Candidate for
School Director; Oakland Unified School District; District 4

PERSONAL

I have lived in Oakland with my family - at the same address in the Laurel District - since 1977, and I have been interested and involved in education for a very long time. Born and raised in the East Bay, in 1969 I received my B.A. degree, with honors, from U.C. Berkeley where I majored in English. In 1984 I earned a law degree, with honors, from U.C. Berkeley (Boalt Hall).

As an undergraduate I coordinated a large volunteer tutorial project in West Oakland . In my 20's I helped start an alternative high school in the Midwest for students who were "falling through the cracks." Back in California I worked as a planner and writer for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) advocating for educational opportunities for all disabled children.

More recently, as chair of the Education Task Force of Oakland Coalition of Congregations (OCC) - a diverse interfaith coalition of congregations and community groups - I have spearheaded successful city-wide educational initiatives to help improve education for Oakland Public School kids (See ACCOMPLISHMENTS, below, for details). As a faith community representative, I also served on the Community Advisory Committee of the University Art Museum/Pacific Film Archives seeking to help the museum reach a more diverse audience and become more accessible to the community.

An active parent in my sons' schools I have particpated on governing bodies, volunteered in the classroom, and worked on successful school-based reforms and projects.

Currently, I serve on the Oakland board of the Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform and as a member of the Accountability Committee of the Oakland Education Cabinet. In the past several years I have also served as a member and facilitator of the Ad Hoc Task Force on Parent-Teacher Communication for OUSD; as a parent representative to the Language Arts Text Book Adoption Task Force, OUSD; and on the Steering Committee for the Mayor's Education Summit, facilitating the task force on student achievement.

   In my professional life, I am lead research attorney for Justice Timothy Reardon at the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District. In that capacity, on a regular basis I work on cases involving adult and juvenile defendants who have suffered from missed educational opportunities. Prior to going to the court, I was a transactional attorney with Cooley Godward, headquartered in San Francisco. My professional community service has included serving on the advisory committee of DREDF's Lawyer Referral Service and as an instructor with the Street Law Court Referral Program for juvenile probationers. 

Each of my two sons has attended Oakland public schools. Arlo, who is now 30, is an Assistant Professor of Geology at Bryn Mawr College. Nicholas, 14, is a freshman at Skyline High School and I can assure you that there is nothing like being the candidate whose child is currently enrolled in school to transform an abstract concern for good schools into a passionate commitment to make sure your child's education is of the highest quality. From that unique vantage point you quickly realize that the fight is for educational opportunity and justice for all children.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Since 1995 I have chaired OCC's Education Task Force of the Oakland Coalition of Congregations. In this capacity I have originated and seen education initiatives through from incubation ofdea to its practical implementation, with all the stops and starts in between. My many supporters will testify that I am persistence personified and know how to overcome inertia to GET THINGS DONE!

Here are some of my accomplishments as Chair of OCC's Education task force:

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER (SRO) PROGRAM

Advocated successfully to bring the City in as a full partner in funding and providing comprehensive police services to our schools.

Prior to implementation of the SRO program, the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) maintained its own small, independent police unit. I consistently pressed City and District officials and advocated publicly that provision of police services is a City function and thus it makes practical and economic sense for the City to collaborate with the District in ensuring our schools are safe and secure.

Now the Oakland Police Department services our schools through a cadre of SROs specially trained and selected to work with school communities and youth. The SRO model focuses on prevention and intervention services as well as law enforcement and thus speaks to the full range of campus safety and school climate needs of our schools.

And the good news to Oakland schools is that the City and OUSD now share the cost of the SRO program. With this shared responsibility, cost savings to the District will be redirected to schools for counselors and conflict managers.     

ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY ON OAKLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Before 1997 it was almost impossible for parents or the community to find out how well Oakland Public Schools were doing. Pertinent information on student achievement reported on a school-by-school and district-wide basis, as well as timely reports on major initiatives and developments within the District, simply were not available in a user-friendly format to parents or the general public. This finally changed with the publication of the 1997 Annual Report to the Community on Oakland Public Schools, presented by the Oakland Coalition of Congregations, in partnership with OUSD, the Oakland Education Cabinet and The Oakland Tribune. 

The idea for this publication originated when Katherine Schaffer, a member of OCC's Education Task Force, shared a copy of a similar report issued in another state. I then spearheaded a collaborative effort with teachers, district officials and community leaders to develop consensus on what to report and how to report it. Sounds simple, but this was a first in Oakland!

