Futures Elementary Faces Mass Layoffs

Originally posted on the Ella Baker Center blog:

"When they say anything say 'why is it?'

Class is in session 'til the teacher gets a pink slip

Forty to a class, no wonder we delinquent

Half the school district never make to commencement"

-Blue Scholars, "No Rest for the Weary"

As we witness the United States military begin to fire missiles on the people of yet another foreign nation, budget cuts continue to wreak havoc at home. This month, the Oakland Unified School District sent out layoff notices to 538 teachers — 22% of the teaching staff.   But what does that actually mean?  As some teachers will tell you, “It is not about us losing our jobs. It is about students losing hope in their own future.”

Take the case of Futures Elementary in East Oakland (where I have been assisting on a campaign to challenge the layoffs). Before 2007 it was Lockwood Elementary, which suffered from violence, drug-dealing, eight principals in eight years, and incredibly high teacher turnover.  Since it transformed into Futures four years ago, it’s become a success story.  Not only have test scores risen, but the teachers, staff, and parents have collaborated to create a nurturing environment where all of the kids can grow.

One parent said, “My five year old son is terrified of police.  When he sees a police car, he sits back in his seat.  But once he walks through the doors of Futures, he will talk and shake hands with the campus police officer.”   When I visited Futures, I was astounded by the amount of care and learning that they’d created.  I witnessed students volunteering to tie each other’s shoes and making paintings about how much they loved their school.  I saw kindergartners sit in a circle on the floor practicing mindfulness.  One student raised her hand to express her “loving kindness,” which she shared with her peers duck-duck-goose style, tapping each of them on their head.

Oakland’s current budget plans would destroy all of this.

The district-wide layoffs are determined by seniority. The last hired is the first fired.  Because all of the Futures teachers are relatively new to the district, 100% of them received layoff notices. To paraphrase a former Lockwood Elementary school student, “How can you expect us to function in a school when there’s a new staff—with new rules—every year?”  Speaking also about the teacher-layoffs he’s currently facing as a high school student, he added, “Honestly, I don’t want to come back to a school where I’m not going to know the teachers anymore.”

Parents, though, are starting to organize. Seniority-based lay-offs are not the only way to go.  Districts will skip over high-need teachers  such as those who teach special ed.  There is also a clause in the California Ed Code that says disproportionate layoffs are unconstitutional because they deny children their right to equal and equitable education. Parents and the ACLU won a lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified earlier this year on these very grounds.  The story is by no means over.

With these budget cuts, we’re witnessing the school to prison pipeline in action, and it’s up to us to make that clear.  Parents will tell you that if you shut down and disrupt the education of their children, you’re only setting the stage for more incarceration further down the road.  Instead, we should be dedicating more funding, especially to preschool and elementary school. It is at these early ages when children form their relationship to the institutions and society around them.  An investment in them at these early ages pays back a thousand fold down the road.

When so many of our public schools are failing children, it’s schools like Futures that are on the front lines providing the hope and care children need to reach the potential that is inside them.  Now is the time to stand up to protect their future. Sign the petition to let the California public vote on tax extensions, which, if passed, would minimize the worst of the budget cuts.

Books not bars.

Schools not jails.