Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell revealed the district’s plan to reopen schools in an email Tuesday, after weeks of feedback and discussion from teachers, parents and school staff. “Our overall approach to reopening is based on the science and safety standards, and reaching agreements with our labor partners,” Johnson-Trammell said in the statement. “As conditions improve, the plan is likely to evolve.” The plan calls for some students in preschool, kindergarten and elementary schools to return to classrooms…
There is perhaps no more commonly spoken word in Oakland Unified School Board meetings than “equity.” The nebulous term discussed frequently on agenda items ranging from charter school access to climate change. There is an entire office devoted to the subject, with a specified board agenda. A new proposition on the ballot could help OUSD advance their equity mission by increasing diversity in hiring and contracting. The only problem—critics say these measures may violate federal civil rights laws. Voters will…
Voters will decide next month whether to approve a ballot measure which could provide a windfall for schools and local governments, but a far greater burden on businesses and tax assessors. The existing property tax law is governed by a 1978 ballot measure, Proposition 13, which significantly limited state property taxes. But the new measure, California Proposition 15, would modify this law to create a “split-roll,” where commercial businesses worth more than $3 million would be taxed based on their…