The Oakland Education Week in Review 10/21-10/28

All the Oakland education news that is fit to link, this week–Black parents take the lead on policy changes and propose answers to the challenges they are facing, more on the OUSD budget, a look at Measure AA, school tours are starting, how Prop 13 distorts property taxes, a look at some local races and the state superintendent, all that and much more please read share and get involved

Oakland:

 

California:

Best of the Rest:

Oakland:

  • Black Parents Say It’s Up to Them to Fix Unequal Oakland Schools
    • Fewer than one in eight black students in Oakland Unified School District meet state math standards. Fewer than one in five meet reading standards. Black students are far more likely to be chronically absent or get suspended than white students in OUSD schools. Nearly 70 percent of Oakland’s homeless population is black…But these data points were meant as a rallying cry, not a sign of defeat.
  • Oakland Unified proposes to cut central office jobs to help balance next year’s budget
    • After working for months to come up with a plan to balance its budget for next year, Oakland Unified may not need to cut jobs as deeply as originally expected. A proposal to save $16.5 million includes eliminating at least 53 jobs instead of the more than 300 originally anticipated.
  • Networking While Black: Voting Matters
    • Come join the Oakland NAACP on Oct. 29th for an evening of networking and good discussions as we plan for a better tomorrow. The goal is to bring to light how important it is that we all participate in this year’s midterm elections.
  • Ballot Measure AA tackles educating Oakland’s children
    • Endorsed by Mills College, Ballot Measure AA: Oakland Children’s Initiative, is proposing to expand access to quality preschool education for the city’s low-income children.
  • Lighthouse Community Public Schools Enrollment Tours and Info Sessions
    • Check out these dates for our upcoming Enrollment Tours and Info Sessions — yes, it’s already enrollment time again
  • Four Answers to the Crisis Facing the Bay Area’s Black Community
    • The Bay Area’s Black community is in crisis.  And the community came up with answers during our year of convening, and they are game changers.
  • THE BLOCK THAT PROP. 13 BUILT
    • Did Prop. 13 save the California dream or spoil it? To answer this question, we focused on a single block in a middle-class neighborhood in North Oakland
  • GO Board Watch: October 23rd, 2018
    • Three big things on the agenda for this week’s Oakland School Board are:
      • 1. Budget “Relief” Bill – Update from Alameda County and FCMAT staff
      • 2.  Staff Retention Report – Why do staff stay? Why do staff leave?
      • 3.  Fiscal Vitality– Revised budget, Long Term Plan policy and Fiscal Committee update
  • What’s Really Wrong with Closing Schools and How the “Opportunity Ticket” Fixes It
    • Closing schools balance the district’s budget woes on the backs of the already most underserved parents.  The reality of closings is that it does nothing for those parents who have been dis-served and will be displaced.  Typically, they attend an equally low-performing school that is further away and/or less familiar. And while the district may move towards balancing its books, it is these most underserved families that pay the price…But there is another way.
  • 2nd Annual Black Girl Power Conference
    • We are so excited for our 2nd Annual Black Girl Power Conference! The conference will take place on Saturday December 1st, 2018 at Mills College in Oakland, CA.
  • In Oakland’s D4 School Board Race, the Debate Is All About Charter Schools
    • In many ways, D4 is a microcosm of Oakland’s sprawling school system. Stretching from the Montclair district to Dimond and the Laurel districts, it’s economically and ethnically diverse. And the main issue in the D4 race concerns the most controversial education topic in Oakland: charter schools.
  • School board members discuss financial future of Oakland schools
    • Budgetary issues loomed large at Wednesday night’s Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) board meeting, as oversight officials outlined a plan to determine whether the district should qualify for deficit relief funding from California’s state budget under Assembly Bill 1840 and OUSD finance officials presented an update of the district’s budget for this year.

 

California:

  • Two Democrats vying for State Superintendent of Schools position
    • Bay Area natives, Marshall Tuck and Tony Thurmond are vying for the most powerful educational job in California, State Superintendent of schools.
  • The $40-million race for California schools chief is a proxy fight in a long-running war over education
    • On one side is a consortium of wealthy backers of charter schools; on the other, powerful teachers unions. The pro-charter forces support Marshall Tuck, a Los Angeles Democrat who lost a close race four years ago to the now termed-out Supt. Tom Torlakson. Tuck’s second try for the job pits him against Tony Thurmond, a Bay Area Democrat who gave up a safe seat in the Assembly and is backed by the unions.
  • Is the real problem the test, not California students?
    • But while we’re looking into these issues – which the new superintendent of schools (whoever is voted into the job on Nov. 6) should make his first priority – there are a couple of bigger yet less obvious questions: Are the ultra-flexible computerized tests comprehensible and useful? Is Common Core working out as we’d hoped? Does it need adjustments? And most important: What exactly do the test scores tell us?
  • California’s SAT scores rise, beat national averages
    • California high school students showed gains on the 2018 SAT college entrance exam but less than half of the test takers in the state scored at levels considered college ready in both reading and math skills and big gaps remain among ethnic and racial groups.

Best of the Rest:

  • Intel Tech Learning Lab Starts Tour to Shape Education’s Future
    • The Tech Learning Lab Tour is designed to engage with educators and spark conversations that go beyond the classroom to fuel curiosity about the role of technology and its impact on the world and their daily lives. Hands-on virtual lessons spanning arts, science, and other subjects will introduce students, teachers, and administrators to the power of technology as an instructional tool for the 21st century.

 

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