The Oakland Tribune agreed to print the report and distribute it as a Sunday edition insert. The School District furnished us with the necessary data. That first year Katherine Schaffer and I literally input the data into our home computers, with the help of our spouses, for ultimate transfer on floppy disks to the Tribune. In addition to distributing the 16-page Report as a Tribune insert, copies were made available at each school site as well as at all Oakland public libraries and recreation centers.  

OCC continued to be responsible for putting the report together in 1998 (as a Tribune publication) and 1999 (as a publication of The Post Newspapers) and then handed responsibility for the report to the Accountability Committee of the Oakland Education Cabinet. I serve on that committee and review the annual publications.  

In 1999 the excellence of the Report was recognized with an award from the California Schools Public Relations Association and, also in 1999, the League of Women Voters of Oakland recognized OCC's work with its Community Contribution Award.   

INTEREST-BASED BARGAINING

Coming out of the last teacher's strike OCC broke new ground in OUSD by initiating training for teachers, district administrators and District Labor Relations staff by introducing a problem-solving approach to contract negotiations, known as interest-based bargaining. Concepts and skills emphasized in the training have been used to good advantage in subsequent contract negotiations. The tools of interest-based bargaining will continue to be invaluable in fostering better relations between the District and its staff.

SITE-BASED MANAGEMENT

In nuts and bolts terms, site-based management means giving schools the decision-making power, flexibility and budget to get things done at the school site and to determine how to best teach the students they serve.  

I have been in the trenches for the past five years working for development and implementation of a broad site-based management policy in Oakland. I pushed to initiative the beginning conversation in OUSD about site-based management. The OCC Education Task Force continued as a leader in this movement. Finally in June 1999 the School Board passed a broad site-based management policy. Several schools elected to begin operating as site-based management pilot schools in the 1999-2000 school year. The District's goal was to have all schools operating under the policy within three years. The reality is that the pilot schools are not out o the incubator stage yet. In short, the policy has been on autopilot.

Authentic implementation of the site-based management policy will never happen at this pace. School Board leadership is needed to move this powerful policy to the front burner. I am prepared and committed to providing that leadership.

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR AT-RISK YOUTH

As a parent and chair of OCC's Education Task Force, I collaborated with Bret Harte Middle School administrators, the neighborhood crime prevention council and OUSD to develop an alternative education program for truants and other at-risk youth. 

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARIES

California public school libraries are the worst in the country, yet research shows that academic success is directly related to the amount of money spent on school libraries. In recent years the state has appropriated money for books, but not for staff. Under my leadership, OCC's Education Task Force has consistently advocated that all elementary school libraries be staffed at least three days a week. As it stands now, the quality and availability of elementary school library programs vary widely throughout the District. OCC has reported publicly on this state of affairs. We have also proposed that schools lacking library staff be encouraged to use categorical funds to hire a library technician. As well, school libraries are one of the programs eligible for funding under the recently passed Measure B Parcel Tax.

GRADE LEVEL STANDARDS

I facilitated community input into development of K-12 standards for what a student must know and be able to do in order to move to the next grade or graduate. Through OCC's Education Task Force, I also pressed successfully for publication of these standards in a user-friendly format to be distributed annually to parents. 

TEACHER FORUM

I organized and facilitated a teacher forum on site-based management, evaluations and accountability benchmarks. 

COMMUNITYFORUMS

I organized District Four community forums on building community through strong secondary schools. This was part of a movement to keep families from exiting public schools when their student hits the middle and high school years. 

INVOLVED PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENT

Bret Harte Middle School: Parent Representative on Site-Based Decision-making Team, 1999-2001. In this capacity I pushed the District to give Bret Harte and other pilot site-based management schools more autonomy.

Member, Action Team for developing comprehensive School Action Plan, 2001. Over the past several years, Bret Harte's test scores have steadily improved, in part because of the quality of planning that takes place at the school site. I helped write and design this year's comprehensive school plan.

Kaiser Elementary School: At Kaiser I worked as a library and classroom volunteer instructor.

Laurel Elementary School: I served on Laurel's School Site Council.

Ad Hoc Task Force on Parent-Teacher Communications, OUSD: As a parent representative, I co-facilitated the work of this task force. We drafted a useful set of recommendations for improving teacher-parent communications. This information was shared with principals and teachers. 

Language Arts Text Book Adoption Committee, OUSD: I served as a parent representative on this interesting task force.