Mobilize for Oakland Schools

The Bay Area Needs to Mobilize for Oakland Public Schools

3 Important Coming Events:
1. School Board Meeting to Determine School Closures and Potential Privatization/Charterizaion of 13 More Schools: Wednesday, January 12, 4-8PM, Oakland High School, 1023 Macarthur Blvd.
2. Martin Luther King Day Rally and March: beginning at Noon, Monday, January 17th at Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway in Downtown Oakland
3. Community Meeting at the Oakland Education Association office, 272 East 12th Street (at 3rd Ave) , 5-8PM, Wednesday, January 19th (Dinner will be served!!)

Why Mobilize for Oakland Public Schools

A large number of Oakland schools are currently being threatened with closure or transformation to “charters” with limited union rights. The reason that Randy Ward, the Oakland State Administrator gives for these actions are a “culture of failure” at these schools, blaming teachers, staff, and even students themselves for the problems that exist at these schools. I would argue that this “culture of failure” exists at the statewide and federal level in California’s and the United States’ failure in providing low-income students of color an adequate education.

Why not to Trust a California State Appointed Administrator to Fix Our Schools

California is the most wealthy state in the most wealthy nation in the world. However, California schools, since the passage of Proposition 13, rank amongst the lowest in both spending and achievement in education. On contrast California locks up more people and spends more money per capita on prisons than any other state. The State of California recently settled the Williams Lawsuit on behalf of one million students in the state of California, including the Oakland Public Schools, stating that California is not providing its students with an adequate education. If the State of California really wanted to provide all of it students with a quality education it could do so. It has the resources necessary and it has the expertise. Therefore, we must be wary when the State of California takes over our poorest school districts one after another with the promise of making them better.

What is the Real Agenda of Randy Ward and the State Occupation of Oakland Schools?

It is not exactly clear what the agenda of the State is. However, history of Randy Ward and State Occupations around the country show repeated efforts to privatize and further de-fund public school districts. So many teachers left Compton and the District was so destabilized under Randy Ward’s occupation that an entire high school was de-certified by the state. Randy Ward was trained by the Broad Foundation, which teaches administrators tactics in undermining teachers union as a means to run school districts in a more economically efficient manner. The Broad Foundation has an agenda of privatization and charters that is not deeply hidden beneath rhetoric of reform and phrases such as “culture of failure”.

What Does Real Education Reform Look Like?

First, we need to define what are the basic things that are needed for a school to be effective. Until these basic needs are met, all other efforts will not be effective:
1. Adequate Resources: Part of the Williams suit and settlement stated that students in low income schools in California do not have the resources they need to learn.
2. Adequate Facilities: School facilities need to that show students that they are respected and their learning experience is important. They need to be places that students look forward to attending. Schools in Oakland are far from this. One example is there are schools in Oakland where children need to go home to use the bathroom because conditions are so abhorrent.
3. Quality teachers in small classrooms: Stable, long-term, credentialed teachers with experience teaching are essential to effective schooling. Randy Ward’s reforms without vision and inability to work effectively with Oakland staff, salary cuts, and District imposed scripted reading and math programs are causing an exodus of experienced, qualified teachers in Oakland. Also, teacher to student ratio in California is the worst in the country (as well as students, who left last year at twice the anticipated rate). Studies have shown that for teachers to truly be effective in dealing with students’ individual needs that a 1 to 15 ratio is necessary. Randy Ward is currently attempting to impose further cuts to teachers health care and rights that will lead to further experienced and qualified teachers to leave Oakland.
4. Culturally Relevant Curriculum and Instruction: This is the only and perhaps most essential building block to effective schools that was not addressed by the Williams Lawsuit. Many students feel alienated by curriculum and culture of learning that focuses on white people and European history. In the United States 35% of students are students of color, while less than 10% of teachers are teachers of color. Until this gap in curriculum and personnel is bridged students will continue to feel alienated by the learning process and the curriculum presented to them.

These are the base needs that need to be met for our students to learn. On a more local level the Oakland Education Association has laid out a powerful vision for restructuring the 13 targeted schools. A vision that would truly move these schools towards more functioning education facilities. Please see the attached vision.

How Can We Take Action

1. Please participate in the events listed above.
2. Currently, under the Williams lawsuit settlement posters are supposed to be placed in all Oakland schools with a phone number for students, parents and teacher to lodge complaints about lack of resources, quality of facilities, or lack of long-term credentialed teachers in their classrooms. Please make sure that these are present in your school and that complaints are being lodged. If one is not present in your school, please contact Alameda County Superintendent Sheila Jordan at (510) 670.4140 or sheilaj [at] acoe.k12.ca.us and let her know. She is the one responsible for implementing this part of the settlement. Once a complaint is lodged a change is supposed to be made within 45 days.
3. . Please ask that your School Board Member support the following two demands that will be presented at Wednesday’s School Board meeting. We want the School Board members of Oakland to take a stand!!
1. No School Closures Without Due Process
2. Select Option 5: The No Child Left Behind Act gives five options for “underperforming schools” who have not made their necessary Adequate Yearly Progress goals. These goals are based entirely on high stakes testing scores and are seen by many in the education community as providing punitive measures for low-income schools, without providing any resources these schools need to succeed.
1. Reopening Schools
2. Replacing all or most of the school staff, which may include the principal, who are relevant to the school’s poor performance
3. Contracting with an outside entity to manage the school
4. Arranging for the state to take over the school
5. Any other major restructuring that addresses the school’s problem
Option 5 would be addressed by the attached plan which has been created in coordination between teachers and parents at effected schools.

4. Please contact your City Council Member and ask that they schedule a public hearing on the crisis. Councilwoman Nancy Nadel has expressed interest in doing this. We need to take the power of our schools back into the Oakland community’s hands. This is one way to do so.
President of the Council
Ignacio De La Fuente
Councilmember District 5
(510) 238-7005
(510) 238-6910 FAX
Email: idelafuente [at] oaklandnet.com
Councilmember Jane Brunner
City Council District 1 - North Oakland
Phone: (510) 238-7001
Fax: (510) 238-6910
Email: jbrunner [at] oaklandnet.com
Councilmember Danny Wan
District 2
Phone: (510) 238-7002
FAX: (510) 238-6910
E-mail: dwan [at] oaklandnet.com
Councilmember Nancy J. Nadel
District 3
Phone: (510) 238-7303
FAX: (510) 238-6129
E-mail: nnadel [at] oaklandnet.com
Councilmember Jean Quan
District 4
Telephone: 510/238-7004
Fax: 510/238-6129
TDD: 510/839-6451
Email: jquan [at] oaklandnet.com
Councilmember Larry Reid
7th District
(510) 238-7007
(510) 238-6910 FAX
E-mail: lreid [at] oaklandnet.com
Council Member Desley A. Brooks
District 6
(510) 238-7006
(510) 238-6910 (facsimile)
dbrooks [at] oaklandnet.com
Council Member Henry Chang – At Large
(510) 238-7008
cityochang [at] aol.com