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Expanding Minority Doctorate Pipeline Began with Facebook Group

THE BIRMINGHAM TIMES — Although primarily intended for doctoral-degree seekers and holders who are people of color or first-generation, the private page has members from various ethnic groups in countries beyond the United States, including Canada, China, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates. About 70 percent are women.

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By LaMont Jones, Diverse Education

LaShonda Horrison-Gurley said she “didn’t know whether to laugh, to cry or break out in a praise dance” when she successfully defended her dissertation last week, but the doctor of education earner knew she was grateful for critical support along the way – including from a social media group created two years ago to support Black and first-generation students seeking doctoral degrees.

That’s why Horrison-Gurley, in the tradition of others before her, shared her good news with the more than 12,100 members of PhinisheD/FinishEdD, a Facebook group page launched in January 2017 by Dr. Daniel Jean, executive director of the Educational Opportunity Fund Program and Academic Development at Montclair State University.

The road to earning a doctor of education or a doctor of philosophy is arduous, a journey on which “you need support, you need encouragement,” said Horrison-Gurley, a wife and mother of three who once stopped out of her education leadership and management program at Capella University due to family issues and felt like giving up near the end because of financial challenges and programmatic policy changes.

“I ran across the Facebook page on somebody else’s profile about a year and a half ago and decided to check it out, and joined,” said Horrison-Gurley, who works as director of multicultural development and a deputy Title IX coordinator at Ohio Northern University. “I’m a first-generation, and nobody else in my family has navigated this before. And going to school online is a different journey from brick and mortar. I felt I wasn’t alone, having that support group there rooting me on to finish.”

Dr. Daniel Jean

Dr. Daniel Jean

In that regard, PhinisheD/FinishEdD is doing exactly what Jean envisioned. Although primarily intended for doctoral-degree seekers and holders who are people of color or first-generation, the private page has members from various ethnic groups in countries beyond the United States, including Canada, China, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates. About 70 percent are women.

“I noticed others using Facebook as a toy, not a tool,” said Jean. “I set it up as a motivation and resource page, and by the end of the first month I had 1,000 members. I started updating it more and posting pictures, and it just took off and has become an unbelievable network that helps people stay on task and be motivated.”

The page is a forum for soliciting and offering specific advice, seeking and providing encouragement and celebrating milestones up to and through degree completion. As added motivation, new graduates usually tag #WhoGotNext when posting their picture and announcement.

“People develop accountability partners through the page,” said Jean, who earned an Ed.D. in higher education leadership at Seton Hall University.

Observing need and growing demand for support among doctoral students, Jean expanded the mission of PhinisheD/FinishEdD to include a summit for doctoral students each semester. The next one, March 30 in New York City, is on track to have 100 attendees, quadrupling attendance last fall, he said.

Jean, the U.S.-born child of Haitian immigrants, attended a magnet school in New Jersey. When he was in the eighth grade, his father died and his grades plummeted.

But thanks to a program for low-income, highly motivated students – the very program he now directs – Jean eventually got his groove back and earned a bachelor’s degree in public communications at Ramapo College of New Jersey and a master’s degree in higher education counseling at Montclair State University.

He decided to earn a doctoral degree, and credits participation in a conference for minority doctoral students through SREB as a tremendous support. That experience inspired him to create new pathways to doctoral degrees for underrepresented students like him, including his first doctoral summit at Montclair State in fall 2016.

Jean has given more than 600 keynote speeches, presentations and trainings across the nation, primarily for graduate students. His mission, he said, is inspired by Dr. Ansley Abraham and Abraham’s work as founding director of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) State Doctoral Scholars Program in Atlanta.

Now in its 26th year, the program presents various initiatives, including hosting the largest gathering of minority doctoral students in the nation. It has directly supported nearly 1,700 scholars, with about 80 percent of its nearly 1,000 graduates working in education, said Abraham.

Those alums include Jean, whose passion and efforts to create diverse communities of scholars and increase inclusion in academia were praised by Abraham.

“I love what he’s doing,” said Abraham. “We need a whole lot more Daniel Jeans out there, understanding what the issues are and really trying to push this system in a way it’s not used to being pushed. He’s been very, very successful.”

Dr. Renetta Garrison Tull, associate vice provost for strategic initiatives in the graduate school of University of Maryland Baltimore County’s College of Engineering and Information Technology, met Jean at an SREB conference. She was so impressed with his presentation that the school began bringing him to campus for mentoring in residence and other initiatives.

His innovative methods of mentoring were so helpful at the graduate level that the university has had him also work with undergraduates, she said.

“He has a personal testimony that resonates with students,” said Tull. “He infuses a lot of pop culture, which resonates with students, and he is powerful and affirming.”

