Community

Kaplan, Bas, Thao, and Fife Release Plan to Save Head Start Child Care Centers

Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, President Pro Tempore Sheng Thao, and Council Member Carroll Fife, in coordination with extensive community support, are working to demand an equitable reopening of Head Start child care centers in Oakland’s most underserved communities at the September 1, 2021, Special City Council Meeting.

Published

3 years ago

August 29, 2021

Christy Price

Oakland Head Start LOGO/City of Oakland

Oakland, CA – Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, President Pro Tempore Sheng Thao, and Council Member Carroll Fife, in coordination with extensive community support, are working to demand an equitable reopening of Head Start child care centers in Oakland’s most underserved communities at the September 1, 2021, Special City Council Meeting. Oakland community members put out an urgent statement demanding the protection of vitally needed services provided by the Head Start Centers. The Council members have released an action plan to stop the planned closures of the Head Start programs, which if allowed to close, will disproportionately impact our hardest-hit communities.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, working mothers have been the most impacted by cuts to the workforce resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The closures of schools and childcare centers created a scarcity in childcare providers causing childcare costs to reach an all-time high in 2020. As California is reopening, mothers are finding it harder to rejoin the workforce due to the lack of affordable childcare. This group of Oakland leadership are deeply concerned with the lack of equity in the City Administration’s plan to close childcare centers, as it is inequitable, and plans to close the Arroyo Viejo, Franklin, and Tassafaronga centers, all located in Oakland’s most underserved communities. The planned closures disproportionately aim cuts at Black people, and worsen suffering in Oakland’s hardest-hit communities, low-income families, and people of color. The planned cuts also involve inequitable layoffs of the workers and undermine our community’s economic recovery at a precarious time.

The Council members have submitted their proposal, to amend the budget to save the Head Start centers, with urgency for the Special Council meeting of September 1, 2021. The loss of these Head Start centers is causing an urgent crisis in service, violates our equity principles and has prioritized in this struggling economy, as struggling workers can’t go to jobs if their childcare is taken away and children lose the stability of early learning centers. If the City Council does not take action, these Head Start Centers would close in September 2021.

Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan states, “We must prioritize equity in our City’s COVID-19 recovery plan and allowing our most impacted communities to have vitally needed services is a high priority. Head Start is an important program which helps children, with lifelong positive impacts on their future, and ensures access to economic recovery for struggling working parents. The Administration’s plan to close these needed centers and layoff these essential workers, while hiding the information from the Council and the public for months, is inappropriate. We need to provide equity and transparency and protect vital services for our communities. I am calling on everyone involved to help pass this plan to save Head Start, to support providing these services for all of Oakland’s communities.”

“Our most vulnerable children and families in Oakland must be supported. The Franklin Head Start Center serves a diverse community in District 2, from the Chinatown to Eastlake to San Antonio neighborhoods, and I am fighting to protect the services for these families and the jobs for the workers caring for our children.” Nikki Fortunato Bas, Council President and District 2 Representative.

“Robust investment in Head Start is investment in our future; it is long-term public safety planning; it is the right thing to do. Our local government cannot allow Head Start to fail. To do so would be to continue the practice of State-sanctioned discrimination that creates new racialized disparities and perpetuates existing ones. It is our responsibility to intervene to ensure that every single frontline worker caring for families and young people in our Head Start centers be able to keep their jobs. I am disheartened to find out that this urgent matter has been brewing for months and has only now come to the attention of the city’s elected leaders as a crisis to fix. As a working-class Black woman, like many of our Head Start providers, I have lived experience in needing access to affordable childcare. And as an elected official, I am committed to doing what it takes to keep our centers open, funded and accessible to the families who need them most.” Carroll Fife, Council Member District 3.

The Oakland Post’s coverage of local news in Alameda County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support community newspapers across California.

Christy Price

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Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

Published

23 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Oakland Post

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City of Oakland Celebrates Reopening of Main Library

“Libraries are such critical facilities for all Oaklanders, whether it’s children coming to story-time, adults reading the newspapers or borrowing the latest novels, and people engaging with a range of services and programs that the library hosts,” said Council President and District 2 Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas. “Such library services and programs are only possible when the facility’s electricity, heating, roof, and lighting are fixed and running efficiently. I’m proud to join this re-opening of our Main Public Library.”

Published

3 days ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Left to Right- Jamie Turbak, Director of Library Services, LaTonda Simmons, Assistant City Administrator, Nikki Bas, President Oakland City Council, Shen Thao, Mayor of Oakland, Carroll Fife, Oakland City Councilmember District 3, Harold Duffey, Assistant City Administrator, Sean Maher, Projects Coordinator. Photo by Kevin Hicks.

