There is not one Black family in OUSD that hasn’t experienced the pain of anti-Black racism in our schools (such as bias, criminalization, low expectations, school closures, and push-out) – AND had to name specific solutions for their children to be protected from harm and supported to thrive. Now is the time to look at the solutions from the Black community and invest in the remaining Black students – so that every child can learn and achieve.
Over the past two decades, OUSD has closed 16 majority Black schools, forcing more than 18,000 Black students out of the district. In partnership with Black leaders calling for a greater investment in the Black community in Oakland and building off the Black Organizing Project’s recent win removing police from schools – we demand that OUSD create a multi-million dollar reparations fund and begin to invest in Black students and families to repair generations of harm.