Here we are almost 6 months on from the Lakeview Sit-In. The school has now been turned into offices and at least one-fifth of the former students of the 5 closed elementary schools have left the district. Many of the ones that have stayed are now being taught in portables. Clearly we did not achieve our major goals, even though now the Administration will think twice about closing more schools. This article tries to capture some of the positives and negatives of the school closure struggle in order to glean lessons for us today and going forward. They are just the reflections of one person. So please contribute your thoughts too. It is imperative that we all collectively reflect, struggle, and keep our schools open for students.
Lessons from the Lakeview Sit-In
By N. Finch
Editor’s Note: This was written by a member of the Education Committee of Occupy Oakland which co-organized the Sit-In with parents and teachers of the 5 schools.
We sat-in at Lakeview Elementary June 15th but the seeds for our People’s School had been planted much earlier. Beginning in September, 2011, parents, teachers, and students from the 5 schools slated for closure fought to keep their schools open. Clearly the main surge of struggle was leading up to the October 26th vote, but beyond then
Lakeview Teaches
Sometimes deep and poignant struggle is hard to capture in words. But when someone is able to it helps keep the transformative moment alive in our hearts and pushes us on to the next upsurge. Thankfully this reflection by a key participant of the Lakeview Sit-In truly revives what we felt during the 18 whirlwind [...]
Reply to OUSD from the Lakeview Sit-In and People’s School
The Lakeview Sit-in lasted for 18 days from June 15th to July 3rd, ending in an arrest of a parent and a former student. The school board published a statement regarding the sit-in on June 22nd in an attempt to subdue the negative public attention they were receiving from the Oakland community in support of [...]