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"content": "\u003cp>For the first time in state history, child care centers in California had to test their drinking water for possible lead contamination, and preliminary results show about a quarter of those that reported results contained unsafe levels of lead, according to data recently reported by state regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the nearly 6,900 centers whose results have been disclosed, almost 1,700 had lead levels that exceeded 5 parts per billion (ppb) — the state’s allowable limit for child care centers. Of those, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/05/1-4-california-child-care-centers-found-have-alarming-levels\">13 had lead levels above 500 ppb\u003c/a>, including four in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>La Petite Academy in San Diego reported the highest levels of lead — 11,300 ppb — of any child care center in the state. That’s more than 2,200 times higher than what California allows, and comes close to some of the highest levels detected \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5353852/#:~:text=In%20the%20wake%20of%20the,23%2C%20100%20%CE%BCg%2FL.\">during the catastrophic water crisis in Flint, Michigan\u003c/a>, nearly a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The facility has since gotten rid of two drinking fountains with the highest lead samples and found its remaining water sources safe after retesting them, said Joanna Cline, spokesperson for the center.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Susan Little, senior advocate, Environmental Working Group\"]‘What’s so tragic about this is that this testing is not only an indicator of existing problems, but it also is an indicator of what could have been going on for decades in the drinking water in these centers throughout the state.’[/pullquote]The results indicate that the young children at those centers have been drinking lead-contaminated water for years, which is particularly worrisome because their bodies can absorb significantly more lead —\u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health#:~:text=Young%20children%20are%20particularly%20vulnerable%20to%20lead%20poisoning%20because%20they,adults%20from%20a%20given%20source.\"> up to five times as much\u003c/a> — than those of adults, said Susan Little, a senior advocate with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/05/1-4-california-child-care-centers-found-have-alarming-levels\">Environmental Working Group\u003c/a>, the nonprofit that analyzed the test results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s so tragic about this is that this testing is not only an indicator of existing problems, but it also is an indicator of what could have been going on for decades in the drinking water in these centers throughout the state,” Little told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lead is a toxic metal found throughout the environment that can enter drinking water from corroded pipes, and has been found to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/children.htm\">harm children’s nervous systems and brain development\u003c/a> if ingested in highly concentrated amounts. Exposure to lead — even at low levels — has been linked to developmental delays and cognition and behavioral problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those reasons, the \u003ca href=\"https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/1/e20161493/52600/Prevention-of-Childhood-Lead-Toxicity?_ga=2.241873154.1051551116.1684909652-1546072125.1684909652\">American Academy of Pediatrics in 2016 recommended\u003c/a> that lead concentrations in drinking water at schools not exceed 1 ppb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EWG’s study stems from a state law passed in 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2370\">AB 2370\u003c/a>, that required all licensed child care centers located in buildings constructed before 2010 to test every faucet for lead contamination by January of this year, and then retest the water every five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the law, the state would order any facilities with water exceeding the limit of 5 ppb to reduce lead levels to as close to zero as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The standards for child care centers are higher than those at elementary, middle and high schools, which don’t have to test every tap and are not required to replace fixtures or notify parents unless lead levels exceed 15 ppb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Chris Holden, who authored AB 2370, introduced a bill this year that would require schools to meet the same standards as child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By aligning childcare and school lead testing standards we can protect children from the toxic effects of lead,” Holden said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care centers had a two-year window to have their drinking water tested for lead contamination. But so far, months past the deadline, hundreds have still not reported results, according to EWG’s analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11950822\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5.png\" alt=\"A bar chart showing 13 child care centers in California with the highest lead levels.\" width=\"1640\" height=\"1032\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5.png 1640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5-800x503.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5-1020x642.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5-160x101.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5-1536x967.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1640px) 100vw, 1640px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little said she expects the number of facilities with unhealthy lead exposure to grow as more test results come in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It appears this is the tip of the iceberg,” she said, noting that licensed family child care homes in California, which outnumber child care centers, are not even required to test their water for lead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little advises parents who send their children to family child care homes to encourage their providers to install newer faucets and lead-removing filters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents who send their children to a center \u003ca href=\"https://static.ewg.org/upload/pdf/California_statewide_childcare_testing_results_as_of_April_23_2023_-_Statewide_results_as_of_4.27.23.pdf?_gl=1*1wkx0xy*_gcl_au*MTQyNzQ2MDgzNy4xNjg0OTA2Mzk4*_ga*MTEwNTE3ODc1OS4xNjg0OTA2Mzk4*_ga_CS21GC49KT*MTY4NDkwOTY0OS4yLjEuMTY4NDkxMTY2MS4wLjAuMA..&_ga=2.69131411.367003707.1684906398-1105178759.1684906398\">can look up lead-level results (PDF)\u003c/a> in EWG’s database and, if the results from that facility are missing, press them to test their water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the center has been found to have an unsafe level of lead in its water, Little encourages parents to ask providers for details on what they have done to lower those levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kumiko Inui, director of ABC Preschool in San Francisco, whose lead levels ranked fourth highest in the study, said that result was due to an outdoor sink that hadn’t been used in years and has since been shut off. But she said other fixtures at the Japanese-English bilingual preschool were below 5 ppb, and that the school uses a filter in its kitchen sink and supplies bottled water to students.[aside postID=news_11926006 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-15-at-8.16.23-PM-1200x750-1-1020x638.png']“I’m disappointed to get this kind of attention,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica Griswold, principal of St. Catherine of Siena in Martinez, which ranked fifth in the statewide study, said high levels of lead were found in water from a sink in the director’s office that similarly hadn’t been used for several years. As a precaution, she said, students now get their drinking water from dispensers instead of fountains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Kidango Linda Vista in San José, which had the 11th highest lead levels, said the center replaced problematic fixtures and supply lines and retested the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are pleased to report that each classroom at Linda Vista now has alternate fixtures that dispense water containing zero lead particles,” the spokesperson, Mario Fierro-Hernandez, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tiffany Teele, the director of the Bunker Hill Parents Participation Nursery School in San Mateo, which ranked 13th in lead levels, said an outdoor faucet that was only used for washing hands was the problematic fixture. The school has since replaced the faucet, retested the water and has been cleared, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For the first time in state history, child care centers in California had to test their drinking water for possible lead contamination, and preliminary results show about a quarter of those that reported results contained unsafe levels of lead, according to data recently reported by state regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the nearly 6,900 centers whose results have been disclosed, almost 1,700 had lead levels that exceeded 5 parts per billion (ppb) — the state’s allowable limit for child care centers. Of those, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/05/1-4-california-child-care-centers-found-have-alarming-levels\">13 had lead levels above 500 ppb\u003c/a>, including four in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>La Petite Academy in San Diego reported the highest levels of lead — 11,300 ppb — of any child care center in the state. That’s more than 2,200 times higher than what California allows, and comes close to some of the highest levels detected \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5353852/#:~:text=In%20the%20wake%20of%20the,23%2C%20100%20%CE%BCg%2FL.\">during the catastrophic water crisis in Flint, Michigan\u003c/a>, nearly a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The facility has since gotten rid of two drinking fountains with the highest lead samples and found its remaining water sources safe after retesting them, said Joanna Cline, spokesperson for the center.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘What’s so tragic about this is that this testing is not only an indicator of existing problems, but it also is an indicator of what could have been going on for decades in the drinking water in these centers throughout the state.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The results indicate that the young children at those centers have been drinking lead-contaminated water for years, which is particularly worrisome because their bodies can absorb significantly more lead —\u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health#:~:text=Young%20children%20are%20particularly%20vulnerable%20to%20lead%20poisoning%20because%20they,adults%20from%20a%20given%20source.\"> up to five times as much\u003c/a> — than those of adults, said Susan Little, a senior advocate with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/05/1-4-california-child-care-centers-found-have-alarming-levels\">Environmental Working Group\u003c/a>, the nonprofit that analyzed the test results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s so tragic about this is that this testing is not only an indicator of existing problems, but it also is an indicator of what could have been going on for decades in the drinking water in these centers throughout the state,” Little told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lead is a toxic metal found throughout the environment that can enter drinking water from corroded pipes, and has been found to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/children.htm\">harm children’s nervous systems and brain development\u003c/a> if ingested in highly concentrated amounts. Exposure to lead — even at low levels — has been linked to developmental delays and cognition and behavioral problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those reasons, the \u003ca href=\"https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/1/e20161493/52600/Prevention-of-Childhood-Lead-Toxicity?_ga=2.241873154.1051551116.1684909652-1546072125.1684909652\">American Academy of Pediatrics in 2016 recommended\u003c/a> that lead concentrations in drinking water at schools not exceed 1 ppb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EWG’s study stems from a state law passed in 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2370\">AB 2370\u003c/a>, that required all licensed child care centers located in buildings constructed before 2010 to test every faucet for lead contamination by January of this year, and then retest the water every five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the law, the state would order any facilities with water exceeding the limit of 5 ppb to reduce lead levels to as close to zero as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The standards for child care centers are higher than those at elementary, middle and high schools, which don’t have to test every tap and are not required to replace fixtures or notify parents unless lead levels exceed 15 ppb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Chris Holden, who authored AB 2370, introduced a bill this year that would require schools to meet the same standards as child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By aligning childcare and school lead testing standards we can protect children from the toxic effects of lead,” Holden said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care centers had a two-year window to have their drinking water tested for lead contamination. But so far, months past the deadline, hundreds have still not reported results, according to EWG’s analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11950822\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5.png\" alt=\"A bar chart showing 13 child care centers in California with the highest lead levels.\" width=\"1640\" height=\"1032\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5.png 1640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5-800x503.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5-1020x642.