The Oakland Education Week in Review: 5/18-5/24

Last week, OUSD has raised over 12 million to help with the digital divide, but will it really help? Lots on the need to change the rules of access guarantee Free internet, please complete your census, and make sure your child is in the right school– we have lists of open charter and district seats, recognizing schools doing great work on college readiness, lots of ways you can help and so much more, please read share, get involved and stay safe

Oakland:

California:

Other Stories:

Resources: 

How You Can Help:

Oakland:

  • Twitter’s Jack Dorsey Sends Huge Donation to OUSD and City of Oakland to Help Close Digital Divide
    • Less than 24 hours after OUSD, the City of Oakland, and partner organizations held a news conference to announce an ambitious plan to close the digital divide by raising $12.5m to pay for technology and internet access for all Oakland students to have at home, Twitter CEO and Co-Founder, Jack Dorsey, announced he is supporting the effort with a $10 million donation. In one fell swoop, he gave the campaign most of the funds it was originally aiming to raise.
  • Why Oakland’s Current Plan WON’T CLOSE the Digital Divide and How We Can
    • I would guess more than half of Oakland’s Flatland families are worrying about food.  They also are worrying about rent.  And when that will be due.  Some are getting pressure to pay right now.  They can’t.  How much money do you think they have to pay for internet? You know the answer.
    • So, when I see a press release claiming OUSD and City of Oakland Announce Plan to CLOSE the Digital Divide; Bold $12.5 Million Plan Launches on Thursday! I have to question the use of “CLOSE” when there is no guarantee of free high quality internet.  Sure, you can get devices into hands, but if kids can’t get online, it really doesn’t matter.  
  • The FCC Needs To Act Now To Ensure All Low-Income Students Have Home Internet
    • An internet connection is the most critical component of COVID-era schooling. The digital divide is now exposing and exacerbating our already immense opportunity gaps as nearly every school in the country turns to distance learning.
  • A Catalyst for quality school options in San Leandro
    • San Leandro families living in the Bay Fair area near East Oakland have a great need for quality public schools that prepare students to succeed in college and beyond. Only 14 percent of African American public school students are on grade level for math, and just 29 percent are reading on grade level. For Latino/a students, the numbers aren’t much better: 20 percent are proficient in math and 35 percent are reading on grade level.
  • Take Part in the Count – Captioned
    • Spoken word piece about the importance of participating in the Census by Porsche Kelly. As an Oakland, CA native, Porsche is a well-known poet, motivational speaker and author who has done events from TED Talk to Google’s Juneteenth Celebration. She is known for her powerful poems about the Black experience. Follow her on Instagram at @thepoeticactivist
  • District Schools with Open Seats on 5/18, You Can Still Apply
    • There are still many great school choices in both the district and charters, if you are still looking, please apply and find the right spot for your child.  Go to Oakland Enrolls to submit your application.
  • Charter Schools with Open Seats on 5/18, You Can Still Apply
    • There are still many great school choices in both the district and charters, if you are still looking, please apply and find the right spot for your child.  Go to Oakland Enrolls to submit your application.
  • COVID-19 PSA
    • PSA about COVID-19 for Black Residents in Oakland
  • Twitter CEO gives $10 million to close the digital gap in Oakland
    • After Twitter’s CEO heard that Oakland Unified and the city were trying to raise more than $10 million to close the gap between students with computers and internet access and those without, he announced he would donate nearly the entire amount needed.
  • Pandemic widens digital divide — Congress may spend billions to narrow it
    • Jessica Ramos’ family had a decision to make after her father lost much of his work when the coronavirus pandemic struck: pay the mortgage on their East Oakland home or pay their internet bill. It wasn’t really a choice. But losing online access at home meant that Jessica, a junior at Skyline High School, had to sit for hours outside the closed Dimond branch of the Oakland Public Library so she could tap into the internet connection there to finish her homework
  • New Study; Half of Bay Area Families Couldn’t Pay Bills Pre-COVID, More Evidence “Low Cost” Internet Won’t Close the Digital Divide
    • Tipping Point’s latest study proved what many of us know.  Before, during, and after the pandemic many of our families cannot afford internet.  Even at $10 a month.   Internet is the last bill you pay when it competes with food, rent, lights, water, or acute health care needs.  And as you can see below 50% of Bay Area residents can’t pay their bills at least once a year.
  • Public Middle Schools that Oakland Families Should Consider Based on the Latest Scores
    • 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.
  • 19th Annual African American Honor Roll Celebration Set for Thursday Evening with Help from OUSD Educators, Leaders, and Celebrities, Tonight
    • On Thursday evening, May 21, Oakland is coming together to celebrate African American students in an unprecedented way. It will be the 19th Annual African American Honor Roll Celebration when OUSD and the city celebrate outstanding academic work by students, as their family and friends cheer them on. 
  • OUSD Pacific Islander Spring Celebration
    • In lieu of our 3rd Annual in-person Pacific Islander Spring Celebration at the Oakland Unified School District, we put this video together to celebrate our Pacific Islander scholars who have earned a 3.0 GPA and Most Improved GPA, who had Perfect Attendance, who are graduating seniors, and who are recognized as leaders in the community!
  • African American Female Excellence
    • African American Female Excellence was created to inspire excellence and accelerate academic achievement amongst African American girls and young women in OUSD, and to address the disparities in educational and social outcomes for African American girls and young women from preschool through high school.
  •  OUSD, Oakland reaches $12.5 million goal to close digital divide — in six days
    • In just six days, Oakland Unified School District and the city of Oakland announced today that it has reached its $12.5 million goal to give computers and internet access to thousands of Oakland public school students for the upcoming school year.
  • Oakland students may get to vote for school board members
    • A November ballot measure to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school district elections would make Oakland the fifth U.S. city to lower its voting age.
  • A-G Awards Educator Panel
    • One of the highlights of our A-G Quality School Awards was the fantastic educator panel, featuring:
    • -Maurice Williams of AIMS K-12 College Prep Charter District
    • -Rachel Korschun of Coliseum College Prep Academy
    • -Leonardo Ayala of Aspire Public Schools Bay Area
    • -Kelly Lara of Lighthouse Community Public Schools
  • Second Annual Middle Eastern Student Honor Roll Celebration Set for Friday Afternoon, May 22 for Hundreds of OUSD Students
    • Oakland is coming together to celebrate nearly 300 high achieving Middle Eastern 6th-12th grade students on Friday afternoon, May 22. Like other similar gatherings, this celebration is happening entirely online, but the organizers are ensuring it will be a fun and memorable event for all who join.
  • City Council Places Oakland Youth Vote Measure on November Ballot
    • The Oakland City Council voted unanimously at its Tuesday meeting to place an Oakland Youth Vote measure on the November ballot, which would give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in Board of Education elections.

