As school choice advocate Betsy Devos assumes the role of secretary of education, charter school camps have formed for and against her. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools supported her, while the coalition of independent charter schools in New York City (representing over 100 schools) opposed her. And in California, while school leaders have almost…
charter schools
A Pleasantly Unsettling Visit to Oakland’s Urban Montessori
“My number one goal is that students are happy and want to come to school.” In this age of test-based accountability those are rare words to hear from a school leader, but I heard them last week at Urban Montessori Charter School, an extraordinary school, that has me thinking. Schools generally are not very fun,…
OUSD’s Year in Review and the Challenges Ahead
By most accounts Oakland Unified is doing pretty well. Our schools are as fully staffed as they have been in recent memory, public support is at historic highs, academically we are making progress and progress with some of most historically underserved students, and financially we are as strong as ever, with an improving bond rating.…
Conflicting Reports on CA Charter Admissions Violations, Any Number Is Too High
Too many charter schools are setting illegal admissions standards, whether that is 2%, as the California Charter Association reports or 20% as the ACLU of SoCal and Public Advocates report (full disclosure my first legal gig was at Public Advocates). Charter schools are public schools and need to have open admissions, so any number is…
After 8 Schools and Almost Giving Up, I’m Graduating From MetWest and Headed to UC Davis
This guest post is by Camille Marley Brewster (aka Mars), who is graduating from MetWest High School in Oakland Unified School District this month. During my time in Oakland I’ve been to eight different schools, some district, some charter, one home-schooling program twice, and then finally ending up at one very different and special high…