Monthly Archives: October 2012

Events, Local, Research, Youth Media

Video: Attend And Acheive Back To School Rally

On the steps of Oakland City Hall on August 18 for the Attend and Achieve Back-to-School Rally 2012 — in partnership with the Oakland Natives Give Back, the Oakland Unified School District and the City of Oakland’s Office of the Mayor, City Administrator and community organizations.
The day will include performers, family-friendly activities, a teen summit and parent workshops. The first 1,000 people to register in the morning and take advantage of a series of life-enrichment workshops and networking opportunities with community organizations and vendors will receive backpacks and school supplies for their kids. The “tools for school” giveaways will be distributed at the end of the day to those with wristbands received during registration.
This event is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is part of KQED’s American Graduate initiative in Oakland, which seeks to build awareness about the dropout issue by working with students, teachers, parents, businesses and nonprofits on news coverage, reporting, community events and town hall.

Watch this compelling video: Attend And Acheive Back To School Rally 2012

Local

The Education Report: In split vote, OUSD board puts American Indian charter schools on notice

Friday, September 28th
By Katy Murphy

Last night, as the Oakland school board issued a 1,080-page “notice of violation” to all three American Indian Model Schools over its fiscal and governance practices. (Link to the massive file here.) It’s the first step in a long process that could end in the closure of all three schools.

Supporters of the charter school organization begged for four more weeks, noting the hiring of a new financial team and the appointment of some new board members. And, of course, the schools’ near-perfect test scores.

Paul Minney, a lawyer representing AIM Schools, told the board that if it tabled the decision for a month, “…we are confident that we can arrive at an action plan to fully assuage the district’s concerns.”

“A notice of violation creates a high degree of fear, uncertainty and anxiety,” he said.

But the appeals made by Minney and the stream of parents and students after him were not enough to sway the board, which voted 4-2 to issue the notice. Board members Alice Spearman and Chris Dobbins voted no, and Noel Gallo was absent.

OUSD’s General Counsel Jacqueline Minor argued that the organization has had months to address the district’s concerns. District staff members raised many of the same issues at an April charter renewal hearing. And a state audit which formed the basis for this violation notice — investigators found that AIM’s founder, Ben Chavis, his wife, and their various businesses collected $3.8 million in wages and contracts between 2007 and 2011 — was published in June.

To read more.