Interested? Send me an e-mail at kmurphy@bayareanewsgroup.com, or call me at (510) 208-6424.

Grow in our own leadership and governing ability.

The board has got to embrace a new way of doing business I agree. The “customer” Oakland Parents and Students are demanding it as far as I am concerned.
Declining enrollment, support of more charters and greater parent activism should send a message loud and clear to this new BOE.

The search for a new Super is on and vital!

How does the “Former Hayward Resident” know so much about sucking up? Is there a college course I can take on this subject?

If sucking-up will get me a job with the New York Times after college, I’m ready to give it a try.

By all means, tell me what the “spade” is, and what point of view needs to be aired in this particular story.

Yes, I used to cover the Hayward, San Leandro, San Lorenzo and Castro Valley schools (for The Daily Review), but this is the first such criticism I’ve heard from my nearly two years there — anonymously or to my face.

“Sucking up” doesn’t generally get you very far in the news business, from what I can tell — with readers or with your editors. But you seem to know much more about the news business, and my career trajectory, than I do.

Maybe you can help land me a job at the New York Times!

Please stop sucking up to the powers that be.

I know sucking up got you out of Hayward, but in the long run it’s bad for your career.

You seem like a much younger version of Karen Holzmeister-willing to say anything to curry favors from the powerful and influential.

Do us all a favor and call a spade a spade when reporting on the important issues of the day.

I have already been informed that my daughter is accepted into the neighorhood school for the 2009-2010 school year.

San Ramon also took information for 3 year old neighborhood children to insure them a spot for the 2010-2011 school year.

NOW WHY DOESN’T OAKLAND LOOK INTO PROCEDURES USED BY SAN RAMON, rather than make excuses as to why they cannot be proactive about enrollment. How much longer are the parents in Oakland going to passively allow OUSD to make decisions, or in many cases not make decisions that affect the future of their children.

This is why I moved to San Ramon, and this is why other families are also looking to leave.

I’m not sure what districts (called Local Educational Agencies = LEA’s) are required to do when they’re at the same point. They probably have to undergo some sort of restructuring requirement, too. The options for schools are things like converting to a charter, producing a near-complete turnover of the staff, or instituting a massive change in the school’s programs.

The answer is probably in the LEA Accountability section of the 2008 Adequate Yearly Progress Information Guide (http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ay/documents/infoguide08r.pdf). Later this week I’ll take a look at it.

Since OUSD just underwent massive restructuring when the state came in (courtesy of the folks at “Expect Success”) and we still progressed to Year 3, it makes me wonder what’s on our horizon next. Perhaps it would be a good time for the school board to do the sort of research that Former Hills Parent suggests. If they’re not sufficiently proactive, our district could end up being turned into something like the Green Dot District before long.

We can’t count on NCLB disappearing anytime soon. It was supposed to be reauthorized in Sept. 2007 and never was. It wasn’t deactivated and didn’t expire so there’s no choice for districts other than to keep on complying with it. Considering how slowly things progress in Washington DC, it may be a long while before Congress gets to around to dealing with it.