http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/State-agencies-spend-423-000-on-iPads-3816979.php

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/07/20/2915679/top-paid-california-legislative.html

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Small-state-police-force-loads-up-on-overtime-3567670.php

http://reason.com/blog/2012/04/16/nothing-left-to-cut-california-spends-20

If Smith does not back down about this the education association might just escalate the matter into a legal action which would cost *both* sides a lot of money.

It makes little difference to us which side prevails, however we insist that the money OUSD uses to fight this come out of its *existing* budget.

If that means bumping up the student:teacher ratio or forgoing purchase of new textbooks, so be it.

30% of the Resource Specialist Teachers have had their assignments drastically and needlessly changed.

I don’t even entirely fault the technician who created this plan. She was given a structural puzzle to solve: maximize student caseloads and reduce travel time between assigned sites.

So, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, like a Tetras game, and ONLY THEN were the humans considered. And if they had to be massively moved in order to justify the puzzle, so be it.

THIS is the essence of the rot at the soul of this district. As was demonstrated previously by the closure of 5 schools.

And I am NOT saying there aren’t structural changes that need to take place that WILL cause discomfort and pain.

But, until you put people ahead of process, people ahead of structure, people ahead of grand visions, we will never move forward in any meaningful way.

And what if the special ed student projections for the sites are wrong? With over a thousand students redistributed through school closures, those figures may prove to be wildly off. So the teachers move again?

Troy Flint, the District’s official spin-doctor, said there were “major shortcomings in the way this was handled.”

It’s okay. We all make mistakes.

Accept it. Own it.
Hit the pause button and rethink it.
Don’t, once again, double down on a flawed process.

Let teachers return to their original sites.
Take a real assessment of site caseloads based on real enrolment.
And THEN consolidate, as needed, putting the HUMAN, not structural, need first.

For the sake of over 500 of our most vulnerable students and their families who are affected by this proposed outrage, DO THE RIGHT THING.

Superintendent Dr.Anthonthy Smith has (to use a technical term) “screwed up” again!

Can Oakland afford more of the same or will it bid good-bye to Superintendent Smith?

If the buck stops at the Smith Amdinistration’s superintendency, then he will demonstrate leadership and resign.

Jim Mordecai

“The Programs for Exceptional Children will develop and implement systems that will foster positive relationships and communications between parents, community and agencies in an effort to decrease the number of litigious and non-compliant cases.” – OUSD Strategic Plan, Focus 2C.6

I heard the Board publicly share that they have spent millions of dollars resolving litigation and the plan calls for a reduction in litigation and non-compliance. Yet OUSD is intentionally starting the year out of compliance and setting the conditions for complaints. A number of resource specialists (RS) are starting the year with well over the allowable caseloads documented in this blog and at the board meeting. That means less time to support students. And I keep hearing about staff assignments based on enrollment but nothing about student need. All students’ needs are not created equal. To assume a set number of RS hours per student is to treat students like widgets – and thumb your nose at the whole idea behind special education which is to provide individualized, specialized support to ensure the student can access the same education as their general education peers.

Finally, these changes are no excuse for the fact that a child’s teachers must be familiar with the contents of the IEP from day one. With the scrambling that’s happening now, and the changes and take-backs of decisions, OUSD increases the probability that resource specialists and general education teachers will not have the time to be familiar with the contents of the student IEP and will not be prepared to meet student need. It jeopardizes the chance for students to start out on the right foot and sets the conditions for problems and more complaints.

Compliance complaints don’t happen because people are not getting along with each other – they happen because OUSD continually creates conditions that make it impossible for even the best-intentioned staff to meet the needs of their students and improve educational outcomes. And it continues to cost the district dearly. The sooner OUSD leadership accepts this reality and stops blaming complaints on a lack of “positive relationships” but instead addresses the underlying cause, the better off we all will be.

I’m not in the habit of defending public unions, but if what you say is true, then Smith had better start discussing or else .. what?

Does the union have the option to confront this grievance head-on via:

Lawsuit?
Binding arbitration?
Strike?

Visiting a mostly undocumented neighborhood, a few bucks. Participating (and smiling) when Whitman tells them that she absolutely supports cutting higher ed for them, priceless.
Seeing some parents (probably you were there, as I was)complain to the board for this obnoxious visit, painful. Gallo being absent that very day, shameless.
What a way to represent District 5. What principles.
Just like Tony, on a business trip the day the board discussed the coding error.
10,000 saved, cool (but cosmetic). 350,000, cooler (4 teachers approx.). asking, just asking about 8 million… you tell me
Our expectations for politicians are too low, and you have seen a lot through the years. Let’s not get into Stockholm syndrome mode, or amnesia.
I will not give my vote for a handshake, a charming smile or a farcical, stand-alone dissenting vote every once in a while.

Examples galore, but redundant now. After all, you were most likely there.