Billionaire-funded Oakland school board looks to close 24 schools

By Mark Drexler

Racist billionaire privatizers are at war with public education in Oakland. In the most recent onslaught in this war, the notoriously pro-charter Oakland school board has stated its intentions to close 24 of the city’s 87 public schools, despite the fact that doing so does not save money for the district and results in displacement of students, chaos for families, and disproportionately harms low-income students of color. While the full list of schools facing closure has not yet been released, the school board has made clear its intention to close one school in particular, ROOTS International Academy. Located in the Havenscourt neighborhood of East Oakland, ROOTS is a middle school serving predominantly low-income black and brown students.

The decision to close ROOTS was made with minimal input from teachers, parents, or students and, to add insult to injury, was announced to families and teachers via a robocall at the start of the holiday break.

Weeks ago, the school board announced that it would take up the issue of whether or not to close ROOTS at its January 9 meeting, and hundreds of teachers, parents, and students mobilized to attend the meeting. They came to give public testimony against the closure of ROOTS and any other schools. While the school board removed the item from the agenda prior to the meeting, opponents of the closure still showed up in force, including dozens of students who currently attend the school. Their message was clear: no cuts, no closures, and no charters.

Quinn Ranahan, who teaches 7th and 8th grade math at ROOTS, said teachers at the school are “redefining public education for black and brown students,” empowering students to speak their minds and think critically. The results of this education were on full display at Wednesday’s meeting, where over a dozen middle-school aged students gave powerful testimony against the closures.

Janay Ellis, an 8th grader at ROOTS, insisted that school board members are “trying to stay away from all the issues and the studies that have proven, shutting down schools doesn’t help the budget.” Another student said that it breaks her to heart to hear about her school being shut down and asked, “how is not having good [instructional] materials our problem? How about instead of shutting our school, you help us become better?”

While closing neighborhood schools may not save money, what does save money for the district, and for the billionaires who back school closures across the country, is replacing unionized public schools with non-unionized and unaccountable charter schools. When a public school is closed, it frequently reopens as a charter. Any school closure attempt should be seen for what it is: a concerted effort to privatize public education; break unions; and segregate education on the basis of race, income, and ability.

It is not a coincidence that the school board refuses to pay attention to community outrage against closures. The majority of school board members are bought and paid for by charter organizations and are carrying out the privatization agenda of their billionaire backers. For example notorious pro-charter billionaire and former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg spent $120,000 in the last election in support of Gary Yee, who beat out the Oakland Education Association endorsed candidate Clarissa Doutherd. Doutherd, an education advocate, has repeatedly called for a moratorium on charter schools. Yee also received $100,000 from Greater Oakland Public Schools (GO Public Schools), a pro-charter organization that spends lavishly to elect charter-friendly school board members in the city. GO is bankrolled by the conservative Walton family, which owns WalMart, and Bill Gates, an outspoken proponent of school privatization who has spent tens of millions of dollars pushing for charterization.

As the Oakland Education Association escalates its campaign for smaller class sizes, a living wage, and more support for students, the union and the teachers are not just fighting to improve the learning conditions of their students here in Oakland. They are on the front lines of this war against a handful of hyper-wealthy people who want to profit off the lives and education of our young people. In the words of OEA President Keith Brown, “we have to say enough is enough. Our students are not a commodity. Our students deserve to have resources. They deserve to have an excellent public education.”

Teachers and parents are ramping up organizing to keep ROOTS open. If you want to get involved in the fight to save ROOTS, email protectroots@gmail.com.