oakland

Open Charter School Seats (Week of 11/28)

Great School Voices will resume sharing the open charter schools of the week from Oakland Enrolls. We are officially in the holiday season! Despite this, there is still time to enroll your child in an amazing Oakland school. You know where to go – Oakland Enrolls to submit your application. Schools like AIMS College Prep High…

Tomorrow may be the Biggest Event of the Year.  JOIN US at the Oakland Candidate Forum.

One of the central tenets of this blog, and our organization overall, lies within our unwavering conviction that representative authenticity matters.  This may sound like a loaded term, but inherent within it are a few critical concepts: Representation isn’t token, and it certainly isn’t transactional.  Intentions matter.  A seat at the table is not enough. …

Announcing the 4th Annual Black Excellence Awards

Join us on Thursday, October 6th, at the Kapor Center to celebrate the 4th Annual Black Excellence Awards. We will be honoring Oakland’s Black Sheroes and Heroes in Education and celebrating the life and legacy of our beloved Dirk Tillotson. From 5-6 p.m., we will have a happy hour, allowing the community to mingle and network.…

SOBE Rants Season 4 Episode 2 is Out Now

The following post is from your host of SOBE Rants, MarQuis Evans, and is intended as an introductory companion piece for the next SOBE Rants podcast . Follow Quis on this journey by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify!

Throughout historical events on the timeline, people of African descent have worked together with allies in multiple movements to elevate our quality of life in America. When it comes to quality of education, I question if integration contributed towards the solution, or if it was the beginning chapter of new obstacles on our pathway to achieving educational liberation. In times of war, having solid allies on your team can play a contributing factor in receiving the ‘W’ or taking that ‘L’. In our case, it’s looking a little shaky in our battle to educate our scholars blessed with melanin superpowers.

What happens when your allies are not receptive to feedback given? What happens when the voices of Black excellence are not in the rooms where decisions for Black scholars are being made? What are the long term results when Black scholars are passed to the next grade level without demonstrating mastery of reading, while being provided a false sense of privilege and entitlement, with low expectations to succeed?

We vent it out by indulging in a quick S.O.B.E. style rant to crack open the door and welcome in an uncomfortable but needed conversation, then transition into the solution for the State Of Black Education.

We are also excited to present to you SOBE Rants S4E2. SOBE Rants was created by Dr. Charles Cole III and now hosted by Quis Evans! The podcast serves as a safe space to have those accountability conversations, while bridging the gap of understanding and providing clear action steps in our fight to elevate the educational experience for our blessed and melanated scholars, while maneuvering in an education system populated by uncultured and seasoning deficient individuals.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify with additional content here at Great School Voices for each episode. Excited to have this conversation with you.