Education
There will be no budget-based layoffs of elementary school teachers in Oakland next fall, Deputy Superintendent Maria Santos announced at Wednesday night’s school board meeting. About 230 teachers had received lay-off warning notices in March.
If the words “summer camp” conjure up memories of sweating in a gaggle of whiny, Popsicle-covered kids, you’ll be happy to know the children of Oakland have a hipper option. The Crucible, a nonprofit school specializing in industrial arts, is kicking off its sixth season of spring and summer youth programs with classes in subjects like blacksmithing, welding, robotics, and glass blowing.
Judging by the audience’s loud cheers, fifteen-year old Tyler Thompson’s opera rendition of Justice Bao, a Chinese judge who fought government corruption, was spot-on. He hit all the notes, his Mandarin flawless, and the cheers he received from the nearly-packed Rawley Farnsworth Theater at Skyline High School Saturday evening were the loudest of the night at a performance to raise money for the Purple Silk Music Education Foundation.
More than hundred people gathered at Clars Auction Gallery in Oakland’s Temescal District on Thursday to have their valuables appraised and to support arts education in Oakland public schools.
The Alameda Labor Council organized the “We Are One” rally, which was held outside the steps of Oakland City Hall on Monday, the 43rd anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Union workers, teamsters, supporters, and demonstrators ignored the heat, carried their “We Are One” signs, and stood in solidarity against government leaders and politicians opposing union rights for union workers.
California’s state legislators aren’t the only ones uncertain about Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed cut of redevelopment agency funds. Even though schools stand to gain if lawmakers approve the proposal, Oakland educators worry that taking funds from affordable housing could put more students at risk of homelessness.
Facing a $21 million deficit, along with employee layoffs, service cuts and the probable closing of facilities, AC Transit doesn’t have a lot of breathing room. On Wednesday, the agency’s board of directors decided it can’t finance the estimated $625,000 it would cost to offer discount youth bus passes for Oakland Unified School District high school students over the age of 18.
The Oakland School Board meeting began last night with a cheer. Literally. The Sobrante Park Elementary cheerleaders have returned from a first place finish in the statewide competitive cheer competition in Los Angeles, and they saluted the board and meeting audience with kicks, twirls and pom-poms.
All over the country, and even in states like California where abortion laws are among the nation’s most lenient, many women, particularly low-income women, still have trouble accessing abortion clinics and other reproductive health services, such as finding birth control providers or prenatal care. At ACCESS, a nonprofit located in downtown Oakland, practical assistance is there for the asking.