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5-160x101.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8UZvG-california-child-care-centers-that-reported-lead-levels-above-500-ppb-5-1536x967.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1640px) 100vw, 1640px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little said she expects the number of facilities with unhealthy lead exposure to grow as more test results come in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It appears this is the tip of the iceberg,” she said, noting that licensed family child care homes in California, which outnumber child care centers, are not even required to test their water for lead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little advises parents who send their children to family child care homes to encourage their providers to install newer faucets and lead-removing filters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents who send their children to a center \u003ca href=\"https://static.ewg.org/upload/pdf/California_statewide_childcare_testing_results_as_of_April_23_2023_-_Statewide_results_as_of_4.27.23.pdf?_gl=1*1wkx0xy*_gcl_au*MTQyNzQ2MDgzNy4xNjg0OTA2Mzk4*_ga*MTEwNTE3ODc1OS4xNjg0OTA2Mzk4*_ga_CS21GC49KT*MTY4NDkwOTY0OS4yLjEuMTY4NDkxMTY2MS4wLjAuMA..&_ga=2.69131411.367003707.1684906398-1105178759.1684906398\">can look up lead-level results (PDF)\u003c/a> in EWG’s database and, if the results from that facility are missing, press them to test their water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the center has been found to have an unsafe level of lead in its water, Little encourages parents to ask providers for details on what they have done to lower those levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kumiko Inui, director of ABC Preschool in San Francisco, whose lead levels ranked fourth highest in the study, said that result was due to an outdoor sink that hadn’t been used in years and has since been shut off. But she said other fixtures at the Japanese-English bilingual preschool were below 5 ppb, and that the school uses a filter in its kitchen sink and supplies bottled water to students.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I’m disappointed to get this kind of attention,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica Griswold, principal of St. Catherine of Siena in Martinez, which ranked fifth in the statewide study, said high levels of lead were found in water from a sink in the director’s office that similarly hadn’t been used for several years. As a precaution, she said, students now get their drinking water from dispensers instead of fountains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Kidango Linda Vista in San José, which had the 11th highest lead levels, said the center replaced problematic fixtures and supply lines and retested the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are pleased to report that each classroom at Linda Vista now has alternate fixtures that dispense water containing zero lead particles,” the spokesperson, Mario Fierro-Hernandez, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tiffany Teele, the director of the Bunker Hill Parents Participation Nursery School in San Mateo, which ranked 13th in lead levels, said an outdoor faucet that was only used for washing hands was the problematic fixture. The school has since replaced the faucet, retested the water and has been cleared, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "'We Had a Mission': Longtime Richmond Teacher Reflects on Once-Stellar High School",
"headTitle": "‘We Had a Mission’: Longtime Richmond Teacher Reflects on Once-Stellar High School | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n any given day of the week, you can find retired teacher Mike Peritz on the campus of John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond. Peritz is 79 years old now, and he still speaks with the enthusiasm and optimism he had when he was a 24-year-old rookie on the founding faculty of the school back in 1967.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have to say that in my 35 years of teaching, I don’t think I ever had a bad day,” said Peritz. “I always had a good time and I tried to make sure everyone else had a good time. I still believe that enhances learning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Mike Peritz, retired teacher, John F. Kennedy High School\"]‘Everything that was there had a certain creativity, a certain flexibility, a certain intention.’[/pullquote]More than two decades after he officially retired, Peritz is still on a mission to lift the sagging fortunes of a once stellar inner city high school where he taught English, social sciences and a pioneering food services training program. He isn’t paid anymore, but Peritz is still at Kennedy High as a volunteer, mentor, advocate, educational guru and fundraiser.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950576\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950576\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with glasses in a black hoodie talks to a teenager wearing a gray hoodie with wired ear buds in his ear in a classroom.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Retired teacher Mike Peritz speaks with Jeffrey Lopez, one of the student shop assistants, in Benjamin Carpenter’s welding class at John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond on May 18, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Mike Peritz is Mr. Kennedy,” said Kibby Kleiman, the principal at Pinole Valley High School, who spent nearly 20 years of his own career previously at Kennedy High. “If anyone deserves credit for keeping the heartbeat and legacy of Kennedy High alive, then it’s him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, what is that legacy?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A legacy of innovation and integration\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Back in 1967, what was then called the Richmond Unified School District opened a brand-new campus designed as a model of innovation. They called it John F. Kennedy High to honor the young president who was assassinated four years earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kennedy High was built like a college campus — each department had its own building and opened out to the fresh air. The school was designed for flexible scheduling, team-teaching and big chunks of unstructured time that students could use to work on projects. It was a model that encouraged students to use their non-classroom time wisely and to take responsibility for their own learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950572\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950572\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A look down a hallway with person accessing a locker in the distance.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Letters covering windows in a hallway spell out ‘Respect’ at John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond, on May 18, 2023. On the other side of the hall, a school employee removes graffiti. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Everything that was there had a certain creativity, a certain flexibility, a certain intention,” recalls Peritz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something else was happening too. In what might be considered a special moment in history, \u003ca href=\"https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft9h4nb6db&chunk.id=d0e132&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e132&brand=ucpress\">Kennedy High was fully integrated by race and class\u003c/a> after a vote by the RUSD school board in 1968. A voluntary bussing program brought kids from all over the district to attend Kennedy. The children of professors went to school with the kids of pipefitters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We might have been the only school in the country where affluent white parents schemed of ways to get their kids into a school that had lots of minorities because we had some great programs and very good teachers,” said another retired teacher, \u003ca href=\"http://www.chssa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/David-Dansk.pdf\">David Dansky (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dansky led Kennedy High’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.speechanddebate.org/hall-of-fame/\">nationally ranked speech and debate program\u003c/a>. His graduating seniors were routinely admitted to some of the top colleges and universities in the country, including Harvard, Stanford, MIT and the UC campuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950690\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950690\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A vintage photo from a page in a yearbook of a white man with glasses wearing a tie, white shirt and vest. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of teacher Mike Peritz in a John F. Kennedy High School yearbook from the 1970s. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Peritz, a champion of \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/pubs/web/95024-2.asp\">vocational education\u003c/a>, led the school’s Food Education and Service Training program known as FEAST. It was supported by federal and local grants, as well as the \u003ca href=\"https://ggra.org/our-mission/\">Golden Gate Restaurant Association\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To support the FEAST program, the school building’s architect designed Kennedy with a 24-seat restaurant laid out in a classroom with a specially designed kitchen. The FEAST program taught students the details of planning, cooking and serving meals, preparing and writing menus, shopping, shipping, sanitation, business English as well as accounting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were so successful with our training program that by 1975, 100% of my senior students had some kind of job before they went out into the world,” said Peritz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kennedy High’s FEAST program became a national model, attracting visitors from around the country seeking to replicate its success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950573\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950573\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg\" alt='A display of awards and trophies. One award in particular reads \"Scholastic Journalist Award.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">School trophies sit in a glass case in the office at John F. Kennedy High School. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Overall, Kennedy High proved that a racially integrated inner city high school with superb academics, athletics and vocational education could succeed. The school had sufficient funding and plenty of support from parents in the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is a word that Peritz and his teaching peers at Kennedy High use to describe that period when everything seemed possible at the school. They invoke the myth surrounding President John F. Kennedy: \u003ca href=\"https://politicaldictionary.com/words/camelot/\">Camelot\u003c/a>. It refers to the mythical court of King Arthur as compared to the young President Kennedy’s administration, both periods of optimism and opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Camelot is really a metaphor for perfection or idealism,” said Peritz. “The students who came together and weren’t supposed to get along, well, everybody was uplifted by each other. So that was our Camelot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But anyone familiar with the history of public education in California knows that that period of optimism and innovation would not last.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A challenging decade\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Starting in the late 1970s, a series of cascading events over a decade slowly changed Kennedy High and not for the better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1978, California voters approved Proposition 13, which cut property taxes thereby \u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/prop-13/stories/education/\">decimating a main funding source for public schools\u003c/a>. As local property tax revenues dried up, a long series of teacher and staff cutbacks began. The school district also eliminated the voluntary bussing program that brought students in from affluent neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another economic earthquake occurred between 1980 and 1983: \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelbernick/2018/08/28/after-plant-closings-a-labor-day-story/?sh=25b7a34725b3\">a loss of manufacturing jobs\u003c/a> that sustained working class African American and Latino families. In conjunction, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.governor.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt336/files/documents/20200819-gilles-bissonnette-new-jim-crow-exerpt.pdf\">crack epidemic swept through neighborhoods (PDF)\u003c/a> like South Richmond. President Ronald Reagan called it “an uncontrolled fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the late 1980s, student enrollment in Richmond public schools declined as the baby boom kids graduated. And many more affluent parents, often white, stopped sending their kids to Kennedy High, instead using their privilege and knowledge of the system to transfer their children to El Cerrito High. Waking up to the fact that everything they had built was in jeopardy, Peritz and other teachers wrote an open letter to parents residing within Kennedy High’s boundaries in hopes of staunching the exodus. The letter, written in 1987, told parents:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>This year we are delighted that five students have been accepted to Stanford, three to Harvard, three to M.I.T., many to Cal and others to Princeton, Cornell, Yale, UCLA, et al…If positive learning were not taking place at JFK right now, these successes in educating our college bound would not have happened. Stanford and Harvard demand performance, not myth.