Education
Teachers and administrations within the Oakland Unified School District rally behind their undocumented students.
In November, Californians passed Proposition 57 by a 64.5 percent vote. Formally known as the California Parole for Non-Violent Criminals and Juvenile Court Trial Requirements Initiative, and strongly endorsed by Governor Jerry Brown, Oakland’s former mayor, the new law attempts to ease prison overcrowding by increasing parole opportunities for inmates and changing how juvenile offenders are charged. Now local and state agencies are grappling with the complexities of putting Proposition 57 into effect and debating the effects it will have…
On a warm Saturday morning, people began to slowly stroll into the Memorial Tabernacle in Oakland’s Bushrod neighborhood. They were gathered not for a morning service, but for a special kind of lawn party. Trail mix, cookies, apples, and fresh-cut pieces of banana were laid out on colorful bowls on a table, but nothing smelled more fresh than the two 4-foot piles of compost and wood mulch laid out on the road in front of the church.
StopWaste, a public agency dedicated to reducing waste in Alameda County, hosted the lawn party to revitalize the Memorial Tabernacle’s community garden, using this hands-on project to educate volunteers on how to convert a water-thirsty lawn into a fruitful garden.
Marco Alberto had no desire to join an activist group. Still, resistance was in his DNA.
Long before the 2016 election, there was a civil rights culture that was created by Americans of color. Many of today’s political demonstrations are influenced by historical figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Black Panthers, all who fought in the long battle against racism. Even protests like the recent Women’s March, some would argue, derived from previous demonstrations of people of color. In 1997, in Philadelphia, for example, activist Phile Chionesu formed the Million Woman March,…
This week’s episode is about history. Tune in to hear about the journey of a thrifted musical instrument, Oakland Unified School District’s Martin Luther King Jr. Oratorical Festival, the last remaining Rosie the Riveters in Richmond and the Richmond Museum’s celebration of WWI history.
It’s never too early for students to start thinking about their futures. On Thursday, high schoolers were introduced to potential employers, careers and education options available in their home city at the Oakland Youth Careers Expo.
A recent study suggests that not only do suspensions take a toll on students, they place a financial burden on their communities. In March, the California Dropout Research Project at UC Santa Barbara and the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UC Los Angeles released a study revealing that school suspensions could cost communities across the state a total of $2.7 billion per graduating class.
Everyone in the Bay Area knows the cost of housing is high, and that makes it hard for local teachers to live where they work. But Landed, Inc. is here to help. Landed, Inc. is a small San Francisco-based startup that helps Bay Area teachers afford homes. Co-founders Alex Lofton, Jonathan Asmis and Jesse Vaughn were inspired by sharing economy models, such as Uber and AirBnb, and applied this idea to the home market, Lofton said. The company works with…