Its election season, we have the BLM and SoBEO voter guides, some amazing voting posters from OSA youth, an update on Oakland’s digital divide, the vast inequities in our schools and a forum with Integrated Schools, Equity Allies and Miriam from ep.5 of Nice White Parents on 10/21, teen voting on the ballot, lots of admissions changes on the horizon, Mack is deemed safe, and the new Glenview is ready. all that and much more, please read, share and get involved
Oakland:
- Glenview Elementary makes a gleaming comeback
- Youth Activism Through Art
- Alameda County schools get green light to re-open schools, Oakland holds back on return date
- OaklandUndivided Reaches Major Milestone in Effort to Provide 25,000 Oakland Students with Free Computers and Internet Access
- Teens Could Vote in OUSD School Board Elections If Measure QQ Passes
- Four Schools Four Miles Apart in Oakland, And the Chasms of Opportunity
- Beyond Nice White Parents; Lessons We can Learn from NYC’s Battles Over Privilege and Equity
- More than 2 months into distance learning, OUSD hands out just half of its 25,000 Chromebooks
- Eight Months After Discovery of TCE Under the McClymonds High Campus, the School has been Deemed Safe for Students and Staff to Occupy
- Oakland teen launches non-profit, wants science kits in hands of all kids in his city
California:
- California sees no link between school reopenings and spread of COVID-19
- Report: More than 100,000 low-income California college students lack internet access
- Viral video shows 2 Vallejo teachers bad mouthing students after virtual learning: ‘These kids are technologically illiterate’
- ‘I’m getting choked up’: Lowell High School may move to lottery admissions, San Francisco school district announces
- Editorial: The unequal pace of school reopenings is exacerbating California’s educational inequity
- Proposition 13 Under Increased Scrutiny as California Faces Economic Crisis
- Up to 1 million California students may still lack connectivity during distance learning
- California governor’s Supreme Court nominee wrote opinion derailing adequate school funding case
- How some California school districts deal with students absent from virtual classrooms
Other Stories:
- How COVID-19 Is Hurting Teacher Diversity
- Influential literacy expert Lucy Calkins is changing her views
Resources:
- How your vote affects Black lives: Berkeley professor creates Black Lives Voter Guide
- SoBEO 2020 Voter Guide
Oakland:
- Glenview Elementary makes a gleaming comeback
- From being almost entirely torn down in 2016, Glenview Elementary School is back after a major rebuild and will be ready to open its doors when students and teachers are allowed to return from distance learning, according to the Oakland Unified School District, which unveiled the gleaming buildings on Friday. The new school features larger classrooms, a redesigned library and a multi-use room with a stage and a basketball court that has roll-up doors to allow for indoor-outdoor events.
- Youth Activism Through Art
- Oakland School for the Arts (OSA) visual arts students and educators partnered with FIA on a voting poster contest. There are many ways to show leadership and make an impact in the 2020 election, even if you’re not eligible to vote! These talented young activists are making their voices heard through their art.
- Alameda County schools get green light to re-open schools, Oakland holds back on return date
- Oakland Unified School District said it is preparing to reopen, but it hasn’t given a hard date yet. Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammel said given the ever-changing nature of the pandemic, she doesn’t want to box themselves into a corner by announcing a re-opening date.
- OaklandUndivided Reaches Major Milestone in Effort to Provide 25,000 Oakland Students with Free Computers and Internet Access
- The campaign, which is a joint venture of Tech Exchange, Oakland Promise, Oakland Public Education Fund, the City of Oakland and Mayor Libby Schaaf, and OUSD, began about five months ago with one goal: to ensure every public school student in need has access to a computer, internet, and tech support. While the work is far from over, this is an important update for the community on some key milestones coming out of last week’s National Digital Inclusion Week, during which the campaign handed out devices at 25 schools across Oakland and highlighted the impact these devices and resources have had on families and teachers.
- Teens Could Vote in OUSD School Board Elections If Measure QQ Passes
- A measure on the ballot this November would, if approved, allow students as young as 16 years old to vote in Oakland Unified School District school board elections.
- Four Schools Four Miles Apart in Oakland, And the Chasms of Opportunity
- Babies born less than a miles apart here have radically different chances. You can go to public school A in Oakland, which is 90% free and reduced lunch, where not a single child was proficient in Math, and not a single White child attends. Or, not far down the block, less than a half mile drive, a 3 block walk, there is public school B, that is 12% free and reduced, and 80% of kids can read and 78% are proficient in math.
