Tuesday’s “Life on the Island” is up online already.

(Thanks to all of you, by the way, for your compliments on the fabulous picture that goes with the print column—Laura Oda, a photographer and ‘photo chief’ for the Journal’s parent company, deserves all credit for her patience and craft.)

This Friday, May 2, at 7 p.m. in Kofman Auditorium (in Alameda High) there will be a benefit concert to try to keep music in grades one, two and three in our district’s schools. The concert is brought to you by Bay Farm parent Lorri Garrett and a host of other hardworking volunteers in the Save our Music crew. You can buy tickets to the hip-happening event online here and also learn more about the class acts, including on- and off-island talent as well as many of our district’s bright-eyed third graders. If you can’t make the show, there’s also an online auction, with items including tickets to the San Francisco Opera, a $100 gift certificate to Scott’s Shoes and a drum head signed by Metallica.

Measure H
As always, Read the rest of this entry »

[Ed. note: speakers at the rally include State Assembly Member Sandre Swanson and former 16th district State Assembly Member Wilma Chan.]

This coming Thursday at 3:30 p.m. there will be a rally on the steps of the Alameda Unified School District offices to keep the momentum going in support of public education. My understanding is that speeches/remarks will begin at 4 p.m. and speakers include the always-inspiring Brooke Briggance as well as reps from teacher and staff unions. District offices are at 2200 Central Avenue.

Come on out and be energized to, among other things, pass Measure H, the supplemental/emergency parcel tax that, as I hope you’ve heard already, will be on the June 3rd ballot.

Also, for your edification/amusement here’s a link to an Onion story about the cutting of the entire past tense from schools across the country.

The esteemed Dr. Metablog, in town from Colorado, has written a response to the anti-parcel tax editorial by Guy Smith (”Make parents pay for child’s education”) that ran last week in the Alameda Journal. Visit Dr. Metablog and read his take on Smith’s position.

I for one think it’s time our city leaders—Mayor Johnson, Vice Mayor Tam, and council members Matarrese, deHaan, and Gilmore—step forward and come out loud and clear in support of a parcel tax. It’s not enough, I don’t think, to support it quietly. Our city council needs to take the lead in explaining to people—to all Alamedans, not just those with kids in the system—why we need to pull together in support of our schools. It’s a quality of life issue. It’s a property value issue. And it’s a moral issue.

I know we would prefer, of course, that Governor Schwarzenegger had not proposed cutting so much from schools. And I know we would prefer, too, that (even before these cuts) California did not fund education so poorly (we rank near last in the country in per student spending). We know, too, that the parcel tax is not a complete solution, that it won’t solve all our problems with funding and make them go away for good. But passing Measure H is something we can do now to help to make sure our Alameda students have a chance at that American dream that so many of our relatives, however many generations back it may be, came here looking for. So step up, city council, lead the way.

[Ed. (that’s me, Eve) note: Hat tip to Vice Mayor Lena Tam who already signed on to the official ballot argument in support of Measure H. (Along with senior/activist Nick Cabral, Harbor Bay Realty’s Dennis Pagones, Retired Encinal Principal Bill Sonneman, and School Board Pres. Bill Schaff.)]

[Another Ed. note: A happy wave to council member Frank Matarrese who says he fully supports the parcel tax and looks forward to it being on the agenda for discussion at the council’s first April meeting.]

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And below, for your enjoyment, are pictures of some of the people who showed up Saturday morning at Longfellow to put together signs and begin distributing them in support of public schools in Alameda. (Pictured right is Cynthia Marsh, a first grade teacher at Edison.) For even more pictures, go to Modern Muse.

I’m not going to lie to you: school board meetings, while often colorful and always-educational (What is ADA P-2? Hah!) are not actually my most favorite, first-choice activity. I might prefer, for example, to sit outside with neighbors in the twilight drinking wine while the children play.

