Hamill for City Council

Change Now: Obama and Hamill

Most of the governing that affects people happens at the local level. So when you go into the voting booth on Tuesday, November 4, don't forget to vote for the down ticket races - especially Oakland City Council. Not only do we fill potholes and deliver vital city services, but I hope to fill the only position that represents all Oakland residents: from East Oakland to Montclair to Temescal, Rockridge, Crocker Highlands and all of the neighborhoods in between, I want to make sure that your voices, and your neighbors' voices, are heard.

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Campaign Statement

I have improved literacy and accountability during eight years on the school board.  As a legislative staffer representing Oakland in Sacramento, I have worked on historic gun control legislation.  I have built coalitions to revitalize neighborhoods and create transit villages.

New Endorsements

Bishop Bob Jackson

The Globe Newspaper

OPOA - Oakland Police Officers Association

Nate Miley - Alameda County Supervisor

Former 16th Assemblywoman Wilma Chan

Oral Lee Brown - Founder Oral Lee Brown Foundation

Greg Holland - President Oakland NAACP

Arabella Martinez - Former US Commerce Secretary, Founder Spanish Speaking Unity Council

Ellen Wyrick - West Oakland Community Leader

"Path to Fiscal Sustainability "

Statement From School Board Member Kerry Hamill on the district’s “Path To Fiscal Sustainability” Program:

Under the guise of cost savings and maintaining a balanced budget, State Administrator Vince Matthews and new Superintendent Roberta Mayor have outlined a “tough love” strategy focused on a broad school closures plan that is incendiary, counterproductive and begs opposition. The approach has sparked a level of panic across the district that will – sadly – make it impossible to have a thoughtful conversation about some tough decisions ahead. 

A series of meetings began last week across Oakland – ostensibly to explore solutions to the district’s tough financial future. But school closings is the only cost-saving strategy being explored in the district’s presentation, which suggests that we close between 5-15 schools this year – and also identifies 53 schools of our portfolio of 108 as falling below “our target programmatic enrollment size.” Many of the small schools in this mix are among the highest performing and most popular schools in our city - Peralta and Kaiser and La Esculita elementary schools, Ascend K-8 school and Life Academy High School. 

These schools do not cost more per student to operate. They are outstanding academic performers and every seat at the school is full. But they made the list because they don’t conform to a boilerplate school size supported by “research” and the “experts,” according to the district’s report. These small schools have been lumped together and identified as a problem. To what end? I have no idea. But I do know this - not one of the schools I just mentioned will be closed by the School Board anytime soon. We are creating tension and distraction for no good reason.
    
Join me in opposing a strategy that looks primarily at wholesale school closings as a means to guarantee future fiscal stability. Call your school Board member, attend the last 2 engagement meetings that have been scheduled on this topic, and plan to attend the School Board meetings scheduled for this fall when key decisions are scheduled to be made.

Those of us who live in the world of schools know that the district’s budget is under tremendous pressure - yet learning keeps improving. The Administration’s presentations did a fine job of outlining progress over the last five years. In an era of constant upheaval, our staff and families have done more with less. We have tripled the number of schools that perform above 700 on the state’s Academic Performance Index (out of a possible score of 1000). The number of schools below 500 has gone from 42 to 4. Oakland has defined itself with the largest gains of any large urban school district in the last 6 years. Unfortunately, no analysis was offered during the meeting as to the successful best practices which contributed to better performance. This information is critical as we shape future budgets, and should be clarified.

The report also presented some sobering facts about the local hit that our public schools will continue to take because of lingering state deficits and our never ending enrollment decline.

The state budget this year did not include any cost of living increases for staff. Our current year budget is balanced without raises, and our costs are projected to rise $18M this year because of inflation, step and column increases to teachers, higher energy costs, etc.

We currently serve 37,000 students in Oakland public schools, down from the 54,000 students we served 10 years ago. Since the state pays the district according to the number of students served, the enrollment loss has cost us an average of $14.5M/yr for the last three years.

The School Board and State Administrator cut or downsized $21M in programs this year to balance the budget. We are literally cutting lean muscle tissue from the system - custodians, attendance clerks, campus security guards and teaching assistants for special education classrooms. The serious nature of our financial struggle cannot be stated strongly enough.

