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Protests Save 7 Oakland Schools; Board Moves Ahead to Close or Merge 11 Others

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said the state needs to take responsibility. “Many years ago, the State of California took over control of the Oakland public schools, which they claimed was for the purpose of fixing the finances,” she said. “Sadly, the state officials controlling OUSD ran up debt, leaving the schools worse off financially. Now that California has a record-breaking budget surplus, it is all the more unjust that our youth and families should be made to suffer by cutting their schools to pay off debt that was run up by State officials.”

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Protests to save neighborhood schools have taken place (from top left, clockwise): Parker Elementary, Prescott Elementary, teacher and community march in downtown Oakland and Brookfield Elementary. Photos from Facebook posts.
Protests to save neighborhood schools have taken place (from top left, clockwise): Parker Elementary, Prescott Elementary, teacher and community march in downtown Oakland and Brookfield Elementary. Photos from Facebook posts.

Oakland City Council members call for action by state leaders

By Ken Epstein

The Oakland Board of Education has backed off on closing some schools and pushed the bulk of school closings to the end of next school year in a seeming attempt to blunt the mounting protests of school closures.

Over the last week, those protests have mushroomed into school walkouts and strikes at affected schools, a hunger strike at Westlake Middle, opposition from City Council members and growing angry demands for action by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials.

Passed by a 4-2 board vote Tuesday night, the final amended list of school closures and mergers includes two schools that will close this year: Parker Elementary School in East Oakland and Community Day School, which serves students who have some of the greatest educational needs. The students will be transferred to a county program 18 miles away in Hayward.

In addition to the complete closures, La Escuelita will lose its grades 6,7 and 8, and New Highland Academy will be merged with Rise Community.

Five schools will be close at the end of 2023: Korematsu Discovery Academy and Horace Mann Elementary, as well as three schools that were postponed from this year – Brookfield Elementary, Grass Valley Elementary and Carl Munck Elementary.

Hillcrest Elementary will lose grades 6, 7 and 8 at the end of next year.

Board members opposing the decision were VanCedric Williams and Mike Hutchinson. Voting in favor of the motion were Gary Yee, Shanthi Gonzales, Aimee Eng and Sam Davis. Clifford Thompson abstained.

Some of the seven schools removed from the original school closure list of schools had strong public demonstrations of school and community support. At present, the district no longer plans to close Prescott Elementary School in West Oakland.

The district also dropped plans to move and merge Westlake Middle School with West Oakland Middle School. Ralph Bunche Academy and Dewey Academy will no longer be moved to the Westlake campus.

In addition, Manzanita Community School will no longer be merged with Fruitvale Elementary School.

The Oakland Post requested a statement on the closings from OUSD but by press time had not received one.

Under state control since 2003, Oakland communities continually fought against school closings and consolidations, though nothing as massive as the current level of protests.

With the state-funded Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT) always threatening in the background, the district has already closed about 20 schools in 19 years and is under pressure to close, sell and lease as many as 40 more.

Backing the closures, Mayor Libby Schools, who is closely aligned with charter school privatizers and real estate developers, said in a KQED television interview on February 4 that the district could stand to close as many as half of the city’s public schools, adding, “This is an opportunity to do better for our students, for our educators, our families.”

Among the protests taking place at schools in the past two weeks were a mass rally and march downtown of teachers and community groups, a parent strike at La Escuelita, a protest at Brookfield, a hunger strike and student walkouts at Westlake Middle, a mass rally against school closings at Prescott, a strike at Grass Valley and a strike and a town hall meeting at Parker.

The teachers’ union is considering a rolling strike, meaning that schools would take turns striking for a week at a time. On Monday, a union meeting overwhelmingly endorsed a strike motion.

Said Keith Brown, president of the teacher’s union, in a media statement:

“Students, families, educators, community members, the Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Education all opposed (the board’s action). Teachers, parents, labor, and the community are united to stop the implementation of school closures.”

City Council members have been speaking out against the closures.

District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife, who helped organize community support for Prescott School, urged the community to turn pain and grief into action.

“My heart breaks for the families, teachers and communities who will be immediately impacted, but for those who’ve put their bodies on the line and who’ve been organizing for the reality we want to see, this is fuel for the movement. This is our call to action,” she said.

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said the state needs to take responsibility.

“Many years ago, the State of California took over control of the Oakland public schools, which they claimed was for the purpose of fixing the finances,” she said. “Sadly, the state officials controlling OUSD ran up debt, leaving the schools worse off financially. Now that California has a record-breaking budget surplus, it is all the more unjust that our youth and families should be made to suffer by cutting their schools to pay off debt that was run up by State officials.”

Councilmember Sheng Thao said she was working with state leaders to find more money for Oakland schools. “Our families deserve a process that is transparent and equitable and that didn’t happen here. It’s not fair. It’s not just. And it should not stand,” she said,

Said Councilmember Nikki ‘Fortunato Bas, “Budgetary challenges should be addressed by our unprecedented state surplus and support our students’ stability — during one of the already most destabilizing periods in their lives.”

