Superintendent Smith discusses state of OUSD in talk to educators, families

OUSD Superintendent Tony Smith addressed controversial topics like the “Acceleration Teacher on Special Assignment” position that was created at three schools, which extends the school year there by a month. He also spoke about ”partnership schools”—charter schools that retain a close relationship with the district, the district’s budget and role in the city, as well as about how those who work for the district can do a better job of educating kids, especially young African American male students.

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Cisco donates routers to give Oakland students Internet access

Students at Oakland’s ARISE High School will soon have all the equipment they need to access the Internet at home; on Monday they received a donation of 220 wireless routers from Cisco. They’re also eligible to get free computers from Oakland Technology Exchange West (OTX West), a non-profit that offers refurnished PCs and computer training to all Oakland students in grades 6 to 12.

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Superintendent takes tough questions at teacher meeting

Oakland Unified School District superintendent Tony Smith talks with teachers at the Region One Teacher's Dialogue. The dialogue, which provides a forum for teachers to talk directly with the superintendent, was the third talk hosted this month.

Superintendent Tony Smith got personal while talking reform and student performance expectations Tuesday at the Oakland Unified School District’s Region 1 Teacher’s Dialogue. The meeting, which was the third in a series of teacher outreach meetings being held this month, brought roughly 25 teachers to North Oakland’s Sankofa Academy. The dialogues are supposed to give teachers a chance to understand the administration’s vision and talk directly to the superintendent.

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