Comments on: Tax dollars well spent?

By: Debora

Debora — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 23:32:51 +0000

Brian:

Thank you for the information. Previously our school did nothing with GATE students and put the GATE money in the general fund for the school. We have a new principal and she has reviewed the information on the link you provided. It looks like she’s floating using the funds for GATE kids to be used for teacher training. She’ll run it by the SLIP (School, Library funding) committee.

I really appreciate you adding the link.

And to those people who think GATE is a “special program” I would like to say that every child who shows up to school ready to learn deserves to learn something new every day. They should not have to sit day after day proving and re-proving that they already know the material when they got 100% on the pretest. Just as Special Education, mainstream education, children who learn faster or more efficently deserve something new every day.

By: Jim Mordecai

Jim Mordecai — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:44:46 +0000

Measure E money is not enrichment. It is money to hold on to as many basics as possible starting with retaining experienced teachers that are committed to stay in Oakland for the long haul. Art and music are at further risk if this measure doesn’t pass. The need is greater than the current money the parcel tax provides. And, because the current parcel tax is not indexed to inflation the need will grow without the resource to support Oakland public school students.

Nevertheless, Oaklanders have been very generous in the past and have supported its schools in the voter’s booth. I predict that those that expect success in maintaining the parcel tax will be right come February.

By: Steve Weinberg

Steve Weinberg — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 02:40:50 +0000

Have the Measure E tax dollars been well spent? Definitely. Class size reduction in the primary grades would have been impossible without the contribution from Measure E; the state payment for class size reduction does not cover the full cost of the program, and unless the local district supplies the balance of the funds, the district gets nothing. Without the Measure E funds that pay for some of the health benefits costs there would have been no way to avoid a teacher strike two years ago. Art, music, and libraries are all being squeezed out of the general fund budget, and Measure E helps maintain those programs. Are there other worthwhile programs (such as GATE) that are not receiving Measure E support? Of course, but we should not hold it against a successful program that it can’t meet all the district’s needs.

By: Brian Marion

Brian Marion — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:02:53 +0000

Take a look at the GATE FAQ on the CDE site.

Here is the link: http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/gt/gt/gate06faqs.asp

The district is trying to meet the GATE kid’s need, not very well, but trying.

By: Debora

Debora — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:09:58 +0000

I see nothing in here about GATE funding. We have a serious situation in Oakland where many parents of GATE kids are choosing to move their children to out of district or private schools because their needs are not being met.

Testing for GATE does not begin until third grade. Children who are already reading Little House on the Prairie and Harry Potter are being made to sit cross-legged on a rug and review the words cot, pot, sat, slat, etc. And in Oakland schools it’s required by the Open Court curriculum standard – - – by the way the words you just saw are second grade spelling words.

I want to make Oakland Schools work, and I want to support them financially through tax dollars, AND I also have to get “appropriate education” for my daughter who has not been tested for GATE because she is only in second grade, but has already mastered the curriculum in reading, math and science. So, do I spend my dollars to help the students of Oakland, or do I send her for appropriate intellectual classes after school? This is the choice I am forced to make.