The bad news does not justify our staff going off the deep end by identifying 53 schools as a problem because they don’t conform to someone else’s “formula.” The School Board must challenge our staff to present a full range of options as we explore the future. We should consider:

Better uses of the Redevelopment Agency funds that come through the city to schools:

Energy savings - both short and long term;

Selling surplus property;

Closing schools ONLY IF they fall outside the range of average school spending, they are significantly underenrolled and/or student academic achievement is below comparable schools without improvement;

Increasing attendance, especially at the high school level;

Voter initiatives which allow us to put local dollars on the salary schedule.

We have tough conversations ahead. I hope that we can manage them by discussing a range of options.

Welcome Back to School!

Back To School Good News
By Kerry Hamill, Board member and City Council candidate

Welcome back to school for the 2008-2009 school year.
I am happy to share some good news about the academic accomplishments of our public school students in Oakland – both last year and over the last seven years.

The state’s Academic Performance Index (API) is a rating from zero to 1,000 that measures how well students perform against all other public school children in California.
Last year, Oakland public school student scores in reading and math standards improved across the system. OUR API over the last five years has risen over 100 points (12% improvement) – with dramatic gains in every elementary school in the city. Oakland is the state’s most improved school district since 2002.

Our gains this year are especially satisfying because the big jumps are posted in schools that serve some of the most economically disadvantaged students. The top achiever was Sankofa Elementary – a school which I started with the community at the former Washington School site on Shattuck Avenue three years ago. Close to half the students at Sankofa now demonstrate proficiency in the state standards in both reading and math.

The people and taxpayers of Oakland have been tremendously supportive of Oakland’s public schools throughout the years. My mission as a school board member has been to reward that generosity by increasing student achievement so that every student has a chance at a productive, successful life.

We have a long way to go.
80% of all jobs today require some level of education beyond high school. Sadly, nearly 40% of our students don’t finish high school.

High school dropouts face a life of diminished prospects: In many cases, their ability to provide for themselves, support a family, help build the community becomes limited.

Since 2003, the percentage of graduates qualified to enter the UC/CSU system has more than doubled. I have pushed the system to add more advanced placement courses in Oakland’s high schools and I have identified hundreds and thousands of dollars in grant money for art and music programs to keep all of our students engaged creatively.

We cannot deliver on the promise of equality for all that is the birthright of every American unless we provide high-quality education for all. This is why equity in education has emerged as the great civil rights issue of our time.

I continue to partner with families to make sure they know what their child should be accomplishing and how they can play a role in the learning process. Here are a few ideas:
•    Read at home with your child every night
•    Make sure your child has help with homework and has a quiet place to work
•    Turn the television off during the week
•    Tell all children that you expect them to graduate high school and to attend college.

The City of Oakland has a great role to play to help ensure a 100% graduation rate in Oakland. Please review my Public Safety Prevention Platform on this website. It spells out all the ways I will align and coordinate services between the School District and the City of Oakland so that our youth get more services without a tax increase.

We must fight for our children’s future. We must fight for every student, in every classroom, every day. Welcome to a new school year – and the future begins now.

Percentage of students who tested at "proficient" level or higher

OAKLAND 2007 2008
Reading     29% 32%
Math         30% 33%

CALIFORNIA 2007 2008
Reading        43% 46%
Math            41% 43%

ALAMEDA 2007 2008
Reading     59% 61%
Math         53% 53%

BERKELEY 2007 2008
Reading     50% 52%
Math         42% 47%

PIEDMONT 2007 2008
Reading      86% 86%
Math           73% 74%

Congratulations to these 21 Oakland schools that made double-digit percentage point jumps in the number of children who tested at the "proficient" level or better in reading and/or math. Below are the number of points by which these schools improved between 2007 and 2008.

