I’m a teacher at Life Academy. We are trying to find a way to show the inauguration ceremony and speech to our whole school. If you can believe it, this has presented a problem because we do not have functional TV’s that get reception. Have you heard from any other Oakland teachers who have figured out how they are going to give students the opportunity to watch this historical event? Any tips would be much appreciated!

I have, by the way, inquired with a few theaters in Oakland about renting their space for the viewing. This might be a story if it comes to fruition.

Jill Thomas

Blacks are an endangered species. A few more generations like this, and blacks – as we know them – will no longer have any significant social or economic or political power in this society. The rising and disparate mortality rate is an issue to me also. I don’t think there is much that can be done to stop the trends. And it’s hard to argue that anything can be done.

You want everyone (at least all Americans) to do well over time but when it comes down to it, life & human society is a competition and it always will be. Look what happened to the Native Indians. And is that a problem? Not really. It’s just evolution in action.

No matter how good or how bad the public schools are there are plenty of public school students who do well and plenty of students who get themselves killed and institutionialized so quick they can’t reproduce or their bio-kids can’t survive and prosper either.

And yet be bemoan the schools (teachers?) and never turn our demands and critism on the students in any particular school.

This is why better families don’t send their kids to OUSD. Too Bad, So sad. That doesn’t excuse OUSD from not doing the best they can with the students they do have.

Jose: teachers have contracts and the contracts don’t usually include taking a European vacation during school term. At least no school that I’ve been to had such a thing occurring. It’s one thing to be out ill or out on jury duty. It would be a breach of contract to take off like you describe without agreement of the employing school.

I bet this is the case at many of the other high schools in Oakland. Why don’t they go on their trips during the summer? It would save alot of money and be better for the students to have a regular classroom teacher during the day.

Check this out. My sister said her teacher at Skyline this year took a vacation to Europe this semester and they had all kinds of subs for at least l0 days.

This is wrong because it is cheating students.

He told me that by the time his younger child was in junior high (early 1970′s), a lot of dads had disappeared, mainly due to divorce. The activities weren’t much fun to do anymore because there weren’t enough parents who were willing to pitch in. Eventually, many parent-supported activities at the school just withered away and died.

I know this is off-topic from “Inauguration Lessons” but just about any topic on this blog connects with another.

There were other trips to other places for various student groups, these were announced long in advance and people had time to raise the money if they were motivated to go.

Additionally there were numerous private trips where students took friends on vacations and planned trips. I seem to remember that many families took other (friends) children with them on major and minor trips. There were long weekend trips for the various boy scout and explorer groups – some parents would accompany. Most of the student groups that formed for the various special interests – including political groups – made a point of taking a trip somewhere. It was how you got people to join up. These trips were typically Co-ed also.

We still talked about them and passed around the photos at the high school reunions.

If the kids nowadays aren’t into this game they don’t know what they are missing. Any excuse will do to hit the road when you’re a teen!

I support travel opportunities for our public school kids whenever the teachers are willing to create them.

While it is possible that the students who actually go on these trips have been cross country with their families anyway, so many CA kids have never even left the state and many not even seen the Ocean. It’s important that an opportunity to travel exist and even more so to do it without their families.

High school kids are coming to understand the nation and their place in it. They need to understand that Calif is a weird little place and there is much more to the USA than the Bay Area. I wish a lot more OUSD kids could be sent cross country for 2 weeks as part of a student trip.

They might just learn to understand how George W could win the Presidency, How Prop 8 could win so handily, and why all the other things in political and social life are the way they are.

When I was in 12th grade I had the pleasure of a 2 week school trip to DC, ground travel through Amish Country and NYC. Hanging out with the Macon GA HS Students in DC was a real eye opener for all of us Bay Area kids – we’d never seen such alcoholism & devoted girlfriends…(they were nice kids and they did apologize for the broken furniture).

Travel is broadening and OUSD kids need a lot of broadening. They’d understand that they and the Bay Area are not the center of the universe.

And having been around a bit it’s just easier to join the Service or go away to college or just set out to seek your fortune.