You can’t be politically correct with kids. You have to be real. They know the difference, and will work you and the system. Count on it. You can be consistent. You can be direct. You can be patient, and above all, you must be honest. And you have to demonstrate to them that you care. Dr. Chavis did all these things and that’s why he was successful.

He also looked at me during the first morning that I worked in the office and said, “This is boring, isn’t it?”

As a new UCB graduate, I was looking for a mentor and learned instead that this school was could have been run by a marine drill sergeant instead of a vile, demoralizing little man with a doctorate who was influencing the next generation of adults to become like himself.

He also screamed profanity at the children and myself. During school hours spent most of his time in his office on the phone working on his real estate portfolio. The first day I could tell that he had many homes both in both oakland and arizona.

When I appeared at a board meeting to discuss his behavior, he followed me down the street screaming profanity at me. He lied at the board meeting about his behavior. He had also sexually propositioned me the day that he hired me, although he was newly married. He may have a doctorate degree, but that is no excuse for his immoral behavior.

Sharon, please note that the test scores were published by race for AIPC and African American, Latino and Asian students were performing equally well, with Asians a bit stronger in math and Af/Americans stronger in language. The change in the ethnic make up of the school was because Asians living in the neighborhood sought it out once they realized what the results were. Having more Asians go to the school did not raise the test scores because African/Americans and Latinos continued to perform off the charts.

In addition, Chavis did work with surrounding elementary schools, but was specifically asking for mid performing students, not high performing students. He told the counselor at Laurel Elementary that he was looking for C students, not A students so that he could improve their performance.

Again, it is amazing to me how offended teachers and administrators at other schools (who have not been able to do this) are at Chavis and how much energy they have spent to try to discredit his amazing results. Meanwhile, mediocre testing kids that go to Bret Harte continue to get all brand new teachers and fail to graduate or improve.

Rather than try to attack the school, why not adopt practices which were obviously working? It is unfortunate that many so called “involved” parents, some teachers and some administrators want to continually express their lengthy laundry list of why kids are failing, rather than finding out what works and implementing it. It is apparently easier to make 50 million excuses as to why Af/Am males can’t make it through OUSD than it is to apply techniques that are working elsewhere.

I’m sick and tired of the bleeding heart liberals telling me why nothing can be done. Step aside and let people who can take care of business run our schools!!!!!

But, it is not so much that many don’t understand Dr. Chavis’ goal or agree with his goal, it is the means he employs that put many people off. There are just many people that don’t feel bad language and humiliation of students is acceptable or should be allowed in a school that is called a public school. And, there are many people that think such behavior is justifiable because it is only the end that counts and not the means.

Last year the new high school started by Dr. Chavis received $180,000 grant for its start up. Now it would be easy for Dr. Chavis to receive part or all of that money in consultant fees. And, such an action would be perfectly legal. It would take an extraordinary person not to take part or all of that money for all the hard work he did to get such extraordinary scores.

I am betting that you would bet Dr. Chavis is a Saint and never took a dime. You may be right. But, people that don’t trust someone that acts so different from the norm will wonder how that $180,000 was spent and whether any of it left town with Dr. Chavis.

There are some adults who hate Dr. Chavis. Do you think he cares? His number one concern is for his students. We love him because he is real and always there for us. Not just talk like many educators. I will get my college degree and hope I can do as much for others as Dr. Chavis did for me.

Well done Dr. Chavis you have made a difference to the children of
Oakland.

If you look at average test scores, either district-wide or nationally, Asian and White students score higher. Change the demographics at any school, and you will see a change in the test scores. If all schools could select only the kids who would perform well, then every school’s test scores would rise. The kids who are most needy and most difficult to educate would still be “left behind.”

Also, it is well known in the AIPCS neighborhood (where I’ve lived for 19 years) that Dr. Chavis visited the local elementary schools and actively sought out high-testing students. Also, the local public middle school (Bret Harte) regularly received students to enroll who had been kicked out of AIPCS just before testing in the spring.

I will admit that I did like the general sense of order and cleanliness at the school. But of course, that type of environment is much easier to create when your students have been well-trained at home by parents who are proactive and engaged, no matter what income level they have.

Because I know what I know, I will never give Chavis credit for accomplishing much of anything and I am glad he is gone. The real test would have been if he had taken on the most challenging students in Oakland and had been able to work miracles with them.