[sf-lug] A blog about Linux in local public schools

[Mike Higashi]

On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 11:48 AM, Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> wrote:

>
> My wager is to my friend Larry.  However, don't let me stop you from
> making that telephone call.
>
> (You might find that the principal's salary is paid by Oakland Schools
> Foundation, a private corporation.  Anyway, not by Oakland Unified School
> District, hence my point.)



Ascend appears to have a very unusual history. You can see some of it here:

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19184890

Deep into the article, It appears to say that Ascend was originally started
by the
Oakland Unified School District as a sort of magnet school:

   ASCEND and Learning Without Limits opened in 2001 and 2007,
respectively, during
   an unprecedented period of school district innovation and change.  [...]

   "They will be like internal charter schools," former Superintendent
Dennis Chaconas
   told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2001, referring to the freedom to
choose a school's
   teachers, themes and curriculum.


That article (dated October 2011) opens with the really weird news that it
was the school's
staff that wanted to go the charter school route:

   The faculty at two Oakland elementary schools have voted to break away
from the
   district and convert their schools into independently run charters, a
move that could
   cost Oakland Unified more than $4 million.

   Teachers and principals at ASCEND and Learning Without Limits say that
as charter
   schools, they will have far more control over who they hire, what they
teach and how,
   and how they spend their money. They said the schools' founders were
initially promised
   those conditions, but that they have eroded over time.


This conversion was approved by the OUSD board in March 2012:

http://oaklandnorth.net/2012/03/08/two-ousd-schools-will-convert-to-charters-after-board-vote/

   The board voted to allow ASCEND and Learning Without Limits to convert
from
   district public schools to charter schools this fall. Each was given a
five-year
   agreement to function as a charter school, the board voted unanimously,
though
   director Alice Spearman (District 7) was not present. The schools will
be overseen
   by charter management company Education For Change.

   But unlike the other 30 Oakland charter schools, both ASCEND and
Learning
   Without Limits will retain a close relationship with district—the
schools will pay for
   services from the district, like custodial, professional development and
access to
   data systems and teacher support. The schools will also participate in
the district’s
   enrollment process and receive students who were expelled from other
schools.
   Both schools will also continue to chip in their share of the district’s
$6 million annual
   payment to the state from its emergency loan.


Mike
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