By Director Jumoke Hinton-Hodge
Oakland’s reality is that families are struggling to meet their basic needs and now carry the additional burden of trying to guide their children’s education. Oakland parents are ready to work on behalf of their children, but now the district must authentically understand what it means to address equity and create the conditions for meaningful engagement.
Without a doubt, we are all making meaningful adjustments in our life as a result of COVID19. We are being challenged and growing personally, as well in our relationships with our families, colleagues and friends.
This is a seismic shift for a school district. Many things have begun to surface, allowing us to reflect on our educational system. Are we looking at a redefinition of 21st century education, in this second decade of the 2000s? The dependence on the public school system has changed for everyone, probably forever.
One of the many issues brought to the forefront during all of this is the reality of the digital divide. The large numbers of students without devices and homes not linked to the internet is painfully apparent. According to Tech Exchange, 94,000 Oakland residents (about 1 in 5) are disconnected. That’s approximately 17,000 Oakland students who are unable to access online learning opportunities while schools are closed. During the coming weeks, OUSD will be surveying families around access and their technology needs.
Schools across Oakland had to turn immediately to “distance learning,” a combination of activities that includes not just being online but assignments that are managed at a distance between instructor and students. But the emphasis is on being linked to the internet. So the reality of who has access became immediately painfully evident.
There has clearly been a distinction between those with just enough privilege to manage this situation, and those who can’t. Some folks were able to rearrange their homes, create learning centers and furnish supplies for their children on the turn a dime. Remember, y’all, this has only been two weeks.
The amount of energy from every parent and family member for their child has been remarkable. It has been refreshing and amusing to hear stories from my colleagues and family that have been launched into the world of homeschooling, and were actually able to fully show up. There were also scary realizations about new math, the intensity of even a 2nd grade curriculum.
Without negating the struggle or major adjustment that ALL parents and students are making, we have to center the children and families who are not lucky enough to make this adjustment so smoothly.
Almost every parent I know has asked about classwork and how to access the information. There was an immediate demand for the district to redesign itself to accommodate distance learning instruction. There are some truly heroic teachers and principals doing the work to develop educational plans for their school. For the District to successfully make this shift for all students, we need to better understand the needs of our students and families. We need to acknowledge that families’ access to devices and internet service is critical in delivering a sound educational experience in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.
While all parents are concerned about their child’s academics and educators’ engagement plans for learning, some parents couldn’t just address that right away. There were more detrimental issues that needed to be addressed first.
Many Oakland families, who are part-timers and hourly workers, were thinking first about the threat of having hours cut or losing their jobs. There are the basics, like rent and utilities, but there are also so many other costs families manage, and the fear of getting behind only brings more anxiety. Like, how are we all keeping our phones on and paying that cable and internet bill?
Oakland’s reality is that families are struggling to meet their basic needs and now carry the additional burden of trying to guide their children’s education. Oakland parents are ready to work on behalf of their children, but now the district must authentically understand what it means to address equity and create the conditions for meaningful engagement.
For so many of us in Oakland, being underemployed or part of the working poor takes so much mental stamina—and sometimes physical stamina—to address real economic issues first. And only after that comes finding the space and capacity to address your health and the educational process for your child.
I want all families to be able to lift up their head from the grind and experience the full range of resources from across our district that are now available. Oakland educators at every school have created the Continuity of Education Plan. One thing that has happened as a result of COVID-19 is that all students have distance and online learning, and that actually is providing greater access for all students right now.
This means every family has access to every school—from the Flatlands, the Hills, from higher-performing and lower-performing schools. Many families have been locked out of accessing some of these high-quality schools, but now the coursework for each grade is available for everyone to utilize.
Shout-out to teachers and administrators who were able to make this information available while continuing to support their students online.
We are fortunate to have strong parent activists in Oakland. The Oakland REACH COVID-19 Relief Fund is one example, parents who are focused on the complete well-being of families. There is the power of our nonprofit sector to support families getting access to food and other resources. We have a very real reality of unsheltered students who we need to think about differently now. We must continue to ensure there is access to healthy and quality food. There are opportunities the City of Oakland is facilitating through their Department of Resilience, the Oakland COVID 19 Relief Fund.
There is struggle but this has opened a door for us to build a better pipeline to continuing education, differentiating learning for our students with special needs, and truly stepping up to a new level of responsibility for the education of our children.
Stay Healthy! Stay Engaged! We can continue to address educational disparities, and be vigilant even as we think holistically about our community and our needs accessing food, health care, health and adequate housing.