Oakland Schools Busy Committing Suicide
Oakland’s school board and state administrator must not be reading East Bay Conservative, because statistics show the district continues to hemorrhage students at a rapid pace. The district has lost 27 percent of its students in the past 8 years.
Continue Reading »
My Thoughts on Improving Oakland
The past couple days I’ve been considering the question I posed in the previous posting, about what Oakland can do to change the nature of its killing fields.
Continue Reading »
Some Encouraging Data on Oakland’s Black Youth
When I wrote Sunday about the fact that Oakland has black kids thriving at elementary schools such as Thornhill, I was relying on research done some months back. Ironically, today I saw this report (pdf) and this list (pdf) indicating that the news continues to get better.
Continue Reading »
Dellums: Oakland’s Property Taxes Too Low
Every time someone makes the argument we should lay off Mayor Dellums, he gives us yet another reason to keep our tin-foil hats squarely in place. This time, it’s his proposal to raise property taxes yet again to hire more police.
Continue Reading »
I know this probably makes me a blog-poseur, but my favorite city in the east bay is Piedmont. Few urban areas in the country boast the sort of exclave relationship shared by Oakland and Piedmont.
Continue Reading »
Oakland Fire Prevention + Certified Mail = Money Down Toilet
I received my letter from the City of Oakland today kindly notifying me that I need to trim my weeds and remove any dead branches from my property. Ostensibly this is a great way to stop wildfires. But I have several issues with their approach.
Continue Reading »
Two minutes spent reading the SF Chronicle’s Friday point-counterpoint on Prop 98 should be enough to convince anyone that it’s a good idea. Eliminating rent control is long overdue, and I’m hopeful that a statewide vote will do just that.
Continue Reading »