As we have communicated previously, the school board is considering a policy put forth by Director Harris, Board Policy 6006 (previously called the “System of Schools Policy”), which we believe is intended to be the legislative embodiment of GO Public Schools’ 1Oakland campaign – a transfer of District resources to charter schools. Several board members have sought to assure us that that is NOT the intent of BP 6006, yet the Board is planning to vote on proposed changes to the language this Wednesday that will leave the door wide open for the transfer of OUSD facilities, revenue, and enrollment to the charter industry.

In an effort to take some members of the Board at their word that BP 6006 is actually an effort to assure excellent schools for ALL Oakland students, we have worked with a group of community allies to craft amendments to 6006.  It is our belief that whether the Board incorporates these common-sense amendments or not will tell us what’s really going on here: does the Board have the integrity to pass a policy that works toward accomplishing their stated goal, or are they using feel-good rhetoric to once again disguise their actual political intent.

Our letter to the Board is below, and our proposed changes to BP 6006 are here. Please take a moment to email the Board asking them to incorporate these changes into BP 6006 before they vote on Wednesday. You can find their emails here.