Nonetheless, I am able to report to you that some of the last night’s most cheerful moments came from the grade school students who marched outside city hall in support of music before the meeting began (next year’s budget chops music classes from grades one, two, three). Some members of that group went on to make lovely speeches, including Adam Orlabukowski a fourth grader from Bay Farm Elementary School, who thanked his teacher, “Ms. Bonnie,” for introducing him to music and performance:

If I grow up to be a famous actor I’m going to give California schools the money they need to fund music and everything else. But until then, it’s up to you. Please save the music.

The board discussed what would be reinstated—elementary music and high school athletics top the priority list—if the June parcel tax passes. But, because the tax is by no means a certainty, and because the budget now in place includes reductions in music, nine grade English and math, middle school counselors, AP classes, and reading specialists–state law requires teachers who may be laid off be given notice by March 15. The cuts add up to the equivalent of 25.79 positions (no joke, scroll to item five), though there’ll be somewhat fewer pink slips because of retirements and attrition.

For more info about the parcel tax, visit Keep Alameda Schools Excellent. Particularly helpful, I think, is their FAQ. The parcel tax, for those of you have not been paying attention, would raise $120 per parcel (.15 cents per square foot for commercial properties with a cap of $9,500) and is expected to raise about $3.8 million.

Wait! What is it, parked outside Alameda’s Edison Elementary School.

Let’s get closer.

And closer.

Ahh, it’s an official Alameda Unified School District truck. A quick chat with the district employee driving it reveals that it’s of vintage 1978. It’s well older, one can be quite certain, than the oldest student in the district. And, not to give away my age–I’m told ladies of a certain age should not–but I was eight when that truck was new. One hopes I’m holding up better. Said the driver of the truck:

Our trucks are all old and they all waste too much gas and require a lot of maintenance. They’re not even cost efficient.

It requires an investment in schools and the people and supplies that support them to have it all coming out well in the end. You can starve public institutions but, eventually, as we’re seeing here in Alameda, stuff starts to hit the fan.

Word is that, in response to the student protests in Alameda this week, the state’s superintendent of instruction, Jack O’Connell, is coming to our island tomorrow to meet with Alameda and Encinal High student leaders. Encinal Senior Class President Mebrak Kahsai, who helped launch Tuesday’s protest, is one of the students who will meet with O’Connell Friday afternoon. She says the feeling of being heard by the powers that be is has been inspiring:

We’re actually–even though what the governor said was kind of negative—we’re actually happy that they heard us; we’re glad that he heard. People at school have been saying, “I never felt so powerful before.” …The governor responding made us feel good.

By way of context for Alameda’s struggles, you can find headlines about the cuts other East Bay districts are facing here. And, for good measure, here’s this morning’s story about Antioch: “Bloodletting begins in Antioch Schools.”

Last night was a crowded night at the Alameda board of education meeting at Chipman. Community members were out in full force to advocate for the programs that are important to them.

The press was there, at least in the beginning, in big numbers.

By 11:30 p.m., while the board was hashing out the details of what to put on the final list of cuts, not so many people were left.

I left at about 12:30 a.m., and they still weren’t done yet. According to Franklin PTA President Christine Strena, who made it to the bitter end, the board voted to cut about half the high school sports budget, reduce janitorial services, and cut middle school counselors. The public information officer position got the ax as did music for children in grades one, two and three. The board voted also to eliminate their $300 a month stipend, which several board members already donate back to the district. Board member Mike McMahon has the full list of cuts on his site.

I understand the anger of parents about the programs in our schools that are currently on the chopping block (it boggles my mind that we are actually, and with straight faces, discussing cutting sports from high schools and music from elementary schools), but the news of a move afoot to recall board members if high school sports are cut makes no sense. YES it is horrible to cut art, music, AP classes, sports. NO the board can’t just snap their fingers and get the money back (it is our governor who has proposed the 10 percent across the board cuts and the suspension of Prop. 98). YES we need to band together to find alternate sources of funding for our schools if we want to maintain their current level of service. A local parcel tax, the terms of which the board will vote on tonight, is one way that we have to relatively immediately (vote could be in June) maintain the status quo for our schools. So instead of an I-me-mine attitude and instead of an Us v. Them attitude let us all band together and pass this parcel tax for the good for our schools, for the good for neighbors and for the good of our community.