Breaking the Cycle in Oakland: A Woke Grandparent’s Story

Connie Williams is a mother and grandmother of Oakland public school children, she also graduated from Oakland public schools. She is one of the lead parents in the Oakland REACH, a new parent driven organization advocating for quality education for ALL of Oakland’s families with a focus on equity. Making our Voices Heard We are the…


Woke Parents, the System’s Worst Nightmare

Mama Williams graduated from an Oakland public high school with A’s and B’s, but she couldn’t read.  This week she was organizing with nearly 100 other Oakland parents at DeFremery Park in West Oakland the goal was “breaking the cycle.”  You can see the video here. They were part of the first class of an…


What Black and Brown Parents Want, What they Get, and Why Charters

Our parents almost universally want more challenging schools, at the same time they rightly believe that education is unequal according to a recent study.  I say, rightly, because there is compelling evidence of a broad and wide belief gap about the capacity of kids of color, and in reality, our kids often do get the…