By Jennifer Ward Jennifer Ward has been absolutely amazing in reporting this story out "Oakland Schools Get Phased Out" and below she gives us a glimpse into what has been involved in her reporting. This is the best value of Spot.us - opening up the reporting process. It shows that Jennifer is working hard on behalf of the public that has funded her work.
By Jennifer Inez Ward
As many are aware, I’m close to finishing my report on the phase out quagmire that’s occurring with Oakland Unified School District small schools.
The district over the last few years have put into high gear a process to deal with failing small schools by initiating a shut down process known as phase out, Phase out gradually winds down a school one grade at a time. Many of the schools being shut down have been open for a limited amount of time.
The initial phase out stories I’m working on will run on KALW 91.7 FM and the Oakland Post in the next couple of weeks.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of cooperation both from the district, school administrators, teachers, parents and students. Almost everyone’s been willing to go on the record, friendly and helpful. One of the many interesting points connected to this story.
In particular, I’m also referring to my quest to obtain numbers.
Besides chatting folks up, I also wanted numbers to back up what people were telling me. I wanted to know how many small schools were in Oakland, how many schools were phased out last year, etc.
I was told by more than one person, “good luck.” One long time teacher shook her head and gave a laugh when she heard I wanted numbers. “Jennifer, there’s only three people working in that building that have any historical knowledge of the district.”
So, I was warned and then it was not surprising when the public information officer Troy Flint, ignored my interview requests and the Office of Portfolio Management gave me the run around even when I put in a certified Open Records Act request letter.
On March 1, 2009, the web link sent in your response (http://webportal.ousd.k12.ca.
With each request filed with the database, the response was “no records found”.
On March 4, 2009, at my request, you followed up with a 2007 presentation report by the School Portfolio Management team that did not have any of the requested items I am seeking.
On March 6, I sent you a response that stated: As I understand it you do not have historic documents, numbers, or financial summaries from 2004 until present on small schools or closing schools?
To date, I have not received a response to my certified letter.
Turns out I should have started with the front door.
State Administrator Vincent Matthews didn’t blink at any of my questions and emailed me the specific numbers I was looking for.
The lesson? Never give up in trying to obtain numbers and always try the front door.
Posted by Spot. Us on 04/27/09The phase out story continues to evolve, taking me into of the most complex aspects of the Oakland Unified School District. If anything, this is a story of struggle with important victories by students, by teachers, that go unseen in the chaotic day to day world of public education in Oakland.
The jaw dropping dysfunction of Oakland Unified Schools administration, next to the school campuses that are lovingly neglected, stand in stark contrast to the whip smart appeal of many of the students and the dogged determination of many teachers, school alumni and grass roots organizations. Everyday, kids are getting it done. They know the score and they plow on. I’m very proud.
But, the students almost seem to be in the middle. You have a district is in constant transition—top level folks with interim in front of their titles. Another new wave solution (in this case small schools) to fix massively sores that have been allowed to fester for decades on. And limited money coming from glamorous non profits (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). Communities are in an uproar, teachers are howling and test scores are continuing to sink like a bad bite of seafood.
So the district and its overseers (the state takeover team) move forward without a long term plan. Fast forward a few years and while there are marked success stories, there are also schools clearly struggling. Meanwhile, the free dough from the international nonprofits have dried up and test scores are coming in low from a student population that keeps shrinking.
This is the stew created by the OUSD that has led to small, experimental schools being shut down one grade at a time. Schools a few years old now sending their students to other schools, creating the old, big school models that dominated well into the 2000s.
Posted by Jennifer Ward on 03/23/09
