evaluate potential reforms for catchment areas that would decrease racial segregation. In sum, this paper will argue that reliance on school catchment areas for student assignment is a persistent yet unjustified public policy choice.
- ‘The Secret Shame’: Educators say student achievement rates are divided along racial lines
- Places like San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis—which boast a very strong economy and very strong levels of education for white kids—are doing so poorly for kids at the bottom of the well.
How You Can Help:
- McClymonds High School HBCU Tour 2020
- Located in West Oakland, CA, McClymonds has a long tradition of brilliance, from Hall of Fame basketball player Bill Russell to MC Hammer. In an area with prestigious schools like UC Berkeley, Stanford and San Francisco State, however, our mostly black student population has shared that these local colleges and universities lack a large black student population. As a result, students are also seeking out colleges that represent and reflect black culture, history, entrepreneurship and struggle.
What do you think?