- Beyond Nice White Parents; Lessons We can Learn from NYC’s Battles Over Privilege and Equity
- Many of us listened to the Nice White Parents podcast, and wrestled with the challenges of school equity and how privileged parents can contribute to equity or undermine it. We will be taking the discussion beyond NYC, talking with Miriam Nunberg, the featured guest on the last episode, her son, one of the youth leaders in Teens Take Charge, and advocates and community from Oakland, about some of the lessons they are learning in NYC and how others community members can fight for equity locally. This is co hosted by The State of Black Education in Oakland (SoBEO), Integrated Schools Oakland, Education Post, and Equity Allies, please join us
- More than 2 months into distance learning, OUSD hands out just half of its 25,000 Chromebooks
- Oakland Unified School District announced they soon hope to reach the halfway mark in handing out free computers to any student who doesn’t have a Chromebook, more than two months into distance learning because of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Eight Months After Discovery of TCE Under the McClymonds High Campus, the School has been Deemed Safe for Students and Staff to Occupy
- District leadership will hold a news conference on Friday, October 16, to discuss the final determination about the safety of McClymonds High School, which had to shut down during the spring semester because of a toxic chemical that was found in the groundwater under the school. One month before the world radically changed because of the Covid pandemic, OUSD decided to close the McClymonds campus to students and staff because of the discovery of trichloroethylene, or TCE, under the school. Now, eight months later, the school has been deemed safe to return to for all students and staff.
- Oakland teen launches non-profit, wants science kits in hands of all kids in his city
- At 17, Oakland student Ahmed Muhammad has already accomplished a lot: He’s a straight A student, a math and science whiz, and a fierce and valuable player on his high school basketball team. But in his words, “All I am I owe,” and it’s a belief he’s used to model his life. While juggling his own rigorous academic demands, the Oakland Technical High School senior has been working to help other young people in his community succeed with a goal of trying to even the playing field for students in the area of science.
California:
- California sees no link between school reopenings and spread of COVID-19
- California has not seen a link between the reopening of K-12 schools for in-person learning and increased coronavirus transmission, officials say.
- Report: More than 100,000 low-income California college students lack internet access
- Across hundreds of California colleges, about 102,000 students from lower income households and 145,000 students of color lack access to the internet.
- Viral video shows 2 Vallejo teachers bad mouthing students after virtual learning: ‘These kids are technologically illiterate’
- Two Vallejo teachers were placed on administrative leave Friday after a viral video surfaced showing them bad mouthing their students after class.
- ‘I’m getting choked up’: Lowell High School may move to lottery admissions, San Francisco school district announces
- San Francisco Unified School District announced the board will vote on whether to put Lowell High School into the lottery system. Lowell High School, a nationally recognized school, is located in San Francisco’s Parkside District. Larry Baer, Justice Stephen Breyer, Margaret Cho, Benjamin Bratt, Jamie Chung and Carol Channing are among the dozens of named alums. Currently, students are admitted based on grades and test scores.
- Editorial: The unequal pace of school reopenings is exacerbating California’s educational inequity
- People have been talking about educational inequity for decades, but nothing has etched its outlines as sharply as the pandemic. When schools closed last spring, disadvantaged students were less likely to have the computers and broadband connections needed to log in to virtual classes, as well as parents who knew how to navigate this new world of remote learning. Now, income could be the determining factor in whether students get to attend school at all.
- Proposition 13 Under Increased Scrutiny as California Faces Economic Crisis
- The 1978 passage of Proposition 13 was part of a nationwide anti-tax wave, spurred by residents’ frustration with high inflation and soaring property taxes. It was a pivotal moment in California history when, critics say, individual needs overruled those of society as a whole —and the long-term ramifications are still being debated to this day.
- Up to 1 million California students may still lack connectivity during distance learning
- Nearly two months into the school year, hundreds of thousands of California students are still without internet access at home needed to connect to teachers and peers during distance learning.
- California governor’s Supreme Court nominee wrote opinion derailing adequate school funding case
- Martin Jenkins received wide praise last week following his nomination by Gov. Gavin Newsom to the California Supreme Court. Jenkins, 66, who’d be the first openly gay justice on the high court, served for three decades on state and federal courts, where he was characterized as a hard-working judicial “moderate.” Since last year, he has been Newsom’s appointments secretary.
- How some California school districts deal with students absent from virtual classrooms
- Deep into the pandemic, some districts are finding an alarming percentage of students are missing from the virtual classroom — with the worst absentee rates occurring among homeless students, foster youth, English learners, Black students and high school seniors.
Other Stories:
- How COVID-19 Is Hurting Teacher Diversity
- The Schenectady, N.Y., school district realized it needed to do better by its students of color: The vast majority of its teachers were white, while less than a third of students are. A couple years ago, the district began ramping up its efforts to hire more teachers of color, as well as provide anti-racist training for its staff.
- Influential literacy expert Lucy Calkins is changing her views
- In a major shift, the controversial figure in the fight over how to teach reading now says that beginning readers should focus on sounding out words, according to a document obtained by APM Reports.
Resources:
- How your vote affects Black lives: Berkeley professor creates Black Lives Voter Guide
- With just three weeks until election day you’re probably swamped with flyers, ads on social media, and voter guides telling you how to vote on the races and the issues. Enter the Black Lives Voter Guide into the mix, created to inform Oakland voters on how their decisions at the ballot box will affect Black lives.
- SoBEO 2020 Voter Guide
- The election is here and voting has begun. As you do your research, here are some State Propositions endorsed by State of Black Education Oakland. Please share with friends and family and make sure you VOTE!
What do you think?