| West Oakland Education Innovation Zone
“An Initiative to Revitalize West Oakland Schools”
What is the West Oakland Education Brain Trust?
 The West Oakland Education Brain Trust (WOEBT) was convened in 2009 by Jumoke Hodge (left photo), District 3 OUSD School Board Member, to ensure thesuccess of students attending West Oakland public schools; to support a healthy, vibrant and viable West Oakland community through education and wraparound services; and to build on the assets of West Oakland children and youth, families, and community members.
Our 30+ members represent community-based organizations, churches, educators, Oakland Unified School District, parents, city leaders, other elected officials, and governmental agencies from a cross sector of providers in housing, health, education, public safety, and philanthropy. We are committed to bold action to transform and improve our West Oakland public schools, and community services. The WOEBT developed the West Oakland Education Innovation Zone in an effort to begin to revitalize West Oakland schools.
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West Oakland Education Brain Trust Objectives - Ensure quality public schools in West Oakland
- Ensure the success of students attending West Oakland public schools
- Support a healthy, vibrant and viable West Oakland community through education and wraparound services
- Build on the assets of West Oakland children and youth, families, and community members
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Vision for West Oakland Public Schools
- Safe, beautiful neighborhood schools
- Culturally-relevant curriculum and instructional approaches
- Effective teachers in every classroom
- Strong leadership at every school
- Connected, continuum of services and support for children, families, and community
- Ongoing, meaningful community inclusion in decision-making
- Schools and services that honor history and address gentrification
- Capacity to prepare West Oakland children and youth for success in college, career, and life
- We want all West Oakland students to have quality public school options within their neighborhood and for families to choose to send their children to these schools.
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Geographic Areas
The West Oakland Education Brain Trust intends to transform and improve public education across West Oakland, including the two high schools, two middle schools and five elementary schools in our neighborhoods. PJC’s primary focus is the Prescott area of West Oakland, also called the Lower Bottom. Our zip codes are 94607, 94608, 94609. Our parameters include 3rd Street over to West Street, the Army Base, and 980.
 
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We envision an Education Innovation Zone that unites community-based agencies and organizations and leads the development of a comprehensive community plan that takes responsibility for providing critical social, emotional, health, arts, community and recreational services and opportunities to children from the moment they are born to the point when they reach adulthood, to their families, and to the larger community.
This zone would provide excellent pre-kindergarten development and education, create a powerful and diverse portfolio of k-12 integrated and aligned schools that empowers every child to attend and be successful in a four-year college, and then support the children through the post-secondary years to a successful career and life.
Within the zone, West Oakland public schools would be part of a comprehensive wraparound support system, in alignment with the Community Schools model where children and their families receive the services and supports they need. Schools would be community hubs where people come for social and recreational opportunities but also for vital services in health and wellness, housing and job support, legal services, financial assistance, counseling and therapy, educational opportunities, and many more.
This zone would educate, empower, and partner with families as advocates for quality education. We believe that true economic, civic, and social revitalization in West Oakland requires a school system that partners effectively with community to take full responsibility for raising and educating children to their highest potential.
The vision we have for West Oakland is being realized in another diverse and powerful community across the country, a community that has many parallels to Oakland - Harlem, New York. WOEBT has been looking at the Harlem Children Zone (HCZ) as a model for achieving our vision. The Harlem Children’s Zone has achieved national notoriety with its intergenerational approach to ending poverty in Harlem.
In a 2007 campaign speech, President Barack Obama publicly praised the organization, calling it an “all-encompassing, all-hands-on-deck anti-poverty effort that is literally saving a generation of children in a neighborhood where they were never supposed to have a chance.” The federal government has put forward the Promise Neighborhoods grant program to replicate the Harlem Children’s Zone in 20 cities across the country. By coming together, West Oakland has a great opportunity to bring those resources to support West Oakland children and families.
West Oakland Education Brain Trust’s goal is to create the West Oakland Education Innovation Zone, as a replication of the Harlem Children’s Zone. WOEBT’s goal is to adopt HCZ’s cradle-to-college approach to educating and raising West Oakland children and truly revitalize our community. (see information about HCZ below)
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Severe Declining Enrollment
West Oakland currently has 8 public schools – 7 managed by the district and 1 charter middle school. All the district public schools in West Oakland have experienced dramatic declines in enrollment – most are now serving fewer than 300 students. Schools like PLACE at Prescott served 500 students just five years ago and now serves 200. The McClymonds campus that serves 400 students today, served 900 students five years ago.
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Why does Enrollment Matter? Schools are funded by the state based on the number of students enrolled. If a school gets too small, the money available for providing the services our children need shrinks. OUSD leadership has been clear that West Oakland’s schools are not sustainable to keep open because they are too small. This year, Martin Luther King Elementary Schools was slated to be closed, but the community insisted the school remain open until the district had a stronger alternative for families. MLK remains open, but OUSD leadership has announced that they will close up to 30 schools district-wide in the next two years because of the severe budget cuts. For next year alone, OUSD will cut $85 million after making $25 million this year and significant cuts last year. The state predicts the budget situation will be bad until at least 2013.
