Readers share their thoughts on our November issue.
About Paideia
I read your article about the Paideia Program at Oakland Tech [“The Wrong Path?” November] and wanted to share my thoughts with you as a graduate from the program and a resident of Oakland for over 35 years.
Paideia prepared me and my classmates for college. It taught me to think in a more circular way and helped me to understand cause and effect in history. They had us read books that presented other cultures to us and allowed us to peek inside times and places unfamiliar to us. And we were all challenged.
Our class was very diverse. It felt like the Oakland I grew up in—with all its prejudices and conflicts. But it gave us an opportunity to get to know each other and to let our guard down some.
To blame any of the academy teachers for “inequality” is plain wrong. All of the academy teachers I knew in school (Health, Engineering, and Paideia) were invested in all their kids and worked hard. What we saw as students was a district administration that was consumed with power struggles and in-fighting.
If you expect the kids to perform well, they’ll try and attain it. For too long, the cry at schools in Oakland has been to dumb down the education. And that’s just wrong.
It is time for someone to truly helm OUSD and get serious about educating the children of Oakland. To create schools that present a broad education platform and that keep them relevant and competitive.
Morgan Standley Smith
Not So Star Struck
Malia Vella is being investigated, hardly a “rising star.” [“Alameda’s Newest Rising Star,” June 2016] She does not care about the people of Alameda and instead is trying to push her radical agendas. I can’t believe people were dumb enough to allow her to be elected. #RemoveVella
J Loprano
Corrections and Clarifications
Our November story, “The Wrong Path?” misstated the length of time that Randolph Li has been co-director of the Engineering Academy at Oakland Technical High School. This is his first year, not his third.
The photos published with the “Conversation Starters” in November should have been credited to Renee Macalino Rutledge, not Mows
Our article “Big Motown Sounds” in November got two facts wrong about the Berkeley Rep play. The correct name of the play is Ain’t Too Proud, and it debuted in August.
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