California:

  • CA Students’ Anxiety, Depression Increases During School Closures
    • CA Students’ Anxiety, Depression Increases During School Closures
  • Educational Redlining Must End: Gloria Romero
    • Today marks the 66th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision declaring segregated schools unconstitutional. With all deliberate speed, little Linda Brown’s race would never again be used to access a public education “available to all on equal terms.” Sixty-six years later, our schools remain highly segregated, including in the “blue states” of New York, California, Illinois and Maryland, which have shameful legacies. A 2016 report showed that New York has the most segregated schools for blacks, California the most segregated for Latinos.
  • In Surprise Move, Newsom Calls for an End to California’s Youth Prison System
    • With coronavirus pummeling Californians’ health and economy like a modern day plague, few expected a line item buried in an otherwise deficit-driven budget that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday: After decades of the state running what was once the country’s most vast and notorious youth prison system, the end could be near for the Division of Juvenile Justice.
  • How some California charter schools support students during distance learning
    • In the switch to distance learning, many California schools have struggled to purchase devices for students, get teachers up to speed with online teaching and contact parents of students who aren’t participating in distance learning. But at Rocketship and some other charter schools, students were already completing digital assignments daily and teachers were routinely reaching out to parents through texts and home visits.
  • California Complete Count Census 2020 Self-Response Rate Map
    • The interactive map shows Census 2020 Self-Response Rate data for California counties, census tracts, and cities. Check the legislative district layers in order to visualize how each of the legislative districts overlap with census tracts, cities, and counties across the state of California.
  • University of California Will End Use of SAT and ACT in Admissions
    • The change is expected to accelerate the momentum of American colleges away from the tests, amid concern that they are unfair to poor, black and Hispanic students.
  • Proposed budget cuts threaten safe opening of California schools, leaders say
    • State education leaders on Thursday said proposed budget cuts to education would threaten their ability to reopen safely next fall and that confronting the COVID-19 pandemic calls for more nurses, counselors, custodians and teachers.

Other Stories:

Resources: 

  • UNLADYLIKE 2020
    • From March 4 through August 26, 2020, UNLADYLIKE2020 will be releasing 26 short films and a broadcast hour on PBS American Masters profiling diverse and little-known American women from the turn of the 20th century, and contemporary women who follow in their footsteps
  • California Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI)
    • The State of California will provide one-time disaster relief assistance to adult undocumented immigrants impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • This is only for adults who are ineligible for other forms of federal unemployment or pandemic related assistance, such as the CARES act or unemployment benefits.

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