Activism
Teachers’ Union President Opposes County/FCMAT Takeover of Oakland Schools
“We’re not going to accept $90 million in budget reductions from the county,” Oakland Education Association (OEA) President Keith Brown told the Oakland Post this week. “The county has a responsibility to support our district. For the county to say we need more cuts under their watch shows they are not providing proper support for the needs of Oakland Unified.”
![Keith Brown. Courtesy of OEA.](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/keith-brown-featured-web.jpg)
Union and Oakland Post Community Assembly will hold press conference next week
By Ken Epstein
Oakland Education Association (OEA) President Keith Brown told the Oakland Post this week that the teachers’ union is organizing to oppose the takeover of the Oakland Unified School District by the County Office of Education (ACOE) and the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT), representing the State of California.
The union and the Oakland Post Community Assembly are co-sponsoring a press conference next Thursday, Dec. 16, to make the community aware of the takeover threat. The time and place of the event are yet to be announced.
On Nov. 8, County Schools’ Supt. L. Karen Monroe — who has been working directly with the district for years — sent OUSD a letter, labeling the district with a “lack of going concern” determination, an accounting term that means that an enterprise is bankrupt or going bankrupt.
Monroe’s letter said OUSD must cut its budget by $90 million (of a $670 million total budget) and threatened — if the district does not take sufficient steps by the end of January — to withhold salaries of the school board and Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell and place the district under direct control of FCMAT, the state’s Bakersfield-based nonprofit agency.
The letter said that FCMAT would be charged, not the locally elected school board. “The school district shall follow the recommendations of the (FCMAT) team, unless the school district shows good cause for failure to do so,” the letter said.
Brown told the Oakland Post that it does not make sense that the county and FCMAT would demand massive budget cuts amid upheavals related to the pandemic and increases in state and federal funding.
“We’re not going to accept $90 million in budget reductions from the county,” Brown said. “The county has a responsibility to support our district. For the county to say we need more cuts under their watch shows they are not providing proper support for the needs of Oakland Unified.”
“The public is not going to go for this kind of cuts when we see that the California legislative analyst is predicting a $31 billion budget surplus,” he said.
“We stand with our students and the community to say no against any proposed cuts that are coming from the county,” Brown continued. “Our students need more resources, especially in the pandemic. We need to focus more on our students and invest in community schools to meet students’ social and emotional needs.”
Brown said the takeover would also adversely affect future negotiations between the teachers’ union and the district, giving more power to unelected individuals who would be more heavily involved under the FCMAT takeover scenario.
The takeover would also undermine the rights of Oakland voters, he said.
“It’s in the best interests of our students to have a democratically elected school board because the public is able to hold the school board accountable,” he said. “In November 2020, Oakland voters made a statement that they want to see an end to school closures and an end to disinvestment in our schools, particularly schools that serve Black students.”
“FCMAT is not accountable to voters or the public. It is a slap in the face,” said Brown.
FCMAT has a long track record in Oakland. Since FCMAT gained power in the district in 2003, OUSD has closed about 20 schools and has never been out of debt.
“We know that closing schools has never resolved any budget issues in OUSD — it has done the opposite. Closing schools has led to an annual loss of $57 million,” he said, adding that Monroe’s letter appears to have been written in response to the school board’s recent decision not to close more schools.
“I think this is an issue that will unify the entire community,” said Brown. “This is an attack on the community’s democratic rights.”
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024
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Activism
ICAC Invites Community to Benefit from Safe Car Park Program
The Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC) will hold a meeting to announce a faith-based expansion of overnight safe car parking for unhoused families on Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 1-2 p.m. at Williams Chapel Baptist Church located at 1410 10th Avenue in Oakland. The ICAC President, Rev. Ken Chambers, announced that Williams Chapel, pastored by Rev. Kenneth Anderson, and members of ICAC, has also planned to open an overnight safe car parking program and day center to provide unhoused neighbors and families with wrap-around services.
![Chambers said, "ICAC's goal is to just serve Oakland by helping to make the community surrounding 10th Avenue and International Boulevard both welcoming and safe."](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ICAC-homelessness-featured-web.jpg)
by Post Staff
The Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC) will hold a meeting to announce a faith-based expansion of overnight safe car parking for unhoused families on Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 1-2 p.m. at Williams Chapel Baptist Church located at 1410 10th Avenue in Oakland.
The ICAC President, Rev. Ken Chambers, announced that Williams Chapel, pastored by Rev. Kenneth Anderson, and members of ICAC, has also planned to open an overnight safe car parking program and day center to provide unhoused neighbors and families with wrap-around services.
Rev. Chambers said additional support for the program will also come from Bishop Bob Jackson, Pastor of Acts Full Gospel Church and Pastor Phyllis Scott, head of the Oakland Police Chaplaincy Program.
