In the era of virtual schooling an internet connection is essential. Unfortunately, 12 million families don’t have access to reliable internet. These historically underserved students are threatened with falling even further behind, expanding exponentially our existing opportunity gaps. This is a relatively simple problem to solve and we need your help. Former education secretary Arne…
State of Black Education
How OUSD Hijacked, Neutered, and Destroyed the Opportunity Ticket and Betrayed Oakland Families, Pt. 1
I helped write, partnered in the passage, and sat on the working group that developed the final Opportunity Ticket (OT) language. Now I am against the watered-down piece of trash that OUSD will present. It is a betrayal of the hundreds of families that fought for the policy, the non-profits that wrote it, and the…
We Did It, Comcast Closed it’s Hole in “Free Internet” Access, Every Other Company Needs to as Well
Students need to be online to access school. There can be no barriers to access during this crisis. There can be no poll taxes on the information superhighway. When families complained that they couldn’t actually get the free internet promised by Comcast, you responded. We got thousands of signatures. And Comcast listened. They changed their…
Digital Apartheid in the Age of COVID, Making the Right to Online Access for ALL Students a Reality
During segregation at least we had dilapidated schools, and the backs of buses to sit in. For today’s digital second-class citizens, those families without access to the internet, they can’t even get into the digital schoolhouse door. The digital divide for the unconnected is a cliff in the age of remote schooling. Either you are…
Opening Doors to HBCUs, How AIMS and the NAACP got $5 million in Scholarships for Oakland Kids
$5 million in scholarships. On the spot. 144 instant college acceptances. On the spot. That’s a lot of money for college a lot of Oakland public school students. Last week, American Indian Model Schools (AIMS) partnered with National College Resources, and the Oakland NAACP to host over 18 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUS) at…