Our Opinions

Testing Prism For Student Achievement

At least in the Oakland Hills, you need a many-faceted prism to measure student performance.  Success isn’t exactly defined by public school tests and rankings alone.

When you track the performance of our elementary schools in the hills, there are no surprises and they rank highly year after year.  By high school, these numbers decline precipitously and top performing students seem to vanish as well.  Let’s examine this a bit more.

Test Takers Soon Appear

Hills Kids Swimming Together

The State of California just released their Academic Performance Index (APIs), and our three schools scored well as usual:  Montclair at 957, up 35 points from last year; Thornhill at 944, up 20 points; and Joaquin Miller at 886, up 18 points.

Oakland’s average score is 695, which includes all elementary, middle and high schools city-wide.  That number gets driven down by economically disadvantaged students who scored 668 on average.  As a proxy, racial breakouts also show APIs of 902 for Whites and 630 for African-Americans overall.

For the Oakland Hills schools, the paler and richer kids living here perform better as a group – and are more highly represented in the elementary schools.  Thus we expect our local schools to score well on standardized tests, and are satisfied when they achieve mid-900 APIs.

Kids Swim In Different Pools

Among Oakland’s middle schools or high schools, things change quickly.  There are no standout API score performers except for a few charter schools, and none around here.  We believe that reflects shifts in school populations, as kids are sent beyond their neighborhood enclaves to public or even private schools.

By middle school, you see the average scores reflect these changes and begin to drop.  For example, Montera registers an 814 API that includes 928 for White and 912 for Asian students.  Likewise, Claremont reports a 701 API, including 915 for White kids there.

Kids Jump Into Biggest Pool

Skyline High doesn’t do well period, with a 667 API that’s below the overall Oakland average score!  Again there’s a mixed bag with White and Asian kids delivering around 790, while African Americans and Hispanics hover near the 600 mark.  Disadvantaged students of all races deliver a 641 API.

Since Skyline is a very large high school, with well over 2,000 students, it’s difficult to raise the API averages with smaller high-achiever contributions.  Yet the drop is so substantial that you have to wonder what is happening with students, as they hit the high school years.  Are things really that bad, or do the number hide success stories?

One way to find out is through standard college-admissions tests like ACTs or SATs.   The 2010 news isn’t pretty, as there are ZERO National Merit Semifinalists from either Skyline or any Oakland public high school.  This award recognizes the top PSAT test-takers from junior year.

Where have all the smartest kids gone, all to private schools, every one?  We know there must be successful students around, but it’s so hard to isolate them as a group.  The testing prism is all about ensuring the minimums, and not really peering into what’s happening with our children as they grow up in the public schools.

More info:   Check out the State of California API reports, including Oakland’s school details and Oakland’s race segmentations.  Also see the California’s National Merit Semifinalists. The Tribune’s Katy Murphy has written all about API inequities and Merit awardees in Oakland too.

Support Oakland’s Mai-Tai Campaign

After its summer somnolence, let’s re-activate Oakland’s Mai-Tai campaign and support the cocktail as the official drink of Oakland.  After all, the drink was literally born in our city.

A month ago, it looked like the City Council might put this all-important declaration on their agenda.  The pro-tiki, grassroots movement had made headway, as reported by Diablo Magazine and the SF Chronicle.  We even heard that one of the council reps was supportive as well.

While plans to get this formal recognition were lining up, other Council priorities like the budget pushed everything else aside.  It’s time to make sure the mai-tai matter appears on the city agenda, when the Council reconvenes in September.

Peck, Conga Lounge

We believe Oaklanders would unite behind something like the mai-tai, even though Hawaiians and chain restauranteurs have co-opted it as their own.  It turns out the drink was actually invented here, and a declaration could go a long way towards staking our claim.

Mai-tai cocktails were first served by Trader Vic, at his place on San Pablo Avenue.  Victor J. “Trader Vic” Bergeron set the record straight many years ago, explaining that he created the drink in 1944.  Here are the salient facts from Vic:

I was at the service bar in my Oakland restaurant.  I took down a bottle of 17-year-old rum.  It was J. Wray Nephew from Jamaica; surprisingly golden in color, medium bodied, but with the rich pungent flavor particular to the Jamaican blends.  The flavor of this great rum wasn’t meant to be overpowered with heavy additions of fruit juices and flavorings.

