This time, in Monterey County.

King City Public Schools is getting a $13 million emergency loan from the state, according to The Californian.

Kind of makes you wonder how many others will fall into state receivership in the next two years, as California’s education funding continues to slide — and after the federal stimulus money dries up.

Local control has returned to Oakland Unified, and the new superintendent is in effect. Now what?

A coalition of Oaklanders called Great Oakland Public Schools, or GO Public Schools, is vying to help chart the school system’s path. The group, which formed last fall, is distributing a 5-page document titled “A Declaration of Community Beliefs and Visions for Oakland’s Public Schools.” Those who endorse it were invited to attend a meeting with Superintendent Tony Smith.

Some of the ideas in the declaration sound a lot like previous or existing initiatives: That principals should have greater say over staffing (i.e. hiring and firing), budgets and curriculum. That families should have the option to send their children to various district or charter schools. That Oakland should offer rewards and incentives for teachers in high-poverty areas, and raise base pay for teachers.

Some seem to regard the group with suspicion. Read the rest of this entry »

There was much debate the other week over the $265,000 salary (plus roughly $23,000 in benefits) that Oakland’s new superintendent, Tony Smith, negotiated for himself in the midst of a horrifying state budget crisis.

But Oakland’s state trustee, Vince Matthews – who will have veto power over the fiscal decisions of the newly re-empowered board — isn’t too far behind. Matthews’ former role as state administrator might have been scaled back this week, after the transition to local control, but his pay hasn’t changed: Read the rest of this entry »

image by Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group-East Bay

I wasn’t at yesterday’s local control ceremony, but I read that a number of teachers – protesting the bargaining impasse — were shouting over the speakers, booing and hissing. (Is hissing particularly popular in the Bay Area/California? My first exposure to this form of protest was in Hayward, over four years ago.)

I often hear that teachers want to be seen — and treated — as professionals, and most would agree that they should be.  Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: The story on yesterday’s local control ceremony, by my colleague Kristin Bender.

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Just as State Superintendent Jack O’Connell decided he would return local control to the Oakland school board — and days before Superintendent Tony Smith begins his job (Wednesday) — O’Connell’s appointee announced an impasse in bargaining with the district’s largest union, said Betty Olson-Jones, president of the Oakland Education Association.

Olson-Jones said some school board members were unaware that this had happened. More on this later. I’m headed back to California now.

It’s taken the better part of a decade, but the Oakland school board — not the state superintendent — will finally, once again, call the shots. Tonight, the board approved an agreement to restore local governance to the district, six years after the fiscal crisis and state takeover of 2003.

The transfer will be made official on Monday, two days before Tony Smith assumes the superintendent’s post. Read the rest of this entry »

State schools superintendent Jack O’Connell has been mum about the return of local governance to the Oakland school board, five months after OUSD passed muster with state auditors from the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team.

Maybe his Oakland appointee, Vince Matthews, knows something we don’t; he’s looking for another job. 

In fact, Matthews was recently one of six finalists for a school district in Reno, Nevada — the Washoe County School District. But he later withdrew his name (as did a few of the other finalists). He told me this afternoon that he was still job hunting. Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday, the Oakland school board will issue a resolution to support Assemblymember Sandre Swanson’s latest attempt to end the state takeover. AB 791 would require State Superintendent Jack O’Connell to restore the last two areas of local governance — academic policy and finances — to the OUSD board by January 4 July 1, 2010. 

In December, state auditors gave OUSD high enough ratings for O’Connell to cut the district loose, but he has yet to make a move. It’s been almost six years since the takeover.

Based on input from the hastily scheduled superintendent search forums (I went to one at Westlake Middle School with about 10 people, including the school principal), the search firm Ray & Associates created a profile of the ideal candidate, which the Oakland school board approved this week.

You can find the complete document, which touts Oakland’s assets  — diversity, weather, professional sports, even the zoo – here. Candidates have until April 21 to turn in their applications for this $275,000-plus-benefits job (which, strangely enough, might seem like a deal after paying two executives $250,000 apiece.)

The characteristics sound pretty generic, actually. Do you agree that the profile (below) describes the sort of leader/superhuman Oakland needs? What would you add?

Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone dreaming of an Oakland superintendency had better have their resumes polished and their references lined up. Tomorrow, at long last, the Oakland school board will tell the world that it’s looking for a new leader. Officially.

About time, isn’t it?

In the weeks to come Next week, there will be a series of community meetings Read the rest of this entry »