Tag Archives: Oakland

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.

Local

Oakland Tribune: School lunches, revamped: Food service employees meet in Oakland to share ideas, recipes

September 25th, 2012
By Katy Murphy

Donna Irby has worked behind the cafeteria lines for 13 years, serving meals at dozens of Oakland schools. But only recently has she been able to do what she loves with any regularity: cook food from scratch.

Those were the kind of lunches she remembered from her school days, before school districts shifted to prepackaged, processed fare that could be bought and served cheaply, without a working kitchen.

Now, despite their shoestring budgets and countless other obstacles, Oakland and many other California school districts are working to bring more cooking back to the cafeteria — this time, with an emphasis on local, seasonal produce and flavors from different regions of the world.

“This is the direction we need to go and, like I say, this is a long time coming,” Irby said.

On Monday, food service employees from 21 counties statewide, including Alameda, San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin, shared ideas and recipes at a two-day conference, “Rethinking School Lunch,” organized by the Berkeley-based Center for Ecoliteracy. The conference, held at the Oakland Museum of California, is covering everything from innovative ways to buy local food for school meals to the nutritional benefits of scratch cooking.

To read more.

 

Local

Oakland Tribune:Oakland schools launch anti-bullying campaign by showing 'Bully' documentary

September 17th, 2012
By Katy Murphy

Busloads of teenagers streamed into a movie theater in Oakland’s Jack London Square on Monday morning, past their superintendent of schools and the director of the film they were about to see.

In the next two weeks, 14,000 Oakland middle and high school students will watch “Bully” with their classmates. It’s a wrenching documentary about the devastating and sometimes deadly consequences of bullying — especially when school personnel don’t take it seriously.

“I spent most of my childhood being bullied,” Lee Hirsch, the director, told the young audience as he stood before the big screen. “I used to get hit so much that my arms were yellow from top to bottom. … I couldn’t make it stop.”

Then he made a request: “As you watch this movie, think about the ways in which you can make a difference.”

Last week, the Oakland school board updated its anti-bullying policy; the screening is part of a broader effort to address bullying in the schools. A new law that took effect July 1 has forced California school districts throughout the state to revise their handling of bullying, harassment and discrimination complaints.

“Seth’s Law” is named after Seth Walsh, a gay 13-year-old from Tehachapi in Kern County, who was harassed by classmates and later took his life. The law establishes a timeline for the investigation and resolution of such incidents and requires school personnel who witness acts of bullying to intervene. One of the administrators featured in “Bully,” Kim Lockwood, is shown repeatedly minimizing complaints of bullying from students and parents, even those which involved serious physical abuse.

To read more.

Local

The Education Report: In Oakland, new player eligibility rules and forfeited games

September 20th, 2012
Written by Katy Murphy

Castlemont High has canceled its second football game on Friday because it lacks enough eligible players.

Skyline High, a school of nearly 2,000 students, forfeited its very first football game of the season — also, because it couldn’t field a team. At the time, its coach wrote a widely circulated letter to Superintendent Tony Smith saying the Oakland Athletic League’s new rules were keeping many of his otherwise-eligible players off the field.

The new rules, passed in the spring by high school principals who sit on the Oakland Athletic League policy committee, caused a big stir and plenty of confusion and alarm in the prep sports world. The policy originally stated that a student needed an overall 2.0 GPA, or C average, to be eligible (rather than a 2.0 in the previous marking period) as well as a certain number of credits. If not, the student would be sidelined for the entire school year.

So in the last few weeks, after plenty of, well, `input’ from coaches and others, the policy has softened. The GPA policy went back to the way it used to be (and the same as nearly every other league).

And perhaps more significantly, some players with poor academic records will have a second chance to participate on a team if they show they’re making up credits and raising their GPAs — if not for the fall season, possibly for a sport they play in the winter or spring. The OAL policy committee on Wednesday created an appeal process for players who are behind on credits or who received a GPA below a 2.0 in their last 6-week marking period.

What’s new this year, after all of the changes, has to do with making sure players aren’t falling behind on their course credits.

To read more.

Local

KQED News: Oakland Schools Try New Model to Provide Safe Place for Youth

September 13, 2012
Written by Barbara Grady

McClymonds High School juniors Starletta Andrews and Astiee Carver remember how tough it was to find a safe place to hang out with friends after school this time last year.

“It’s not safe to hang outside, even outside of the school,” Astiee said about the streets surrounding this West Oakland high school.

But now, thanks to the full service community school strategy of the Oakland Unified School District, McClymonds teenagers have a brightly painted lounge with couches and games and books to hang out in or their choice of a computer room or a dance workout room at the new McClymond’s Youth and Family Center. Moreover, they have access to tutors, counselors and peer mentors all at the place a mere walk across the parking lot from their school.

To read more.

Research

KQED The California Report: School Suspensions Highlight Different Discipline Standards

Sep 11, 2012
Written by Ana Tintocalis

UCLA researchers shocked the education community last spring when they found California public schools issued over 700,000 suspensions last year, mostly to black and Latino students. The study touched off a statewide effort to find out how schools apply discipline.

To hear more.

Local

KQED Perspectives: One Man's Education

Sep 13, 2012
Written by Carlyn Bynes

Young. Black. Poor. From Oakland. If someone heard that description, they probably wouldn’t picture someone well-spoken and educated. But I want to change the way the world looks at people like me.

When I was born, according to the U.S. Census, I had a 30 percent chance of being born into poverty because my parents were African-American. And I was poor.

Having no money introduced me to a life of humility. I was constantly borrowing from others and asking for favors. Hunger was no stranger to me, either.

To hear more.

 

Uncategorized

KQED Perspectives: The Life Academy Perspectives Project

Recently a class of sophomores attending the Life Academy of Health and Biosciences High School in the Fruitvale area of Oakland wrote and recorded their own personal Perspectives. With the help of their world history and English teacher, Annie Hatch, these students explored issues ranging from bullying and harrowing immigration stories to the embarrassment of blushing and the simple joy of skateboarding. Below you’ll find Ms. Hatch’s account of the project and the Perspectives of 15 of her students.

Read about teacher Annie Hatch’s experience with this Perspectives project.

Listen to all Perspectives>>

Local, Research

Health Centers and Full-Service Community Schools

By Katy Murphy
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith’s vision of full-service community schools is taking shape on some campuses, thanks to a school-based health center initiative that has picked up steam (and millions of dollars in funding) since 2008. Oakland Unified’s 12th health center opened this week, at the 1,900-student Skyline High School. For more about this article go to Full Service Community Schools.

Local, Research

Midyear “Trigger Cuts” Likely for California Schools

The Education Blog
By Katy Murphy
Originally posted Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

The news today out of the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office was not good for public education in California: The LAO has forecasted that state tax revenues will fall $3.7 billion short of the level on which the June budget deal was based.

About $1.4 billion in automatic, mid-year cuts to k-12 schools and community colleges will be triggered if the shortfall is $2 billion or greater. Steve Harmon, our Capitol reporter, lays it out here.

OAKLAND UPDATE: OUSD spokesman Troy Flint said the district could be forced to absorb midyear cuts of up to $5.5 million, or $190 per student, as a result of the trigger cuts. He said the 2011-12 budget accounts for this possibility. So for this year anyway, he said, “Any impact would be slight and we definitely would not make cuts to schools.” For more about this article go to The Education Blog.