STOP SCHOOL CLOSURES! STOP THE PRIVATIZATION OF OUR SCHOOLS! ABOLISH THE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE!
We reject the narrative that school closures and consolidations help children. Students and families at Roots and Kaiser School have been traumatized by school closure announcements. Students and families at Sankofa, SOL, and Frick have been thrown into uncertainty about the future. School closures and consolidations cause chaos in our community, and have been and continue to be targeted at schools where the vast majority of students are students of color.
We reject the narrative that OUSD has too many schools. OUSD does not have too many schools. OUSD has too many charter schools. To save our traditional neighborhood public schools, our district must end its cozy relationship with charter schools.
We reject the narrative that our school district is impoverished, considering that OUSD ended the previous school year with a $21 million surplus, and considering that OUSD receives significantly more money per student than the average California school district. In addition, in November 2020, the Schools and Communities First Act has a good chance of passing the ballot, which would result in a huge increase in school funding.
We reject the narrative that fewer schools will allow the district to provide more quality. Research shows that students receive the best individualized attention at smaller schools. OUSD has a proven track record of fiscal mismanagement when money is kept away from school sites and pooled at Central Administration. To put it simply, the more money going out to school sites and the less money going to OUSD Central Office, the better.
We reject the district narrative that closing and consolidating schools will stabilize the district. A brief look at the data tells us the story of school closures. After previous rounds of OUSD school closures, district enrollment declined. During spells of time when schools were not closed (2012-2018 for example), enrollment increased. School closures drain students away from traditional public schools and into private schools, charter schools, and surrounding districts. Closing and consolidating schools simply exacerbates a situation that already exists: an Oakland of two school systems, one for the haves and one for the have-nots.