This is a sampling of The Education Report, Katy Murphy's Oakland schools blog. Read more at www.IBAbuzz.com/education. Follow her at Twitter.com/KatyMurphy.

Feb. 16

Discussions are under way for radically changing how things work for Oakland school district employees and the students they serve.

Like a good newspaper lede, the opening line of the human resources paper makes you want to keep on reading -- despite the fact that it's an HR document.

"Current OUSD Human Resource practices are failing children," it begins.

The ideas put forth in the document, which is embedded on the blog, are comprehensive and wide-ranging. They include strengthening relationships with local teacher colleges, creating "career ladders" for teachers, updating antiquated job classifications, and lobbying state lawmakers to make changes in the law with respect to labor rules.

One bullet point suggests that the district "assertively pursue separation for those whose service undermines the