Bits and pieces, again

Sometimes there are just lots of little bits of news, not big enough for an entire post, but not insignificant enough not to share.

Yesterday, Susan Davis posted this bit of great news on Twitter:

Good news: #Alameda teachers no longer seeking impasse; district & union to bargain again 2/8. Fingers crossed! http://t.co/lZ2iJmHO

— Susan E. Davis (@Susan_E_Davis) February 5, 2013

Which means that, hopefully, everyone can be on their best behavior and work together to finalize a contract.   As I wrote in this post, the District and AEA weren’t that far apart, number wise, but of course the District’s proposal was contingent on teachers buying into the Professional Learning Communities to get the annual $1000 stipend during the two year pilot.

In other school related news, Ruby Bridges Elementary did not meet its fundraising goal via the gospel show which would help send 100 Fifth graders to sleep away Science Camp.   It fell a lot short of the needed dollars, so if you have a few bucks you can spare to help out, you can give the Ruby Bridges campus a call at 510.748.4006 to see how you can help.

Suspicious minds

On Monday night the Open Government Commission met for the very first time.   For those who may not remember, the Open Government Commission is a new volunteer body that was created as a result of the Sunshine Ordinance.   The goal of the Open Government Commission is to make sure that the Sunshine Ordinance is being properly applied in Alameda and to hear any allegations about City staff or elected officials violating the Sunshine Ordinance.

Pretty simple and straight forward right?

Well at the Monday meeting it was definitely a bit of a slog getting through simple housekeeping items like approving bylaws and such.