May 29, Support Tranferred and Laid Off Teachers

A lesson from Castlemont
From Jonah Zern, Member, Oakland Education Association

I encourage community members, students, parents and teachers to come join the
Oakland Education Association on Wednesday, May 29th at 5:30PM at 1025 2nd
Avenue in support of the laid off and transferred teachers...

I have spent my last week walking the halls and the outside passageways of
Castlemont High School, attending meetings, sitting down with teachers and
students, and most of all listening. I have learned much in a week from wise
ones who have withstood fire and rain, strikes, violence and poverty, and racially insensitive administration, and I am much inspired. I see in their faces, in
their spirtuality, in their hope, in their history of struggle, such beauty and
determination, such strength and passion, that I am almost sure that no matter
what happens to the nine teachers and one counselor here who have been either
transferred or laid off that this school will continue to flourish.

Castlemont High School currently receives the worst test scores of any high
school in the nation, and only graduates 1 in 4 incoming freshmen. So in a
society that seems to always choose to blame, rather than empower or support
the victims of its neglect Castlemont teachers, students and parents are often
and always blamed for these figures, as if it is their shortcoming. The
simple fact is, those who blame them are wrong, and are lost. For anyone who
has walked the hallways of this school, who has entered into its classrooms as
a student, a parent, or a teacher knows the passion that people give to this
school, the brilliance of its teachers, the creativity of its staff and the
cultural diversity and creativity of its students. Castlemont exists in one of
the lowest income neighborhoods in Oakland, where English is often a second language,
and often not spoke at home, where violence floods its streets, and poverty,
dispair, and broken families often its homes. In this community Castlemont
provides a beacon of hope, an opportunity to succeed, a safe place, where often
students can find respect and love. It is through the passion, the dedication,
and the powerful commitment of the staff, students, and teachers here that
without nearly the resources a school needs to survive, that this school
continues to flourish, continues to offer hope to an oppressed community.

It is only with love, compassion, and caring that a school like this could be
successfully helped by a District, or an administrator. Lacking this many have
tried and left – four principals in the last four years. I can see the
potential for success in Ms. Linda, the current principal. She truly cares and leave space
to listen. It is my impression, though I have not talked with her, that she
was pressured into the transfers and layoffs that she committed. It is my hope
in seeing her ability to listen and care for her staff that she will reverse
her decision and learn to listen more carefully, act more slowly, and follow
the leadership of the wise ones that roam these hallways, not take it upon
herself to force the way.

Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned at Castlemont is that I am
only one person, and that my ideas will never be stronger, more just, more
right, than the collective voices of a community. I hope that through our
struggle to re-instate our teachers that others will learn this lesson as well.