ACORN Woodland Elementary -- 19% in math, 23% in reading
Allendale Elementary -- 14% in math, 11% in reading
ASCEND Elementary -- 13% in math, 11% in reading
Bridges at Melrose -- 11% in math
Brookfield Village Elementary -- 10% in math
Franklin Elementary -- 16% in reading
Grass Valley Elementary -- 12% in math
Horace Mann Elementary -- 16% in math
Howard Elementary -- 16% in math
La Escuelita Elementary -- 11% in math
Manzanita Community Elementary -- 17% in math
Markham Elementary -- 24% in math, 16% in reading
New Highland Academy -- 12% in math
Peralta Elementary -- 14% in math, 14% in reading
Piedmont Avenue Elementary -- 13% in math
Reach Academy -- 14% in math, 13% in reading
Sankofa Academy -- 30% in math, 14% in reading
Sobrante Park Elementary -- 10% in reading
Whittier Elementary -- 11% in reading
Edna Brewer Middle School -- 15% in math, 10% in reading
Oakland Community Day High School -- 15% in reading
Source: Oakland Unified School District

Kerry Hamill Welcomes Back to School all of Oakland's Fantastic Kids!

Our City in the Spotlight

Outside Magazine has discovered what those of us who have lived in Oakland for years know well: Oakland is one of the best places to live in America.  From it's August 2008 issue:

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA (POP. 397,000)
Want to curb urban sprawl, boost the economy, and reduce inner-city crime? Get people to move downtown. It worked for Jerry Brown. In 1999, Oakland's then-mayor decided to direct more of the city's focus on downtown Oakland through his 10K Housing Initiative, a plan to attract 10,000 new residents to the city center by streamlining the permit process and creating economic incentives for developers. The result? More than 10,000 housing units are in various stages of planning or completion—far surpassing the original goal—and the area is home to some 40 new restaurants, 15 new art galleries, and 18 new nightclubs. Even the skyline is different, thanks to a 20-story condo complex on Lake Merritt and a nearly completed 22-story high-rise on Grand Avenue. All this in a town that, according to Rand McNally, has the best weather in the country.

Oakland and Crime

Crime has always been a spotlight issue for Oakland. Recent events like the string of robberies that have hit commercial districts in North Oakland and the arrival of the Guardian Angels patroling our streets has made this issue even more paramount. This morning KQED's morning show Forum discussed the issue of crime and city of Oakland's response- those who missed it can listen here. All of this discussion makes it clear that something has to be done, and voters are eager to see their public funds put to creative and practical use. I'm working with others in the city to make our neighborhoods safer.  Here's what needs to be done:

1. Hire more police officers.  We have too few police officers for a city of our size.  The City of Oakland should increase the number of police officers until crime levels have decreased substantially.
2. Mandate the use of a public safety management and accountability system.  Other cities around the country have implemented systems to track crime in neighborhoods and these systems have proven effective in reducing crime.
3. Reassign uniformed police officers from clerical jobs to community crime reduction assignments in neighborhoods
4. Equip police and emergency vehicles with GPS.  This allows police commanders to know the location of emergency vehicles and more efficiently deploy police officers to the closest emergency situation.
5. We need an audit of Measure Y funds.  Enforcement needs to be balanced with prevention and Oakland voters supported Measure Y to do just that.  However we need an audit so taxpayers know how these $6 million are being spent to improve public safety.

Education in Oakland

Bay Area students have shown an overall improvement(source: Oakland Tribune) of scores on standardized testing, but an achievement gap that needs to be closed remains. Some educational improvements that Kerry Hamill is working for that may affect this include:

Youth Programs and New Facilities– Between the city of Oakland, the county of Alameda and the Oakland Unified School District, there are many duplicative programs that serve youth. These programs need to be aligned and coordinated so that children in Oakland are served comprehensively and holistically. Schools must be major staging area for youth services because families spend so much time at school. We need to move into a 7 am – 7 pm model at our schools (Ceasar Chavez and a couple small high schools at Castlemont already use this model) to keep programs going at the site before, during and after traditional school hours.

Mental health services and Child Protective Services- CPS and other mental health services that work with our youth need to have offices in targeted Oakland public schools. Some OPS already offer mental health services through various grants through Alameda County, but we need to beef up the number. Child Protective Services also needs to partner at school sites, because school staff is constantly made aware of neglect and abuse issues that they do not report or deal with because they do not have the training or resources.