(A guest post from Tenisa Lyles is a single mother of three children, living in deep East Oakland. She was one of the founding members of The Oakland REACH, a parent-led group focused on making the powerless parent powerful.) Every family should have the right to a good school for their kids. But it turns out…
State of Black Education
The Pitiful Options for Black Families in Oakland and What We Can Do
If you are a Black child in Oakland you have a snowball’s chance in hell of attending a high performing school that is making progress. A 1% chance according to the latest data from Oakland Achieves when it comes to math. I am not joking. And even worse about 2/3rds of our children are in…
What’s Really Wrong with Closing Schools and How the “Opportunity Ticket” Fixes It
Closing schools balances the district’s budget woes on the backs of the already most underserved parents. The reality of closings is that it does nothing for those parents who have been dis-served and will be displaced. Typically, they attend an equally low-performing school that is further away and/or less familiar. And while the district may…
Four Answers to the Crisis Facing the Bay Area’s Black Community
The Bay Area’s Black community is in crisis. And the community came up with answers during our year of convening, and they are game changers. Segregated housing and discrimination have created unequal paths that are so well worn they are invisible to most. Housing, health, education and access to opportunity in general all conspire against…
Racism in Class; Learning a Damaging Behavior–A Young Teacher’s Story
(A guest post from F’tahn Bey a young Black public school educator in Oakland, you can hear from him at our SoBEO event on 10/20 at Geoffrey’s) In education, we imagine school to be a safe and equitable place, but as a young Black male educator my experience has been very different. I taught Ethnic…