Last year, the process resulted in the closures of Kizmet, East Oakland Community High and Sherman. Merritt Middle College was also closed, but under different circumstances relating to Merritt College, where the alternative high school was located.

The fate of Explore, BEST, Sankofa, Burckhalter and YES, among others, is supposed to be announced in December.

Your harsh comment about OEA dominating instead of representing is off the mark. OEA represents its members democratically. If the majority wants a change in policy it happens. If you are a teacher lead OEA to newer better representative policies if you can get the membership votes because OEA leadership is representative of its members or that leadership is voted out of office as was shown in the recent defeat of the encumbent OEA President.

Remember that under California’s charter law it was not the entire faulty of KIPP voting to convert to a charter school that mattered but only the signatures of the permanent faculty’s was counted. That vote was less that the fingers on one hand. To say that a handful turning over a public school to a charter school is representative of the majority of teachers in Oakland is misleading. The issue of pay for overtime work is an issue of protecting all teachers in the union from having their wages chipped away by waiving the Contract. I would guess that most union members want their wages protected and paid the wage they won in a Contract that including giving up health benefits.

The fact that KIPP worked with Oakland to become a small school knowing it was a union District shows that KIPP was a Trojan Horse playing OUSD as the fool and pertending to want only to make KIPP work as a public school; but once it was in the District taking the school out of the District as a as a charter. Since KIPP failed to be able to carry on with the inadequate money that public schools must live on in California, it shows that it can not compete with public schools and considers itself a failure as a public school. Some would point to KIPP as a success but ignore the Oakland lesson that successful KIPPs need more money than provided in California.

However, KIPP has applied for two charters. The first charter was not clearly written but was approved by the Board, I believe, as a conversion charter. KIPP then came back to the Board and wanted approval as a start up charter in order to borrow up to $250,000. I believe since KIPP Oakland is a public school it can not receive funding as a start up charter.

I would appreciate clarity on whether Board Member Spearman is correct that KIPP is going forth and opening in August as a conversion charter. I would also like to know the source of any private funding.