Join Oakland parents, teachers, and students in Adult Ed and K-12 tomorrow to demand:
Save and rebuild adult education!
Grant teachers a fair contract!
Reduce Special Ed Case Loads!
Rally at 5:30 at the School Board (La Escuelita Elementary: 1050 2nd Avenue, btwn 10th & 12th St).
Click the flyer below to download.
This is our 5th edition ready for download. It features a critique of the recent report put out by GO Public Schools. The report is very troubling and includes recommendations of merit pay and evaluating teachers by test scores. Combine this with OUSD’s participation with 8 other school districts in the California Office to Reform Education which is moving towards similar goals and the importance of this report–and its rejection–becomes very important. Also included in this issue is an update on the continuing and growing struggle to keep alive Adult Ed in OUSD, a solidarity letter with the teachers-led movement to resist corporate reform in Guerrero, an interview with an OUSD custodian, and a parent-written article about how his child is dealing with the closing of her neighborhood school, Maxwell Park, last year. We hope you enjoy and learn from this newest issue. As always, we love feedback–positive or otherwise–so please join the growing conversation and movement against corporate education reform.
In solidarity,
ClassRoom Struggle
Click the image to download a pdf version.
A new update on the growing current struggle to save and rebuild Adult Education in OUSD. At the end are the demands of the students and teachers of Adult Ed and K-12 who are fighting as well as a summary of the reasons to keep Adult Ed fully funded and in OUSD. Also, be sure to come out to the Board meeting on May 22nd. It’s an all out mobilization for the deciding vote! Click either the English or Spanish flyers below to download them.
In March, the OUSD school board voted to support the proposal by Superintendent Smith (now resigned) for the flexibility to cut all adult education (AE) classes across the district. Since then, there has been outrage from the students and teachers of these programs directed squarely at the school board members and Tony Smith.
Tony Smith, throughout his years in the district, has championed the idea of “full service community schools” yet with this cut (solely his proposal) the district he presides over is eliminating funding to support families in the district. In order to create “Full service community schools,” the district must prioritize funds to provide real services for the families of students. These classes are one of the only concrete ways that OUSD schools reach out to and serve the families of their students.
These students remember all too well that 90% of the adult education classes were cut less than 3 years ago. As one adult ed. student said, “students in East Oakland remember the school on 73rd Ave. that used to have English as a Second Language (ESL) and other classes every morning, afternoon and night. It’s ridiculous that 13 million dollars were cut from our program and no one knows where that money went.” Now there are only six Family Literacy classes (consisting of ESL and curriculum designed for parents to better assist their students) left in the entire district.
These cuts become more despicable when considering that current national proposals for immigration reform require a basic level of English — highlighting the need for more of these classes. Adding to the irony, how can it be that the federal government emphasizes the importance of large-scale immigration reform, while our local governments continue eliminating possibilities for immigrant families to succeed?
On Wednesday April 24, 40 adult education students delivered a letter to the school board and superintendent’s offices demanding a morning meeting with school board members because their work and childcare schedules make it impossible to attend the bi-monthly evening meetings. The letter denounced the decision to close these classes stating, “If you take away this opportunity to learn, then we cannot progress. Within immigrant communities, English and GED programs are very important tools for overcoming adversity in this country.”
The school board responded by scheduling a meeting addressing the concerns of the students and teachers with members Rosie Torres and David Kakishiba on May 1st at 10am.
The meeting took place in the Coliseum College Prep Academy auditorium. Three board members attended (Torres, Kakishiba and Harris) as well as over 150 adult education students and teachers as well as other supporters. The meeting took place in Spanish, Arabic and English and was facilitated by CCPA adult education students. There were people in attendance from many schools including: Korematzu, Allendale, La Escuelita, CCPA, CUES, Futures, ROOTS, Fruitvale, Lafayette, New Highland, Brookfield, Esperanza. During the meeting the adult students came out in force to present demands and speak to the necessity of these classes and more! The board members expressed support for adult education but made no commitments. The board members said that a decision will be made regarding this issue on May 22nd and invited all supporters of adult education to attend that meeting.
