Oakland teachers, parents continue fight to keep schools open
OAKLAND, Calif. - Dozens of teachers, parents and community members attended a rally and march Saturday to keep Oakland schools open.
Almost a month ago, the Oakland Unified District school board voted to close, cut grades from, or merge 11 schools over the next two years.
"We’re here to fight. We’re not going to allow them to do that to our families and our students. It’s not right," said Jaz Fortes, a 3rd-grade teacher and parent at La Escuelita.
La Escuelita is set to have its middle school portion closed at the end of this school year.
"These families have been hit with the pandemic. You know they kept their students at home, they brought them back. The pandemic has been a really hard time and then with this, we were all blindsided by the district’s decision to close these schools," said Fortes.
The district said the cuts are necessary due to a $40 million budget deficit, caused largely by declining enrollment.
But those protesting say a majority of the schools on the chopping block are full of minority families.
"The people in the hills, they’re not getting any of their schools closed. But the people here at the bottom, which is predominantly Black and brown, you want to close ours first?" said Rochelle Jenkins.
Jenkins' twin girls are 6th graders at Parker Elementary, which is set to shut its doors at the end of the school year. She said the district hasn't released any plans on where students will go next.
"There’s already no yellow bus to pick up any students. They’re talking about sending students to Hayward district, San Leandro district, and then they have a couple schools around here. And I’m like if it’s not in a 2-mile radius for children who are in elementary, then that’s a no-go," said Jenkins.
She said with working parents, and many kids that walk or take the bus to school, closing schools would be a drastic, unfair change for families.
"I don’t feel like it’s right for them to inconvenience not just me and my kids, but a whole community of children and parents," said Jenkins.
It wasn't just Oakland parents at the rally. Mary Lee Smith attended with her children, who are in the Berkeley Unified School District.
Smith said she was there in solidarity.
"A city boundary doesn’t make a difference. They wouldn’t want to be kicked out of their schools," said Smith. "For us, this is an attack on public schools. Every time Oakland shuts one, it seems another charter pops up in that place, and we support public schools."
Oakland Education Association, the union representing teachers, filed an unfair labor practice charge against the school district.
OEA said the Public Employment Relations Board issued a complaint against the district Friday, so teachers saw the rally as a celebration for this small victory.
Many marchers are confident in their ability to stop the schools from shutting down.
"We need to make some noise, we need to speak up for our community. Because if we won’t, nobody else will, " said Jenkins.