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>But their plea didn’t work. A few years later, the district, now known as West Contra Costa County Unified School District, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/04/20/california-school-district-files-bankruptcy/3bca06c5-998c-4d6a-b0e3-7d993973412b/\">fell into bankruptcy\u003c/a>. The state stepped in to manage the district. Kennedy High never really recovered. By the end of the 1990s, budget cutbacks, bureaucratic meddling and a demoralized faculty led to the end of the speech and debate and FEAST programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Peritz refuses to give up on Kennedy High\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After his retirement in 2001, Mike Peritz shifted into another gear as a champion for Kennedy High and its feeder schools, many of which serve a population that often could use more support than the district provides. Many students are English-language learners, many families are struggling to make ends meet and test scores are often some of the lowest in the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peritz co-founded the \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/champion-of-richmond-education-1/\">Eagle Foundation\u003c/a> to raise money for Kennedy High. The foundation later folded into a college scholarship program for needy students all over Richmond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2010, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2010/09/08/city-pays-to-keep-three-richmond-schools-open/\">the district threatened to close Kennedy High\u003c/a> due to declining enrollment, Peritz led a community campaign to keep the school open, arguing that it was still a vital institution in South Richmond. (The school remained open after the city of Richmond agreed to give the district approximately $7 million over five years.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is sometimes difficult to keep up with all of Peritz’s projects. In 2013, he \u003ca href=\"https://richmondconfidential.org/2013/11/22/music-is-back-at-kennedy-high-school/\">co-created “the Music at Kennedy Committee”\u003c/a> to revive musical instruction at the school. He conducts semi-regular tours of the school, especially for city leaders, to make sure the community understands what is happening on campus. He also arranges tours for elementary school students to familiarize them with the high school they hopefully will attend. Peritz is also a fierce opponent of charter schools, which he says are expanding within the district at the expense of students in schools like Kennedy High.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We love Mike around here,” said Principal Jarod Scott. “Sometimes you have to be concerned about somebody’s agenda [working inside the school], but with Mike he’s always transparent. He comes to me and says, ‘Here’s what I’d like to do; let me know if it conflicts with what you want.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950574\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950574\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with glasses in a black hoodie talks with a Black man in a collared shirt at a desk with trophies behind them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Retired teacher Mike Peritz speaks with Principal Jarod Scott in the office at John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond on May 18, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the past four years, Peritz has devoted much of his attention to Kennedy High’s welding classes, a key component of \u003ca href=\"https://www.wccusd.net/domain/3066\">the school’s Career Technical Education program\u003c/a>. When a former welding instructor passed away, Peritz led an effort to recruit his replacement. The new teacher, Ben Carpenter, had never taught in public schools before. He said of Peritz, “This guy comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, I’m taking this math class so that I can help your students with the math.’ And I kind of looked at him and was tilting my head like a dog, like what?! What?!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carpenter says Peritz has been a mentor and huge source of support as he’s learned the ropes of teaching at Kennedy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950575\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950575\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with glasses in a black hoodie talks to another white man in a black beanie hat and black hoodie in a welding classroom.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Welding teacher Benjamin Carpenter talks with retired teacher Mike Peritz in the welding classroom at John F. Kennedy High School. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He said, basically, ‘I’m working for you. You tell me what you need,’” said Carpenter, shaking his head at the memory. “Mike is a character. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as dedicated to anything as this guy is to this school in this community and these students. It’s incredible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for what keeps him going long after all of his peers have settled into retirement, Peritz slaps his forearms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a thicker skin than most people,” he said. “You know, same house, same woman, same kids, same car. I try to maintain things and hang with it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He pauses, then adds: “No, seriously speaking. I hang with it because we had a mission when I came here and I’m still flying that mission.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Richard Gonzales is a member of the JFK High Class of 1972 and a retired NPR correspondent.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Retired teacher Mike Peritz reflects on the legacy of John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond. Peritz is 79 years old now and still speaks with the enthusiasm and optimism he had when he was a 24-year-old rookie on the founding faculty of the school back in 1967.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">O\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n any given day of the week, you can find retired teacher Mike Peritz on the campus of John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond. Peritz is 79 years old now, and he still speaks with the enthusiasm and optimism he had when he was a 24-year-old rookie on the founding faculty of the school back in 1967.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have to say that in my 35 years of teaching, I don’t think I ever had a bad day,” said Peritz. “I always had a good time and I tried to make sure everyone else had a good time. I still believe that enhances learning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>More than two decades after he officially retired, Peritz is still on a mission to lift the sagging fortunes of a once stellar inner city high school where he taught English, social sciences and a pioneering food services training program. He isn’t paid anymore, but Peritz is still at Kennedy High as a volunteer, mentor, advocate, educational guru and fundraiser.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950576\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950576\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with glasses in a black hoodie talks to a teenager wearing a gray hoodie with wired ear buds in his ear in a classroom.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/079_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Retired teacher Mike Peritz speaks with Jeffrey Lopez, one of the student shop assistants, in Benjamin Carpenter’s welding class at John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond on May 18, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Mike Peritz is Mr. Kennedy,” said Kibby Kleiman, the principal at Pinole Valley High School, who spent nearly 20 years of his own career previously at Kennedy High. “If anyone deserves credit for keeping the heartbeat and legacy of Kennedy High alive, then it’s him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, what is that legacy?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A legacy of innovation and integration\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Back in 1967, what was then called the Richmond Unified School District opened a brand-new campus designed as a model of innovation. They called it John F. Kennedy High to honor the young president who was assassinated four years earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kennedy High was built like a college campus — each department had its own building and opened out to the fresh air. The school was designed for flexible scheduling, team-teaching and big chunks of unstructured time that students could use to work on projects. It was a model that encouraged students to use their non-classroom time wisely and to take responsibility for their own learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950572\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950572\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A look down a hallway with person accessing a locker in the distance.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/039_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Letters covering windows in a hallway spell out ‘Respect’ at John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond, on May 18, 2023. On the other side of the hall, a school employee removes graffiti. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Everything that was there had a certain creativity, a certain flexibility, a certain intention,” recalls Peritz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something else was happening too. In what might be considered a special moment in history, \u003ca href=\"https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft9h4nb6db&chunk.id=d0e132&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e132&brand=ucpress\">Kennedy High was fully integrated by race and class\u003c/a> after a vote by the RUSD school board in 1968. A voluntary bussing program brought kids from all over the district to attend Kennedy. The children of professors went to school with the kids of pipefitters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We might have been the only school in the country where affluent white parents schemed of ways to get their kids into a school that had lots of minorities because we had some great programs and very good teachers,” said another retired teacher, \u003ca href=\"http://www.chssa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/David-Dansk.pdf\">David Dansky (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dansky led Kennedy High’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.speechanddebate.org/hall-of-fame/\">nationally ranked speech and debate program\u003c/a>. His graduating seniors were routinely admitted to some of the top colleges and universities in the country, including Harvard, Stanford, MIT and the UC campuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950690\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950690\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A vintage photo from a page in a yearbook of a white man with glasses wearing a tie, white shirt and vest. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_JFKHSYearbook_05242023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of teacher Mike Peritz in a John F. Kennedy High School yearbook from the 1970s. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Peritz, a champion of \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/pubs/web/95024-2.asp\">vocational education\u003c/a>, led the school’s Food Education and Service Training program known as FEAST. It was supported by federal and local grants, as well as the \u003ca href=\"https://ggra.org/our-mission/\">Golden Gate Restaurant Association\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To support the FEAST program, the school building’s architect designed Kennedy with a 24-seat restaurant laid out in a classroom with a specially designed kitchen. The FEAST program taught students the details of planning, cooking and serving meals, preparing and writing menus, shopping, shipping, sanitation, business English as well as accounting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were so successful with our training program that by 1975, 100% of my senior students had some kind of job before they went out into the world,” said Peritz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kennedy High’s FEAST program became a national model, attracting visitors from around the country seeking to replicate its success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950573\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950573\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg\" alt='A display of awards and trophies. One award in particular reads \"Scholastic Journalist Award.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/045_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">School trophies sit in a glass case in the office at John F. Kennedy High School. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Overall, Kennedy High proved that a racially integrated inner city high school with superb academics, athletics and vocational education could succeed. The school had sufficient funding and plenty of support from parents in the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is a word that Peritz and his teaching peers at Kennedy High use to describe that period when everything seemed possible at the school. They invoke the myth surrounding President John F. Kennedy: \u003ca href=\"https://politicaldictionary.com/words/camelot/\">Camelot\u003c/a>. It refers to the mythical court of King Arthur as compared to the young President Kennedy’s administration, both periods of optimism and opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Camelot is really a metaphor for perfection or idealism,” said Peritz. “The students who came together and weren’t supposed to get along, well, everybody was uplifted by each other. So that was our Camelot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But anyone familiar with the history of public education in California knows that that period of optimism and innovation would not last.