Oakland Unified is getting ready to implement its reparations resolution for Black students, and wants to hear from the public. Here’s how to participate.
Author Archives: Ashley McBride
Ashley McBride writes about education equity for The Oaklandside. Her work covers Oakland’s public district and charter schools. Before joining The Oaklandside in 2020, Ashley was a reporter for the San Antonio Express-News and the San Francisco Chronicle as a Hearst Journalism Fellow, and has held positions at the Poynter Institute and the Palm Beach Post. Ashley earned her master’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University.
Posted inEducation Equity
Oakland Unified considers dropping the D grade
OUSD high schoolers can graduate with Ds, but the grade bars them from admission to California’s public four-year colleges.
Posted inEducation Equity
Oakland Tech students walk out to protest sexual assault and harassment
Students say they’re frustrated by inaction from school and district leaders to address sexual harm on their campuses.
Posted inEducation Equity
In divisive vote, Oakland school board decides students must get vaccinated to learn in person
Students will have until January 1, 2022 to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or else enroll in independent study.
Posted inEducation Equity
New after-school program serves foster, immigrant, and unhoused youth in the East Bay
Project re:Fresh is the vision of Junia Kim, a former East Bay teacher who wants students to know that failure is OK.
Posted inEducation Equity
Some OUSD families question mid-year teacher reassignments
Consolidations are meant to smooth out teacher to student ratios, but some feel the process is disruptive as students are still adjusting to being back in school.
Posted inEducation Equity
‘We have to honor him through our work’: Oakland education community mourns activist Dirk Tillotson
Passionate about Black students’ success, Tillotson started and supported schools in Oakland and beyond. He died Oct. 1.
Posted inEducation Equity
How the Black Teacher Project is encouraging educators to transform schooling
The Oakland-based organization brings together Black teachers, who are underrepresented in the teaching force, for support, mentorship, and training.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Oaklanders speak on what the city’s guaranteed income program means to them
In the coming months, The Oaklandside will be periodically checking in with three participants in the city’s pilot initiative, to see how an extra $500 a month is impacting their lives.
Posted inEducation Equity
Oakland expands program to subsidize housing for aspiring teachers
Teachers Rooted in Oakland aims to address issues of teacher diversity, retention, and housing affordability.
Posted inEducation Equity
Oakland Tech launches aviation program in honor of 9/11 victim, alumna
Wanda Anita Green, who graduated from Tech in 1970, died while working as a flight attendant on United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.
Posted inEducation Equity
Oakland Unified could be next to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for students
A majority of the school board supports the idea, but some say a mandate will harm students who refuse by pushing them out of the classroom. A decision could be reached as soon as Sept. 22.
Posted inEducation Equity
Wildfire season is complicating efforts to keep schools safe from COVID-19
On bad air days, schools are instructed to close windows and doors and let the air purifiers work. But during the pandemic, that solution comes with its own problems.
Posted inEducation Equity
Attendance and enrollment numbers in Oakland Unified show decline
While the data is preliminary, district officials are worried about the implications for OUSD’s financial stability.
Posted inEducation Equity
A new mascot for West Oakland’s McClymonds High School
Native Americans have objected to being stereotyped as mascots. At McClymonds, students led an effort to adopt the African warrior to honor the historically Black institution.
Posted inEducation Equity
Facing pressure, Oakland Unified agrees to expand COVID testing at schools
The district will ramp up testing to twice per month, at all schools. It’s less than what some members of the community and school board had hoped.
Posted inEducation Equity
Uncertainty around COVID protocols marked Oakland schools’ first week back
In a district of 35,000 students and 5,000 teachers and staff, more than 100 COVID cases were detected last week.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Vaccine efforts ramp up as East Bay kids head back to school
About 56% of 12 to 17-year-olds in Alameda County are fully vaccinated, while fewer than 25% of Black youth are.
Posted inEducation Equity
Oakland Unified’s board meeting disrupted by families urging more COVID safety precautions at schools
At the first school board meeting of the academic year, community members reacted angrily to a discussion about the superintendent’s pay, and complained about the district’s distance learning program.
Posted inEducation Equity
Excitement, nervousness abound as Oakland students return for the first day of school
Amidst a surge in coronavirus cases driven by the delta variant, Oakland Unified is among the first Bay Area districts to return to school this year.