I took a fresh lime, added some orange curacao from Holland, a dash of Rock Candy Syrup, and a dollop of French Orgeat, for its subtle almond flavor.  A generous amount of shaved ice and vigorous shaking by hand produced the marriage I was after.  Half the lime shell went in for color.

I  stuck in a branch of fresh mint and gave two of them to Ham and Carrie Guild, friends from Tahiti, who were there that night.  Carrie took one sip and said, “Mai Tai – Roa Ae.”  In Tahitian this means “Out of This World – The Best.”  Well, that was that.  I named the drink “Mai Tai.”

Your local tiki bars serve up the legacy cocktail today, including Oakland spots on College Ave, Piedmont Ave, 29th Ave, one place in nearby Alameda, and the Trader Vic’s in Emeryville.

Our opinion?  The sweet mai-tai would provide a boost for Oakland natives and visitors.  We are only asking for a positive push by the halls of city government.  Let’s make sure that our representatives are listening – and perhaps we’ll get this lovely concoction some long-deserved recognition.

Our Take On Incoming Chief Batts

After many moons have come and gone, Oakland has finally attracted what appears to be a street-smart, book-smart police chief.  Incoming Chief Anthony Batts held the top job in Long Beach, and the comparisons with Oakland are undeniable.  For a motivated professional like Batts, why not move north and take on a new challenge?

We didn’t know what to think about Anthony Batts, and decided to view CBS5’s raw footage of the recent press confab.  It helped to watch Batts give his prepared spiel and answer some questions off the cuff.  You do get a sense of his warmth and seriousness, all in one package.  And we believe this guy is a die-hard Raiders fan – his donning of the team cap is no act.

New Oakland Police Chief
Batts Comes From The Inner City

Chief Batts spent his formative years in Central LA.  He saw what happened on the streets first-hand, and wondered if anyone cared about African-American kids like himself.  To earn money for college and grad school, Batts joined the Long Beach police force – and stayed there for the past 27 years.

“I like to touch and feel,” explained Batts, who gets out of his Long Beach ivory tower by walking the streets and driving shotgun with beat officers too.  He actually spent time wandering around Oakland incognito before taking the top cop position here, and asked folks near Lake Merritt how they felt about our police and prospects.

Mostly, Batts seems to take a page out of the playbook used by successful business executives.  When the incoming chief talked about his approach, he said “the most important thing that I have done is put together a team and gotten out of the way.”

What Batts Plans To Do

Batts quickly ticked off his priorities for Oakland, which related to budgeting, crime rates, disconnects between police and other city workers, tactical capabilities and public trust.  He challenged Oaklanders from the get-go:  “If this community doesn’t want to make a difference [and is] more interested in fighting, dividing,” then he said there’s nothing much a chief could do.

He’s already familiar with the panoply of inner-city challenges here and mentioned dealing with gangs, prostitution, drugs and plain old violence.  It sounds like Batts won’t create excuses for so-called intractable problems.

Even with a cash-strapped department,  Betts doesn’t want Oaklanders to accept the bare minimum of police support.  He firmly stated that cops must do more than appear when called.  Not surprisingly, the new chief wants to rely on residents to communicate actively with cops, and prevent crimes that way.

Batts Believes In Community Power

Batts said he believes in community-oriented safety as well as governance.  In Long Beach, he worked with 17 community groups directly, and focused on addressing the needs of African American, Latino, gay, affluent and impoverished residents.  Something’s going right in Long Beach, as crime rates have dropped and are definitely lower than up here.

So we hope this newcomer, filled with intensity and clear-sighted direction, might be able to steer the Oakland ship differently – with a little help from his neighborhood friends.  Speaking of which, we wonder if Batts will move to Montclair or live nearby.

