History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
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Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Science education will soon be required in Oakland's public elementaries
- 06-07-2010
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By Katy Murphy/Oakland Tribune
Last week, the Oakland school district became one of the first in California to require elementary schools to teach science for at least 60 to 90 minutes a week. It might sound like a modest proposal, but it could be a boon for a subject that's often treated as optional in the lower grades — even in the high-tech Bay Area — because of a narrow focus on the 3Rs. "Making time and space for science is sometimes a revolutionary act," Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith said during "Dinner with a Scientist" at the Oakland Zoo, an invitation-only event where enthusiastic students were exposed to careers in the field. The 10- and 11-year-olds who compared fingerprints with a forensic scientist and learned about the endangered Western Pond Turtle on Wednesday night were probably unaware of the policy set to take effect in their schools by 2011. (more...)
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