Education

Op-Ed: OUSD’s Superintendent Resignation Creates Opportunity for School Board Leadership

Published

8 years ago

January 2, 2017

By the Oakland Justice Coalition

The mid-year resignation of OUSD Superintendent Antwan Wilson brings an opportunity for the Board of Education and the community to create a different and better vision for Oakland’s schools and then hire a new superintendent to work with stakeholders to implement that vision. Agreement on how to improve Oakland’s schools has been sorely missing since the state-imposed trusteeship in 2003.The development of a successful strategy requires the board to candidly acknowledge the problems facing Oakland’s schools. In the 2016 state tests, only 30 percent of Oakland’s students met or exceeded state standards for proficiency in English, and only 25 percent met the standards in mathematics.

The statewide averages were 49 percent in English and 37 percent in Mathematics and are rising more rapidly than Oakland’s scores.

High school graduation rates are increasing throughout California. Among California students who began high school in 2011-12, 82.3 percent graduated with their class in 2015.

For Hispanic/Latino students, the figure was 78.5 percent; for African Americans it was 70.8 percent. Unfortunately, the corresponding percentages for Oakland students are much lower: 63.4 percent overall; 55.9 percent for Hispanics/Latinos; and 60.7 for African Americans.

The reasons for Oakland’s failures are complex, and test scores are not the only measure of school quality. Any plan to raise student achievement should begin by implementing proven strategies for creating successful schools:

(1) Appoint principals who are educational leaders, “head teachers” who focus on teacher performance as mentors and models – not as disciplinarians, fund-raisers or cheerleaders. A principal needs at least two or three years to have a constructive impact on school performance.

(2) Develop strong faculties of teachers who remain at school sites for multiple years, work together at and across grade levels, and create site specific plans for staff development. District resources must be focused on improving teacher compensation, reducing class sizes, and providing incentives for teachers to remain in high needs schools.

(3) Welcome and involve parents and students as leaders of their school communities.

(4) Provide a diverse and challenging curriculum that develops critical thinking skills, is culturally compatible with the student body, and includes arts programming and classroom offerings beyond just the basics.

(5) Implement site-specific programs that address students’ life circumstances and social needs, including violence prevention, economic literacy, nutrition programs, mentoring, and counseling.

(6) Site-based decision making on how to meet student growth targets, including creating school specialties – science and technology, African American studies, or performing arts, for example – and faculty and staff training.

(7) Quality pre-school programs for all three and four-year-olds.

(8) Collaboration with City and County government to increase resources and support for children and families.

(9) A lean central office budget focused on providing support to school sites, including a Human Resources department that facilitates and expedites teacher hiring.

(10) Strong oversight of charter schools.

We call upon the board to establish an advisory committee representing all stakeholders – parents, teachers and other school employees, students, and community members – to assist it in choosing a new superintendent.

The advisory committee should evaluate the current status of the district’s improvement efforts, suggest criteria for the new superintendent, and participate in interviews of the finalists for the position.

Our new superintendent must promise to serve for his or her entire contract and accept financial disincentives for failing to do so.

It is the board’s responsibility to hire a new superintendent with the personal qualities necessary for success in Oakland, including humility, a commitment to social justice and a determination to see every child succeed, a focus on diversity at all levels of the district, particularly at schools sites, and a commitment to collaborating with all education stake holders.

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Activism

Actor, Philanthropist Blair Underwood Visits Bay Area, Kicks Off Literacy Program in ‘New Oakland’ Initiative

These community activations were coordinated with the San Francisco-based non-profit program “Room to Read.” Ray said he is also donating his time to read and take pictures with students to encourage their engagement and to inspire them to read more. The inspirational book “Clifford Ray Saves the Day” highlights Clifford Ray’s true story of saving a dolphin.

Published

1 month ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Blair Underwood (left) and Barbara Lee (right). Courtesy photo.

By Paul Cobb
New Oakland Series
Opinion Part 3

The Post mentioned three weeks ago that a number of our local luminaries were coming together to support the “New Oakland” movement. As this current national administration continues to eliminate our “legacy” institutional policies and programs left and right, most communities find themselves beyond “frozen” in fear.

Well, esteemed actor, long-time Bay Area supporter, and philanthropist Blair Underwood returned to Oakland this week to speak with city leaders, community trust agents, students, the Oakland Post, and local celebrities alike to continue his “New Oakland” initiative.

