Choosing public school      
or at least hoping to

School starts in Oakland, at least for OUSD, next Monday.  A time of excitement and anxiety, eagerness and trepidation.  In our own family our youngest will start kindergarten and has been instensly preparing though play for the big day.  Yet public school, or the challenge of choosing it in the urban jungle of the Bay Area, and Oakland in particular, is one of the things that drives Oaklandites away.  In our own travails of trying to get into a public school, other than the just-above-failing one around the corner from our home in East Oakland, led us to question staying in Oakland, our commitment to the city, public education and our children.  The problems facing urban schools are not black and white.  They can't merely be solved by throwing more money at them.  It won't change overnight.  And yet the cost of change isn't just money and time, but one's children.  The tension of being committed to your children and your city/public schools is one that goes all too often under the radar.  What happens to the middle-class, lower creative-class families in our urban areas that are too monied for help, but too poor for private school, unlucky for a charter school spot or stuck for a move to the burbs?

Ode to Oakland 9 |

Community Educators & Educating Communities

When it comes to Oakland there's a lot of talk about education. The power of Oakland Unified School District was just returned to the city after exiting receivership and a take over (sometimes hostile) by the State of California. When you talk with people leaving Oakland, or thinking about making that choice, it's almost always around schools and/or crime. I've blogged a lot on it, torn from the challenges of education our children in public schools in the city, excited and at times overwhelmed by the inequity and systemic stuck-ness. And it's not just OUSD that educates our children.

We've been part of a cooperative preschool community for several years. As we leave that space and community I'm reminded that it does take "a village to raise a child." That we've been blessed to have our two children loved and known by other kids and families, and for our family to love and know other children and families. The diversity (cultural, class, financial, educational) of our city is amazing and shows up in our kids. It's also a huge challenge to those that work in education. How to you meet, respond to, let alone simply articulate the myriad needs that exist.

I've been repeatedly amazed by the passion of those who work in education in Oakland, life-long commitments (in many cases to the city that they grew up in) of educators to empowering the citizens of Oakland. Heroes for me, who recognize the sickness and stuck-ness of the system yet refuse to be complacent, hopeless or apathetic. They form a great cloud of witnesses I think of when I lose hope. Their example lifts me up to push on to finish the race we all are running together as a city community: Gary and Caroline Yee, Di-Di, Gail Murphy, Brook Pessin, Mel Stenger, Misato Araki. We should be hearing more about such heroes as a city. Katy Murphy at the Oakland Tribune does this to some extent on her blog: The Education Report

OUSD School Options: Holding Your Breathe

Today or tomorrow thousands of letters will arrive in the mailboxes of homes were many residents are holding their breathe to discover what local Oakland Unified Public School there child(ren) have been assigned to for kindergarten. It's a letter that seems to decide your fate. News that many have waited actively through visits, research and charm offensives for months, if not years, to receive. News that, you have to wonder, does it just come down to chance in a "lottery" or is it all about the squeaky wheel getting oiled? The same schools perceived as "good" are repeatedly sought after both by those that live in the neighborhood and those that don't, who are looking to parachute out of their school (whether it's failing or for other reasons including: safety concerns, poor facilities, racial/cultural make-ups, or even the lack of a PTA). So hundreds - maybe thousands - of families vie to get into: Hillcrest, Thronhill, Glenview, Montclair, Redwood Heights, Crocker Highlands, Kaiser and Chabot.

It's a process that seems more intense than trying to find a college. How do you go forward when some feel like $20,000/year for kindergarten is nearly and unavoidable necessity because of the public schools in our city? How do you pay for that if you are already maxed out with your over inflated (which is now deflating in our economy) rents and mortgages? It seems unjust that there you must fight so hard to get into a quality public school in a society that supposedly gurauntees us all the right to quality education. Of course in the end it all depends on where you live and if the caregivers of a child can or are able to fight for the better educational options for their children. The year we looked for kindergarten as a family, I felt like this whole process was a second full-time job that I took on. What about those that can't do that, don't want to, or won't? It this a question of entitlement? Is it an expression of middle class angst in our currect society? Is it a question of racial/class divide? Probably a little of all three.

Monday the assignement office of the district opens to hear appeals. It'll be crowded with unhappy and frustrated folks (like last year: Trib Article). Will it be better or worse this year? Will even more Oaklanders that could afford the option of private school but no longer can in our continuing to emerge economic collapse be going public, thus swelling the number of kids looking for a spot? I also reflect that the month or two after the options announcement is when I hear the most people talking of possibly leaving to Oakland, fed up with the harshness and impossiblities they face here - loving Oakland, the people, the geography, the emerging social scene - yet not being able to overcome the discrepancies and failing aspects of our public schools. It's a great place to live, and if you're middle class....it just might no longer be affordable or doable.

Closing Down Oakland Unified Schools
Tilden School in the Guillotine

I heard today through the blog that OUSD is slating to close down Tilden School in the Laurel District [n-hood association] and also the school that the church I serve as pastor has adopted. This is news to me and I promise to do some blogging-worthy research and share it in the next days.

Here's a blog entry on the situation.

Here's the OUSD statement on school closures and the process of deciding who is closed and who isn't.

Link to Katy Murphy's Oakland Tribune Education Blog about Tilden's Closure. Do you know anything about Tilden, OUSD decisions and/or the School Board?

Oakland Unified School District
Kindergarten Options Enrollment

One of the most stressful times for me in the past years (actually in my existence as a parent) was registering our eldest for Kindergarten in Oakland Unified School District. I swung (daily...sometime several times during the day!) from elation to depression, anxiety, existential dread, middle-class guilt, all the way to a sense of powerlessness as one of the emerging urban power-poor.

That season is starting again in Oakland. December 10 - January 15 is the options window for the 2009-2010 school year.

One of the best things I did was attend the Options Fair for elementary schools will be held on December 4 from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM at the Oakland Marriott (1001 Broadway Oakland, CA 94607). In addition to the fair, schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels will be conducting site tours and hosting open houses for the community. More details will be available soon.

Look for additional detail on the Parents' portal of the OUSD website http://webportal. ousd.k12. ca.us

We got into a great OUSD School (with much fighting, crying and praying) and are more than content.

Oakland potential School Closures

OUSD is holding a meeting tonight to talk about the closure of schools in Oakland, specifically smaller schools with an enrollment of under 300 (like the one our oldest child attends). The district in siting the need for efficiency and cost effectiveness over educational results of such learning communities. I have to wonder what that has to do with the District catch phrase "Expect Success" when some of these smaller schools outperform larger ones (see Stanford Study article below)? Does it all boil down to money or is there something else in the mix? Here's some online connections about the process, supposed purpose and potential results:

1. Meeting tonight Wednesday 10/8 moved to a larger venue at 4351 Broadway. (Tribune article by Katy Murphy)

2. Stanford study asserts that smaller schools are working (Katy Murphy Trib article)

3. Will the wrong schools be targeted? entry on the education report (Katy Murphy's Edu blog)

Education as the Civil Rights Issue of the 21st Century
Back to School Night 2008

I went to Back to School Night at my daughter's public elementary school in Oakland Unified School District last night. Proud to be at a public school and committed to seeing it be a successful place of learning and growth, not just for my children, but for all the children there, I was awestruck as I noticed the reoccurring theme of the evening. We need money. We need more money. Help us raise money for the PTA. The need isn't to raise money for flush expense accounts or company cars. The $100,000 + that the PTA of our school seeks - and has - to raise in order to pay the salary of the school computer teacher, the school music teacher, the school art teacher, the school PE Teacher, an assistant to help the lone school secretary do all she does, and to pay several part-time specialists to help students catch up. The money allocated by the State of California is 95% used up once the Principal hires the necessary teachers (1 per class) and covers the expenses of their salaries and health benefits.

I watched John McCain's speech that ended a few minutes ago at the Republican National Convention, in which he said that Education is the Civil Rights issue of the 21st Century. That there is a need to take on the special interests in education, unions, and bad teachers. I was struck by his comments. I agree it's a HUGE issue yet we're quick to point fingers and place blame on unions, bad teachers, and school district bebeaurcaracy. Yet I learned last night that the starting salary for a new teacher in the Oakland Unified School District (required to have a Bachelors Degree and a Credential that takes 12-18 months of schooling) earns $37,000 for working more than full-time. I was intrigued so I did some research:

$37,000 was a pot of gold starting salary for lawyers in 1980.

$37,000 was how much the government spent to house a homeless family in New York in 1986.

An Office Manger with a 2 year Associate Degree and no experience can obtain a starting salary of $37,380.

