The Oakland Education Week in Review: 8/3-8/9

Its gonna be a rocky year, but some amazing work from the folks at Bridges supporting our vulnerable families, a dust up as “rally’ at the Supes house is planned and cancelled amidst an uproar, EOYDC is filling voids, and the REACH’s Hub shows some amazing results, plus its time to register to vote and vote, lots on the mess that we are calling the “opening” of OUSD schools. All that and more please read share and get involved

Oakland:

California:

Other Stories:

How You Can Help:

We Demand Free Internet for ALL Low-Income Families During COVID-19

Oakland:

Bridges Stimulus Pledge raises $250k for Oakland families
- It began in April as a simple enough plan: Bridges Academy at Melrose principal Anita Iverson-Comelo and her husband would donate their stimulus checks to Bridges families, 80 percent of whom had lost their source of income during the pandemic and majority of whom did not qualify for a stimulus check or unemployment benefits from the government.
“We will not excuse those who choose to participate in such heinous activity”; When they Threaten Our Superintendent, The Oakland NAACP Stands Up
- The largely White union is going to march on the Black Superintendent’s house. Not sure if they will have tiki torches or avocado toast. But the intent is the same, to intimidate.
Starting Aug. 17, East Oakland Youth Development Center Programs will expand to fill void in school day
- The COVID-19 pandemic summer has changed society in ways that would not have been imaginable a year ago. One of the big adjustments that the Black community has to deal with is education, now that “distance learning” and “social distancing” has become the norm.
COVID-19: The digital education divide and its impact on low-income families
- The COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools to close across the world. As an educator, I know firsthand the disparities that exist in the classroom. When the pandemic began, I recognized how inequities in education would manifest themselves as distance education unfolded.
The Oakland REACH Virtual Family Hub in Action #REACHforMore
- For the past four weeks, the Oakland REACH has been doing something that has never been done before: opening and operating a virtual summer school for Black and Brown kids through a Virtual Family Hub.
Frustrated OUSD father describes school enrollment process last-minute, confusing
- Frustrated and confused — An East Bay father is voicing his concern about getting his son ready for school as thousands of students are expected to start Monday morning.
How to Get to 100: KIPP Bridge
- What would happen if Oakland’s 14,000 charter school families came together to vote in the coming November 3 election?
OUSD parents, teachers concerned with lack of resources as distance learning start date approaches
- Distance learning starts Monday for thousands of students in the Oakland Unified School District. But some parents and teachers are concerned that the technology will not be available for those who need it. However a school district official says there is no need to worry.
Office Depot donates over 800 backpacks to Oakland students at drive-through event
- Office Depot is teaming up with the Oakland Unified School District to make sure students have the resources necessary to start the new school year. Organizers say 875 brand-new backpacks will be filled and distributed to students at East Oakland Pride Elementary School during a drive-through event.
Undocumented families face immense challenges as virtual school year looms
- In many ways, Johanna and her first-grade son are just like the other millions of California children heading back to school. They’re wondering who his teacher will be at Global Family Elementary School in Oakland, what the homework load will look like and if he’ll be in the same virtual class as his friends. But in so many other ways, the tale of Johanna and her son, who asked that their full names not be used, is so much different than others — especially families who are well-off enough to hire private tutors and create in-person “pandemic pods” to supplement their children’s’ distance learning this fall, and possibly beyond.
OUSD shares information ahead of first day of school on Monday
- Officials with the Oakland Unified School District Friday said students will be learning from home for the foreseeable future as the new school year begins Monday.
Building a Better Bay Area: Back to School
- Going back to school looks a lot different this year. ABC7’s Building a Better Bay Area Back to School week confronts the many challenges Bay Area schools, students and families are facing during the coronavirus pandemic.

California:

Schools, unions leave parents in dark
- A week before some California districts start school, many parents remain in the dark about what online learning will look like as teachers unions and districts negotiate instruction plans — in some cases behind closed doors.
A California collective makes the case for outdoor schooling
- As school districts across the country are trying to determine how or if they can open their doors in the fall, a California coalition has come together – offering districts everything from curriculum to architecture advice to take their classrooms outside. NewsHour Weekend’s Christopher Booker reports.
California Releases Guidance On Elementary School Waivers
- As some students returned to distance learning Monday, the state released new guidance for elementary schools seeking to resume in-person learning.
CDE partners with Apple and T-Mobile to offer discounted devices
- Today, the California Department of Education announced a partnership with Apple and T-Mobile to aid in closing the state’s digital divide. The partnership comes at a key time when estimates have identified 700,000 students who need a device and 300,000 who need an internet connection. With more than 95 percent of the state’s students beginning the 2020–21 year solely with distance learning, the need is dire.
Eleven Weeks. 686 Partners. 6,630 Phones and Laptops.
- My first indication that COVID-19 was going to dramatically impact foster youth came on March 11 and it came from Los Rios Community College District, the second largest community college district in California, with over 75,000 students. The school sent an emergency email that they would be closing their four colleges and six educational centers, and moving to online classes for the rest of the semester. And they feared that many students, particularly foster youth, did not have the technology (laptops and an Internet connection) to make this change and risked failing their semester.

Other Stories:

A Digital Inclusion Expert Shares How Those in Education Can Get Internet Into Families’ Hands
- In the fourth episode of “Access Denied” host Dirk Tillotson has on Angela Siefer, Executive Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance to chat about how education folks can build on digital inclusion advocates’ work to solve the digital divide, together.
When Home is Not Safe, Why Some Children Need a Brick and Mortar School
- During this pandemic, I think schools should be closed. But, some kids need them to be open. They need a physical building to go to. They need to see someone who cares about them. The home is the most likely place where abuse and violence of differing types take place. We know this. Yet that is where they are, stuck, if they are young. Or most likely if they are older, they are just out, doing stupid stuff that kids do. Like I would have been.
Gov. Kay Ivey allocates $100 million to increase internet access for students
- A number of students across Alabama do not have reliable access to internet. Governor Kay Ivey announced Friday a plan to help. The Governor allocated $100 million in CARES Act funding to increase access to internet for K-12 students attending school in the fall.
Watch Alabama high school principal in “Can’t Touch This” parody video about COVID-19
- An Alabama high school principal created a parody video of the 1990 MC Hammer classic “Can’t Touch This” to encourage students to stay healthy at school this year.
Access Denied, Episode 5: Here’s How We Make #InternetForAll a Real Thing (ft. Chris Lewis)
- As a country, we were able to bring phone lines, electricity, and running water to households across America no matter how rural, far apart, or congested homes may be. We did it once, and we must do it again for internet connectivity.
COVID-19–Associated Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children
- Most cases of MIS-C have features of shock, with cardiac involvement, gastrointestinal symptoms, and significantly elevated markers of inflammation, with positive laboratory test results for SARS-CoV-2. Of the 565 patients who underwent SARS-CoV-2 testing, all had a positive test result by RT-PCR or serology.

How You Can Help:

We Demand Free Internet for ALL Low-Income Families During COVID-19
- We are asking FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to urge all internet providers to provide free internet to ALL low-income families, even if they have prior debts or have applied for service previously. Internet providers are boasting of their efforts to provide free internet to families in poverty, but currently, millions of families across the country who are facing the most economic hardship are being rejected from these free internet offers. We all need to come together to bridge the digital divide, and corporations should not be allowed to block access to the schoolhouse door in pursuit of profit.

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