This is a parent-run site dedicated to provide information and updates about the on-going OUSD and OEA contract negotiations, work to rule, board meetings, information sessions and all things related.
Parents United for Public Schools
Network of OUSD parents committed to quality education for our kids
Parents United for Public Schools 
some way to sign up to receive posts would be great. Also, I always appreciate something in the “About” section explaining who or what organizations are behind the organization. With groups like GO obfuscating their policy agenda and supporters, it makes it easier for people like me who are trying to follow things, but with less time to devote. thanks! anne janks
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Anne, thank you for your comments. I will update the About section to make it more clear what is behind this, but I will tell you that I have created this website solely out of a desire to get information out to families across the District about the ongoing Contract negotiations between OUSD and OEA and to encourage everyone to educate themselves and take responsibility for ensuring that our District is acting in the best interests of our children. I am the parent of two OUSD children, an 11th grader at Oakland Tech and a 4th grader at Joaquin Miller Elementary. I am committed to the Public School system and to supporting our teachers as I believe that they are the single most important group shaping my child’s future, other than family. I have spoken with teachers and parents, I have read the offers put forth by both sides, I have attended/watched the Board Meetings and I have tried to make sense of a very complicated budget. While my heart lies with the wonderful teachers that my children have had the privilege to be taught by, I recognize that theirs is not the only story to be told, and so I want this site to be a place where information is available to parents to read, digest and hopefully be inspired to learn more and to act. A wonderful parent at JM wrote the following in an open letter to our community and I hope he doesn’t mind if I share his words: “We, the taxpayers and voters in this city, through our own actions and inactions, determine what is acceptable for our children. We set the bar to which the District staff need to rise or fall in the effective spending of and accountability for public dollars. There is nobody other than us to whom the responsibility falls to set both the tone and the specific guidelines under which our children will be educated and nurtured.” I believe we as parents and families of the students of this District have a responsibility to learn what is at stake in this contract negotiation and to make our voices heard. That is why I created this website. And to be 100% unambiguous, I am an individual parent with no ties to any organization involved in this discussion. Thank you for checking it out.
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And Anne, as to your request for a way to receive updates, I am new to WordPress so I am not 100% sure, but I think if you “follow” a blog through wordpress you can request updates.
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