Oakland Schools:
Put To The Test

I cover education because I come from a family of teachers. My grandparents taught in Modesto, though they preferred the schools where they taught in Havana; my aunts taught privileged kids in the Bay Area, while in Ceres my mother taught farmworkers’ kids who left every few months; and my sister’s in her first year on the job, where she’s learning if you want a pencil sharpener for the classroom you have to buy it yourself.

I’m a mom of three who grew up in a racially and ethnically diverse city with segregated housing patterns. Those equity issues still play out in the local high school where my kids went to school, in Evanston, Il. As a reporter and editor in Chicago I spent months following school reform efforts as then superintendent Arnie Duncan lead the district take over of low performing schools. I watched those reform efforts with the brightest, most committed and culturally competent teachers and principals trying to prove they could change students’ lives.

I am a digital producer and reporter for KQED News. Before that, I created educational news content for teachers and students as part of KQED’s Education Department. Back in the day, I was also a public school teacher at Fremont High School in East Oakland, where I taught journalism classes and oversaw the school’s student newspaper and magazine publications.