The Oakland Education Week in Review 9/17/18

All the Oakland education news that’s fit to link– this week an interactive look at OUSD teacher retention, a looming strike? some relatively good budget news, school board races and the latest Board meeting, finally a ban on for profit charters, a look at the candidates for schools supe, and an important article about the research base for having a diverse set of teachers, all that and much more with links below, please read, share and get involved

Oakland:

California:

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Oakland:

  • As the school year begins, Oakland faces low teacher retention rates
    • On Thursday evening, teachers, students and district officials gathered to learn more about teacher and staff turnover in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and discuss strategies to improve retention rates.
  • OUSD, Teachers Enter Mediation as Contract Negotiations Stall
    • Oakland educators say they have reached a “bargaining showdown” with the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) as contract negotiations enter their second year…The Oakland Education Association (OEA), along with parent, labor and student supporters, held a news conference last Friday at the end of the first day of state-assisted mediation, a process designed to kick-start the negotiating process.
  • Oakland teachers, students and advocates meet to address guns in schools
    • As Education Secretary Betsy DeVos again suggested arming teachers in schools using federal funds, local gun safety experts and educators in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday night advocated getting guns out of schools.
    • “We can’t prevent fires, we can’t prevent earthquakes. We can prevent school shootings,” high school senior Basch added.
  • Budget Matters Fall 2018 Update
    • “Throughout this year, GO’s major goal is to make sure the community and Oaklanders like you are informed about what is happening with OUSD’s budget.”
  • Editorial: Gary Yee the obvious choice for Oakland school board
    • With the Oakland school district teetering on the financial edge, it needs leaders with keen financial acumen who also understand the complexities of an urban education system.
  • GO Board Watch: September 12, 2018
    • 3 BIG THINGS on this week’s agenda include:
  1.  District Close of Books Report for 2017-2018 School Year
  2.  District Academic Focus and Results Update
  3.  OUSD’s Endorsement of Measure AA, The City of Oakland Children’s Initiative of 2018
  • NBA Legend Gary Payton to Visit Former High School in Oakland, Make Donation
    • An Oakland native and NBA legend will visit an Oakland high school Thursday, officials with the Oakland Unified School District said.
  • Will OUSD Have Another Round of Midyear Cuts?
    • The number one question our network has been asking this fall is whether or not schools should expect to see another round of midyear cuts. The good news is that as of last night, the answer appears to be that they should not be expecting cuts to their 18-19 budgets.
  • Don’t block new charter schoolhouse in Oakland
    • We are immigrants whose families came here for a better life. We believe a good public education is the key to this dream, and are writing to challenge the politicians on the Oakland Unified School District board and around the Bay Area who want to tell us and our community how and where to educate our kids. We say: Stop blaming charter schools for generations of school district failure, and instead let’s work together on behalf of all kids.
  • Following budget cuts, Oakland schools close year with surprising budget surplus
    • Battle attributed the reduction in spending to last school year’s midyear cuts and improved financial practices in the district. “I think it also shows some of the belt-tightening that the district went through over the past six or seven months,” he said. “We’re showing progress.”
  • Warriors Launch 2018 “Back To School In The Bay” Initiative
    • The back-to-back NBA Champion Golden State Warriors will launch their 2018 “Back to School in the Bay” initiative this week in an effort to help raise awareness about the importance of education and to get students excited for the upcoming school year.

California:

  • California bans for-profit charter schools
    • A bill signed into law Friday afternoon prohibits companies from managing or running the state’s taxpayer-funded, independently run charter schools. Assembly Bill 406 was inspired, in part, by an investigation by this news organization into allegations of profiteering at the expense of children’s educations.
  • Q&A with Marshall Tuck, California schools superintendent candidate
    • You think about a community can’t thrive without good public schools, you know? Safety, the economy, the environment, just even I think empathy and civility and civic engagement.
  • Q&A with Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, California schools superintendent candidate
    • I’m all in for our kids because education saved my life….Because I got a great education that propelled me to a different career and that’s what this campaign represents for me. That anyone can overcome humble beginnings if they are given an education and the right kind of support.
  • Would more money close our education gap?
    • In recent years, the state has not only increased overall school spending by about 50 percent per student, but has specifically aimed additional billions of dollars at closing the gap through the Local Control Funding Formula….Nevertheless, the gap has continued…”
  • California’s pension crisis hits disadvantaged students the hardest
    • As California prepares to spend $68 billion — $2.2 billion more than it spent last school year — to educate more than 6 million students in the 2018-2019 school year, funding intended for students, especially the neediest students, will continue to be diverted to pay for long-term debts.
  • Special Education Series: Q & A with Valentin Escanuela, a San Diego Principal-Real Talk for Teachers and Families
    • I want teachers  to know that kids want to feel like you care…Therefore, your role as an educator is not just to teach, you have a responsibility to your students, their parents, and the community to ensure that you are doing everything in your power to ensure your students’ success in school and beyond the walls of your classroom.  Learning disabilities often translate into behavior problems due to the students inability to perform academically without the right supports. These students are usually sent out of the classroom and are labeled as “those students;” something that further alienates them and disconnects them from school. The more you take time to connect with students when they are struggling the most, the more information you’ll have to address the whole child in order make them feel like they belong and meet their academic and socio emotional needs.”
  • New exemption in California allows migrant students to remain in schools for entire year
    • School-age children in California’s migrant farmworker families now have the opportunity to remain in their schools for the entire school year instead of having to leave when the harvest is over, according to CALmatters.
  • “Red, White and Blue” themed football game offends high school principal
    • The controversy started over what the principal of Santa Ana High School perceived as a racist tone. The theme of the game that night at Aliso Niguel High School was “Red, White and Blue,” to commemorate 9/11. But Principal Jeff Bishop says some students used the patriotic theme to discriminate instead.
  • It’s Time For California to Finally Give Internet Access to Youth In Detention and Foster Care
    • While incarcerated youths don’t lose their right to an education, current law doesn’t guarantee them Internet access. That’s a serious problem. With so much information in our society moving online, the Internet has become a critical starting point for research of all kinds.

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