Activism

Opinion: Why Fund Empty Prisons Instead of Full Schools?

Published

6 years ago

October 31, 2019

Zach Norris

Zach Norris was one of the protesters arrested at the Oakland Unified School District board meeting on Oct 23.

While attending an Oakland school board meeting on Oct. 23, I was placed in handcuffs. This is only the latest attempt by the school board to silence the protests of parents and teachers regarding highly controversial school closures.

Things have clearly escalated. But I am committed to continue to speak out to ensure that OUSD hears from parents about ways to free up resources for all of our schools and keep public education in public control.

Thanks to chronic budget shortfalls, OUSD has closed 18 schools in the past 15 years — 16 of which served predominantly Black students. The students impacted by these school closures are the same ones at disproportionate risk of ending up in the juvenile justice system.

As the district closes school sites, state law mandates that charter schools have the first chance to use that site for a charter as opposed to, for example, leaving the site vacant or selling the property. So, when OUSD votes to shut down schools, it effectively votes to permit the further privatization of public education in Oakland at the expense of Black students.

Today, 30 percent of Oakland students are in charter schools, compared to 10 percent in neighboring districts like Berkeley and Hayward. As OUSD plans to close more schools, it pits parents from charters, small schools, and larger schools against each other as everyone tries to assure their children get a decent education at a school where classrooms have supplies and the teachers know their names.

Why should parents who want the same things for their kids be at odds? The answer to this question lies in California’s tax code and how our state budget is allocated.

From 1980 to 2000 after voters passed Proposition 13, California built 23 new prisons and just one new university, —prioritizing locking young people up rather than lifting them up.

Alameda County is now replicating this statewide failure with plans to spend $75 million to build a new probation camp for young people. The existing facility, Camp Sweeney, is virtually empty, holding only 15 young people. The new camp would house between 90 and 120 children.

By building a new probation camp while doing nothing to prevent the closure of Oakland schools, Alameda County officials are sending a clear message about how they value education in Oakland and how they value our children. Ultimately, they are setting children up for prison.

No matter how you feel about the current school closures, we can all agree that all students deserve equitable, adequately-resourced and expertly-staffed schools.

OUSD should put a moratorium on school closures and Alameda County should shelve its plans for prison expansion while we work together to get more resources for all of our schools.

One way to do this is by supporting the California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act, which will be on the state ballot in November 2020.

Certain OUSD decision makers may not value our children’s education, but my fellow parents and I do. We can come together to fight this prison expansion, and demand those resources be spent where they are needed: on educating our young people.

Zachary Norris is the executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a native Oaklander, father, activist and organizer. He is the author of the upcoming “We Keep Us Safe,” a book that aims to replace the “us versus them” approach to criminal justice with a community driven, comprehensive way to reduce harm and increase safety for all.

Zach Norris

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Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

6 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.