Last Friday, AUSD released, some might say finally released, information on the pay and benefits of AUSD employees. (I converted the pdf to a spreadsheet so folks can play with the data). The average teacher salary is $62,000 a year which is less than what the ed-data site has. This is probably because the...
I want to start by saying that I like Kirsten Vital and I think that we are lucky to have her working as Superintendent at AUSD. She is 100% committed to her job, working massive hours, etc. and her vision for moving the District forward is solid and well-planned. But I was upset when...
Last week, California School Academic Performance Indicator (API) results were released for the year. And every year the immediate results are the same. School cheerleaders champion that the numbers show growth (aka better performance) and school detractors (mostly the anti-parcel tax folks) point out that specific schools did not fare well. In the middle...
What a long, strange spring. One week on from the final vote count, I wanted to give a huge shout out to the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds (likely over 1000) of volunteers who helped make the effort such a success, even if the measure didn’t pass. Rules are rules, and we knew them...
There's only one problem. There's no stop on Main Street at Midway (see map for location...hint: it's where the bullseye is). It turns out that after the community and schools came out and asked for the bus to run on Midway, AC Transit made the change and requested that the stops be put in....
Two of the things I’m hoping will be discussed at tonight's council meeting are Fiscal Neutrality and Public Benefits. A lot has been made of a supposed “$500 million dollar shortfall” despite the fact that it’s a made up number that doesn’t withstand the smell test.
I can't assume to know why Boardmember Spencer has voted against Lesson 9 and the explicit inclusion of LGBT issues in the curriculum, but I can question why it is that she's taken to using the same talking points of the explicitly homophobic SERVE group and hanging out with the lawyer from the Pacific...
Alameda's Lesson 9 will be featured on KQED's Forum tomorrow morning at 9am and I'll be one of the speakers. Thanks to Susan Davis for her write up at SFGate's InAlameda (If you haven't been reading her almost daily posts there, you're missing something, check her out!)
A few months ago, our community was called to action to support tolerance and respect for all people. Thanks to you and many others, there is no doubt about where our community stands on issues of compassion and tolerance! However, work remains to be done.
The final judgment in the lawsuit against Lesson 9/Tolerance teaching in Alameda is out and the court doesn’t mince words. The District has prevailed! And what a smackdown of the petitioners it was.