Update: If you are in the public eye, then it helps to be squeaky clean these days.  The Long Beach Beachcomer has written about domestic violence reports from 2002, which were related to Batts and his now-former wife, U.S. Congresswoman Laura Richardson.  Not pretty, but it’s out in the open.

Oakland Images: Houdini, Earhart, Seale

Today we were rummaging through the Oakland Museum of California’s online attic, and just had to share a few memorable faces discovered in their Oakland Tribune collection.  What an eclectic group!

Let’s start with Harry Houdini (1923), a grand magician who appeared in Oakland.  Houdini honed his famous straightjacket escape and routine for years, and successfully dangled from newspaper buildings all over the country.  Of course, the Tribune Tower performance fit with his famous shtick.

Harry Houdini

Then we’ll move to Amelia Earhart (1937), whom Oaklanders have adopted as their own.  American schoolchildren all learn about Earhart, the aviator who attempted to circle the globe from Oakland.  Here is the photo staged for the first attempt in March, which was grounded in Hawaii.  The second and fatal attempt also began from Oakland, via Miami, but no photos were taken.

Amelia Earhart

Finally, we take a look at Bobby Seale (circa 1966).  Oakland’s role in the civil rights movement is indisputable, with Huey Newton and Bobby Seale’s founding of the Black Panthers.  This image is interesting, since it shows Seale overseeing grocery donations right here.  Fast forward, and Seale still focuses on community activism and educational priorities nationally.

Bobby Seale

You may be wondering why we grouped such disparate characters together.  Well, we loved the images and how they put an Oakland twist on notable people from all walks of life – a world-renowned escape artist, star-crossed aviator, and 1960s leader are recorded for posterity in this Tribune slideshow.  Oakland’s got a storied past.

Is Montclair A Real Place Without Its Post Office?

Is Montclair a real place without its post office?  Would it still feel like the wonderful little village we know and love today?  Imagine having to drive for miles to mail holiday cards and gifts, or your tax return.  Think about the impact on your daily schedule, the inconvenience, and even the wasted oil.

To us, Montclair without its post office…seems like a body with its heart ripped out.  And yet the U.S. Postal Service is deciding whether or not to perform this “major surgery” right now.

Our village is one of five Oakland P.O. locations that’s on a closure hit list.  In the Montclarion, Postal Service spokesperson Augustine Ruiz said they will begin making decisions or taking actions on October 2nd.  That means we have precious time to act, and to prevent this untimely demise.

U.S. Post Office - 41st Street

Postal Service Is Declining: In the new world order, it’s all about dollars and cents.  The snail mail business is definitely hurting with our wholesale shift to online communications, not to mention fierce competition from FedEx and UPS.  No one uses their post offices like before, including Montclarions.

Still, we have practical needs and stopping by the post office seems as natural as breathing air.  It will be tough on us if this Mountain Ave office closes down, because that means a several-mile drive down Broadway or Moraga to 41st Street (map).  Don’t get me going about the service there, either.

Local Office Needs Money, Stat: One Montclair neighbor, Karen Silverberg, decided to ask the postal workers what to do.  “I talked to one of the clerks at the Montclair P.O. and he said that the review would be based upon revenues received by each station, bottom line,” she explained.  “We should all go buy lots of stamps, ASAP.”  This seems like wise council, along with shipping a few more packages.

The Montclair Village Association will address the threatened closure at their next Board meeting, and welcomes concerned Montclarions to attend as well.  You may join them on Wednesday, August 5th, at 6:15 pm – down at the Pacific National Bank office (1998 Mountain Ave, map).

C’mon, folks!  We’ve gotta show the USPS that we mean business.

More info:   Besides making the point to visit our local post office (map), you can become an activist and register complaints too.  The USPS District Manager, Kim Fernandez, may be contacted at 1675 7th St., Rm. 307, Oakland, CA 94615.  Our Oakland Postmaster, Lowana Gooch, may be called at (510) 251-3031 or reached at 201 13th St., Rm 212,  Oakland CA  94612.  Or you may ask for assistance from U.S. Congress Rep Barbara Lee, click here for contacts.