Oakland School Scores for 2006

If you've been reading my blog or spending any time with me you'll most likely already know plenty about my angst-ridden, neuroticly detail focused, and occasional bouts of hopelessness mixed with a dash of constant regret about trying to get our daughter into a quality and opportunity-providing Elementary School in Oakland next year. We've decided on a private school while we wait to appeal the school option non-option we were given by the district. Ironic it's a bilingual school - the one of my wildest dreams in all my visits - it just has the hang up of the out of our league price. But of course what is fixing the car, having cable, taking vacations, buying an occasional bottle of wine to go with dinner in light of educating one's children, right?

Today in the Tribune there's an article about how "Oakland schools rank low again" you can read it here if you like. So many friends have talked about how much they love Oakland, how they are "lifers" yet struggle to accept and come to grips with the reality that the District doesn't seem to improve, or transform in an overtly positive way from year to year. I guess this year's hot-off-the presses Academic Performance Index (API - the academic ranking of California schools on a 10-point scale in comparison to others California Schools). If you're in OUSD you can see the 2006 scores for your school here, or if you live elsewhere you can search for them here. Sad news for those of us for public school. Yet it tragically (and maybe it's a bit demented) makes me feel better about our choice for next year.

What does it take to turn things around, to transform a complex system? I know a load of 5-star educators working in OUSD as teachers, administrators, and support staff. How does such vision, dedication, skill, and purpose get repeatedly school-jacked by other factors such as lack of parent involvement, spending of money, bad teachers entrenched in the safety of their tenure, and lack of vision? Can one person (or even a small group as Margaret Mead has said) really change the world? What does such change cost?