PRESS ADVISORY
OAKLAND EDUCATORS, PARENTS, STUDENTS, AND ELECTED LEADERS HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE ON RESPONSE TO SCHOOL BOARD DECISION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -February 9th, 2022
Press Contact:
Brandon Harami, Council Aide
bharami@Oaklanca.gov
WHAT:
Press Conference on OUSD School Closures
WHEN:
Wednesday, February 9th at 2:00pm
WHERE:
Outside Oakland City Hall
1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
WHO:
Assemblymember Mia Bonta
Pro Tem Sheng Thao
President Nikki Fortunato Bas
Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan
Councilmember Carroll Fife
School Board Member Mike Hutchinson
Oakland Education Association
Parent Voices Oakland
Reparations for Black Students
SEIU 1021
Oakland, California - Oakland Educators, Parents, Students, and elected leaders will hold a press conference in response to the OUSD Board of Education’s deliberations about proposed school closures and consolidations. This press conference will be held in front of City Hall and in the plaza.
Council President Pro Tempore and Mayoral candidate Sheng Thao states, “Our black, brown and special needs children are constantly asked to bear the burden, pay the price of bad choices by adults. They disproportionately lost loved ones to COVID, have been displaced from Oakland by the lack of affordable housing, and are now losing their 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. I have been working with our state leaders to find more money and resources and I will continue the fight to save our schools and save our kids. I am not giving up.”
Assemblymember Mia Bonta states, “The Oakland community should not have to make decisions about school closures in the midst of a pandemic. Families are struggling to make ends meet, educators are struggling to manage the demands of their jobs, and children and youth are seeking connection and validation. This is why I am calling on our state legislature to ensure relief for OUSD during this time, and to provide the school district with the resources and time they need to make careful, deliberate decisions that will center equity and what’s best for all Oakland students.”
Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas states, “We must and can do more to protect our most vulnerable students and families who rely on quality public education. Our schools are critical places where our children and communities have so many of their basic needs met, from food and connection to services, to safety and wellness supports. 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.”
Keith Brown, Oakland Educators Association President and Alameda County Labor Council President, “Permanently closing neighborhood schools during a pandemic is a complete failure of leadership by the Superintendent and the School Board majority. Students, families, educators, community members, the Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Education all opposed this move. Teachers, parents, labor, and the community are united to stop the implementation of school closures. Oakland students
deserve more, not less.”
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