This week, he kicked off his “Guess Who’s Coming to Read” literacy program in some of Oakland’s middle schools. Clifford Ray, who played the center position of the 1975 World Champion Golden State Warriors, donated close to 1,000 books. Ray’s fellow teammate Charles “The Hopper” Dudley also gave Converse sneakers to students.

Underwood also spent quality time with the Oakland Ballers ownership group and visited the amazing Raimondi Park West Oakland community revitalization site. In the 1996 TV film Soul of the Game, Underwood played the role of the legendary first Black Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson and commended the Ballers owners.

“This group of sports enthusiasts/ philanthropists needs to be applauded for their human capital investment and their financial capital investment,” Underwood said. “Truly putting their money and passion to work,” Underwood said.

Underwood was also inspired by mayoral candidate Barbara Lee’s open-minded invitation to bring public-private partnership opportunities to Oakland.

Underwood said he wants to “reinforce the importance of ‘collaborative activism’ among those most marginalized by non-empathic leadership. We must ‘act out’ our discomfort with passionate intentions to create healthy change.”

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McClymonds High Names School Gym for Star Graduate, Basketball Legend Bill Russell

William “Bill” Felton Russell was born on Feb. 12, 1934, and died on July 31, 2022. He achieved fame as a U.S. professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career.

Published

1 month ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Bill Russell and Brian McGhee in McClymonds High School Gym, 2011. Photo courtesy of Brian McGhee.

By Ken Epstein

West Oakland’s McClymonds High School, “the School of Champions,” this week named the school’s gymnasium in honor of one of its most famous graduates, basketball legend Bill Russell (class of ’52).

Russell is widely known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. In 2011, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civil honor, from President Barack Obama for Russell’s contributions to basketball and the Civil Rights Movement.

The McClymonds’ naming ceremony was held on Wednesday, the same day as Russell’s birthday. Oakland leader Bill Patterson, a longtime friend of Russell’s, was scheduled to cut the ribbon at the reopening of the gym, which had been closed for several months for renovation. Russell’s daughter Karen was scheduled to attend the ribbon cutting.

Russell’s name and signature are now printed on the gymnasium floor.

Patterson was working at DeFremery Park when he met Russell. “I befriended him as a boy and during his years at University of San Francisco” said Patterson. “We stayed friends for the rest of his life.”

Said McClymonds Principal Darielle Davis, herself a McClymonds graduate, “We are excited to honor Bill Russell for his sports accolades and because he broke color barriers. He is part of our legacy, and legacy is really important at McClymonds.”

Brian McGhee, community schools manager at McClymonds and former football player at UC Berkeley, said that Russell meant a lot to him and others at the school. “He was a beacon of light and hope for West Oakland,” he said. “He did a lot for sports and for civil rights.”

Starting in 2018, Ben “Coach” Tapscott worked with Patterson and other McClymonds grads, community members, and former coaches to encourage the Oakland Board of Education to endorse the naming of the school gym, which finally happened recently.

“We worked hard to make this happen,” said Tapscott. “He’s an important part of McClymond’s history, along with a lot of other famous graduates,” he said.

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Activism

Tony Thurmond Urges Educators to Stay Focused Amid Federal Funding Battle

In a statement and a letter to California’s local educational agencies (LEAs), Thurmond praised efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism and close achievement gaps, particularly for socioeconomically disadvantaged students. “Now is not the time to be distracted by external efforts to demean and divide,” Thurmond wrote. “Please continue to stay the course with local programs that are producing results. Our students need consistency, support, and community more than ever.”

Published

1 month ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Tony Thurmond. Courtesy of Tony Thurmond’s Facebook page.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has urged educators to remain focused on student achievement following a court ruling that temporarily blocks the Trump administration from freezing federal funding for schools, health care, law enforcement, and disaster relief.

A U.S. District Court judge in Rhode Island issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on Jan. 31, halting federal efforts to pause funding while a lawsuit led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 22 other state attorneys general moves forward. Thurmond, a declarant in the case, welcomed the decision and reassured educators that funding for critical school programs remains in place.

“Now is not the time to be distracted by external efforts to demean and divide,” Thurmond wrote. “Please continue to stay the course with local programs that are producing results. Our students need consistency, support, and community more than ever.”

Thurmond emphasized that state officials will continue advocating for stable funding to ensure schools can maintain and expand programs that help students succeed.