Commentary
COMMENTARY: Oakland’s Black Students Have Gained Ground: We Shouldn’t Stop Now
New state data reveals that Black students in the Oakland Unified School District are making academic gains in reading and math at rates significantly faster than their peers statewide. These improvements follow a 2023 decision by board leadership to cancel school closures and instead invest in the Black Thriving Community Schools program. While the district continues to address budget challenges, proponents argue that maintaining these targeted resources is essential to narrowing long-standing achievement gaps. Read more about the specific policies driving these results.
Oakland’s Black students are making faster gains in reading and math than Black students statewide, according to state data released Oct. 15.
Those gains followed decisions by school board President Jennifer Brouhard and Vice President Valarie Bachelor to keep schools open, invest in Black students and support teachers.
Since 2023, Black students in Oakland Unified School District have gained about 31 points in English and math on the California School Dashboard — roughly three times the statewide English gain and more than twice the math gain. Our students still trail their statewide peers, but they have narrowed that gap by about a third.
In 2022, the previous board voted to close or reduce grades at 11 schools, mostly serving Black and Brown families. A state civil rights investigation later found the plan would have unlawfully discriminated against Black, low-income and disabled students. Brouhard and Bachelor opposed those closures and, after winning election, voted to cancel remaining plans in January 2023.
The board then expanded support through Black Thriving Community Schools, providing additional resources where Black enrollment exceeds 40%, and funded teachers dedicated to Black students and families. Its reparations policy requires schools to develop plans for Black student achievement.
Meanwhile, the district reduced a $100 million budget shortfall to about $30 million without closing schools, cut central office positions and approved its first balanced budget in 22 years. More than 99% of teaching positions were filled when this school year began.
These investments must grow. Black Thriving Community Schools still reach only some students who need them. Every Oakland child deserves a safe, racially just neighborhood school staffed by qualified teachers who can afford to stay.
The opposing slate argues closures should remain an option to address budget pressures. But a Stanford study found closures do not improve district finances because departing families take student funding with them. Other research links closures to lower college attendance and adult earnings. Majority-Black schools nationally are more than three times as likely to close.
Oakland knows the consequences. There is another path. Brouhard and Bachelor have begun moving Oakland in that direction, protecting classroom investments while confronting financial pressures.
Progress deserves continued public support. We cannot afford to reverse course.
About the Author
Walter Riley is a civil rights attorney and longtime community organizer in Oakland.