Chambers said, “ICAC’s goal is to just serve Oakland by helping to make the community surrounding 10th Avenue and International Boulevard both welcoming and safe.”
David Longhurst, a member of Oakland Temple LDS Church and an ICAC board member, said
“We can make the city of Oakland safer, one block at a time, by connecting our community and neighbors.”
Chambers said ICAC has a $450,000 grant commitment from the City of Oakland and a $2.5M grant request has been presented to Nate Miley, President of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Nate Miley to cover and expand ICAC’s Safe Car Park Program located at West Side Missionary Baptist Church to additional locations including Center Street Baptist Church, Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church, Corinthians Baptist Church, Allen Temple Baptist Church, Acts Full Gospel Church, and other congregations.
Dr. Ken Chambers said he and ICAC are assisting congregations on how to receive a one-time $5,000 grant. “ICAC has plans for several tiny homes with kitchens, living space and bathrooms that we hope will become available this fall in partnership with the State, County and City of Oakland.”
Chambers is appealing to the public to help with transitioning the unhoused populations into tiny homes or affordable housing. “If you or anyone you know is living out of a car and needs a safe place to park overnight, visit interfaithAC.org, call 510-239-6681, or stop by the ICAC hub at 732 Willow Street, Oakland, CA 94607 between the hours of 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.”
Activism
Calif. Leaders Discuss Foster Care Reform Strategies for Black and Brown Youth
Before becoming a nationally recognized social justice leader and a member of California’s Mandated Reporting Taskforce, Shane Harris spent 13 years as a foster care youth after he lost both of his parents. As President of the national civil rights organization, People’s Association of Justice Advocates (PAJA), he’s aiming to solve some of the toughest challenges Black and Brown children in the foster care system face.
![Shane Harris, PAJA President and member of the California Mandated Reporting Taskforce (center) with Hafsa Kaka, Senior Advisor on Homelessness to Governor Gavin Newsom and Dr. Janet Kelly, Founder & Director of Sanctuary of Hope LA (far right) (Lila Brown CBM)](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/fostercare-reform-featured-web.jpg)
By Lila Brown, California Black Media
Before becoming a nationally recognized social justice leader and a member of California’s Mandated Reporting Taskforce, Shane Harris spent 13 years as a foster care youth after he lost both of his parents. As President of the national civil rights organization, People’s Association of Justice Advocates (PAJA), he’s aiming to solve some of the toughest challenges Black and Brown children in the foster care system face.
During National Foster Care Month in May, Harris visited the Sanctuary of Hope in Los Angeles to host a roundtable meeting with current and former foster youth, many of whom, like Harris, have beat the odds and become successful professionals.
According to the federal government’s Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, there are nearly 370,000 American children and youth in foster care.
Nationally, Black children are overrepresented in foster care. According to datacenter.kidscount.org, Black children represented 14% of the total child population in the United States. However, they represented 23% of all children in foster care. Harris pointed out that one out of every four foster youth go homeless upon exiting foster care in California. Across the state, there are nearly 65,000 children in foster care, he added. Of the 65,000 children in foster care across California, 14,000 of them are Black American.
Harris also announced a new effort already underway to push for the removal of the term “case” in L.A. County when referring to foster youth during the roundtable which featured Hafsa Kaka, Senior Advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom and Janet Kelly, the Founder and Director of Sanctuary of Hope. The session focused on solving problems foster youth face.
Sharing personal stories, insights, and various visions for policy changes, the participants discussed numerous solutions and addressed specific concerns about ongoing challenges with the foster care system.
One top priority was how to close the foster care to homelessness pipeline for the disproportionate number of Black and Brown children in LA County’s and the state’s foster care system.
“When you see the direct connection between the disproportionate rates of Black children in foster care and the disproportionate rates of Black people in the general homeless population, there is a very clear connection there in which our foster youth are coming out of care,” stated Harris during opening remarks.
Kaka said the governor has been intentional about making sure that foster children are homeless prioritized as the state addresses homelessness.
“This is a critical moment for foster care,” said Kaka. “The systems that are working together are looking at leveraging federal, state and local funds.”
Harris said he has already begun efforts in San Diego County to drop the word “case” when referring to homeless youth.
“We are asking for a 90-day public input period, in which the county CEO and leadership can facilitate discussions with the community on replacement terminology. There’s plenty of ideas,” Harris elaborated.
Kelly said a majority of the youth who go through the Sanctuary of Hope program are young people who have experienced some form of housing instability or housing crisis.
“The goal of the work that we do is really centered around helping young people leave here with leadership skills and other forms of what we call protective factors in order for them to continue on with their stabilization journey and become loving, caring and active citizens in this world,” Kelly said.
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