The Median Salary for Oakland Residents (all careers) with 1 or less years of experience is $48,000

While $37,000 can seem a lot in comparison to starting salaries in other places (Texas for example has a starting salary of $33,000), it isn't sufficient here in the Bay Area where the median income for a 4 person family is $83,000 (according to the info on this page a starting teacher salary qualifies as a very-low income) and the median home price as of this month is $499,000 and where we need quality teachers committed to public education

Undoubtedly Education, free public education, is a huge Civil Right that is absent and quite possibly disappearing today. We want qualified teachers - yet when I look at these salary statistics I wonder why anyone with 5-6 years of higher education would choose to work for $37,000 when they didn't have to. Why if public education is so important to us do we spend such little money on it and expect those that work in Education to make ends meet with little or no resources. What do you think?

I have to go. I need to start trying to find items to auction off at the School Auction seeking to raise nearly $60,000 (that's one and a half teachers for my daughter).

The First Day of School
what are we not teaching our children

OK - last year I blogged on daughter #1s first day at kindergarten (including a video). Our first day of school family ritual is to take a photo on our doorstep before leaving for the day. I just was looking at this morning's 1st Grade photo and noticed a spooky connection to last year's kindergarten photo.












OK - the socks are messed up on both photos. So we're teaching our kid to read but not how to wear socks?! Maybe with #2 we should focus solely on literacy and ditch fashion?

Striving to Thrive In Urban Public School When Private is not an Option
Is buying new shoes enough?

School starts tomorrow, so we went yesterday for the yearly ritual of new tennis shoes. The shoe department was crowded with like-minded families. Shopping in Walnut Creek, aka out of the bounds of Oakland Unified School District, I wondered how many of the kids there face the same challenges as Oakland kids at school: no supplies in the classroom, no permanent teacher, the threat of violence, huge odds to succeed despite the best efforts and strong will of passionate educators. We can't pay for private school for our daughter. Is buying her new shoes an effort to make up for that?

Luckily we fought, talked and were blessed with a spot in a fantastic public school here in Oakland that not only is better than our neighborhood school (where 1/3rd of the kids are reading at level by 5th grade) but enables us to visit all of Oakland as we cross it each way to school. We go to the public school to which the private school my wife works at donates all of their supplies, old books, etc. to. Kids of one community call the other the "welfare school", while the other community calls them the "rich kids." I can afford the $50 GEOX my daughter wanted, but not the $16,000 education that might give her a leg up (and definitely not the $1,000,000 or so mortgage that would buy our way into a good neighborhood public school). Urban middle-class guilt, or decreasing class purchasing power as I'd call it, makes me often feel inadequate in terms of what I can give to my kids. And at the same time I'm committed to my children (and others) having the chance to mix and learn not only together but from each other - in a public school.

I think Oakland is stuck in some ways because of the repeated family flight to sub & ex- urbs in the search of better schools since private here is out of reach for so many. If those families stayed and took ownership of OUSD - and increasingly more are - what would happen in and to our city? Is public education worth saving? Is going to all the playdates, school visits, budget meetings, and spending all that money and efforts for school fundraisers worth it? And who will save it?

If you're interested in the saving of public schools - maybe even OUSD - here are some links to thoughtful posts and resources:
Link to a new book on similar experiences in New York [Who will save public schools?]
Link to a podcast of the author at salon.com.
Link to the Oakland Tribune's blog special "My First Year" - detailing the life & challenges of rookie teachers in the frying pan of the Oakland Unified School District.

I Hella Love Oakland Unified School District

Granted OUSD has some significant problems that persist despite a most amazingly ecclecticly talented hyper committed groups of teachers & administrators (that I've encountered in my experience). And I am proud that my children learn, grow and discover more of life in an OUSD school. We went to open house last week at which some songs were performed by some OUSD kids and the evening climaxed with a pulled-fire alarm and amazing African Dance. I don't see any children being left behind at our school and thank God it's not all just about API.

Speak up for and with your favorite teachers today!
4-6pm at Frank Ogawa Plaza
Make your voice (and that of your children) heard with your feet!

Day of the Teacher May 14, 2008

Take Action to Prevent Cuts & Protect our Public Schools

Articles & Resources to empower your voice & support our teachers!

Directions to Frank H. Ogawa Plaza (Oakland City Hall)

"Day of the Teacher" - California Teachers' Association

"Teachers to rally from Peninsula to San Jose" [Oakland Tribune]

"Day of the Teacher to be used against Governor"

Oakland Education Association - Invitation to the Rally May 14th from 4-6pm @ City Hall

List of things YOU CAN DO to fight for public education on the OUSD website

Budget Crisis Articles hosted on the OUSD website

Three Strikes and You're IN
If You're the Victim of Violent Attacks
at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School

A 1st grade boy in Oakland spent the night at the hospital after being supposedly bullied and beaten by a 5th grader at his elementary school this past week. Turns out it's the 3rd time since the boy started school there that he's been bullied and physically beaten. What in the world?