When explaining their decision to cut adult education classes, some board members stated that we must prioritize our children, that in Oakland we care about our children. Some of the greatest determinants of child success is the involvement of parents in their students’ education, and also the income levels of their families. Adult education classes keep parents involved in schools, allow them to get better jobs and learn the language that helps them support their children’s academics. There is no such thing as choosing between children and parents. It is both or neither.
The district has also tried to defer all responsibilities for these cuts to the state government’s decision transitioning adult education classes to community colleges. There are many complexities to the state situation, but it is clear that regardless of what decision is made in the next month at the state level, OUSD has a decision to make in our school district. They can prioritize these classes within their budget plans or they can cut them and not serve these communities. The OUSD budget is under the direct control of the school board and they can choose to fund these classes if they want to.
When asked what it would take to win this struggle, one student said that we need the “unity and power of all the other schools”. The students believe that, “it is our right and our obligation to learn in order to defend ourselves in this country” and for this reason have continued to fight and gain support. The students’ inspiring energy and commitment to this struggle has given renewed strength to the adult education teachers and K-12 teachers to fight for these adult education classes and for other needs in our schools.
It is clear to the students in the class that there is money in this district and there is money in this country, and they demand an answer to this question: “As documented and undocumented people in this country we pay taxes, where is that money going? They need to return to us some of what we contribute.”
Demands of the family Literacy students at CCPA:
Why save adult education?
Margarita Monteverde is an OUSD teacher.
Hi Francisco,
Let’s just try to repeat back what you’re saying to make sure we’re getting this right. You’re saying that your direct experience with GOPS has been centered around developing and retaining quality teachers in Oakland, and that this direct experience contradicts the claims that GO’s political agenda is one that fits squarely in line with the privatization tendency that’s happening nationwide (and internationally). Is this correct?
Here’s my thoughts, as an individual in CS. First off, you haven’t at all talked about the actual political substance, which is documented in this article. I’d like to ask you a series of questions and it’d be great if you could respond with your thoughts.
What about Klein’s political ties with the foundations he works for? They exist, materially and it’s documented in this post. Do you think they have no political weight on Klein’s work in Oakland? Why or why not?
The fact of the matter is that when the OUSD voted to close 5 schools last school year, at least one of which has been turned into a charter school, representatives of GO voted to have “no position” on the school closures. This means feigned neutrality in the face of austerity. Is this an acceptable political position to you?
I agree with you that there are “plenty of people” in GO who are critical of the NCTQ report. We hosted a study group of 25 teachers in OUSD last week that had two attendees from GO. Neither one had anything to say in opposition to a slew of criticisms made of the report by quality, rank and file teachers. That being said, why have the “plenty of people” in GO not made a public criticism of this document? Would you be willing to do so? Why or why not?
Lastly, you say you are a socialist. That’s interesting. What is your socialist critique of the findings in the NCTQ report? What are your socialist thoughts on school closures? What is your socialist critique of privatization nationwide? Most importantly, what is GO doing to counter privatization (this is a completely legitimate question because aside from its efforts at doing professional development for teachers, GO has put 100s of thousands of dollars into OUSD school board elections, so it is hardly apolitical)?
Very appreciative of your engagement on our blog. Looking forward to your response!
Mara
Thanks for your reply. Honestly I wan’t even expecting to get approved. You ask what I think of the political substance of this post? I honestly don’t think there is much there, in terms of drawing a connection between the “lethal” school reformers and Klein. His bio and connections are no secret. Everyone knows about that, yet the post doesn’t really make any connections beyond that. I can’t say I know him that well, although I have had several conversations and haven’t found anything to substantiate the claim that he is part of some mission to privatize education. I am curious to find out if there is such a nefarious connection, after all, I am affiliated with GO as part of the fellowship and if there were such a “secret” plan to dismantle public education, I would very much like to know about it and see evidence. So far I’m far from convinced. This is the very reason I came upon your blog.
I wasn’t affiliated with GO when the issue of school closures came around, so I can’t speak to that. My guess is that taking a neutral position was a cop out, or maybe they had disagreements at the board level, and came up with that position as a compromise. Like I said, the organization is made up of many people, none of them have ever shown the slightest hint that their motivation is to dismantle public education. But your criticism here is valid, no doubt.