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Where did the children go?
City demographic information tells us there are fewer school-aged children in West Oakland than there was five years ago. OUSD estimates that there are at least 3,447 school age children living within West Oakland. 1,590 currently attend district public schools in West Oakland. 442 attend charter public schools. 1,465 attend district public schools outside of West Oakland. This figure does not include Bunche since it is a continuation school that serves students from across Oakland. The school district’s analysis tells us that more than half of the school-aged children in West Oakland choose either district public schools outside of West Oakland or choose charter public schools.
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Why are students leaving?
OUSD data shows that on average, students choosing schools outside of West Oakland perform higher academically than students remaining in West Oakland. This is not a sign of a strong portfolio of public schools. The state’s minimum score on the API (Academic Performance Index) for quality schools is 800. While there have been gains at some of the schools, there is not one public school in West Oakland with an 800 score. In fact, with the exception of KIPP, a charter public school, all of our West Oakland district schools remain under 700. While we understand that there is a lot more to a quality school than state test scores, we also understand that student performance matters to families, and many of the West Oakland families are choosing outside of West Oakland.
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 What is the district’s plan to improve West Oakland schools? If these trends continue, more West Oakland schools could face the threat of closure due to low enrollment, low test scores, and lack of funding. In fact, a district leader informed members of the Brain Trust that the district could not sustain the small schools in West Oakland and that OUSD would probably be talking about closing PLACE at Prescott next year. District leaders’ strategies to improve West Oakland public schools include continuing to support class-size reduction, math coaching, school improvement coaching and summer intervention programs. Because of budget cuts, today, OUSD has even less capacity to support school improvement in West Oakland than before.
School/
Facility |
Enrollment
05-06 |
Enrollment
09-10 |
% Students below basic English 08-09 |
% Students proficient or advanced in English 08-09 |
% Students below basic Math 08-09 |
% Students proficient in Math 08-09 |
API Score 08-09 |
| Hoover |
377 |
310 |
42 |
23 |
32 |
47 |
672 |
| PLACE @ Prescott |
466 |
210 |
41 |
30 |
40 |
33 |
652 |
| MLK |
379 |
229 |
31 |
23 |
46 |
28 |
644 (2008) |
| Lafayette |
358 |
272 |
46 |
20 |
30 |
41 |
664 |
| WOMS |
379 |
160 |
37 |
26 |
34 |
43 |
698 |
| KIPP |
221 |
275 |
|
|
|
|
|
| BEST (closing) |
315 |
110 |
81 |
6 |
100 |
0 |
429 |
| EXCEL |
350 |
299 |
55 |
13 |
83 |
4 |
544 |
| Bunche |
235 |
258 |
92 |
0 |
94 |
0 |
no API |
Back to topHow do we achieve our vision?
We believe that the West Oakland community must organize and develop a plan to bring additional resources and create the conditions to support high performing neighborhood public schools for west Oakland students. We believe that our public schools lack the fundamental conditions that are necessary for high-quality schools. As a group, we reviewed research about high-performing schools serving high-poverty communities (The Turnaround Challenge from Mass Insight). These successful 90-90-90 schools (schools serving students that are 90 percent low socioeconomic status, 90 percent minority, and 90 percent proficient in reading and math) across the country needed specific conditions to achieve high-performance – conditions our West Oakland schools do not have: readiness to learn, readiness to teach, and readiness to act. We are taking ACTION!
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ACTION!
Prescott-Joseph Center has adopted the Preparatory Leadership Academy for Cultural Excellence (PLACE) @ Prescott Elementary School!
As part of the WOEBT efforts to revitalize West Oakland schools, Washington Burns, MD, Executive Director of the Prescott-Joseph Center, and WOEBT members are moving forward to address several facility issues at PLACE, as well as investigating the possibility of re-opening the Child Development Center, and bringing in new programs and services. High on the priority list is acquiring and building a new kindergarten play structure. The kindergarten play structure has been closed (photo below). With community support, a new structure will be built in May 2010.
Back to topNear Future Projects for PLACE @ Prescott:- Youth Chorus
- Friends of Prescott Elementary School
- Gardening program
- Pre-Kindergarten classes in Campbell Village
- Transportation to kindergarten classes
- Parenting classes
- Sound system for auditorium
- And so much more…
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WCheck back often to see when the next Town Hall Meeting will be...
- Learn about the plans for creating the West Oakland Education Innovation Zone
- Learn how you can be part of the planning process
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West Oakland Brain Trust
West Oakland Education Innovation Zone
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