Turns out Piedmont Ave Elementary - with 344 students, had 312 suspensions last year, 97 of which were for violent incidents (Oakland Tribune). YIKES! When I went to an OUSD public forum last week I heard it said that this school is one of the up-and-coming schools of the district, that goes unnoticed because it's under the radar. Well not anymore. Why is it that we tolerate such crap? We talk a lot about change in our city and nation. But how will it come if we don't stop tolerating what we want to transform in the behavior, worldviews and daily life of our children. We bemoan our schools falling behind China, India and Singapore in terms of science and math education....maybe part of the blame is with the tolerance of violence at school that induces such fear that I wouldn't want to go, and tolerance of parents/care-givers who do nothing to intervene.

Read more online:
[Oakland Tribune] "Bullying Incident Awakens Officials"
[SF Gate] "Oakland Police Probe alleged bullying incident"
[Review of School at great schools.net] Piedmont Avenue Elementary

Who knows what happened that day, and in the past. If I've learned anything the past few years in visiting school administrator friends at work, it's that they have an insanely difficult job, with too many hats, juggling diverse and myriad things all day long. I have experienced at my daughter's OUSD school - just this past week - in the office the school secretary not tolerating at all the fall out from a fight that had just happened between a 1st and 2nd grader on the playground. It seems like it's all about the context and climate we create, nurture and demand for our children. How do we want it to be a safe, collaborative and participatory learning environment?

If you're interested attend the public meeting to address this issus on May 14 @ 7:30 at Piedmont Gardens, 110 41st St. Oakland

Oakland Unified School District
Open Enrollment / Quasi-Lottery Options Program
What is an Oakland Public Education Really About?
What kind of Success are they really asking us to expect?

I went last night to a community forum at Bret Harte Middle School regarding OUSD School Admission and Attendance Boundary Policies. In Oakland there are good school, dismally failing schools (such as the one in my neighborhood) and many schools in the middle that are good (not great) but slipping under the radar of public school shopping community-organizing-bent Oaklanders. The good schools - mostly in the hills - and I'll name them (Hillcrest, Chabot, Montclair, Thornhill, Redwoods Heights, Lincoln, Crocker Highlands) are all over-crowded. [School information & rating here. Find your neighborhood school here.] Everyone wants to go there...those that can afford the high priced homes in those areas (except for Lincoln downtown) and all those that will do anything to get in - use a fake address for registration, appeal, appeal, appeal and anything else in their means. So what do you do?

The School Board is reviewing the policies of boundaries and the Options Program, looking to help ease the overcrowding of these schools. I'd ask though is that the real question? Is that what the School Board is really looking at, or is that the lone value they want to affirm?

What's the real priority in our school district?
Keeping folks happy?
Keeping families together at the same school?
Improving all the schools?
Ensuring equitable access and just education for all families across socio-economic and ethnic/cultural diversity parameters?

I was moved by several comments at the forum (which was well led) and feelings that I share, including:

What are the real problems of the OUSD?

Why does the OUSD spend some much time tinkering around with periphial issues (like the Options Program details and boundaries) as opposed to address key and deeper issues (some of which I'd identify as 1) the need for help for those "under-the-radar up-and-coming-schools like Glenview, Sequoia, and Laurel; 2) the need to build up parent involvement so as to spread the wealth of parent-organizers who can create and sustain transformative energy for PTA leadership in every school - which seems to be one of the key indicators of elementary school success; 3) the need to do more targeted and intentional marketing/outreach to future parents who may be considering their neighborhood public school and may bring with them much-needed organizing skills and willingness - what would it take to motivate and empower such people to choose their neighborhood public school over the myriad of private schools in Oakland? 4) the need to encourage and empower partnerships between schools and communities of faith and/or neighborhood associations in view of expanding and maturing the success of the school through community solidarity and collaboration).

A last speaker stood and shared about the beauty and power of and in the Oakland Unified School District, of her children being blessed by being in a vibrant community of diversity, encouragement and challenge pushing them to be the best that they can as well as pushing our city to become all the best that it already is. Power and Beauty - a bold statement we so often overlook when we shrug our shoulders, admitting a seemingly defeat and acknowledge Oakland as a "not-as-good-as _________ city."