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A challenging decade\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Starting in the late 1970s, a series of cascading events over a decade slowly changed Kennedy High and not for the better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1978, California voters approved Proposition 13, which cut property taxes thereby \u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/prop-13/stories/education/\">decimating a main funding source for public schools\u003c/a>. As local property tax revenues dried up, a long series of teacher and staff cutbacks began. The school district also eliminated the voluntary bussing program that brought students in from affluent neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another economic earthquake occurred between 1980 and 1983: \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelbernick/2018/08/28/after-plant-closings-a-labor-day-story/?sh=25b7a34725b3\">a loss of manufacturing jobs\u003c/a> that sustained working class African American and Latino families. In conjunction, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.governor.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt336/files/documents/20200819-gilles-bissonnette-new-jim-crow-exerpt.pdf\">crack epidemic swept through neighborhoods (PDF)\u003c/a> like South Richmond. President Ronald Reagan called it “an uncontrolled fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the late 1980s, student enrollment in Richmond public schools declined as the baby boom kids graduated. And many more affluent parents, often white, stopped sending their kids to Kennedy High, instead using their privilege and knowledge of the system to transfer their children to El Cerrito High. Waking up to the fact that everything they had built was in jeopardy, Peritz and other teachers wrote an open letter to parents residing within Kennedy High’s boundaries in hopes of staunching the exodus. The letter, written in 1987, told parents:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>This year we are delighted that five students have been accepted to Stanford, three to Harvard, three to M.I.T., many to Cal and others to Princeton, Cornell, Yale, UCLA, et al…If positive learning were not taking place at JFK right now, these successes in educating our college bound would not have happened. Stanford and Harvard demand performance, not myth.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>But their plea didn’t work. A few years later, the district, now known as West Contra Costa County Unified School District, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/04/20/california-school-district-files-bankruptcy/3bca06c5-998c-4d6a-b0e3-7d993973412b/\">fell into bankruptcy\u003c/a>. The state stepped in to manage the district. Kennedy High never really recovered. By the end of the 1990s, budget cutbacks, bureaucratic meddling and a demoralized faculty led to the end of the speech and debate and FEAST programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Peritz refuses to give up on Kennedy High\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After his retirement in 2001, Mike Peritz shifted into another gear as a champion for Kennedy High and its feeder schools, many of which serve a population that often could use more support than the district provides. Many students are English-language learners, many families are struggling to make ends meet and test scores are often some of the lowest in the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peritz co-founded the \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/champion-of-richmond-education-1/\">Eagle Foundation\u003c/a> to raise money for Kennedy High. The foundation later folded into a college scholarship program for needy students all over Richmond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2010, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2010/09/08/city-pays-to-keep-three-richmond-schools-open/\">the district threatened to close Kennedy High\u003c/a> due to declining enrollment, Peritz led a community campaign to keep the school open, arguing that it was still a vital institution in South Richmond. (The school remained open after the city of Richmond agreed to give the district approximately $7 million over five years.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is sometimes difficult to keep up with all of Peritz’s projects. In 2013, he \u003ca href=\"https://richmondconfidential.org/2013/11/22/music-is-back-at-kennedy-high-school/\">co-created “the Music at Kennedy Committee”\u003c/a> to revive musical instruction at the school. He conducts semi-regular tours of the school, especially for city leaders, to make sure the community understands what is happening on campus. He also arranges tours for elementary school students to familiarize them with the high school they hopefully will attend. Peritz is also a fierce opponent of charter schools, which he says are expanding within the district at the expense of students in schools like Kennedy High.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We love Mike around here,” said Principal Jarod Scott. “Sometimes you have to be concerned about somebody’s agenda [working inside the school], but with Mike he’s always transparent. He comes to me and says, ‘Here’s what I’d like to do; let me know if it conflicts with what you want.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950574\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950574\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with glasses in a black hoodie talks with a Black man in a collared shirt at a desk with trophies behind them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/054_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Retired teacher Mike Peritz speaks with Principal Jarod Scott in the office at John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond on May 18, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the past four years, Peritz has devoted much of his attention to Kennedy High’s welding classes, a key component of \u003ca href=\"https://www.wccusd.net/domain/3066\">the school’s Career Technical Education program\u003c/a>. When a former welding instructor passed away, Peritz led an effort to recruit his replacement. The new teacher, Ben Carpenter, had never taught in public schools before. He said of Peritz, “This guy comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, I’m taking this math class so that I can help your students with the math.’ And I kind of looked at him and was tilting my head like a dog, like what?! What?!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carpenter says Peritz has been a mentor and huge source of support as he’s learned the ropes of teaching at Kennedy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950575\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950575\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with glasses in a black hoodie talks to another white man in a black beanie hat and black hoodie in a welding classroom.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/065_KQED_JFKHighSchoolRichmond_05182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Welding teacher Benjamin Carpenter talks with retired teacher Mike Peritz in the welding classroom at John F. Kennedy High School. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He said, basically, ‘I’m working for you. You tell me what you need,’” said Carpenter, shaking his head at the memory. “Mike is a character. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as dedicated to anything as this guy is to this school in this community and these students. It’s incredible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for what keeps him going long after all of his peers have settled into retirement, Peritz slaps his forearms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a thicker skin than most people,” he said. “You know, same house, same woman, same kids, same car. I try to maintain things and hang with it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He pauses, then adds: “No, seriously speaking. I hang with it because we had a mission when I came here and I’m still flying that mission.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Richard Gonzales is a member of the JFK High Class of 1972 and a retired NPR correspondent.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "special-education-gets-modest-gains-in-latest-talks-with-district-says-oakland-teachers-union",
"title": "Special Education Gets 'Modest Gains' in Latest Talks With District, Says Oakland Teachers Union",
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"headTitle": "Special Education Gets ‘Modest Gains’ in Latest Talks With District, Says Oakland Teachers Union | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>On Monday, the Oakland Education Association reached a 90% vote in favor of its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949458/oakland-teachers-strike-ends-as-union-reaches-agreement-with-school-district\">tentative agreement\u003c/a> with the Oakland Unified School District. In the coming weeks, the two groups will vote separately on the proposal, negotiated during a seven-day strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are major gains in some areas, and there’s other areas where we made modest gains, and some areas where we have the status quo,” said Ismael Armendariz, a special education teacher and the union’s president. “But as a package, it is amazing what they accomplished.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agreement includes plans for substantial changes to teachers’ salaries, improvements on classroom conditions, and “common good” proposals such as student housing assistance and programs that benefit students of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also features amendments to special education, but parents and teachers say there is more work to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/oaklandea/status/1660824964633878529?s=46&t=r9Q2R3VlaGIjgJa5ishJag\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We made modest gains,” Armendariz repeated. “But we’re going to center special education going forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the school district serves more than 6,000 students in special education programs, accounting for roughly 17% of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Oakland’s population of students in special education programming continues to grow, the school district has struggled to find enough staff and funding to meet the needs of these students. It has consolidated programming, closing programs in some schools and moving them to others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re piloting a workload model that allows us to think about how we manage our caseloads, so that we can provide all the services to our students and that we’re able to manage that in a way that doesn’t burn teachers out,” Armendariz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950560\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11950560\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut.jpg\" alt='A man in a red T-shirt with dark hair speaks from a podium as large signs behind him read, \"Safe, Stable, Racially Just Schools.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Education Association president Ismael Armendariz, who is also a special education teacher, speaks at the teachers union rally held at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland on May 4, 2023. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, the school district decided to close seven schools due to costs, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911675/they-see-us-as-expendable-oakland-families-of-children-with-disabilities-call-school-closure-plan-discriminatory\">some families with children in special education programs called the plan discriminatory\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of this school year, the district expects to cut at least one classroom for special education students with individualized learning plans from Joaquin Miller Elementary, Manzanita Community School, Bella Vista Elementary, United for Success Academy and Montera Middle School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of \u003cem>next\u003c/em> school year, the school board intends to close some special education programs at Joaquin Miller, Manzanita SEED and Montera Middle School. The district will add new early childhood special education classes at Montclair Elementary and Melrose Leadership Academy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the school district’s Community Advisory Committee are fighting these upcoming closures with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/call-on-ousd-to-stop-expelling-disabled-students-from-schools-to-close-their-programs?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=f5a168c0-e7e0-11ed-9308-716afd1259c7\">petition\u003c/a>. The group also plans to protest with an \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/events/1507997136401647/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A%5b%5d%7D\">art-in at the school board meeting\u003c/a> on May 24.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Ismael Armendariz, special education teacher, OEA president\"]‘For far too long, special education has been siloed and we have been put aside and thought of as second to all the other programming.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monday’s tentative agreement takes a step toward meeting these needs by creating a new joint committee to oversee special education programs and by piloting a one-year program to maintain more equitable workloads for special education professionals, according to Armendariz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think one of the most revolutionary things out of [the agreement] is that now, for the first time, a high-ranking general education administrator has to attend,” he said. “For far too long, special education has been siloed and we have been put aside and thought of as second to all the other programming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coriander Melious is a special education teacher and parent of an eighth grader who has Down syndrome. She said she’s excited that the new committee will include general education teachers and administrators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Real inclusion comes with shifting the culture,” she said. “[It’s] how we as a community view our disabled students and the disabled community as actual members of our community and not this separate section over there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950561\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11950561\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut.jpg\" alt='A little boy in a green T-shirt and a striped sweater wrapped around his wait stands next to a man with a black hoodie on with a back patch that reads, \"Strike for a fair contract.