After the Election-The new “The Talk”

Election day hurt bad, it still hurts.  I was in two Oakland schools.  One in the West, and one in Fruitvale.  Little girls in hijabs lined up alongside voters in one school.  And in the other school, which is 60% English language learners it was picture day, beautiful site with little kids beaming in the…


Black Teachers- A Call to Serve Met by Double Standards and Double Duty

There is a crisis in Black achievement, and one of the solutions is Black teachers.  But the latest report from Education Trust, “Through Our Eyes; Perspectives and Reflections from Black Teachers“, which actually asked them about their experiences raises some troubling issues about the conditions they teach in, and what we need to do to…


Cutting Off Little Noses to Spite Charter Faces in Oakland

It’s odd to hear someone who says they support parents and teachers to argue for less school funding in Oakland.  But that is the contorted place we find ourselves, with the so called “Oakland Parents United,” opposing the latest parcel tax that would fund Oakland middle schools. Oakland’s schools are underfunded. And I haven’t been…


Reformer reform thyself

With all the accountability talk, it’s a bit funny how unaccountable many foundations and non profits are to the actual clients.  I know.   I worked at one that peered into the abyss, didn’t like what it saw, and I don’t think it has looked back again.  And we chanted a mantra around accountability. A long…


Who I am, For the Curious, the Supporters and the Haters

I was born young, gifted and Black, and grew up in Upstate NY.  Well I guess we are all born young. My parents moved to a high performing school district, but we were the first Black family on the block and one of the few flies in the buttermilk in the school.  This created challenges…