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025

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U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Lateefah Simon to Speak at Elihu Harris Lecture Series

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

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U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (left) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) (Right).
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (left) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) (Right).

By Scott Horton

United States House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8) will be a speaker at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Friday, Feb. 21.

The event will be held at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 Tenth Street in Oakland, at 7 p.m.

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

The overarching goal of the lecture series is to provide speakers from diverse backgrounds a platform to offer their answers to Dr. King’s urgent question, which is also the title of Jeffries’ latest book: “Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?”

In addition to Jeffries, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) will also speak.

“Certainly, now is a time for humanity, in general, and Americans in particular to honestly and genuinely answer Dr. King’s question,” said Dr. Roy D. Wilson, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Executive Producer of the lecture series.

“Dr. King teaches that time is neutral but not static. Like the water in a river, it arrives and then quickly moves on,” continued Wilson. “We must urgently create conditions for listening to many different answers to this vital question, and generate the development of unity of action among all those who struggle for a stronger democracy.”

In his book, Jeffries shares his experience of being unanimously elected by his colleagues as the first African American in history to ever hold the position of House Minority Leader.

In January 2023 in Washington, Jeffries made his first official speech as House Minority Leader. He affirmed Democratic values one letter of the alphabet at a time. His words and how he framed them as the alphabet caught the attention of Americans, and the speech was later turned into a book, The ABCs of Democracy, bringing Congressman Jeffries rousing speech to vivid, colorful life, including illustrations by Shaniya Carrington. The speech and book are inspiring and urgent as a timeless reminder of what it means to be a country with equal opportunities for all. Jeffries paints a road map for a brighter American future and warns of the perils of taking a different path.

Before his colleagues unanimously elected him Minority Leader in 2022, Jeffries previously served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as an Impeachment Manager during the first Senate trial of the 45th President of the United States.

Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in Crown Heights, grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church and he is a product of New York City’s public school system, graduating from Midwood High School. Jefferies went on to Binghamton University (BA), Georgetown University (master’s in public policy) and New York University (JD).

He served in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012.

Admission is free for the Feb. 21 Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series featuring Congressman Jeffries. Please reserve seats by calling the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center at (510) 434-3988.

Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase at the event.

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Actor, Philanthropist Blair Underwood Visits Bay Area, Kicks Off Literacy Program in ‘New Oakland’ Initiative

These community activations were coordinated with the San Francisco-based non-profit program “Room to Read.” Ray said he is also donating his time to read and take pictures with students to encourage their engagement and to inspire them to read more. The inspirational book “Clifford Ray Saves the Day” highlights Clifford Ray’s true story of saving a dolphin.

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Blair Underwood (left) and Barbara Lee (right). Courtesy photo.
Blair Underwood (left) and Barbara Lee (right). Courtesy photo.

By Paul Cobb
New Oakland Series
Opinion Part 3

The Post mentioned three weeks ago that a number of our local luminaries were coming together to support the “New Oakland” movement. As this current national administration continues to eliminate our “legacy” institutional policies and programs left and right, most communities find themselves beyond “frozen” in fear.

Well, esteemed actor, long-time Bay Area supporter, and philanthropist Blair Underwood returned to Oakland this week to speak with city leaders, community trust agents, students, the Oakland Post, and local celebrities alike to continue his “New Oakland” initiative.

This week, he kicked off his “Guess Who’s Coming to Read” literacy program in some of Oakland’s middle schools. Clifford Ray, who played the center position of the 1975 World Champion Golden State Warriors, donated close to 1,000 books. Ray’s fellow teammate Charles “The Hopper” Dudley also gave Converse sneakers to students.

These community activations were coordinated with the San Francisco-based non-profit program “Room to Read.” Ray said he is also donating his time to read and take pictures with students to encourage their engagement and to inspire them to read more. The inspirational book “Clifford Ray Saves the Day” highlights Clifford Ray’s true story of saving a dolphin.

Underwood also spent quality time with the Oakland Ballers ownership group and visited the amazing Raimondi Park West Oakland community revitalization site. In the 1996 TV film Soul of the Game, Underwood played the role of the legendary first Black Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson and commended the Ballers owners.

“This group of sports enthusiasts/ philanthropists needs to be applauded for their human capital investment and their financial capital investment,” Underwood said. “Truly putting their money and passion to work,” Underwood said.

Underwood was also inspired by mayoral candidate Barbara Lee’s open-minded invitation to bring public-private partnership opportunities to Oakland.

Underwood said he wants to “reinforce the importance of ‘collaborative activism’ among those most marginalized by non-empathic leadership. We must ‘act out’ our discomfort with passionate intentions to create healthy change.”

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