The branch had been closed since May for critical infrastructure upgrades

Special to the Post

The City of Oakland leadership and community partners gathered to celebrate the reopening of the Main Library after completion of critical infrastructure upgrades to enhance the library’s facilities and provide a better experience for patrons.

Renovations include new roof installation, skylight repair, critical electrical system upgrades, new boiler control system installation, auditorium heating and cooling system installation, and improvements to lighting, flooring and ceilings throughout the building.

“This is truly something to celebrate, the reopening of our wonderful Main Library! I congratulate the staff and our partners for this important project to make the Main Library a more comfortable place for everyone for years to come, said Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. “Thank you to Oakland voters and the California State Library for making these crucial improvements possible.”

“Public libraries are a wonderful resource for our residents, offering a safe space for learning and being,” said District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife. “It is critical to improve and modernize our libraries so more members of our community can utilize and enjoy them. I’m excited that the necessary renovations to the Main Library have been completed successfully and thank everyone involved, particularly the City team, who helped secured the necessary grant funds for this work.”

“I am proud of the City staff and project partners who kept this important project on schedule and under budget,” said Assistant City Administrator G. Harold Duffey. “The library is an incredibly important resource for our community members, and this project is an investment into the library’s future.”

“December 2nd was a momentous occasion for Oakland Public Library as we proudly reopened the doors of the Main Library following extensive infrastructure repairs,” said Director of Library Services Jamie Turbak. “Closing the Main Library for six months was no easy decision, as it serves as the central hub for our library system and is truly the heart of Oakland. Yet, this renovation was essential, representing more than just physical upgrades—it reflects our ongoing commitment to creating a safe, welcoming space for everyone.”

The City Administrator Jestin Johnson also attended the press conference and signalled his support for the completion of the record-setting completion of the renovations. Gay Plair Cobb, a newly appointed Library Commissioner said the Library represents the soul and brains of our community.

The Oakland Public Library secured funding for these crititcal repairs through a variety of sources. The California State Library’s Building Forward Library Facilities Improvement Program awarded the Main Branch $4.2 million. To comply with the grant terms, the City of Oakland provided matching funds through Measures KK, as approved by the Oakland City Council in October 2023.

The Main Library will host an Open House to celebrate the reopening on February 22, 2025, 10 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

About the Oakland Public Library

The Oakland Public Library is a part of the City of Oakland in California and has been in existence since 1878. Locations include 16 neighborhood branches, a Main Library, a Second Start Adult Literacy Program, the Oakland Tool Lending Library, and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO). The Oakland Public Library empowers all people to explore, connect, and grow. Oaklandlibrary.org

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Biden’s Legacy Secured with Record-Setting Black Judicial Appointments

His record surpasses previous efforts by his predecessors. President Jimmy Carter appointed 37 Black judges, including seven Black women. In stark contrast, Donald Trump’s first term resulted in only two Black women appointed out of 234 lifetime judicial nominations. The White House said Biden’s efforts show a broader commitment to racial equity and justice.

Published

3 days ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

iStockphoto.

By Stacy M. Brown
WI Senior Writer

President Joe Biden’s commitment to diversifying the federal judiciary has culminated in a historic achievement: appointing 40 Black women to lifetime judgeships, the most of any president in U.S. history.

Biden has appointed 62 Black judges, cementing his presidency as one focused on promoting equity and representation on the federal bench.

The White House said Biden’s efforts show a broader commitment to racial equity and justice.

Meanwhile, Trump has vowed to dismantle key civil rights protections, including the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

“Having the Black woman’s experience on the federal bench is extremely important because there is a different kind of voice that can come from the Black female from the bench,” Delores Jones-Brown, professor emeritus at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told reporters.

Lena Zwarensteyn of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights told reporters that these district court judges are often the first and sometimes the final arbiters in cases affecting healthcare access, education equity, fair hiring practices, and voting rights.

“Those decisions are often the very final decisions because very few cases actually get heard by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Zwarensteyn explained.

Biden’s nomination of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court further reflects his commitment to judicial diversity. Jackson became the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.

Patrick McNeil, spokesperson for the Leadership Conference, pointed out that over half of Biden’s Black female judicial appointees have backgrounds as civil rights attorneys and public defenders, experience advocates consider essential for a balanced judiciary.

Meanwhile, Congress remains divided over the expansion of federal judgeships. Legislation to add 66 new judgeships—approved unanimously by the Senate in August—stalled in the GOP-controlled House until after the election. House Republicans proposed distributing the new judgeships over the next decade, giving three administrations a say in appointments. President Biden, however, signaled he would veto the bill if it reached his desk.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., argued the delay was a strategic move to benefit Trump’s potential return to office. “Donald Trump has made clear that he intends to expand the power of the presidency and giving him 25 new judges to appoint gives him one more tool at his disposal,” Nadler said.