As for the NCTQ report, we actually go to hear from the report writers themselves, and had pretty heated back-and-forth where we pushed back at many of their recommendations. That said, I wouldn’t waste much time in fighting the report, being that not even OUSD stood behind it, so at this point, it seems like beating up a straw man.
On the last point, I’ll respond later. I do have students to teach, and I’d love to engage further, but lack the time for a deeper-level Marxist analysis. But I will say this:
I have been teaching for over 13 years and have been an OEA rep, a HEA (hayward) rep, and have gone to CTA trainings, worked on political campaigns and am familiar with all the discourse around privatization form all angles. I’ve been an outspoken critic of this for years. But I have also learned over time that the world is much more nuanced than a traditional dialectical analysis can reveal.
the true agenda of the NCTQ report? if it’s not, can you clarify why?
You Don’t “Hella Love” Oakland Teachers OR Students with Research Like This.A Critique of the NCTQ’s “Teacher Quality Roadmap” Report |
Intro – A Racist/Classist Report for Oakland’s Schools
The NCTQ’s Four Main “Reforms”
No Social Context – No Race/Class Analysis – No Neutral On Moving Trains
No Mention of Budget Cuts and the Impact on the Community – Continued Ignorance of Race/Class Oppression
But . . . Schools Are in Crisis. What is to be done?
Intro – A Racist/Classist Report for Oakland’s Schools:
On Wednesday, March 20th, I went to a rally organized by Youth Together that was in support of the Local Control Funding Formula. At the rally, groups of Oakland and Richmond youth were yelling chants about “education not incarceration” and making demands for smaller class sizes, and better paid teachers.
Afterwards, I went to the GO Public Schools event that publicly released the findings of a report titled the “Teacher Quality Roadmap,” written by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ).This report by the NCTQ, presented by two white women, completely contradicts the demands that students of color were putting forward on the same day.
The entire presentation was centered on the role of teachers as the most determining factor in student achievement. Huge emphasis was placed on the role of “great teachers” as opposed to “average” or “ineffective” teachers. No explanation was given for how these categories of “great,” “average,” or “ineffective” were determined, but I have an idea of how: standardized test scores. No mention was made of what this study’s actual political viewpoint on standardized testing is. No mention was made of how teachers should be supported in improving their practice. No mention was made of out-of-school factors like police brutality, immigration raids, or unemployment play in shaping students’ lives.
The entire thing was shrouded in triggering statistics, flashy graphs, and seemingly convincing rhetoric about the problems of public education in Oakland. The purpose of this quick response is to challenge the report that GOPS is promoting in its utility for addressing the real problems in Oakland schools. Rather than supporting the efforts that teachers, parents, and students are putting into keeping quality programming alive in Oakland, and improving the programming that needs improvement, this effort is a veiled attack on the entire community of Oakland. It represents a neoliberal political program that seeks to address the challenges facing communities of color in Oakland, while in reality being a veiled version of white supremacy and classism that will only further the degradation and destruction of Oakland students’ lives.
What we provide below is a critique of the 4 main recommendations that the NCTQ make for the Oakland Unified School District. Secondly, we offer a critique of what the report leaves out, and the racialized and class based implications of these omissions. Finally, we offer thoughts on how to transform the OUSD to actually make schools places where students can learn in healthy ways, teachers can work under the conditions needed to make the student experience profound, and where community members can be integrated into the day to day operation of the school.
Anyone supporting this program should reconsider, immediately, if we have a real interest in improving our lives and the lives of other oppressed people in our community. Continue reading
We’re offerring a piece by our retired teacher comrade Jack Gerson on the “legacy” of Tony Smith, the now resigned superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District. We will be posting more on this soon. Please send comments and suggestions.