\" Both of their backs face the camera. The two are standing at a picnic bench with neat stacks of juice boxes and snacks for kids.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Parents, teachers and high school students hand out lunch to Oakland Unified students at a ‘solidarity school’ at Dimond Park in Oakland on May 11, 2023. Solidarity schools were run by volunteers during the seven-day teachers’ strike to give parents a safe place to send their children for supervised activities. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other parents and educators think the major win is the new pilot program aiming to balance the workloads of special education professionals. It allows employees to request more support once they reach certain limits, which could include additional compensation or staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than base caseloads purely on the number of students, the program will take into account the specific needs and learning levels of each student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really been a big issue,” said Holly Adler, a member of the union’s bargaining team and a resource specialist. “Teachers haven’t been getting support with high-needs students that are now being mainstreamed.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Coriander Melious, parent and special education teacher\"]‘Real inclusion comes with shifting the culture.’[/pullquote]Not all parents are happy about the “mainstreaming,” which will place more students with special needs in general education classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alan Pursell is the parent of a sixth grader with autism. He said his son performs well in a general education classroom, but still needs time in a smaller, separate classroom to fully thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m worried that if he’s placed in a generalist setting, that he’ll lose all that progress and fall through the cracks,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program to help teachers manage their caseloads conflicts with difficulties in hiring support staff. But these support staff, called paraeducators, are not included in the union and do not benefit from the salary raises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melious said that the low pay means these positions are often left empty, and students lose much-needed support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her daughter was not able to participate in a musical performance because she was unable to learn guitar without a teacher’s aide. Melious said the position had been unfilled for over a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It made me so sad when I realized what was going on,” she said. “She’d just been sitting in there not doing anything, and she’s the only one.”\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside label='More Stories on Education' tag='education']\u003c/span>She wants the district to raise the pay for these positions and hire more staff to support students with additional needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These students are going to be sitting in classrooms not learning,” she said. “They’re just waiting for the class to end. And that’s, like, criminal to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adler said the lack of support staff also affects teachers. In violation of the law, early childhood special education teachers were not getting a lunch break because of the demanding workload. Like Melious, she said higher salaries for support staff would help resolve the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armendariz said the bargaining team will hold the district accountable for lunch breaks moving forward. While he is proud of what the team accomplished overall, he wants to focus on special education more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For far too long, our students and our faculty have been ignored by this district and put as an afterthought. And that’s not going to happen anymore,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Oakland Education Association reached a 90% vote in favor of its tentative agreement with the Oakland Unified School District. It features much-needed amendments to special education, but parents and teachers say there is more work to do.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Monday, the Oakland Education Association reached a 90% vote in favor of its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949458/oakland-teachers-strike-ends-as-union-reaches-agreement-with-school-district\">tentative agreement\u003c/a> with the Oakland Unified School District. In the coming weeks, the two groups will vote separately on the proposal, negotiated during a seven-day strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are major gains in some areas, and there’s other areas where we made modest gains, and some areas where we have the status quo,” said Ismael Armendariz, a special education teacher and the union’s president. “But as a package, it is amazing what they accomplished.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agreement includes plans for substantial changes to teachers’ salaries, improvements on classroom conditions, and “common good” proposals such as student housing assistance and programs that benefit students of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also features amendments to special education, but parents and teachers say there is more work to do.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>“We made modest gains,” Armendariz repeated. “But we’re going to center special education going forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the school district serves more than 6,000 students in special education programs, accounting for roughly 17% of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Oakland’s population of students in special education programming continues to grow, the school district has struggled to find enough staff and funding to meet the needs of these students. It has consolidated programming, closing programs in some schools and moving them to others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re piloting a workload model that allows us to think about how we manage our caseloads, so that we can provide all the services to our students and that we’re able to manage that in a way that doesn’t burn teachers out,” Armendariz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950560\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11950560\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut.jpg\" alt='A man in a red T-shirt with dark hair speaks from a podium as large signs behind him read, \"Safe, Stable, Racially Just Schools.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65043_DSC06574-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Education Association president Ismael Armendariz, who is also a special education teacher, speaks at the teachers union rally held at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland on May 4, 2023. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, the school district decided to close seven schools due to costs, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911675/they-see-us-as-expendable-oakland-families-of-children-with-disabilities-call-school-closure-plan-discriminatory\">some families with children in special education programs called the plan discriminatory\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of this school year, the district expects to cut at least one classroom for special education students with individualized learning plans from Joaquin Miller Elementary, Manzanita Community School, Bella Vista Elementary, United for Success Academy and Montera Middle School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of \u003cem>next\u003c/em> school year, the school board intends to close some special education programs at Joaquin Miller, Manzanita SEED and Montera Middle School. The district will add new early childhood special education classes at Montclair Elementary and Melrose Leadership Academy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the school district’s Community Advisory Committee are fighting these upcoming closures with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/call-on-ousd-to-stop-expelling-disabled-students-from-schools-to-close-their-programs?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=f5a168c0-e7e0-11ed-9308-716afd1259c7\">petition\u003c/a>. The group also plans to protest with an \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/events/1507997136401647/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A%5b%5d%7D\">art-in at the school board meeting\u003c/a> on May 24.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘For far too long, special education has been siloed and we have been put aside and thought of as second to all the other programming.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monday’s tentative agreement takes a step toward meeting these needs by creating a new joint committee to oversee special education programs and by piloting a one-year program to maintain more equitable workloads for special education professionals, according to Armendariz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think one of the most revolutionary things out of [the agreement] is that now, for the first time, a high-ranking general education administrator has to attend,” he said. “For far too long, special education has been siloed and we have been put aside and thought of as second to all the other programming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coriander Melious is a special education teacher and parent of an eighth grader who has Down syndrome. She said she’s excited that the new committee will include general education teachers and administrators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Real inclusion comes with shifting the culture,” she said. “[It’s] how we as a community view our disabled students and the disabled community as actual members of our community and not this separate section over there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950561\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11950561\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut.jpg\" alt='A little boy in a green T-shirt and a striped sweater wrapped around his wait stands next to a man with a black hoodie on with a back patch that reads, \"Strike for a fair contract.\" Both of their backs face the camera. The two are standing at a picnic bench with neat stacks of juice boxes and snacks for kids.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS65519_013_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Parents, teachers and high school students hand out lunch to Oakland Unified students at a ‘solidarity school’ at Dimond Park in Oakland on May 11, 2023. Solidarity schools were run by volunteers during the seven-day teachers’ strike to give parents a safe place to send their children for supervised activities. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other parents and educators think the major win is the new pilot program aiming to balance the workloads of special education professionals. It allows employees to request more support once they reach certain limits, which could include additional compensation or staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than base caseloads purely on the number of students, the program will take into account the specific needs and learning levels of each student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really been a big issue,” said Holly Adler, a member of the union’s bargaining team and a resource specialist. “Teachers haven’t been getting support with high-needs students that are now being mainstreamed.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Not all parents are happy about the “mainstreaming,” which will place more students with special needs in general education classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alan Pursell is the parent of a sixth grader with autism. He said his son performs well in a general education classroom, but still needs time in a smaller, separate classroom to fully thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m worried that if he’s placed in a generalist setting, that he’ll lose all that progress and fall through the cracks,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program to help teachers manage their caseloads conflicts with difficulties in hiring support staff. But these support staff, called paraeducators, are not included in the union and do not benefit from the salary raises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melious said that the low pay means these positions are often left empty, and students lose much-needed support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her daughter was not able to participate in a musical performance because she was unable to learn guitar without a teacher’s aide. Melious said the position had been unfilled for over a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It made me so sad when I realized what was going on,” she said. “She’d just been sitting in there not doing anything, and she’s the only one.”\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>She wants the district to raise the pay for these positions and hire more staff to support students with additional needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These students are going to be sitting in classrooms not learning,” she said. “They’re just waiting for the class to end. And that’s, like, criminal to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adler said the lack of support staff also affects teachers. In violation of the law, early childhood special education teachers were not getting a lunch break because of the demanding workload. Like Melious, she said higher salaries for support staff would help resolve the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armendariz said the bargaining team will hold the district accountable for lunch breaks moving forward. While he is proud of what the team accomplished overall, he wants to focus on special education more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For far too long, our students and our faculty have been ignored by this district and put as an afterthought. And that’s not going to happen anymore,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "i-fight-for-my-community-how-1-woman-found-courage-pride-and-meaning-at-wood-street-settlement",