What are the values of the Oakland Unified School District?
What's an Oakland Public Education really about?
and finally
"The whole approach of the OUSD to recruiting, retaining and relishing families in the public schools of Oakland - in all of the schools - raises the question, "Do people even want to send their kids to Oakland Public Schools and if not, why not?" Interestingly enough this community forum was nearly impossible to find at Bret Harte School, located in the back of the labyrinth camps, with a handful of handwritten - nearly difficult to read - signs indicating the path, several of the early comers depended upon students still at the school at 6pm to show them the way. What does that say about our system and about those perseverant enough to find in and for it.

This difficulty of knowing what you're getting in to (will the school actually be any good? How can you tell that in one visit? What will the school be like when my second child goes to Kindergarten in 2-4 years? Will they get into the same school?) is what attracts so many quality folks to private and charter schools. Our daughter nearly went to one because of this whole process and the completely dismal suckiness of our neighborhood school. I'm a proponent and marketer for the Public Schools - I love love love the one we attend - and yet in the communities I'm a part of in Oakland, which contain many middle-class, multi-racial, organizing-type families, the majority of them choose private and/or charter schools over Oakland public schools. And they're just the ones that could push an under-the-radar/up-and-coming school over the top in terms of parent leadership and collaboration in and through PTAs. A lot of it is an image problem. Simply making out of date websites (the OUSD one still has the 2006-07 academic calendar on it) and signs that read "expect success" isn't going to get people to think that success is really there.

Oakland Unified School District
Oakland Under Serving Devoted Citizens
Notification about the School Assignments for 2008/09

A friend told us tonight that his son didn't get into their number 1 choice for public school in Oakland for kindergarten next year. Instead they were assigned to the crappy under-performing - but surprisingly not categorized as failing - school closest to their over-priced home. My heart was wrenched and went out to him and his family, remembering my own depression-enducing travails with OUSD last year doing the same with our daughter. The notification letters were to be mailed out before or at the latest by tomorrow - March 1st - so I excpect to hear more and hopefully read something in our local paper regarding our school district. It all makes you wonder.

1. Is the Middle Class already dead? Our children will not take one, but maybe 2 steps down from us.

2. What's wrong with California and Oakland? We pay half a million dollars for old houses on a potentially devastating earthquake fault in order to then send our children to schools were 30% or less of the students can read at or even near grade level?

3. What does it take to turn a school district around?

4. We live in the home of the free and brave, talking about equality but is it all just blowing smoke? For what we experience in our school district is a supposed "lottery" that isn't even that in name, and in which those with good home value don't have to worry about anything. If our city is really about solidarity, equality and improvement - if the district is really about "upsetting the status quo to in order to provide a high quality of education for every student" (OUSD annual report)....then where the hell is the beef?

5. How transparent is this whole school assignment options process? It seems often more like smoke and mirrors than an authentic process. If it's not a lottery they shouldn't describe it as such. At least then people would know if they can afford to move to a good school neighborhood in advance, or expect to be screwed over.

6. The annual report talks about equality in education as it directly translates to equality of opportunity. What I seem from my experience is that there is only equality if you live in the right neighborhoods (Montclair, Redwood Heights, Upper Rockridge). What exactly does equality mean in our school district?

7. I read in the paper today that the estimated bill for everything in Iraq is 3 trillion dollars. My daughter's teacher regularly asks for donations of paper towels for the classroom because there is no money to buy them. I doubt that there are any in the schools in Bagdad either. So what are we doing with all our money?

OUSD::

ongoing debate about access

An insightful article "School boundaries plan spurs debate" is on the cover of today's Tribune. Katy Murphy, the Tribune wrtiter covering school issues, asks some good questions about public education in our diverse, and rather divided, city of Oakland.

Basically the hills school perform better - on tests - than the heartland schools. People spend well over a million dollars for a home if it's in a good school area, in particular Hillcrest School which repeatedly betters some of the elite private schools in Oakland. So people spend a fortune to get a free education, which is better and more privileged than the same free education that most other kids get in our city.

A teacher at one of the hill schools is quoted in the article as comparing her classroom to the United Nations, and at the same time recognizing that "there wouldn't be this kind of diversity if the students were just from this neighborhood."

So the question remains: is diversity in our OUSD schools important? or an added bonus?

And a great question asked by Katy Murphy, "To what extent should wealth - the ability to buy a home near a good school - determine one's access to a public education of their choice?"

She has a blog well-worth the read at http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/

I have to admit that I live in a failing-school neighborhood and succeeded in getting my child enrolled at what is considered a "hill" school - all without using a fake address and doing so in a legit way. You can read about my travails in many blog entries from last year [January - March].