Tony Smith: What He Did to Oakland, What He’ll Try in Chicago
By Jack Gerson April 6, 2013
On April 4, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Superintendent Tony Smith gave notice that he was resigning effective June 30 and relocating his family to Chicago to be near his ailing father-in-law. There is little doubt that Smith will soon be a visible presence in Chicago education – quite possibly the next CEO of Chicago Public Schools. It is important for Chicago teachers and community to know just who they are likely to be dealing with – and to those fighting back against the corporate education agenda elsewhere too,
Tony Smith, laying the law down on Oakland’s students, teachers, and community . . . and then cutting out! Deuces!
given the importance of the struggle in Chicago.
My guess is that Tony Smith’s job in Chicago will be to break or weaken the powerful alliance between teachers, students, parents and community so evident during and after last September’s teacher strike. There are few who can match him when it comes to talking about the importance of neighborhood schools providing wraparound services to combat the effects of poverty; to recruiting, rewarding, and retaining good teachers; to stimulate authentic learning based on concepts and creativity rather than skill-based rote learning; to provide all the resources that teachers need to teach and students need to learn; to acknowledge and work to overcome racism and its effects; to forge real authentic collaboration between faculty, staff, community, students, parents, and administration; to crack down on mismanagement, excess administrative overhead, and needless outsourcing; etc. For that is exactly what he did when he was appointed superintendent in Oakland four years ago. He talked so well, in fact, that even some skeptics were willing to suspend disbelief and give him a shot.
But in Oakland, it was just talk. Continue reading
A little while ago we wrote about how corporate money has been rolling into school board elections across the country, upturning normally low-key, local affairs and twisting them towards corporate school de-form. Of course, the local example was how GO Public Schools funneled $185,000 towards 3 Oakland school board candidates, Rosie Torres, James Harris, and Jumoke Hinton-Hodge. GO had received the money from 3 main sources: the California Charter School Association, Gary Rogers (seed funder of GOPS), and Arthur Rock. Well now, Arthur Rock and some other Bay Area venture capitalist friends have been popping up in even more local elections. Teacher blogger, Jersey Jazzman, did the dirty work to uncover the campaign finances and here is a sample of what he found:
- Colorado: According to election records, Rock, Penner, Callaghan, the Goldberg-Sandbergs, and the Fourniers gave a total of $19,830 dollars to a slate of candidates consisting of State Senators Linda Newell, Mary Hodge, and Andy Kerr; Representatives Pete Lee, Millie Hamner, Brittany Pettersen, and Dave Young; and House candidate Chuck Rodosevich, who lost his bid. While each if the candidates got different amounts all donors individually gave the same amount to each candidate.
- New York: According to election records, Callaghan, Penner, and Rock gave State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein $2,000 each; Sandberg and Goldberg each gave $1,000.
- Nevada: According to election records, Alison Serafin, who was recently elected to the Nevada State Board of Education, received the following amounts:
While some of this might seem like chump change when Obama raised $1 billion for his reelection, in school board elections these amounts of contributions totally warp the democratic process. For more info from Jersey Jazzman, please click here for his post. As he puts it these folks have been buying elections 3,000 miles from home (New Jersey in his case).
Of course, they’re also buying elections here and with huge consequences. GO has continued its push to bring corporate de-form policies into Oakland schools, most notably, with its recent campaign to evaluate teachers by test scores–a scientifically invalid process. To stop this red herring of a reform and point attention to where it should be (support and training for teachers based in professional learning communities and, crucially, increased resources for schools and our communities) we will have to be doubly vigilant and mobilized to offset the undemocratic nature of our current board. Click here for more ideas on what we can do and, as always, please share your ideas too.
I am a Go Teacher Policy fellow, and a long-time CTA member and site rep. in oakland and Hayward. I also consider myself a socialist. That said, I have never felt like a tool of Bill Gates or the capitalist school-privatization agenda that you are pushing. Ever since I’ve been affiliated with Go public schools I have not seen any substantiation to these rumors. The main push behind the Go Teacher Policy fellows has been to retain and maintain quality teachers in Oakland, where they are needed the most. There is absolutely nothing about privatization, or pushing for charters or any secret agenda.
As for the report from NCTQ study, there are plenty of people within Go that don’t agree with all of the recommendations. Sorry to break it to you, but things aren’t as black and white.
-Francisco Nieto Salazar