Great Oakland Public Schools Information Center Questionnaire

Please answer each question in 250 words or less.

1. Oakland Unified School District has been the most improved large, urban school district in California over the last five years, yet continues to fail many of its students. Only 42 percent of high school graduates in OUSD have taken the A-G courses required to apply to a CSU or UC for college, and this does not take into account the 28 percent of students who drop out in grades 9-12. We are not producing excellent outcomes for all students. What is your vision for equitable public education in Oakland, and what systemic changes will you work toward to achieve that vision?

I do not feel that it is appropriate for a mayor, or a mayoral candidate, to micromanage the schools and that includes setting forth a docent policy. The role of the city is to help the school board as a whole and the role of the school board is to bring forth the policies that will address our problems.

That said, the city does have a responsibility to support youth in crisis. The students who drop out and the students who fail are overwhelming from communities of color and overwhelming part of our at-risk groups. I feel it is appropriate to expect the city to take a role getting our youth back into school and supporting the families in a way that will help them graduate.


2. OUSD’s “Options” program allows families to choose which of Oakland’s public schools they would like their children to attend. Students are then assigned to schools based on their preferences and a school’s available openings. What reforms, if any, would you propose for OUSD's “Options” program?

The majority of people of my own ethnic group have left the Oakland school district. Another significant number use any method that they can to get their kids into the better of our schools. This puts a pressure on the Options program that is different from the intent.

Our family has used the options process twice, first to get our son into my neighborhood school so he/we can walk to school and again to get him into his mother’s neighborhood school where he can develop his Spanish skills. We have a mixed race family and Spanish is important to us.
So, the system worked for us and I have met many other parents for whom it also works.

But until all the schools of all the neighborhoods are good enough not to want to Opt-out, then options will also be used to avoid certain schools. This kind of policy always leaves some children in schools that nobody wants to be in. These kids probably need the most support and will get the least.


3. What role should charter public schools play for students and families in Oakland?

I am not a big fan of charter schools. I certainly will not promote my own as Mayor Brown did.
The elements that give me pause are the non-union employees, the over long work hours and cherry picking in the selection of students. I am more comfortable with programs such as SEED. All the data I have read seems not to show any major advantage to charter schools.





4. What State-level practices and policies hold back the quality of our public schools, and what are your plans to change them?

• Prop 13 is a strong negative for almost all city and county governments funding.
• The ADA system as currently enforced puts our urban school districts at a disadvantage and takes away the funds needed to deal with high truancy.
• The sales tax and lottery dollars are also not distributed in a manner that is fair for local government.

All three of these are FISCAL policies and I name them because I feel that the biggest problem with our schools is that they are underfunded. I would advocate for reforms and exemptions on all three of these tax issues and I would continue to look for other funds as our current mayor has done.

5. Where do you turn for information and ideas about how to improve Oakland public schools?

I am a regular volunteer at my son’s school and have kept in touch with how staff and faculty are treated, supported and trained. I also participate in the local on-line communities.

Having been a trade school teacher in the past and having a Liberal Studies, teacher oriented degree from SFSU I have been part of the community for some time and get information from those circles.

6. What will you do to ensure there is an effective, qualified teacher in every OUSD classroom?

I am not sure we don’t have good teachers in every classroom.

The biggest problem that I have observed and have seen in the literature is CLASS SIZE, especially at the lower grades. What I have observed as a volunteer is that people are under supported and all the schools are under staffed.

Having taken courses in the California Credential program at SFSU I do not believe that just having the right degree or credential makes one a good teacher, or even all that well informed in their area.
I think that there should be teacher training for people who have worked in the areas that are being taught. I think peer, student and parent opinions should form part of teacher evaluation. Test scores are very problematic and I do not believe in the current fad of high stakes tests.

My number one concern is to offer teachers support and security in a situation where they can invest time into their profession. I also feel that continuing teacher training and job rotations providing breaks from stressful and potential burn-out positions would all improve the overall situation.
We should be appreciative of our teachers and provide them with an environment that they would want to stay employed here.


7. Do you support the November 2010 Parcel Tax (Measure L - Oakland Student Achievement, Support and Safety Measure) to increase compensation for Oakland's teachers? Please explain.

I do, but only because of the damage that will be done if it does not pass.
Longer term I think we need to hold a city wide budget convention and reform our entire budget and the process that produces it. The school budget needs to stay separate and have secure funding.

8. President Obama is making the largest single Federal investment in education in history via competitive and formula grants. How will you ensure Oakland students benefit from this funding?

By retaining the Dellums fund raising team and pointing them at this task. They have been doing a wonderful job raising money from Federal grants. They can help the team at the OUSD and they can be the City counterpart in different funding applications.

9. Are there other cities you would look to as models of city-schools partnership and why?

I have not studied this from the point of view of a model. I do know that our problems in Oakland sound typical for urban core areas like ours.

What I do admire was the political will that San Diego showed when they had similar problems to ours. The main difference seemed to be that all local government made schools their priority.

10. OUSD has just released a new strategic framework called “Thriving Students,” in which City government plays a significant role. How will you make the City a partner in the implementation of “Thriving Students?” What role can City agencies play in developing the Promise Neighborhoods envisioned within OUSD's new “Thriving Students” strategic framework?

I see the “promise neighborhoods” and the key point of safe and healthy schools as the proper place for city government to be involved in school partnerships. Other aspects of the plan and the cooperation with the city do not sound very specific to me. I would like to see more about vocational training and adult education.

I am an advocate of taking our prior policy of turning school facilities into multi use civic centers, off the shelf and renewing it. Projects such as the 81st Ave Library are what I see as the future.

An overall atmosphere of public safety and available jobs is needed in our neighborhoods and all of it has a direct impact on our schools and all of our public services.

11. The Mayor is the City’s Chief Executive. How would you use City staff to put education as a top priority in your administration and support and improve our public schools and outcomes for children?

As Mayor the first place I would work to make our city schools a top priority is City Council.
At times I will call joint meetings of City Council and the School Board for direct collaboration.

From an administrative point of view, I will prioritize inserting the well being of our schools into planning, zoning, permitting and redevelopment processes. It will take policy leadership and the selection of a good team to keep schools on everyone’s mind as they are working on related projects.
When working for the city, all top managers will need a culture where we think about the impact on our schools, public safety, public health and employment and be willing to apply the brakes when these goals are not being met.


12. How will you be a leader that brings Oakland together to support our public school students? How would you encourage and recruit people to volunteer in our public schools?

Oakland needs to update its volunteer efforts. The volunteers already exist. They are working in the schools, they are helping in neighborhood committees and they are found in all kinds of public and non-profit groups.

What I think we need most in physical support is coordination. For example, if the city had an official volunteer corps, we could screen, fingerprint and provide ID to willing school volunteers. The school volunteer effort would also benefit from database support to help match the skills to where they are needed. Some supervision would also be helpful. Even volunteers need to be held accountable to complete their tasks.


I attest that the above answers represent my actions and beliefs, are now part of my public record, and may be used by Great Oakland Public Schools.
_Saturday, September 10, 2010