Closing schools balances 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…
Oakland Unified School District (OUSD)
Why Students Are Skipping YOUR Class: Improving Teacher Practice from a Student’s Perspective
(A guest post from Trylyon Love, an Oakland public school student and energy converter) A school is a place that we are supposed to be getting “educated.” If school is such a beneficial place for us, why are there so many students failing most of their classes? Why are students complaining every day about coming here?…
Good News on “Willful Defiance” Suspensions in Oakland and What We Need Next
Usually a letter signed by the ACLU to your school or district is not a good thing. This one was a pleasant surprise sent to our principal, Leo Fuchs, at Learning Without Limits, recognizing the success in eliminating “willful defiance” suspensions. This mirrors some broader statewide efforts, that are starting to gain traction and that we should…
Why We Need to Talk About the State of Black Education in Oakland
It’s a mistake to say the education system is failing, at least in regards to Black students. It is not a coincidence that by most measures Black students are being left behind. And if it were only Oakland that would be one thing, but it is literally the same everywhere 200 million test scores were…
Five Minutes to Midnight on the OUSD Takeover, and Micro-Managing Won’t Help
Things went from bad to worse for OUSD’s finances. Three new data points came in this week and they all point towards insolvency. At the same time, we saw some board members digging in on employee contract clauses, trying to regulate their way out of this, and asking the Superintendent to develop a training plan…