photo by Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group

This morning, after countless e-mails and security clearances, I finally stepped foot in a maximum security classroom at juvenile hall. It was for a story about Lauren Bishop, a 2009 Alameda County Teacher of the Year (and an Oakland Tech mom).

As I walked into Bishop’s science classroom and scanned the young faces sitting before her, I knew that most of them had been charged with a “707 B” offense: one of 23 crimes including murder, kidnapping, gang activity and discharge of a firearm.

I also learned from one of the supervisors that more than half of the boys in Unit 2 might eventually be shipped from the center to an adult prison — quite possibly, on their 18th birthdays.

Whatever their histories, Bishop said, she sees each kid as just that — a kid. Read the rest of this entry »

…But it turns out to be quite the contrary. All of the hype and raving energy that past seniors exemplified and boasted to the underclassmen turns out to be a false misconception — at least from my current experience.

Walking from the World Affairs Council building in downtown San Francisco the other week testified to my growing understanding that Senior Year is not as fun, exciting, or easy as others had told me. I find myself more occupied and stressed than any other year of high school, in fact. How can a senior high school student find the time to really focus and excel in every facet of academics when college applications and extra curricular activities are beckoning for attention? That isn’t the ideal definition of “the best year of your life.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tribune file photo by Laura A. Oda

That seemed to be the thinking of the Oakland school district’s administration, at least during a special budget meeting in which the school board began to figure out how to reconcile its priorities with a $27 million budget cut (which equals more than 10 percent of the district’s general purpose funds).

Using an interactive Excel spreadsheet — which is supposed to be made available to the public soon — CFO Vernon Hal plugged in various average class sizes and teacher costs and, boom! Out came the number of students that school would need, overall, to cover its fixed costs (principal, clerk, utilities, etc.), and vice versa. Read the rest of this entry »

The Oakland school board goes East on Wednesday, convening its regular meeting at the new Phillip Reeder Performing Arts Center (pictured below) on the Castlemont high school campus, 8601 MacArthur Blvd.

On the agenda is a recent asset management study (it addresses, among other things, what the district should do with its underutilized space) and a vote that could influence David Kakishiba’s decision to remain on or leave the school board.

Specifically: Read the rest of this entry »

Tribune file photo of KIPP students on the Lowell campus by D. Ross Cameron

Until today, when I saw Oakbook’s report on a new OUSD asset management study and checked it out for myself, I didn’t know that:

• Oakland’s public, non-charter schools can fit almost two times the number of students that they hold right now.
• The district’s buildings, in all, are 5.8 million square feet, and its property spans 487 acres.
• The city’s school-age population (5 to 17 years old) is 68,436. Of that number, 2,504 attend public schools outside of Oakland; 1,386 are not in school at all; Read the rest of this entry »

Lawyers spent at least an hour last night laying out the facts and explaining the various bodies of law (Government Code 1090, Common Law, Political Reform Act, Board Bylaws) that led to their conclusion that David Kakishiba’s dual roles as Oakland school board member and executive director of the East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) pose a potential conflict of interest.

EBAYC has received 64 contracts worth $6.5 million and brought 21 grants worth $8.3 million to the school district since 2004, according to the legal analysis. While Kakishiba says he doesn’t take part in the drafting of those contracts or vote on them, the attorneys say that’s not enough to remedy the appearance of — and opportunity for — impropriety, especially since he’s the head of the nonprofit.

Laura Schulkind of the SF-based law firm Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, which reviewed the case, said “the law doesn’t care” if Kakishiba is a noble and ethical public servant — that the laws were written to protect public institutions from nepotism and conflicting economic interests.

It’s not just Kakishiba who faces a potential conflict in the current situation, in her view. For example: What about an OUSD employee who — through no doing of Kakishiba’s — decides to promote a contract with EBAYC, rather than with another organization, in part because he or she thinks it will please the board member (and, maybe, offer job security)?

Enter the “red flag” e-mail. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m pleased to announce that my blog now has some very basic functions. The newly installed ”Share/Save” button will let you e-mail, tweet or print individual blog entries, among a slew of other social networking options that I’m totally unfamiliar with. (The initial menu gives you only a few choices; you hit the plus button to get to the printer-friendly option.)

Thanks, TheTruthHurts, for the suggestion.

On another technical note: Between noon and 1 p.m. today, we won’t be able to post anything on the blog, as it’s being moved to a different server.

The Oakland school board will hold a special meeting Wednesday to decide whether to accept a legal opinion of the district’s top lawyer: that board member David Kakishiba can’t wear two hats — as executive director of a nonprofit that works in Oakland schools and as a board member — and avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Although the board doesn’t vote until Wednesday it seemed clear, from their questions and comments, that they’ll do what they can to convince Kakishiba to stay. Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Adiletta is a first-year teacher at Explore College Preparatory Middle School in East Oakland.

So there I am, fighting for control of a classroom against students sloshing knee-deep in disrespect towards each other and towards me, and all the while my observing school coach is clacking dourly on her computer. I know what my lesson and my classroom management is lacking; I need to include greater academic rigor and better routines and instructions to minimize disruptive behavior.

Tomorrow will be better, I say, I’ll work my tail off to make tomorrow better.

I come home late because of a flurry of mandatory meetings and student requests. I was at school an hour and a half early to prep. My lunch break was 20 minutes. I taught five back-to-back classes that were all a grueling struggle. I sit on my couch, my shirt untucked and left eye twitching, with my head in my hands feeling miserably guilty for failing the students whose education is in peril. Read the rest of this entry »

Jonathan Trinh is a Skyline High School student.

This past weekend the Skyline community endured another devastating loss of a beloved teacher. Mr.  James Delbridge passed away after battling cancer for many years.

Monday morning began with a school-wide notification and touching eulogy by English teacher Mr. Tim Jollymore. Some staff and parents were informed of his passing the day before.

Many students that knew him shed tears as the announcement was made. Teachers were also broken up by the loss. Six substitutes, for instance, were ordered to fill in for teachers that appeared to be absent as a result.

Mr. Delbridge taught math in the Oakland Unified School District for twenty years and was an avid supporter of Skyline. Read the rest of this entry »