"title": "'I Fight for My Community': How 1 Woman Found Courage, Pride and Meaning at Wood Street Settlement",
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"content": "\u003cp>Born in Oakland, Jessica Katrice Fountaine and her family moved around the Bay, first to Hayward, then Vallejo. But she still spent much of her time in The Town. “I don’t remember a weekend where I was not out here. I was always here,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she moved to the Wood Street encampment last year at the age of 33, she said she felt like she had come home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This area of the Wood Street community stretched along a long-vacant plot of land in West Oakland under a maze of freeway overpasses, a wastewater treatment plant and freight-train tracks on one side, and a line of warehouses and businesses on the other. Fountaine said she became familiar with this area as a kid. One day, her brothers made a game of jumping off a railroad bridge onto a mattress on the dirt below.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11949327,news_11945984,news_11945422\"]“The first bone I broke was off this bridge,” she said, recalling how, as she jumped, her brothers pulled the mattress out from under her. “It made me tough, though.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fountaine said she had lived with her family for much of her life but, after a falling out, set out on her own, first living in her truck, then in an RV community in Richmond, before arriving at Wood Street in June 2022. The settlement provided a safety net, she said, a community where people looked out for each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, it was Northern California’s largest settlement of unhoused people. But in September, just months after Fountaine arrived at Wood Street, a serious fire near her trailer prompted Caltrans, the agency that owns the land, to order all of the roughly 300 residents to pack up and leave within five days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the eviction, many residents scattered to areas around Wood Street, including the neighboring city-owned land, which they dubbed the Commons. But people staying there were soon forced to leave as well, and by April, the city had cleared the last remaining residents, with Oakland officials saying the site would be used to develop 170 units of affordable housing. Hundreds of people continue to live in the area without permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story follows Jessica Katrice Fountaine from July 2022 through May 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950152\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950152\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An RV parked beneath a freeway ramp.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sun sets on the Wood Street settlement seen from an abandoned railroad bridge in West Oakland. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950153\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950153\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman with a black shirt and a denim jacket fixes the baseball hat on her head inside her RV as she laughs.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine laughs with a friend in her RV at Wood Street. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Fountaine arrived at Wood Street, a friend let her live in an empty trailer at his compound. Although residents see themselves as one community, most people separate into smaller groups — or compounds — for both camaraderie and protection. “I’m the compound cook,” Fountaine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950154\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950154\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman applies eye makeup in a mirror.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine practices putting makeup on herself in her RV at Wood Street. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before the pandemic, Fountaine worked as an in-home caregiver to her two godchildren. After losing her job when the lockdown started, she said she took time to think about what she wanted to do to make money. “I don’t want to live to work. And I don’t want to work to live,” she said. “I want to be able to enjoy some part of it and try to make a change just a little bit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950172\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950172\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A written note in red ink on lined notebook paper lays on the ground.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign notifying people not to disturb Fountaine’s virtual church fell to the ground after being taped to her RV door at Wood Street. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fountaine grew up attending Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in West Oakland, where she was baptized and went to her first praise dance, and religion continues to play a large role in her life. She recalled a time before moving to Wood Street that brought her closer to her church: “I walked around for days with nowhere to go. I couldn’t sleep because it’s not safe. It just took one person to offer for me to live in her trailer that she wasn’t living in, and I cried for three days. I slept, and I cried. And then I just got up. It was a Sunday, and I got on my phone, and I went to church because my church goes live on Facebook … I’ve never been more deep and more strong in my religion than I am now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950155\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950155\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman leaves her RV as she prepares to exit the open door and down the stairs.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine leaves her RV to visit a neighbor. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wood Street life could be tough. Residents often used generators or solar power for electricity, and there was no running water. That scarcity heightened Fountaine’s awareness of the resources she uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I come from a very traditional background, so it’s weird for my family to see or to accept how I live, but I’ve never been more aware of my carbon footprint in my life,” she said. “I went home for Christmas, and I sat back, and I watched how they just let the water run washing dishes. I don’t have that luxury no more. How I used to let the shower run to get hot. I don’t have that luxury no more … I don’t let food go to waste. I preserve my lights. My everything has changed with me living like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950156\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950156\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Manicured and stylized long fingernails in a photo of an African American woman's right hand with a denim jacket sleeve.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine shows off the nails she did for herself in her RV at Wood Street. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, Fountaine said, she still considers herself “a girly girl.” “I like nails. I like makeup. So I made the choice to go to cosmetology school,” she said. Fountaine said she has already picked a name for the salon she hopes to one day own: Rosalind’s Beauty Bar, an homage to her mother. Despite their strained relationship, she said, she still cares deeply about her mom. “And all I do is pray about it. I just pray that, before God calls either one of us home, he fix whatever is broken.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950157\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two African American women, one seated in the drivers seat of a car and the other standing outside her car door, holding a box.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine talks with her friend Shavon who had recently been in a car accident near Wood Street. As soon as Fountaine heard about it, she and another friend jumped into action to tow the car back to the settlement. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950158\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950158\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A car being towed ahead seen from inside another car driving behind it as they pass under an overpass.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine drives behind as her friend Shavon’s car is towed into the settlement to be repaired. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950159\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950159\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman wearing a blue denim jacket smoking while seated inside an RV.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine smokes a vape pen in her RV. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950160\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950160\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman dancing with a dog as dust is kicked up, with industrial structures behind them, and she's wearing a pink sleeveless shirt.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Wood Street, Fountaine dances with Bonita, a neighbor’s dog, in front of an abandoned railroad bridge. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Although people formed into small compounds, Fountaine said Wood Street residents also saw themselves as one community and built up shared resources. “We still all come together. We have a community center called the Cob. It’s all the way in the middle … It’s pretty nice,” she said, as the eviction loomed closer. “During what’s going on now, we’ve been having a lot of family dinners and stuff. You will find more help here than you will from a government facility. Clothes, food, shelter from the weather, mental health, hygiene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950161\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950161\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman looks out pensively from the passenger seat of a car.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine sits in a friend’s car at Wood Street Fountaine after losing the RV where she was living. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But things weren’t always harmonious. A dispute within her compound at the beginning of September cost her the trailer where she was living: Its owner took it back without warning, along with all her belongings. Although she didn’t know where she would live at the time, she expressed confidence in her friends and herself. “My family … They did not raise a quitter. And they didn’t raise me to just sit and wallow in my self-pity. So I’m figuring it out one day at a time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Caltrans began evicting residents just days later, she remained optimistic. “Well, I’ll be OK. I just got to make sure that my family’s OK because that’s what they don’t understand. We are not friends. We are not associates. This is our family. We depend on one another. We help one another, and when we sick, we help each other get well. That’s us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950162\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950162\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"RVs in an encampment under a freeway ramp with signs that say 'Where do we go?' draped on the nearest RV.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Signs cover 2 RVs at the Wood Street encampment as Caltrans moved in to clear the area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the evictions continued over several weeks, Fountaine reflected on the resilience of her community. “We didn’t [just] survive. We were living. We lived here. We can do it anywhere. So just shutting us down and pushing us out does nothing but make the city have to really figure it out because where are we gonna go? We’re just going to find another empty lot, and we’re gonna do this all over. So find a permanent solution,” Fountaine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950163\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950163\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman sweeps a dirt path with a broom with cars and RVs parked behind her.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine uses a broom to sweep around her new RV parked at the end of 9th and Pine streets, near the Lower Bobs Skatepark. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After being evicted from Wood Street, Fountaine found another RV to live in and relocated about a mile away to 9th and Pine streets in October, where a growing number of displaced residents had relocated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950164\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950164\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man leans on the open door of an SUV with window rolled down, talking with an African American woman seated in the drivers seat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine talks with her neighbor, Bradford Nicholson, on 9th and Pine streets. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the new site, Fountaine helped arrange toilets, a sink and a regular trash pick-up at the end of the street. “I fight for my community to be better because I want my family to come over here,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950165\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950165\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American looking out of her RV door, smiling, seen from the left.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine talks to her cousins from the doorway of the RV where she lives at 9th and Pine streets. A sign about faith and trust in God she made hangs on the wall. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950166\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950166\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman lying in bed with her cat\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine lies in bed with her cat BW in the bedroom of her RV on 9th and Pine Streets. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In December, as the holidays approached, Fountaine said she had been thinking a lot about her relationship with her mother after her difficult teen and young-adult years. “Our relationship is so torn apart. All I can do is be the best daughter that I can be right now. I want her to see me for who I am now and not who I was 10 years ago. Like she doesn’t understand how important a hug means to me right now … I miss her so much,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950167\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950167\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A notebook open on a lap.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">While lying in her bed in the RV at 9th and Pine streets, Fountaine reads through responses she wrote to prompts in a life-story journal. For her greatest achievement, she wrote, ‘Living on my own.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I was taught that being book smart is one thing, but you still need to know how to be street smart. And it comes in handy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950168\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950168\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American man smiles as he looks through an RV window.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023.jpg 1864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine’s cousin, Earnest Jasper, talks to her through the window of her RV at 9th and Pine streets. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950169\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950169\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman cooking food on a BBQ, wearing a broadbrimmed hat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine cooks on a stove she created in the bed of a pickup truck on 9th and Pine streets. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fountaine is often the cook for her community but said they also look out for her. “We all depend on each other. I’m diabetic,” she said. “My neighbors come over there and be like, ‘You eat today?’” But living alone, often without a cellphone, also worries her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950170\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950170\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An RV kitchen with food on the counter.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Food sits in Fountaine’s kitchen as smoke wafts through the air. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fountaine said she has considered moving into safe RV parking, a space for RV residents that offers electrical hookups, bathrooms and other amenities, but the rumors of limited-term stays or RV park closures have dissuaded her. \u003cb>“\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s what these are for, to house those who are unhoused,” she said. “So you’re going to house us, then unhouse us?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950171\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950171\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman sits on a chair outside by the road, closing her eyes as she smokes a cigarette, wearing a black outfit.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine sits on an abandoned chair left on the road outside her RV. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With the 9th and Pine streets area scheduled to be cleared by the city of Oakland on May 17, 2023, Fountaine said she’s considering moving to a city-run shelter, consisting of “community cabins” — essentially, Tuff Sheds — where other former Wood Street residents have gone. But she said that would only be a temporary solution to a long-term problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How I live is not who I am. And unfortunately, I’m sorry. I can’t afford that $1,500, that $1,200 rent,” she said, adding that lower-cost housing is the only solution she can see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can’t afford it, we gonna be right back where we started. That’s what I feel like nobody understands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Oakland-born Jessica Katrice Fountaine was estranged from her family and fell on hard times with nowhere to go — until she found home at Wood Street.",
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"title": "'I Fight for My Community': How 1 Woman Found Courage, Pride and Meaning at Wood Street Settlement | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Born in Oakland, Jessica Katrice Fountaine and her family moved around the Bay, first to Hayward, then Vallejo. But she still spent much of her time in The Town. “I don’t remember a weekend where I was not out here. I was always here,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she moved to the Wood Street encampment last year at the age of 33, she said she felt like she had come home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This area of the Wood Street community stretched along a long-vacant plot of land in West Oakland under a maze of freeway overpasses, a wastewater treatment plant and freight-train tracks on one side, and a line of warehouses and businesses on the other. Fountaine said she became familiar with this area as a kid. One day, her brothers made a game of jumping off a railroad bridge onto a mattress on the dirt below.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The first bone I broke was off this bridge,” she said, recalling how, as she jumped, her brothers pulled the mattress out from under her. “It made me tough, though.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fountaine said she had lived with her family for much of her life but, after a falling out, set out on her own, first living in her truck, then in an RV community in Richmond, before arriving at Wood Street in June 2022. The settlement provided a safety net, she said, a community where people looked out for each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, it was Northern California’s largest settlement of unhoused people. But in September, just months after Fountaine arrived at Wood Street, a serious fire near her trailer prompted Caltrans, the agency that owns the land, to order all of the roughly 300 residents to pack up and leave within five days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the eviction, many residents scattered to areas around Wood Street, including the neighboring city-owned land, which they dubbed the Commons. But people staying there were soon forced to leave as well, and by April, the city had cleared the last remaining residents, with Oakland officials saying the site would be used to develop 170 units of affordable housing. Hundreds of people continue to live in the area without permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story follows Jessica Katrice Fountaine from July 2022 through May 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950152\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950152\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An RV parked beneath a freeway ramp.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/002_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sun sets on the Wood Street settlement seen from an abandoned railroad bridge in West Oakland. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950153\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950153\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman with a black shirt and a denim jacket fixes the baseball hat on her head inside her RV as she laughs.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/003_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine laughs with a friend in her RV at Wood Street. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Fountaine arrived at Wood Street, a friend let her live in an empty trailer at his compound. Although residents see themselves as one community, most people separate into smaller groups — or compounds — for both camaraderie and protection. “I’m the compound cook,” Fountaine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950154\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950154\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman applies eye makeup in a mirror.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/004_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine practices putting makeup on herself in her RV at Wood Street. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before the pandemic, Fountaine worked as an in-home caregiver to her two godchildren. After losing her job when the lockdown started, she said she took time to think about what she wanted to do to make money. “I don’t want to live to work. And I don’t want to work to live,” she said. “I want to be able to enjoy some part of it and try to make a change just a little bit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950172\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950172\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A written note in red ink on lined notebook paper lays on the ground.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/005_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign notifying people not to disturb Fountaine’s virtual church fell to the ground after being taped to her RV door at Wood Street. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fountaine grew up attending Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in West Oakland, where she was baptized and went to her first praise dance, and religion continues to play a large role in her life. She recalled a time before moving to Wood Street that brought her closer to her church: “I walked around for days with nowhere to go. I couldn’t sleep because it’s not safe. It just took one person to offer for me to live in her trailer that she wasn’t living in, and I cried for three days. I slept, and I cried. And then I just got up. It was a Sunday, and I got on my phone, and I went to church because my church goes live on Facebook … I’ve never been more deep and more strong in my religion than I am now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950155\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950155\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman leaves her RV as she prepares to exit the open door and down the stairs.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/006_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine leaves her RV to visit a neighbor. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wood Street life could be tough. Residents often used generators or solar power for electricity, and there was no running water. That scarcity heightened Fountaine’s awareness of the resources she uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I come from a very traditional background, so it’s weird for my family to see or to accept how I live, but I’ve never been more aware of my carbon footprint in my life,” she said. “I went home for Christmas, and I sat back, and I watched how they just let the water run washing dishes. I don’t have that luxury no more. How I used to let the shower run to get hot. I don’t have that luxury no more … I don’t let food go to waste. I preserve my lights. My everything has changed with me living like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950156\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950156\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Manicured and stylized long fingernails in a photo of an African American woman's right hand with a denim jacket sleeve.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/007_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine shows off the nails she did for herself in her RV at Wood Street. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, Fountaine said, she still considers herself “a girly girl.” “I like nails. I like makeup. So I made the choice to go to cosmetology school,” she said. Fountaine said she has already picked a name for the salon she hopes to one day own: Rosalind’s Beauty Bar, an homage to her mother. Despite their strained relationship, she said, she still cares deeply about her mom. “And all I do is pray about it. I just pray that, before God calls either one of us home, he fix whatever is broken.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950157\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two African American women, one seated in the drivers seat of a car and the other standing outside her car door, holding a box.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/008_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine talks with her friend Shavon who had recently been in a car accident near Wood Street. As soon as Fountaine heard about it, she and another friend jumped into action to tow the car back to the settlement. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950158\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950158\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A car being towed ahead seen from inside another car driving behind it as they pass under an overpass.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/009_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08022022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine drives behind as her friend Shavon’s car is towed into the settlement to be repaired. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950159\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950159\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman wearing a blue denim jacket smoking while seated inside an RV.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/010_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08302022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine smokes a vape pen in her RV. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950160\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950160\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman dancing with a dog as dust is kicked up, with industrial structures behind them, and she's wearing a pink sleeveless shirt.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/011_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_08032022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Wood Street, Fountaine dances with Bonita, a neighbor’s dog, in front of an abandoned railroad bridge. