Sam Davis
samdavis510.bsky.social
Sam Davis
@samdavis510.bsky.social
Now leaving the Oakland Board of Education... we'll see what's next for me!
With Rep. Swalwell running for governor, his seat in Congress is opening up. Progressive state sen. Aisha Wahab is the main contender to take his place, opposed by the more moderate Melissa Hernandez, currently chair of the BART Board.

Yesterday Rocky Fernandez chaired an East Bay-wide…
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January 19, 2026 at 2:19 AM
Powerful to have 600 Oakland residents of all creeds and ethnicities turn out to Allen Temple Baptist Church to hear the mayor and four city council people answer to the illegal dumping crisis!

They could have been anywhere on a cold Jan. eve but they chose to hear Faith in Action East Bay’s…
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January 14, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Reposted by Sam Davis
Murders fell 27% last year, driven in part by the city’s Ceasefire program and community partnerships, Oakland officials say.
Oakland saw a historic drop in homicides in 2025. City leaders aren’t declaring victory yet
Murders fell 27% last year, driven in part by the city’s Ceasefire program and community partnerships, Oakland officials say.
oaklandside.org
January 7, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Wow, there are 18 districts across California that are at an impasse in negotiations with their teachers’ unions right now.

edsource.org/updates/scho...
UPDATE: List of school districts with stalled teacher contract negotiations grows in state
The latest education news updates from EdSource.
edsource.org
January 6, 2026 at 10:15 PM
OK here we go again:

Would school closures in Oakland save the district funding that could be concentrated at remaining school sites to provide more opportunities & support for students & families, and higher salaries for employees?

Read the full post here: samdavis510.substack.com/p/would-scho...
Would school closures help OUSD out of its financial problems?
Why I voted for them in 2022 after voting against them in 2021
samdavis510.substack.com
January 4, 2026 at 5:29 PM
It turns out Chuck Schumer WAS at Mamdani’s inauguration!
January 3, 2026 at 8:13 AM
Happy new year! Buoyed by watching the Mamdani inauguration. As the new comptroller Marc Levine said, today on City Hall’s steps three public officials were sworn in, one each using the Quran, Bible and Torah.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/n...
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The Full Transcript of Zohran Mamdani’s Inauguration Speech
www.nytimes.com
January 1, 2026 at 9:59 PM
$1,500 Fellowship Opportunity for Teachers

The Century Foundations National Newcomer Network is offering a fellowship program. The Elevating Voices of Educators of Newcomers (EVEN) Fellowship is a five-month program for K-12 educators who will push back on negative portrayals of immigrants.
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December 30, 2025 at 6:23 PM
At the Mayor’s holiday party, she was interviewed by W Kamau Bell. The Mayor has been everywhere this year, I swear every time I go to an event she’s there too, and she said in her remarks that she has gotten flak for that, like she’s out there partying.
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December 20, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Sam Davis
Epstein flight logs: "Donald Trump, Marla, Tiffany, nanny."
December 19, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Reposted by Sam Davis
I was so honored to speak with @josemedinajr89.bsky.social. His message is so powerful. "If a child says, parquear, instead of saying, No se dice asi (That's not how you say it!), I can say look what you did! You combined parking and estacionar! Shut up, linguistic prowess!" Listen:
PODCAST: How one bilingual educator’s childhood trauma fuels his fight for inclusion
In the bilingual education world, José Medina is a superstar. A former teacher turned principal turned researcher, he spreads his message of respecting students' languages on social media and in schoo...
edsource.org
December 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Reposted by Sam Davis
"Introducing 14-year-old Doe to Donald J. Trump, Epstein elbowed Trump playfully asking him, referring to Doe, "This is a good one, right?" Trump smiled and nodded in agreement. They both chuckled..."
December 20, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Congratulations Jennifer Caban, the administrator of the Children's Initiative Fund, on a very illuminating and well-organized meeting of the new Children's Initiative Commission!

The other new commissioners and I were drinking from the firehouse as…
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December 19, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Congrats to Barbara Lafitte-Oluwole honoree of Faith in Action East Bay’s holiday event!! She has done so much for this town, so grateful to see homicides to decline by about 50% over two years thanks in part to Oakland Ceasefire.
December 10, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Another year and what a year it's been! Please join me in making a donation to Noheli's family to help them this Xmas season.

www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-to...

Her three kids plus her granddaughter Celeste applied for green cards, but just got the heartwrenching news that all applications from…
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Donate to Help us to reunite Noheli with her children!, organized by Sam Davis
#FamiliesBelongTogether Thanks to our support, Noheli Sandoval-Laya finally… Sam Davis needs your support for Help us to reunite Noheli with her children!
www.gofundme.com
December 7, 2025 at 8:55 PM
With Sen Scott Wiener who is on a campaign for Congress, and Director Patrice Berry who is on a campaign to keep OUSD out of receivership, at OUSD parent and Assermbly Appropriations Chair Buffy Wicks’s warm and welcoming holiday party
December 7, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Congresswoman Lateefah Simon’s holiday party was a blast!!
December 6, 2025 at 4:43 AM
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond is running for Governor! With Dr Kimberly Mayfield (not running)
December 6, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Interesting panel organized by the Oakland Literacy Coalition next Tuesday Dec 9 at 3 pm on Making Literacy Data Matter - check it out! h/t Sanam Jorjani
December 2, 2025 at 7:52 PM
On KQED TV Friday, November 28 at 7:30 PM (repeated at 1:40 am), watch the documentary “Rooted in Oakland: A Community School Takes Shape” about the flourishing of Fremont High School!

I got to see it at the Linked Learning conference …
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November 26, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Well, I’ve had nothing to do with OUSD for a few months now, but over the past 24 h I’ve gotten a few messages saying that folks miss how I showed up to Board meetings.

Apparently there was a meeting last night and something passed but nobody knows what it said, even though it’s directing…
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November 20, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Thanks Mayor Lee for appointing a full slate (including me) to the Measure AA Children’s Initiative Commission.

While I had some quibbles with the measure when it was on the ballot, it’s an exciting opportunity to work with First Five to ensure the implementation serves our students.
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October 7, 2025 at 10:54 PM
I very much appreciate that Rachel Latta is continuing in my tradition of holding in depth community engagement on the OUSD budget, which few other directors are doing… even if I may not agree with her 100% on her votes in the spring for the alt budget.

Tues at 5:30, Santa Fe School, 915 54th St.
September 22, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Candidate forum video for Calif State Superintendent featuring all the Democratic candidates who were able to attend!

Moderated by Erin Aubry Kaplan and hosted by the Calif Dem Party Children’s Caucus last Sat 9/13.

youtube.com/watch?v=NyFL...
Statewide Forum with the 2026 Candidates for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction
YouTube video by CDP Children's Caucus
youtube.com
September 20, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Richard Barrera For State Superintendent and Tony Thurmond for Gov! At the SF Masonic Foundation, thanks Kelly Yun for the invite!
September 20, 2025 at 2:32 AM