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Protests Save 7 Oakland Schools; Board Moves Ahead to Close or Merge 11 Others

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said the state needs to take responsibility. “Many years ago, the State of California took over control of the Oakland public schools, which they claimed was for the purpose of fixing the finances,” she said. “Sadly, the state officials controlling OUSD ran up debt, leaving the schools worse off financially. Now that California has a record-breaking budget surplus, it is all the more unjust that our youth and families should be made to suffer by cutting their schools to pay off debt that was run up by State officials.”

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Protests to save neighborhood schools have taken place (from top left, clockwise): Parker Elementary, Prescott Elementary, teacher and community march in downtown Oakland and Brookfield Elementary. Photos from Facebook posts.
Protests to save neighborhood schools have taken place (from top left, clockwise): Parker Elementary, Prescott Elementary, teacher and community march in downtown Oakland and Brookfield Elementary. Photos from Facebook posts.

Oakland City Council members call for action by state leaders

By Ken Epstein

The Oakland Board of Education has backed off on closing some schools and pushed the bulk of school closings to the end of next school year in a seeming attempt to blunt the mounting protests of school closures.

Over the last week, those protests have mushroomed into school walkouts and strikes at affected schools, a hunger strike at Westlake Middle, opposition from City Council members and growing angry demands for action by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials.

Passed by a 4-2 board vote Tuesday night, the final amended list of school closures and mergers includes two schools that will close this year: Parker Elementary School in East Oakland and Community Day School, which serves students who have some of the greatest educational needs. The students will be transferred to a county program 18 miles away in Hayward.

In addition to the complete closures, La Escuelita will lose its grades 6,7 and 8, and New Highland Academy will be merged with Rise Community.

Five schools will be close at the end of 2023: Korematsu Discovery Academy and Horace Mann Elementary, as well as three schools that were postponed from this year – Brookfield Elementary, Grass Valley Elementary and Carl Munck Elementary.

Hillcrest Elementary will lose grades 6, 7 and 8 at the end of next year.

Board members opposing the decision were VanCedric Williams and Mike Hutchinson. Voting in favor of the motion were Gary Yee, Shanthi Gonzales, Aimee Eng and Sam Davis. Clifford Thompson abstained.

Some of the seven schools removed from the original school closure list of schools had strong public demonstrations of school and community support. At present, the district no longer plans to close Prescott Elementary School in West Oakland.

The district also dropped plans to move and merge Westlake Middle School with West Oakland Middle School. Ralph Bunche Academy and Dewey Academy will no longer be moved to the Westlake campus.

In addition, Manzanita Community School will no longer be merged with Fruitvale Elementary School.

The Oakland Post requested a statement on the closings from OUSD but by press time had not received one.

Under state control since 2003, Oakland communities continually fought against school closings and consolidations, though nothing as massive as the current level of protests.

With the state-funded Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT) always threatening in the background, the district has already closed about 20 schools in 19 years and is under pressure to close, sell and lease as many as 40 more.

Backing the closures, Mayor Libby Schools, who is closely aligned with charter school privatizers and real estate developers, said in a KQED television interview on February 4 that the district could stand to close as many as half of the city’s public schools, adding, “This is an opportunity to do better for our students, for our educators, our families.”

Among the protests taking place at schools in the past two weeks were a mass rally and march downtown of teachers and community groups, a parent strike at La Escuelita, a protest at Brookfield, a hunger strike and student walkouts at Westlake Middle, a mass rally against school closings at Prescott, a strike at Grass Valley and a strike and a town hall meeting at Parker.

The teachers’ union is considering a rolling strike, meaning that schools would take turns striking for a week at a time. On Monday, a union meeting overwhelmingly endorsed a strike motion.

Said Keith Brown, president of the teacher’s union, in a media statement:

“Students, families, educators, community members, the Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Education all opposed (the board’s action). Teachers, parents, labor, and the community are united to stop the implementation of school closures.”

City Council members have been speaking out against the closures.

District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife, who helped organize community support for Prescott School, urged the community to turn pain and grief into action.

“My heart breaks for the families, teachers and communities who will be immediately impacted, but for those who’ve put their bodies on the line and who’ve been organizing for the reality we want to see, this is fuel for the movement. This is our call to action,” she said.

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said the state needs to take responsibility.

“Many years ago, the State of California took over control of the Oakland public schools, which they claimed was for the purpose of fixing the finances,” she said. “Sadly, the state officials controlling OUSD ran up debt, leaving the schools worse off financially. Now that California has a record-breaking budget surplus, it is all the more unjust that our youth and families should be made to suffer by cutting their schools to pay off debt that was run up by State officials.”

Councilmember Sheng Thao said she was working with state leaders to find more money for Oakland schools. “Our families deserve a process that is transparent and equitable and that didn’t happen here. It’s not fair. It’s not just. And it should not stand,” she said,

Said Councilmember Nikki ‘Fortunato Bas, “Budgetary challenges should be addressed by our unprecedented state surplus and support our students’ stability — during one of the already most destabilizing periods in their lives.”

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Activism

OP-ED: Like Physicians, U.S. Health Institutions Must ‘First, Do No Harm’

Coupled with their lack of government and healthcare-related experience, we are concerned these nominees will significantly undermine public health, increase the number of uninsured people, worsen health outcomes, and exacerbate health disparities. Physicians observe Hippocrates’ maxim to “First Do No Harm,”, and we urge Trump administration officials to do the same. It is critical that the leadership of HHS and its agencies make decisions based on facts, evidence, and science. Misinformation and disinformation must not guide policymaking decisions and undermine evidence-based public health strategies. Spreading these falsehoods also erodes trust in our public institutions.

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Albert L. Brooks MD. Courtesy photo.
Albert L. Brooks MD. Courtesy photo.

