LOWER LAKE
Congratulations to KUSD Teacher of the Year
Congratulations to Konocti Unified School District’s Teacher of the Year, Kacy Mitchell, English Language Development (ELD) / Responsive to Intervention (RTI) Teacher at Pomo School
LCOE officials noted that Mitchell is a positive influence on all students she meets who goes above and beyond for her school, students and families.
Moreover, officials stated that she inspires students to read and find a love for learning. She is always ready to help any teacher and more than willing to help all students on campus.
Learn more about Kacy Mitchell on the LCOE website at lakecoe.org/TOY
—Submitted Lake County Office of Education
LAKEPORT
Clear Lake High School Booster Club is welcoming new members
CLHS Booster Club supports extracurricular athletic, artistic and academic activities. The next Booster Club meeting will take place at Clear Lake High School’s (CLHS) gymnasium foyer, on May 4 at 7 pm.
We hope to see you there.
—Submitted by Lakeport Unified Schools
KELSEYVILLE
Congratulations to KUSD’s Teacher of the Year
Congratulations to Kelseyville Unified School District’s Teacher of the Year, Rena Roush, Lead Teacher for Independent Study at Kelseyville Learning Academy (KLA)!
Officials noted that Roush is the reason the KLA is so successful, adding that she excels at developing positive relationships with students and families.
Her students have high attendance, engagement, and academic achievement. She is a master teacher by all definitions.
Learn more about Rena Roush at lakecoe.org/TOY #TeacherAppreciationWeek
—Submitted by Kelseyville Unified Schools
SAN FRANCISCO
English language teachers and students protest cuts at SF City College
Instructors and students of English language courses protested last week against cuts and layoffs planned at San Francisco City College.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, college leaders are considering laying off 130 faculty members and closing 300 classes to close a $7 million budget gap. Thirty-seven instructors could be cut from the English as a Second Language department.
The newspaper reported that about 60 people gathered on Thursday, shouting, “They say cut back! We say fight back!” and “No elimine ESL!” “Don’t cut English as a Second Language!”
—EdSource
OAKLAND
Oakland Unified school board member resigns in aggravation
Seven-and-a-half year Oakland Unified school board member Shanthi Gonzales, one of five board members who have been lambasted for supporting controversial school closures earlier this year, announced her resignation Monday in a letter critical of the district’s teachers union and other board members.
Gonzales, in the letter, said most Oakland schools aren’t “meeting students’ academic needs,” and the failure to improve school quality has driven the district’s significant enrollment loss over the last 20 years.
She criticized the school board as a whole for wasting too much meeting time on “issues that, while important, don’t have much to do with how students are doing academically.”
“As long as we are struggling to ensure that students can read at grade level, it is a disservice to our students and families to spend so much time on issues that are not central to our core mission,” Gonzales said.
She also accused leaders of the district’s teachers union, the Oakland Education Association, and their “allies” of “resisting efforts to address school quality” as well as trying to shut down debate of topics they don’t agree with — sometimes “through acts of intimidation.” Her employer was contacted and asked that she be condemned for supporting school closures, she said.
Fellow board member Mike Hutchinson, who did not support the school closures, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was disappointed with how Gonzales characterized the community in her letter, and that he “rejects the details of her resignation letter,” including her accusations of OEA and its allies.
Gonzales’ letter didn’t cite these concerns as reasons for stepping down, but rather “reflections on our prospects for serving students and families better.” She made a separate post highlighting some of the district’s successes while she’s been in office, including increasing the graduation rate and the number of graduates who have completed their A-G requirements, as well as expanding services to newcomer students and offering ethnic studies instruction to all high schoolers.
The remaining school board members have 60 days to appoint a replacement for Gonzales, or call for a special election, board president Gary Yee said in a news release Monday. Either way, he said, Gonzales’ board seat will be filled before the 2022-23 school year.
—EdSource
LOS ANGELES
Charter school teachers in L.A. stage walkout in effort to unionize
Teachers at the largest charter school network in Los Angeles walked off their jobs last week to pressure administrators to recognize their efforts to unionize, according to LAist.
Teachers, counselors and school psychologists at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, which operates more than 20 middle and high schools in Los Angeles, staged the one-day protest at four campuses. Alliance staff have been seeking to join United Teachers Los Angeles — the union that represents staff at Los Angeles Unified — for many years. Alliance administrators have fought teachers’ efforts to unionize.
“We kinda were left with no choice,” Brittany Cliffe, an Alliance science teacher and bargaining representative, told LAist. “If we are serious about bringing [Alliance administrators] to the bargaining table, then we needed to get their attention in a larger way, and that’s ultimately why we’re here.”
—Carolyn Jones
