I spent the past two hours listening to the Oakland, California, school board meeting, where the board is going to decide whether to close a large number of public schools.
The first group of speakers who addressed the board on their Zoom was students. Some were as young as first grade; others were in middle school or high school. Every single one of them pleaded with the board not to close their school. They talked about how much they loved their school and their teachers. They talked about how much they are learning. They talked about their friends and their community. They spoke passionately about their devotion to their school.
It would take a heart of stone not to be moved by the student voices. The board gave them an hour to speak, then extended it by another half hour.
Not a single student said “Please close my school.”
Every student, every single one, pleaded with the board to keep their school open.
Will the board listen?
You can watch here:
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’d be more inspired if the students had presented logical arguments as to why the school should remain open. That’s something they should be learning to do in school. I’m not impressed by emotional appeals and the board probably wasn’t either.
You would be inspired by logic? You’re not impressed by what students feel or think? Are you David Coleman?
If a student testifies as to his or her good experiences in school, isn’t that logical? Would you have them conduct surveys or do an economic analysis? Or maybe they should hire a consultant?
When a child says, please don’t close my school, I love my teachers, and I love learning, that sounds logical to me.
The logical positivists back in the last century maintained that any statement that wasn’t either a tautology, as in mathematics or logic, or a statement of observable, independently and universally verifiable fact, was meaningless and consigned to the meaningless category all statements in aesthetics and ethics and metaphysics. They tried to count Ludwig Wittgenstein, on the basis of his Tractatus, as one of their number, but he wasn’t.
Meaning has multiple meanings. One is significance. People who don’t grok this are stunted. Occasionally, they are beautifully stunted, like a bonzai, but they are nonetheless stunted.
The definitive statement of that stupid Logical Positivist position was, perhaps, in A. J. Ayer’s Language, Truth, and Logic.
Of course, in matters of ethics, it is precisely how people feel about things–what matters to them–that matters, that it is logical to consider. Otherwise, it’s making omelets with roofing shingles.
You obviously didn’t listen. Their appeals were full of logical arguments. They ARE learning that in school.
By the way, they are still speaking as I type, 7:45PM Pacific Time.
This is truly inspiring!
The Board has not voted yet.
No, the assumption should be that public schools belong to the public and are part of our heritage in this country. The onus should be on the board to show why schools must be closed, and that no other alternative exists. At this very moment, as I am listening to the meeting, still not ONE speaker has spoken in support. And there are plenty of logical arguments in opposition to this horrible proposal.
Children should have a right to a “thorough and efficient” education in an authentic public school, and the shouldn’t have to travel more than thirty minutes to reach it.
They are only children.
I wonder if the adults on the school board will make logical arguments about why they must close schools.
If the majority of that school board has sold out and is owned by the charter school industry, they have no souls. They have no hearts. They are no better than cold stone killers.
i have been told that the spread of charters has decimated the public school enrollment in oakland and that the charters control the Board members (some of them, with notable exceptions).
But you support the opening of a white flight Charter in Napa? I am so confused Lauren.
Thank you for supporting us in Oakland.
Mike Hutchinson is speaking right now
Thank you Ms. Ravitch. I’ve been thinking about you this whole time. Mike Hutchinson is a hero. The students and families are inspirational. The board members who are kowtowing to investors and donors as opposed to vulnerable families will not go down well in history.
Agreed re: Mike Hutchinson. Brilliant, persuasive, articulate, dead on again and again and again.
In other news:
“It’s your duty, my beauty”
Kinda says it all, doesn’t it? This one phrase utterly reveals the character of the one who said it.
Samantha Pal, speaking right now, is my hero!!!
Such young ones gives me hope for the future!!!
Ditto for Ms. Natalie Gallegos-Chavez!!!
cx: Such young ones give me hope for the future!
We have bombarded the board with every piece of logic and data that we could come up with. It’s like dealing with anti-vaxxers. They know we are right, but their cognitive dissonance kicks in, and as soon as that happens, they point to their list of “comparison” school districts, like Stockton, to justify what they are doing. Immediately, their brain feels warm and fuzzy again and all is right with the world. Interestingly, not one representative from Stockton showed up to praise their 40-50 school tally. “Hey, Oakland, we have 40 schools stuffed to the brim and it’s awesome!” Said no one. Ever.
Samantha Pal is a kid. And she’s the voice of reason on this board.
YES,It would take a heart of stone
not to be moved by the student voices.
They may blame the board for not being
moved, but placing culpability where
it belongs requires recognizing the
LACK of board “agency” to effect
meaningful change.
Enter the the State’s Local Control Funding
Formula. (LCFF) allocates funding to school
districts based on their average daily
attendance—the average number of students
in class each day throughout the school year.
OUSD is compelled, in the next two years,
to reduce a $12.3 million budget deficit
driven by the California district’s
declining enrollment.
A decline of more than 15,000 students
over the past 20 years, because of
declining birth rates, the pandemic and
the growth in charter schools, according
to district data, has reduced funding.
The Oakland City Council asked California Gov.
Gavin Newsom and the state Legislature to use
the budget surplus to forgive the district’s
state debts and revise state funding laws.
“With a $20 billion-plus budget surplus in
California, this issue could be remedied today,”
Oakland Councilwoman Carroll Fife.
The district has faced a dire financial
situation before. The state placed it
under the control of a state administrator
in 2003 when it became insolvent. The district
emerged from receivership in 2009, but its
financial decisions are still reviewed by a
county trustee. And it’s still paying off a
$100 million loan with interest from the state,
according to the Oakland City Council.
As long as LCFF stands, and enrollment
declines, what will change?
During the period of Oakland schools being placed under state control, the state placed Broadie administrators in charge, one after another, who closed schools, opened charters, expanded administrative overhead, and paid themselves handsomely. Do the children of Oakland matter?
I’m almost afraid to ask, but what was the board’s decision?