I don't think the whole debate is rich versus poor. It's more about how our city is changing, how each and every neighborhood is being transformed by San Francisco Refugees, an expanding middle class that cannot move up the hills for a school nor afford a private one but will leave if they can't find public education that they trust. It's an huge issue for the urban shrinking middle class, even more in light of the financial slavery/limitations often incurred through mortgages and the desire to buy a home in the uber-expensive Bay Area. It seems to me that this is one of the KEY issues in terms of the transformation, gentrification, or resurrection (you pick the term you like) of our great city of Oakland.

What do you think about our city, the changes occuring and the role of OUSD in it all?

OUSD School Options for 2008-09

OUSD has scheduled their school options fair for December 7-8th.

The Enrollment Window for 2008-09 will be December 10-January 15.

I found the options fair really helpful last year - a unique chance to meet all the schools, adminstrators and usually at least 1 teacher and 1 parent from each school community - all in the same place. OK - it's totally overwhelming...but helpful.

More info online at the OUSD website HERE.

Specific School Information for each site is HERE.

You can also check out 3rd party ratings of the school at www.greatschools.net

Oakland Unified School District

Open Enrollment School Options Info

OUSD just released information about the School Options Open Enrollment Process for public school students for 2008/09.

The window for submiting your open enrollment paperwork will be from December 10th through January 15, 2008.

They have a School Options Fair scheduled for December 7th & 8th at the Coliseum. (It's a great way to visit all of the schools in one shot, talking with adminstrators, teachers and parents).

They haven't posted that to the website yet, but a worker in the office said to keep checking as it should appear any day now.

Here's the link to the OUSD website:

Homepage

Enrollment Page

Sequoia Elementary's

Prospective Parent Night

Sequoia ElementarySchool is having a Prospective Parent Information Night on Tuesday, November 13th at 7 pm in the school library.

SequoiaElementary, is an Oakland K-5 elementary school, and represents the very best of urban public education. They are a small and caring multicultural environment where children flourish academically and socially, with the support of our dedicated teachers, parents, and volunteers. Come learn more about this wonderful school community, meet their dynamic principal, and talk to current parents.

Sequoia is located at 3730 Lincoln Avenue.

Oakland, CA 94602

Phone: 879-1510.

You may also view additional information about Sequoia Elementary School at http://www.sequoiaschool.net/

Amy Blackshaw amybshaw at gmail.com

Cheers to Kelly for the info!

She also shared that a second info night is scheduled for January 15th.

Here's a link to the Prospective Parents' page on their website (HERE)

Here's a review of the School on Great Schools (HERE)

OUSD

Tell Our Governor

To Return Power

To OUR

School Board

We have a unique opportunity to have our locally elected School Board regain power over our school district here in Oakland! You can help by filing out and emailing/paper mailing back in the below letter urging the governor to sign AB45 (a bill that is about returning power to our school board). You can read more about the Bill HERE.

Simply copy and paste the "form" letter below, sign it - or fill it out - then you can email it to the Governor at this address hong.chang@gov.ca.gov.

Here's the Letter Format
___________________________

September 13, 2007

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, California 95814

Re: Please sign AB 45 – Support Democracy for Oakland Schools!

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

I am writing to urge you to sign AB 45, Assemblymember Swanson’s Oakland schools bill, into law. AB 45 will create a structured and orderly process for the return of local control to the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). The District was placed into receivership in 2003, but has since been in a stalemate despite consistent academic improvements.

In the last three years, the District has diligently complied with mandated recovery plans. As a result, test scores have improved and controls over spending have been implemented. The school board itself has changed completely and is comprised of a majority of new trustees who were not on the Board at the time of the budget deficit.

I believe as part of our duty to guarantee quality education to our children, we must make sure that another lengthy stalemate is prevented. AB 45 achieves this objective by creating a structured and orderly process for returning operational authority to the OUSD while ensuring the continued financial solvency and academic improvement of the District.

Our schools should always be our greatest example of democracy and must support parental and community participation. Parents, students, and educators deserve a School Board that is accountable for educational decisions affecting all of OUSD. AB 45 will ensure that the Oakland School Board can be engaged as the District continues to move forward on its path to recovery.

I thank you in advance for your thorough review of AB 45, and urge your favorable consideration.

Sincerely,


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(print name)

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(email)

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(address)

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(phone)

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(city, state, zip)

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(organization)