The Oakland Education Week in Review: 11/16-11/22

last week, a look at the new Fremont building, school building re-openings, some help for teachers and housing, notes on a difficult year, trans student experiences, some good news on budget, enrollment is open for OUSD and much more, please read, share and get involved

Oakland:

• Fremont High, a school re-built with love, community, and bond measure money
• The Challenges of Accessing Higher Education (and How to Make College More Affordable)
• Statement from Alameda County Superintendent of Schools L. Karen Monroe on Alameda County’s Return to Purple Tier
• New affordable housing program for teachers unveiled by City of Oakland, OUSD
• My PE Experience as a Trans Student; Swim Class, Changing Rooms and Sometimes Ignorant Adults
• CWK: In an Already Difficult Year, Many of Our Schools Have Lost Beloved Students and Recent Graduates
• A push to open up talks on cops’ contract

California:

• Draft ethnic studies curriculum is what our students need in this moment
• In L.A., young people are spreading coronavirus — but older and sicker suffer the most
• Ethnic studies will help students become better informed citizens in our diverse democracy
• In ‘remarkable’ turnaround, California schools can expect huge one-time windfall next year, LAO says
• Disappointing grades, technology glitches and glimpses of learning fun
• Red flags raised on juvenile hall costs
• Audit says billions in housing bonds lost

Other Stories:

• Pitt, CMU partner with nonprofits, school districts to provide free internet access to city households
• This Transgender Awareness Week, Let’s Create Change, One School District at a Time

Resources:

• Oakland School Finder

Oakland:

• Fremont High, a school re-built with love, community, and bond measure money
• The Challenges of Accessing Higher Education (and How to Make College More Affordable)
  • Emiliano Sanchez says that when he was a freshman at Fremont High School in 1977, the school was known as “Portable High” because there were a lot of temporary classroom buildings on the campus. Forty-three years later, after a 15 year stint as both a teacher and administrator at Fremont, Sanchez is now the current coordinator of the Oakland Unified School District’s Career and Technical Education Trades and Apprenticeships program. 
• Statement from Alameda County Superintendent of Schools L. Karen Monroe on Alameda County’s Return to Purple Tier
  • The news that Alameda County county will be moving back into the Purple Tier under the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy framework is disheartening, but necessary given the surge in COVID-19 cases around the country, our state and the Bay Area.
• New affordable housing program for teachers unveiled by City of Oakland, OUSD
  • Oakland city leaders unveiled a new affordable housing program Monday aimed at recruiting and retaining teachers in the city where they teach.
• My PE Experience as a Trans Student; Swim Class, Changing Rooms and Sometimes Ignorant Adults
  • Being transgender and trying to comfortably take a PE class is nearly impossible. So much of it revolves around gender, whether it be the changing rooms, teams, or simply passing the class.
• CWK: In an Already Difficult Year, Many of Our Schools Have Lost Beloved Students and Recent Graduates
  • While we are all going through the enormous challenges that the world is facing, from a global pandemic that only seems to be accelerating to economic recession and widespread unemployment, to political and racial unrest, my hope would be that we, as a people and as a city, would come together to support one another and unite in our common goal of ensuring the health and well-being of our children and our families. But unfortunately, our safety nets are failing and in the context of this pandemic we are losing our young people to violence.
• A push to open up talks on cops’ contract
  • San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen is readying legislation that would compel the city’s police union and human resources department to negotiate the Police Department’s labor contracts in public. It’s a measure intended to fuel the type of law enforcement reform efforts that have been historically stymied in such meetings, Ronen said. If passed, the ordinance would bring an unprecedented amount of transparency — and scrutiny — to a process that has long been off-limits to the public.

California:

• Draft ethnic studies curriculum is what our students need in this moment
  • More than four years ago when I authored Assembly Bill 2016, the legislation that requires California to develop a model curriculum in ethnic studies, there was no question that our students needed and deserved an education that more truthfully and completely reflected the experiences and contributions of people of color. In a state as diverse as ours, our students must see themselves in their classrooms and instructional materials.  
• In L.A., young people are spreading coronavirus — but older and sicker suffer the most
  • Coronavirus is again surging in Los Angeles County, and that has prompted calls for people to stay home as much as possible and led to discussions about a possible curfew or additional restrictions on businesses.
• Ethnic studies will help students become better informed citizens in our diverse democracy
  • The latest recommendations to the proposed ethnic studies curriculum, under consideration this week, are a bold step forward for California students.
• In ‘remarkable’ turnaround, California schools can expect huge one-time windfall next year, LAO says
  • An uneven recession savaging low-income Californians, but a surprisingly fast economic rebound advantaging higher-income Californians, will create a huge unexpected state budget surplus that will provide an unexpected $13.1 billion in one-time revenue for K-12 schools and community colleges in the fiscal year starting July 1, 2021, the Legislative Analyst’s Office reported on Wednesday.
• Disappointing grades, technology glitches and glimpses of learning fun
  • While some students have acclimated to distance learning and even thrived, most in EdSource’s project following California families on how they are coping with Covid-19, are still struggling with spotty internet access, technical glitches and the frustration of not seeing friends and teachers in person. Concerns with distance learning track a recent EdSource poll in which 75% of registered California voters, including parents, say that distance learning is worse than in class instruction.
• Red flags raised on juvenile hall costs
  • The cost to run California’s juvenile halls continues to skyrocket, pushing past $500,000 per youth annually in some counties, including Alameda, with young people kept in jail-like conditions despite reforms meant to force the system to rehabilitate instead of punish.
• Audit says billions in housing bonds lost
  • As California slid deeper into the housing crisis from 2015 to 2017, a state agency let $2.7 billion in bond capacity that could have been used to build affordable housing expire, according to a report from the state auditor’s office.

Other Stories:

• Pitt, CMU partner with nonprofits, school districts to provide free internet access to city households
  • Through a new pilot program that combines the efforts of eight universities, research groups, nonprofit organizations and school districts, the Cathedral of Learning will act as a “super node” or hub that transmits Wi-Fi to households around the city.
• This Transgender Awareness Week, Let’s Create Change, One School District at a Time
  • As the parent of a transgender child, I’m really not surprised by the Department of Health and Human Services’ recently leaked memo. This attempt to define sex in a way that excludes transgender students and would deny them civil rights protections under Title IX merely continues in the same direction as other actions already taken by the Trump administration.

Resources:

• Oakland School Finder
  • Do you still need to enroll your child for the 2020-2021 school year? If so, please visit OaklandSchoolFinder.org as soon as possible to explore your options and view open seats at Oakland public schools. Questions? Call or text Oakland Enrolls at (510) 454-9360.