The Oakland Education Week in Review: 12/31-1/5

Last week, the high costs of financial oversight, a tribute to Shirley Weber, school gardens, the upcoming statewide bond, a look a students in foster care, and the shortchanging of newcomers, also candidate spending plans, the need for more diverse teachers and much more, please read, share and get involved

Oakland:

California:

Other Stories:

Oakland:

California:

  • OBSERVER Person Of The Year — Assemblymember Dr. Shirley N. Weber
    • Since taking office at the State Capitol in 2012, “this sistah” has made a name for herself taking on issues ranging from mental health to voting rights.  Dr. Weber (D-San Diego) has also successfully passed legislation related to ethnic studies in public schools, racial profiling, police worn body-cameras and improvements to a flawed database that tracked alleged gang members.
  • School Gardens — teaching kids to love science and soil | The Real Dirt
    • One of the ways the UC Master Gardeners of Butte County serve our community is through their School Gardens Program. Currently this program serves four schools, reaching 300 children a month in a total of 12 first-grade classrooms.
  • Upcoming school-bond measure is good for students and the state’s economy
    • California is projected to be about 1.1 million college graduates short of what state employers will need over the next decade, which means our economy could face another major downturn if we don’t address the workforce skills gap now.
  • Students in foster care: a quick guide
    • Each year, thousands of children in California are removed from their homes and placed into foster care due to parental neglect, abuse, or exploitation. During this time, they are considered to be wards or dependents of the court.
  • Open Forum: California is shortchanging newly arrived immigrant students
    • As a third-grade teacher in Oakland, I taught students who had just arrived from Afghanistan, Nepal, China, El Salvador and Guatemala. Without training, instructional materials or significant support, I had no idea what to do. I failed to teach them well, and they didn’t learn much. Unfortunately, my former students are not alone. Newcomers — immigrant students who have been in U.S. schools for less than 3 years — are systematically failed by a state system that largely ignores their educational needs.
  • California education issues to watch in 2020 — and predictions of what will happen
    • You can wager on anything in Las Vegas. Well, almost. I have yet to see the over/under on whether the State Board of Education will pass the next LCAP revision. That’s why I created my own currency, the Fenster — redeemable in EdSource swag if we open an online store. For now, Fensters are only worth bragging rights on my annual predictions column.
  • Why internet stops once school ends for many rural California students
    •  Walk into any classroom in Alpaugh Unified and you will see teaching and learning using the latest technology. Students collaborate on digital documents, give presentations on interactive whiteboards, conduct research and even apply to colleges on Chromebooks. But for many students in Alpaugh, a small rural town about an hour north of Bakersfield in Tulare County, that online connection stops once the school day ends.

Other Stories:

  • America’s schools are more diverse than ever. But the teachers are still mostly white.
    • “For some reason, that simple act and belief changed my entire perception of schooling, and life really,” he said. “She was the first person who saw something good in me.”
  • Education Spending: What Democratic Candidates Want vs. Reality, in Charts
    • Democratic candidates for president in 2020 are making big promises about what they’ll spend on K-12 education. In fact, four candidates have made the same pledge to triple Title I, the single-largest program for public schools at the U.S. Department of Education, which has a $72.8 billion budget. Another candidate has pledged to quadruple Title I.
  • Disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline in America’s schools
    • In today’s society, true justice can be administered through restorative justice. Restorative justice is a holistic way to repair harm in the aftermath of crime or wrongdoing. A typical criminal justice process involves victims and offenders, but restorative justice involves victims, offenders and community members. Although restorative justice prioritizes the needs of harmed parties, it also seeks accountability for those who cause harm and gives voice to community members.
  • Financial literacy should be taught to kids — not adults
    • In 2016, a report by Bank of America demonstrated an alarming statistic: Only 16% of millennials age 18-26 were optimistic about their financial futures. In the same year, Fortune published an article stating two in three Americans can’t pass a basic financial literacy test.
  • Salesforce Makes Grant to NYC Schools, in Its Latest Round of Donations to K-12 Districts
    • Salesforce is donating $500,000 to New York City’s public school district, the latest in a series of grants focused on building workforce skills and leadership that the growing software company has made to K-12 systems.
  • School integration activist dies at 46
    • Courtney Everts Mykytyn, a Los Angeles mom who worked to foster racial integration in schools by encouraging white parents to send their children to predominantly nonwhite schools, died at 46 last week after being struck by a car.
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