School Talk

Accused of Sexual Assault, No Big Deal, Just Teach Somewhere Else; The Cautionary Tale of Mr. Bissell and What We Can Do

Matthew Bissell, was accused of sexually assaulting a student at Berkeley High over a period of 4 years.  He left that school and went on to teach in, at least one more public school, and who knows how many others.  Berkeleyside details the story here.  It was only because a teacher at the second school…

Struggling with Access? 29 Million Families Are Eligible for Free Broadband NOW and Haven’t Applied for the Benefits, Short and Long Term Answers to the Digital Divide And More in Our Latest Podcast

When Covid hit, 16 million children couldn’t adequately access virtual schooling.  The number is now at 12 million, we need to get it to zero.  This is 100% doable.  And there are some current programs like the Emergency Broadband Benefit, which pays $50-75 per month for broadband, and is only being used by 15% of…

Oakland Ed Week in Review (8/10-8/16)

For many students in our city, last week was the first full week back to in person classes in almost a year in a half. For others, today was that first day! We are still anticipating numerous changes as the school year progresses but one huge development is that vaccines are now required for all…

“I’m Going to Showboat my Behind Off” the Hot Mic Moment that Tells you Everything You Need to Know about OUSD’s Board Dysfunction

OUSD’s first board meeting of the year was a bad joke.  And the punchline was delivered to those parents who showed up live to hear from, and speak to the board.  The meeting was disrupted, adjourned, delayed 2 hours, and then started again, virtually, denying those families their voice.  But the key moment was during…

Celebrating 11 Years of Community Building at Oakland’s Community School for Creative Education; A Conversation with Emma Paulino

When Dr. Ida Oberman, approached longtime community activist and Faith in Action East Bay Director of  Organizing and Leadership Formation,  Emma Paulino, about starting a public Waldorf school in the East Oakland Flats, Paulino was skeptical.  Oakland had seen parades of school developers over the years, and as Paulino stated, many of them, “came with…