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OP-ED: Parent Responds to OUSD Supt. Antwan Wilson

Published

11 years ago

April 8, 2015

By Shaless Peoples

Thank you Supt. Antwan Wilson for your invitation to hear feedback on this matter. I’d like to respond to two key points you brought up in your March 31 Op-Ed published on the Post News Group website, “America Needs Oakland to Succeed”.

Teacher Salaries:

To the understanding of many OUSD parents, community members, and stakeholders, there are discrepancies in your statement because:

Teachers have had just a 3.25 percent raise over the past 10 years, which should be considered;

1.5 percent of this raise is dependent on some teachers paying more for their health care, presumably resulting in less money to the teachers net and more money to the district in terms of cost savings;

1.5 percent of this raise is dependent on longer working hours;

Only 3 percent for the first year is guaranteed, the remaining 7.5% is contingent on revenue;

Until the District closes the gap between current salaries in our district and current salaries in surrounding districts, we will continue to lose excellent teachers. OUSD is 7.6 percent to 15 percent below average (per GO Public Schools). So our district must make up that difference AND keep up with ongoing raises offered by neighboring districts.

Unless the district can prove otherwise, I’m sure you can see how while 13.5 percent over 18 months sounds marvelous and wonderful, it really doesn’t amount to any viable progress towards your efforts of improving OUSD “starting with our people.”

California/OUSD Low Funding:

Yes, funding should be increased for the education sector.

That said, let’s be clear here: OUSD has received an additional $42 million in unrestricted funds in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 and the governor’s proposed budget will provide $24 million more in 2015-2016. That is an increase of $66 million in funding for OUSD.

Salary of Superintendent of Schools: $280,000/per year.

Salary of Chief of Schools (a brand new position/title that you created): $175,000/per year. Allan Smith, a colleague of yours from Denver Public Schools, currently holds this position.

Salary of Chief of Organizational Effectiveness and Culture (a brand new position/title you created): $155,000/per year. Yana Smith, the spouse of Allan Smith currently holds this position.

Salary of (Interim) Head of Facilities & Management: $360,000/per year.

Unless the district can prove otherwise, I’m sure you can see what clearly is a profound discrepancy, and how pontificating “Low Coffers!” is just simply inadequate at best, and a major insult to the intelligence of everyone involved in this process at worst.

Recently, a parent, who also happened to be a teacher, suggested that we as community need to push our state for more funding.

I agree with this opinion.

I also believe that the first step to pushing the state, is to demonstrate that we are capable of being fiscally responsible with what we have. I liken this point to allowance for my child: If I observe that my son is losing his money, not saving some of it, and spending frivolously, do you think I am going to respond to his request for an increase in his allowance with yes?

The same notion applies to the relationship between OUSD and state leadership.

The process of ensuring that our actions are indeed fiscally sound involves having productive and transparent dialogue with district leadership so that we are all confident that any action being taken are ethical, legal, and just.

As a parent of an OUSD student, and a product of a family of educators, I for one, Superintendent Wilson, fully intend on giving you feedback and pushing back on a district level until I am confident that all of the decisions and actions coming out of the district truly do place our people first.

Shaless Peoples is a resident and parent in Oakland, where she volunteers at her son’s school.

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

2 days ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

3 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

5 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke