Bay Area

Teachers Demand Equal Access to Online Learning

Published

4 years ago

April 30, 2020

More than 340 teachers — members of the Oakland Education Association (OEA) — joined with parents, students, and other community members this week to send a letter to Oakland Unified School District Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammell and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff demanding they take “all necessary measures” to provide Oakland students with access to the internet, according to a press statement.

“We demand that the Oakland Unified School District and the City of Oakland immediately arrange with internet providers to provide free universal internet throughout the city,” according to the teachers’ letter.

Emphasizing the importance for internet access for all students at this time, OEA President Keith Brown said, “There is no equity in education for our most vulnerable students if all Oakland families do not have access to the internet. “In some flatland schools, between 25-50% of our families have little or no access to online classwork.”

Added Patricia Segura, a teacher at Oakland’s Fremont High School, “Nearly a fourth of our Fremont High students do not have access to the internet. This makes distance-learning a problem of equity. It is unfair for students and we need a city-wide solution quickly.”

OEA has launched a social media campaign of #internet4all to raise awareness that during the COVID-19 pandemic, internet access is a human right and must be extended to all families. According to the demand letter, “in the absence of internet for all students, distance-learning is a lie.”

Teachers have learned that a large number of students attending Oakland public schools in East and West Oakland have little or no access to the internet. Now that OUSD has unrolled its “distance learning” program and teachers are expected to conduct online classes, this means that many students in the city’s high-needs communities will have great difficulty accessing their classes and doing this work.

There are reports that attempts by parents to purchase internet services have also failed. According to Judy Greenspan, a teacher at United for Success, a mother of a 7th grader said that she spent over an hour on the phone trying to set-up an account on Comcast, only to be disconnected and told that she had to go online to apply for the service. She eventually found out that the company was not scheduling any more in-home appointments.

“Programs like Xfinity/Comcast and AT&T have long wait times, aren’t taking appointments, require credit cards or other resources that undocumented families cannot provide, or promise one free month of access only to later start charging families for a service they can’t afford. Surely Comcast, AT&T, and other providers can do better by our community,” according to the teachers’ letter.

While the district offers to drop off paper worksheets packets to families without internet access, “paper packets are in no way a substitute for connecting with teachers and resources online, especially since the situation evolves rapidly and will likely continue through the summer and into next school year,” the letter said. “Failing to provide internet access for everyone will only stretch learning gaps.”

To view the letter, go to https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XtQ9yZxFA63HLX83V8xKiorNTSHe79F-jkw4eIW-vD8/edit

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

7 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

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Bay Area

State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

1 week ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”