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times

Activism

Teachers’ Union Thanks Supt. Johnson-Trammell for Service to Schools and Community

“I speak for our Oakland community and the families OEA serves in thanking Supt. Johnson-Trammell for her service. With public schools and immigrant families under attack nationally from Trump and with budget challenges affecting many California school districts, these are tough times demanding the best of what we all have to offer,” said OEA President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer in a statement released Thursday.

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OEA President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer. Courtesy photo.
OEA President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer. Courtesy photo.

The union calls for a community-involvement in search for new superintendent

By Post Staff

While pointing out that Supt. Kayla Johnson-Trammell has been planning to resign for a while, the Oakland Education Association (OEA) thanked her for years of service to the schools and called for community involvement in the search for a new superintendent.

“I speak for our Oakland community and the families OEA serves in thanking Supt. Johnson-Trammell for her service. With public schools and immigrant families under attack nationally from Trump and with budget challenges affecting many California school districts, these are tough times demanding the best of what we all have to offer,” said OEA President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer in a statement released Thursday.

“While we disagreed strongly on a number of issues,” said Taiz-Rancifer, “Dr. Johnson-Trammell is a daughter of Oakland and a product of our public schools. We thank her for her service and wish her the best moving forward.”

She said the schools’ community was aware that the superintendent had been planning to leave well before this week’s announcement.

“The superintendent has spoken publicly throughout the year about her planned departure. In August 2024, the previous school board approved a renewed contract raising her compensation to over $600,000 per year and allowing her to step back from daily responsibilities beginning in the 2025-2026 school year,” said Taiz-Rancifer.

She said the teachers’ union has been raising concerns about the need for stability and financial transparency in the district.  “For three of the last four years, the district projected major deficits, only to end with millions in reserve.” This year, she said, the district added $90 million to central office overhead expenses.

“Just last month, a majority of school board directors took action to cap expensive consultant costs and develop alternative budget proposals that align spending with community priorities to keep funding in classrooms,” she said.

Taiz-Rancifer said the union stands behind the leadership of Board President Jennifer Brouhard and Boardmembers Valarie Bachelor, Rachel Latta, and VanCedric Williams.

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Alameda County

OUSD Supt. Chief Kyla Johnson-Trammell to Step Down on July 1

The district’s progress under Johnson-Trammell’s leadership “provides a strong foundation for the transition and work ahead,” according to the joint statement. “The plan has always prioritized a smooth and thoughtful transition. A formal search for a permanent superintendent was (originally) scheduled to begin in fall 2025,” but now the board is “initiating this process focusing on transparency and deep community involvement.”

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Kyla Johnson-Trammell. File photo.
Kyla Johnson-Trammell. File photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland Unified School District announced this week that Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammell will leave her position on July 1 after serving for eight years.

In closed session on Wednesday evening, the school board approved a voluntary separation agreement by a 4-3 vote, said Board President Jennifer Brouhard.

The board will begin searching immediately for an interim superintendent who will start on July 1. Johnson-Trammell will continue as superintendent emeritus from July 1 to Jan. 15, 2026, to help with the transition, according to a joint statement released by Johnson-Trammell and the Board.

In a personal statement to the community, Johnson-Trammell said:

“As I prepare to step away from my role as your superintendent on June 30, I do so with immense pride in what we’ve accomplished together. The last eight years have brought some of the most challenging — and most defining — moments in our district’s history. Through it all, Oakland has shown what’s possible when we stay grounded in our mission and vision and work in partnership for our students.”

The joint statement from Johnson-Trammell and the Board modifies her existing contract. According to the joint statement: “in August 2024, the OUSD Board of Education approved a three-year transitional contract for Superintendent Johnson-Trammell, with the next school year (2025-2026) allowing for a shift in responsibilities to support the transition to a permanent superintendent at the start of the 2026-2027 school year.”

Praising Johnson-Trammell’s accomplishments, the joint statement said, “(She) has done an extraordinary job over the past eight years, a historic tenure marked by stability, strong fiscal oversight, and improvements in student achievement.”

According to the statement, her achievements include:

  • increased graduation rates
  • improved literacy
  • increased student attendance rates,
  • “exemplary” COVID pandemic leadership,
  • “historic” pay raises to educators,
  • Improvement in OUSD’s facilities bond program,
  • ensuring strong fiscal systems and budgeting

The district’s progress under Johnson-Trammell’s leadership “provides a strong foundation for the transition and work ahead,” according to the joint statement. “The plan has always prioritized a smooth and thoughtful transition. A formal search for a permanent superintendent was (originally) scheduled to begin in fall 2025,” but now the board is “initiating this process focusing on transparency and deep community involvement.”

