6/7/11 Speak out against cuts to Counselors and Adult Ed!

Speak out against cuts to

Counselors and Adult Ed!

Tuesday, June 7, 2010, 3:00 pm

In front of Skyline High School (on the steps in front of Counselors office/ music room)

Click on the flyer below to enlarge and print

Wednesday, May 25, 2011


Press conference Wednesday, May 25
at 4:30pm 1025 2nd Avenue
Attend the School Board meeting afterward at 5:00pm to speak out against
ALL cuts to our programs!

What's Happening?
Oakland Unified School District plans to reorganize the entire department for school counselors, turning over most counseling functions to administrators and overworked teachers, and centralizing transcript audits. Our counselors, already stretched thin in ratios of over 700:1, serve a vital need for middle and high school students. Using staff without counseling credentials to fill the gap may violate California Ed Code, and certainly shortchanges students. Next year Skyline High School, Westlake and Frick Middle Schools will be without site counselors.

Some concerns that remain unaddressed by OUSD are: 1) how will school counselors be able to provide quality assistance to students with such complicated processes as the UC/CSUS A-G requirements when they are no longer housed on the school site? 2) How will school counselors be able to form trusting bonds and relationships with middle and high school students when they are potentially traveling to multiple school sites? OUSD has no concrete answers to these questions.

The Oakland Education Association is also opposed to the almost complete elimination of the Adult Education program in Oakland. With high unemployment rates and a high student drop-out rate, for many adults the Adult Education program offers a second opportunity to earn a GED certificate, or to learn basic English skills so they can improve their livelihoods.

Come let the our elected School Board representatives know that in the interests of our students and their families, we need to preserve counseling services and Adult Ed!

Betty Olson-Jones
President
Oakland Education Association