Metropolitan Greater Oakland Democratic Club

Judy Cox, President

The Attend and Achieve Plan

• Includes a communication and enthusiasm-building program for school attendance,
including a big all-city school kick off day;
• School site staff are being taught how to meet with parents of truant kids to catch
truancy before it turns into dropping out
• Better records are being kept at the school level and the district level, so it’s possible to “find” pockets of neighborhoods where there are a lot of truant kids and try to reach out to such neighborhoods;
• School board members, parents and other volunteers are making walks in the
schools’ areas to inform parents about the importance of consistent attendance
• Much more attention is being paid to the early grades where patterns of good or
poor attendance are formed; kids who miss a lot of kindergarten enter first grade without basic reading skills, so they will already be behind;
• Parents of truant kids are sent letters notifying them of the missed school;
• Teams at the school and district levels try to meet with parents and students when
a pattern of truancy is identified;
• There is a District Attorney’s Truancy Court which tries to develop plans with the
parents to address their child’s poor attendance

• Recognition and rewards are being offered to kids who show good attendance;
food, sports equipment and clothes, movie tickets, restaurant gift certificates and other popular prizes are offered to students with very good attendance;
• OPD is trying to return kids to school, rather than taking them to truancy centers
• There are Student Graduation Ambassadors at each High School to do peer counseling on truancy, with core action teams who back them up;
• Businesses, churches and other community groups are being encouraged to adopt
particular schools; There is increased emphasis on getting teachers to offer engaging lessons and to show the students that they personally care about them.

All of this seems very positive. Another very important development is that Tony Smith, our impressive new superintendent of schools, is going to meet with Chief Batts, our new police chief, to work out a joint policy on school age kids, so the City will present a consistent—and hopefully positive—approach to kids.

I have been concerned and pessimistic about Oakland schools for a long time. I was
happy to attend this conference and to learn all the positive steps that are being taken.

For the first time, I believe that Oakland has a real chance to turn around the schools and deal with the truancy problem in a consistent and positive way.

What a Christmas present!

Next Executive Board Meeting
 

 

Monday, January 25, 2010
Location: Coming Soon (honest!)

• Our Club's Bylaws
• Our Club's Constitution

• Death Penalty Abolition
  (adopted Oct. 23, 2008)
   
• Proposition 13 Fairness Resolution
  (adopted February 15, 2008)
   
• www.prop13reformtaskforce.org/
   
• Government Integrity in Oakland
  (adopted Oct. 23, 2008)
   
• All Past Resolutions and Actions