The Oakland Education Week in Review: 3/9-3/15

Last week, lots of coronavirus coverage, housing activism, schools Latinx families should consider, a look at the opportunity ticket, how AIMS and the NAACP supported kids in getting millions from HBCUs, why Prop 13 lost, the roles of White parents in integration, and more, please read, share and get involved

Oakland:

California:

Other Stories:

Resources:

Oakland:

California:

  • Post-Prop. 13: Why a likely winner may end up California election’s big loser
    • That’s a good question — even if the $15 billion state construction bond manages a remarkable turnaround and squeaks by to win after the remaining votes are counted. Backers of the bond measure are still hopeful it will win, and at least one data analyst says it’s possible.
  • Experts, parents say there are gaps in efforts to help students with dyslexia learn to read
    • Dyslexia is unrelated to intelligence, but it hampers people’s ability to learn to read. Yet staff at many schools will not use the word dyslexia, and some don’t know what it is, according to parents, dyslexia experts and school officials. Few teachers have been trained how to teach dyslexic students effectively.
  • California districts complain proposed state budget won’t cover expenses
    • A fraction of 1 percent is creating stress for school superintendents. California districts have been building their budgets for next year under the assumption they’ll get a 3 percent cost of living adjustment. Instead, Gov. Gavin Newsom has included an adjustment of only 2.29 percent for K-12 schools in 2020-21.
  • Richmond families, students and staff fight attempt at wrongful school closure
    • After the West Contra Costa Unified School District failed to renew the charter petition for John Henry High School, the second highest performing school in Richmond which serves over 300 Latino and African American students, the school is facing a possible non-renewal of their charter as they appeal to the Contra Costa Office of Education on Wednesday, March 11 at 6pm
  • Failure of Democracy: California School District Bans Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye
    • In the United States, school board meetings usually show democracy in action. Concerned citizens can and do attend monthly board meetings, where everyone can give input to decisions made by their public officials. Unfortunately, democracy was missing in action on February 6 in Colton, California, when the board of the Colton Unified School District voted to remove Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye from the district’s reading list.

Other Stories:

  • Black Parents Force District to End Academic Tracking
    • For years, black parents in the Upper Dublin school district in suburban Philadelphia complained that their children were steered into less-rigorous classes and faced harsher discipline than their white peers for similar offenses.
  • Why white progressives should stop crying over black parent choice and ‘segregated’ charters
    • In January, the former superintendent of schools for Minneapolis, Bernadeia Johnson, told Minnesota Public Radio that district data showed white families tended to leave schools when — wait for it — 30 percent or more of the students were children of color. And this is in a district where children of color make up — wait for it — close to 70 percent of the district’s enrollment.
  • Does closing schools slow the spread of coronavirus? Past outbreaks provide clues
    • As the societal disruptions from COVID-19 spread and intensify, a question for many in the United States is, what about schools? Schools in Japan, Italy, parts of China, and elsewhere have shuttered. A small but increasing number in the United States are following suit, whether for a day, a week, or longer. But does shutting a school help a broader community, especially when the role played by children in spreading COVID-19 remains uncertain? Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist and physician at Yale University, thinks it does, but he recognizes that questions around closing schools are difficult. Christakis studies social networks and is developing software and statistical methods to forecast an epidemic’s spread before it happens
  • It’s white parents’ responsibility to integrate Seattle schools, some parents say
    • “Schools are segregated because white people want them that way … maybe not in what we say, but through our actions it’s what we’re conveying,” said Ali McKay, the Seattle chapter lead of Integrated Schools.
  • Covering trauma in schools
    • How education reporters can produce compelling stories on student trauma without promoting stereotypes.

Resources:

  • Middle Schools that Latinx Families Should Consider Based on the latest Data
    • Where you send your child to school is one of the most important decisions you can make.  The new school quality data was released by the state recently, and I wanted to highlight some of the schools making progress with Oakland children, and encourage families to visit.  Every child is different, and I will break it down into subgroups (schools showing progress with Black, Brown and low income students) in the next few weeks and you can also take a look at the schoolfinder tool to find local schools.
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