Educator Chela Delgado Presents on Education at the Black New Deal Symposium

The Black New Deal Symposium was held on February 26th and kicked off a phase of legislative research and development on how we can address the harms committed to Black Oaklanders after decades of systemic racism embedded in public policy and programs. There were six focus area sessions throughout the day: public safety, housing, environment, education, arts & culture, and community economics. Over a series of articles, the history, ideas, and strategies that were discussed in each focus area session will be shared.

Dr. Chela Myesha Delgado was born and raised in Oakland, California, and is a graduate, parent and teacher at the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). Chela completed her PhD in education at UC Berkeley, focusing on different conceptual frameworks of the achievement gap/opportunity gap/educational debt, and the ways in which education reformers have co-opted racial justice terminology to expand privatization in education. 

Chela shared three main things: 1) The general context of the school closures, 2) Why school closures aren't the answer, and 3) School closures and anti-Blackness. 

The General Context of the School Closures

The January 31st OUSD board meeting listed 11~ schools slated for closure in the next academic year. The argument was essentially that there are 80+ schools in Oakland and we have two options, one is staying the course and the second is consolidation and deeper investments in quality. While there’s been a lot of framing of the issue as too many schools in Oakland, there is the broader problem of funding both at the state level and prioritization of funding at the local level. OUSD outspends local districts on private contractors on top administrative salaries and has continued to rent offices at 1000 Broadway when they have been empty due to COVID. While financial problems definitely do exist, school closures are not the answer as the closures only save between $4 - $14 million, that is possibly 2% of OUSD's $700 million budget. This 2% has a significant impact on displacing students and families in a broader context of the lower and lower enrollment of Black students in OUSD. In 1996, Black students made up half of the district at 52%. In 2005, it was 40% and today, in 2022, black students are about 21% of OUSD’s enrollment.

The district has said that it is being pressured by the state and the county. While the district has been directed to balance their budget, the directive has not been through closing schools. Others have argued that the schools are of such low quality, they're failing black students. However, another frame for this is that we actually need to invest in these schools. A third point that is often heard is that there is a financial crisis. While this is accurate, that is the justification that's been given for every school closure in the last 20 years and that money is never seen. Further, the school board passed the Reparations for Black Students Resolution last year, in which it agreed that before any school closure, merger or consolidation could take place, there would be an equity impact analysis and that has not happened.

Why School Closures Are Not The Answer

There is not a lot of research on how school closures benefit students, largely because of the way funding and research goes. However, a study done in 2017 found that in the majority of cases of school closures, students did not end up attending better performing schools, they generally were displaced to schools that were similarly low performing. The second thing we often hear is closing schools will save the district money. As we have had lower enrollment in district schools, we've seen an increased enrollment in charter schools. Most schools are funded primarily through what's called ADA, so the district gets a certain amount of money for every day a student attends, and when those students don't attend, that money is lost. 

For the vast majority of schools slated for closure, there are charter schools much closer to them than district schools. If a parent is facing this sad situation of their school closing, they are likely to choose a charter school versus trekking more and more blocks to the closest OUSD school. Generally what we have found is when school is closed, we don't retain those students in the district, they frequently leave. And finally, district officials have admitted in the past that they did not have any information or proof that money had been saved by prior school closures. A fact finding report found that any potential savings would likely be offset by implementation costs and the loss of enrollment primarily to charter schools. 

The third thing we often hear is that these schools are under-utilized or under-enrolled. However, small schools and small classes are actually a huge benefit to students. An under-enrolled school could be looked at as having the potential to do really strong work with those students and unfortunately, it is not looked at as a potential asset. 

Finally, closures really do have a huge impact. We have seen nationally that they tend to significantly disrupt school communities. This is part of a broader context of driving down the public perception of public education and expanding privatization in cities. Journey for Justice Alliance, a coalition of community organizations on the East Coast that's primarily Black-led, and The Shot Foundation argue that the real issue and cycle is underfunding schools, schools begin to struggle and and get closed down as a consequence, and the closure leads to a transfer into charter schools.

School Closures and Anti-Blackness

Nationally, there were a lot of school closures on the East Coast and the Midwest throughout the 2000s. The majority of these schools impacted Black and brown students, and particularly Black students. In Chicago, 87% of the students impacted by closure were Black, in Philadelphia, 81%, in New York City, 53%. In Oakland, the 16 schools closed in the city since 2004 have been majority Black schools. The list of schools that are now slated for closure, has some of the few majority Black schools left in the city.

From a list of all of the school sites that were closed since 2004, when the district average was 33% Black students, some of the schools such as Santa Fe served 75% Black Students. After being closed and then reopened as charter schools or new public schools, the same site serves fewer than 25% Black students. The district average overall has gone down, it's now 24% instead of 33%, and these school sites serve significantly fewer Black students than they did before they were closed. 

The Reparations for Black Students coalition, parent leaders, student leaders, and community leaders have all been arguing that the school closures are a direct attack on our Black students. People have been taking significant action including marches, protests, as well as a hunger strike convocation at Westlake Middle School.

A student-led walk-out at Oakland Tech had students who were really able to identify the issues at hand and talk about how significant the effect on the budget was alongside the negative impact on Black and brown youth. Our union is filing a lawsuit as there was an agreement that there would be an equity impact analysis for any closures or mergers or consolidations as part of the part of the agreement that came out of our strike in 2019 which has been violated. In a matter of weeks, a complaint will be issued against OUSD and our case will come before an administrative law judge.