As Johnson-Trammell’s years of service are coming to an end, there remain significant unresolved challenges facing the district, including a $95 million budget deficit and the threat of school closings and employee layoffs, as well as contract negotiations with the Oakland Education Association (OEA), the teachers’ union.

Another ongoing controversy has been the superintendent’s extremely high salary, which was negotiated less than a year ago under the leadership of Boardmember Mike Hutchinson and former Boardmember Sam Davis.

Johnson-Trammell is one of the highest-paid superintendents in California and the country, earning a total compensation package of $637,036.42 a year.

The contract had granted her a pay raise and a final three-year contract extension through the 2027 school year.

Under that contract, she would only continue as superintendent during the current school year, and then for two additional years she would work on research projects and prepare the district for a new superintendent, at the same rate of pay she now earns, plus raises.

During those two years, a temporary superintendent would be hired to handle the responsibilities of running the school district.

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Bay Area

Five Years After COVID-19 Began, a Struggling Child Care Workforce Faces New Threats

Five years ago, as COVID-19 lockdowns and school closures began, most early educators continued to work in person, risking their own health and that of their families. “Early educators were called essential, but they weren’t provided with the personal protective equipment they needed to stay safe,” said CSCCE Executive Director Lea Austin. “There were no special shopping hours or ways for them to access safety materials in those early and scary months of the pandemic, leaving them to compete with other shoppers. One state even advised them to wear trash bags if they couldn’t find PPE.”

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UC Berkeley photo.
UC Berkeley photo.

UC Berkeley News

In the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic alone, 166,000 childcare jobs were lost across the nation. Significant recovery didn’t begin until the advent of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Child Care Stabilization funds in April 2021.

Today, child care employment is back to slightly above pre-pandemic levels, but job growth has remained sluggish at 1.4% since ARPA funding allocations ended in October 2023, according to analysis by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at UC Berkeley. In the last six months, childcare employment has hovered around 1.1 million.

Yet more than two million American parents report job changes due to problems accessing child care. Why does the childcare sector continue to face a workforce crisis that has predated the pandemic? Inadequate compensation drives high turnover rates and workforce shortages that predate the pandemic. Early childhood educators are skilled professionals; many have more than 15 years of experience and a college degree, but their compensation does not reflect their expertise. The national median hourly wage is $13.07, and only a small proportion of early educators receive benefits.

And now a new round of challenges is about to hit childcare. The low wages paid in early care and education result in 43% of early educator families depending on at least one public support program, such as Medicaid or food stamps, both of which are threatened by potential federal funding cuts. Job numbers will likely fall as many early childhood educators need to find jobs with healthcare benefits or better pay.

In addition, one in five child care workers are immigrants, and executive orders driving deportation and ICE raids will further devastate the entire early care and education system. These stresses are part of the historical lack of respect the workforce faces, despite all they contribute to children, families, and the economy.

Five years ago, as COVID-19 lockdowns and school closures began, most early educators continued to work in person, risking their own health and that of their families. “Early educators were called essential, but they weren’t provided with the personal protective equipment they needed to stay safe,” said CSCCE Executive Director Lea Austin. “There were no special shopping hours or ways for them to access safety materials in those early and scary months of the pandemic, leaving them to compete with other shoppers. One state even advised them to wear trash bags if they couldn’t find PPE.”

The economic impact was equally dire. Even as many providers tried to remain open to ensure their financial security, the combination of higher costs to meet safety protocols and lower revenue from fewer children enrolled led to job losses, increased debt, and program closures.

Eventually, the federal government responded with historic short-term investments through ARPA, which stabilized childcare programs. These funds provided money to increase pay or provide financial relief to early educators to improve their income and well-being. The childcare sector began to slowly recover. Larger job gains were made in 2022 and 2023, and as of November 2023, national job numbers had slightly surpassed pre-pandemic levels, though state and metro areas continued to fluctuate.

Many states have continued to support the workforce after ARPA funding expired in late 2024. In Maine, a salary supplement initiative has provided monthly stipends of $240-$540 to educators working in licensed home- or center-based care, based on education and experience, making it one of the nation’s leaders in its support of early educators. Early educators say the program has enabled them to raise wages, which has improved staff retention. Yet now, Governor Janet Mills is considering cutting the stipend program in half.

“History shows that once an emergency is perceived to have passed, public funding that supports the early care and education workforce is pulled,” says Austin. “You can’t build a stable childcare workforce and system without consistent public investment and respect for all that early educators contribute.”

The Center for the Study of Childcare Employment is the source of this story.

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