By Albert L. Brooks MD
Special to The Post

Presidential administrations significantly impact the health and wellbeing of our patients and communities.

Through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the agencies within it, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the National Institutes of Health, this new administration will decide how financial resources are allocated, dictate the focus of federal research, and determine how our public health care insurance systems are managed, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Vaccines for Children program, Medicare, and Medicaid.

The decisions made over the next four years will impact all Americans but will be felt more acutely by those most underserved and vulnerable.

As physicians, we are greatly concerned by the nominations announced by President Trump to critical healthcare related positions. Many of their previous statements and positions are rooted in misinformation.

Coupled with their lack of government and healthcare-related experience, we are concerned these nominees will significantly undermine public health, increase the number of uninsured people, worsen health outcomes, and exacerbate health disparities. Physicians observe Hippocrates’ maxim to “First Do No Harm,”, and we urge Trump administration officials to do the same.

It is critical that the leadership of HHS and its agencies make decisions based on facts, evidence, and science. Misinformation and disinformation must not guide policymaking decisions and undermine evidence-based public health strategies. Spreading these falsehoods also erodes trust in our public institutions.

Vaccines, in particular, have been a target of disinformation by some HHS nominees. In fact, research continues to confirm that vaccines are safe and effective. Vaccines go through multiple rounds of clinical trials prior to being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for administration to the public.

Vaccines protect against life-threateningdiseasessuch as measles, polio, tetanus, and meningococcal disease and, when used effectively, have beenshowntoeliminateorsubstantiallyreducediseaseprevalenceand/orseverity.

Because of vaccine mis- and disinformation, there has been a resurgence in vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough, endangering those who are too young or unable to be vaccinated.

Several nominees have spread disinformation alleging that fluoride in public drinking water is harmful. In fact, fluoride in drinking water at the recommended level of 0.7 parts per million, like we have in our EBMUD water, is safe and keeps teeth strong. Because of public health interventions dating back to the 1960s that have resulted in 72.3% of the U.S. population now having access to fluoridated water, there has been a reduction in cavities by about 25% in both children and adults.

We also encourage the next administration to invest in our public health infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical role of public health agencies in preventing and responding to health crises in our communities.

Health departments at the state and local levels rely on federal funding support and technical assistance to develop public health response plans, implement public health strategies, and work with on the ground organizations to serve hard to reach communities. Public health agencies are critical for protecting everyone in our communities, regardless of income-level, insurance status, or housing status.

Health officials should also work to protect the significant improvements in insurance coverage that have occurred since the passage of theACAin 2010.According to HHS, the numberofuninsuredAmericansfellfrom48millionin2010to25.6millionin2023.

California has led the way by investing in Medi-Cal and expanding eligibility for enrollment. In fact, it reached its lowest uninsured rate ever in 2022 at 6.2%. Voters affirmed this commitment to expanding and protecting access to care in November by passing Proposition 35, which significantly expanded funding for California’s Medi-Cal program. The administration should advance policies that strengthen the ACA, Medicaid, and Medicare and improve access to affordable health care.

Regardless of the president in power, physicians will always put the best interests of our patients and communities at the forefront. We will continue to be a resource to our patients, providing evidence-based and scientifically proven information and striving to better their lives and our community’s health. We urge the new Trump administration to do the same.

Albert L. Brooks MD is the immediate past president of the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association, which represents 6,000 East Bay physicians.

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Oakland Post: Week of January 29 – February 4, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of January 29 – February 4, 2025

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Oakland Poll: Tell Us What You Think About the Cost of Groceries in Oakland

Food banks and grocery giveaways are a large part of the resources nonprofits in Oakland prioritize, particularly in areas like East and West Oakland where low-income families of color tend to reside. These neighborhoods are often labeled as “food deserts” or communities that have limited access to affordable and nutritious foods.

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Oakland Poll: Tell Us What You Think About the Cost of Groceries in Oakland
Oakland Poll: Tell Us What You Think About the Cost of Groceries in Oakland

By Magaly Muñoz

In 2023, the average spending on groceries increased by nearly $30 each month from the year before;people are spending over $500 a month to put food on the table.

Through previous reporting by the Post, we’ve learned that families in Oakland are depending more and more on free or low cost groceries from food banks because they can no longer afford the rising costs of food at the store.

Food banks and grocery giveaways are a large part of the resources nonprofits in Oakland prioritize, particularly in areas like East and West Oakland where low-income families of color tend to reside. These neighborhoods are often labeled as “food deserts” or communities that have limited access to affordable and nutritious foods.

We’ve recently spoken to families across these two areas of Oakland and have heard several stories that all point to one problem: food is expensive. Some individuals are spending upwards of $150 a week for themselves or double if they have teens or small children in the family.

We’ve also heard stories of people with chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure struggling to maintain their diets because they’re having a hard time affording the food that helps them stay healthy.

Do these experiences sound similar to what you or your family are dealing with every month? Are you struggling to afford your basic groceries every week? Do you depend on food banks to help you get by? Are there any chronic illnesses in your household that need to be managed by a special diet?

We want to hear about your experiences and ideas for solutions!

The Oakland Post is investigating food access in Oakland and how residents are surviving as the cost of living continues to increase. Your experiences will help shape our reporting and show local leaders the need to invest in our communities.

In order to get as much feedback as possible, we ask that you click this link to fill out a brief questionnaire or visit tinyurl.com/Oakland-Post-food-survey. You can also scan the QR code above to reach the survey. After you fill it out, please consider sharing the link with your friends and family in Oakland.

If you have questions, please reach out to our Oakland reporter Magaly Muñoz at mmunoz@postnewsgroup or text/call her at (510) 905-5286.

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