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Although people formed into small compounds, Fountaine said Wood Street residents also saw themselves as one community and built up shared resources. “We still all come together. We have a community center called the Cob. It’s all the way in the middle … It’s pretty nice,” she said, as the eviction loomed closer. “During what’s going on now, we’ve been having a lot of family dinners and stuff. You will find more help here than you will from a government facility. Clothes, food, shelter from the weather, mental health, hygiene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950161\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950161\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman looks out pensively from the passenger seat of a car.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/012_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09022022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine sits in a friend’s car at Wood Street Fountaine after losing the RV where she was living. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But things weren’t always harmonious. A dispute within her compound at the beginning of September cost her the trailer where she was living: Its owner took it back without warning, along with all her belongings. Although she didn’t know where she would live at the time, she expressed confidence in her friends and herself. “My family … They did not raise a quitter. And they didn’t raise me to just sit and wallow in my self-pity. So I’m figuring it out one day at a time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Caltrans began evicting residents just days later, she remained optimistic. “Well, I’ll be OK. I just got to make sure that my family’s OK because that’s what they don’t understand. We are not friends. We are not associates. This is our family. We depend on one another. We help one another, and when we sick, we help each other get well. That’s us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950162\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950162\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"RVs in an encampment under a freeway ramp with signs that say 'Where do we go?' draped on the nearest RV.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/013_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_09082022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Signs cover 2 RVs at the Wood Street encampment as Caltrans moved in to clear the area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the evictions continued over several weeks, Fountaine reflected on the resilience of her community. “We didn’t [just] survive. We were living. We lived here. We can do it anywhere. So just shutting us down and pushing us out does nothing but make the city have to really figure it out because where are we gonna go? We’re just going to find another empty lot, and we’re gonna do this all over. So find a permanent solution,” Fountaine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950163\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950163\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman sweeps a dirt path with a broom with cars and RVs parked behind her.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/014_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine uses a broom to sweep around her new RV parked at the end of 9th and Pine streets, near the Lower Bobs Skatepark. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After being evicted from Wood Street, Fountaine found another RV to live in and relocated about a mile away to 9th and Pine streets in October, where a growing number of displaced residents had relocated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950164\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950164\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man leans on the open door of an SUV with window rolled down, talking with an African American woman seated in the drivers seat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/015_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine talks with her neighbor, Bradford Nicholson, on 9th and Pine streets. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the new site, Fountaine helped arrange toilets, a sink and a regular trash pick-up at the end of the street. “I fight for my community to be better because I want my family to come over here,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950165\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950165\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American looking out of her RV door, smiling, seen from the left.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/016_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine talks to her cousins from the doorway of the RV where she lives at 9th and Pine streets. A sign about faith and trust in God she made hangs on the wall. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950166\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950166\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman lying in bed with her cat\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/017_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01182023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine lies in bed with her cat BW in the bedroom of her RV on 9th and Pine Streets. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In December, as the holidays approached, Fountaine said she had been thinking a lot about her relationship with her mother after her difficult teen and young-adult years. “Our relationship is so torn apart. All I can do is be the best daughter that I can be right now. I want her to see me for who I am now and not who I was 10 years ago. Like she doesn’t understand how important a hug means to me right now … I miss her so much,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950167\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950167\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A notebook open on a lap.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/018_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">While lying in her bed in the RV at 9th and Pine streets, Fountaine reads through responses she wrote to prompts in a life-story journal. For her greatest achievement, she wrote, ‘Living on my own.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I was taught that being book smart is one thing, but you still need to know how to be street smart. And it comes in handy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950168\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950168\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American man smiles as he looks through an RV window.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/019_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_05142023.jpg 1864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine’s cousin, Earnest Jasper, talks to her through the window of her RV at 9th and Pine streets. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950169\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950169\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman cooking food on a BBQ, wearing a broadbrimmed hat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/020_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_10272022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountaine cooks on a stove she created in the bed of a pickup truck on 9th and Pine streets. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fountaine is often the cook for her community but said they also look out for her. “We all depend on each other. I’m diabetic,” she said. “My neighbors come over there and be like, ‘You eat today?’” But living alone, often without a cellphone, also worries her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950170\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950170\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An RV kitchen with food on the counter.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/021_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_12162022.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Food sits in Fountaine’s kitchen as smoke wafts through the air. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fountaine said she has considered moving into safe RV parking, a space for RV residents that offers electrical hookups, bathrooms and other amenities, but the rumors of limited-term stays or RV park closures have dissuaded her. \u003cb>“\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s what these are for, to house those who are unhoused,” she said. “So you’re going to house us, then unhouse us?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950171\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11950171\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An African American woman sits on a chair outside by the road, closing her eyes as she smokes a cigarette, wearing a black outfit.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01092023.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Fountaine sits on an abandoned chair left on the road outside her RV. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With the 9th and Pine streets area scheduled to be cleared by the city of Oakland on May 17, 2023, Fountaine said she’s considering moving to a city-run shelter, consisting of “community cabins” — essentially, Tuff Sheds — where other former Wood Street residents have gone. But she said that would only be a temporary solution to a long-term problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How I live is not who I am. And unfortunately, I’m sorry. I can’t afford that $1,500, that $1,200 rent,” she said, adding that lower-cost housing is the only solution she can see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can’t afford it, we gonna be right back where we started. That’s what I feel like nobody understands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "uc-signals-support-for-hiring-of-undocumented-students-following-six-month-study",
"title": "UC Signals Support for Hiring of Undocumented Students, Following 6-Month Study",
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"content": "\u003cp>The University of California on Thursday took a first step toward allowing the hiring of undocumented students for jobs across the 10-campus system, a move that follows months of pleas from those students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/may23/b2.pdf\">The action by the system’s board of regents (PDF)\u003c/a> Thursday does not immediately authorize the employment of undocumented students. Instead, UC plans to create a working group that will spend the next six months considering the proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regent leaders insisted Thursday that their intention is to ultimately permit the hiring of undocumented students, but said they want time to carefully consider the issue, including legal strategies. If implemented, UC would be the first known institution to argue that a federal statute barring the hiring of undocumented immigrants doesn’t apply to state entities. Doing so could attract a legal challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is our intention to find a way to allow employment opportunities for all our students regardless of their immigration status,” John Pérez, a regent and former chair of the board, told reporters following the vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Richard Leib, chair, Board of Regents, University of California\"]‘We have a moral obligation to try to do what we can, because it is ridiculous. We are the University of California. We’re educating people. What are we educating them for? In part, to get into the workforce.’[/pullquote]First, though, the regents want to ensure they have “the best case to do that” legally, said Richard Leib, the current chair of the board who will be responsible for creating the working group, which will be made up entirely of regents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think people would enjoy having a decision right away, but it would be irresponsible from our standpoint,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The working group will complete its work by Nov. 30, at which point it will direct the system’s president, Michael Drake, on how to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since last fall, a coalition of undocumented students and their allies, including legal scholars at UCLA, \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/university-of-californias-undocumented-students-push-for-right-to-work-campus-jobs/690413\">have called on the system to authorize the hiring of undocumented students\u003c/a> who don’t have protections offered under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA offered permission to work for tens of thousands of young people, but the Trump administration ended the program in 2017 and no new applications have been accepted since then, leaving many undocumented students in higher education ineligible to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Undocumented student leaders with the Opportunity for All Campaign, the coalition that advocated for the policy, said they consider Thursday’s vote a victory. Students had lobbied the regents with a demonstration Wednesday, the second day of the three-day regents meeting, on the campus of UCLA, where the meeting was held. The students and their allies held signs calling for UC to allow the hiring of undocumented students as they took turns speaking and then marching across the campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we were going for was full implementation, but I still consider this a win,” said Carlos Alarcón, who is pursuing a master’s degree in public policy at UCLA. “They’re creating a working group to come up with a plan of how the UC will implement and there’s a deadline of November. That is very important to us, so we can hold them accountable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alarcón said the campaign’s goal over the next several months will be to engage the regents and make sure the working group is considering the input of undocumented students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have the same opportunities our classmates are afforded,” said Carelia Maya Rios, an undocumented student who spoke during the regents meeting. “Yesterday, hundreds of students marched and rallied for victory… to let you know this is a critical and urgent need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950066\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11950066\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A large, bronze statue of a bear showing its teeth is displayed outdoors on an university campus. Six students in UCLA hooded sweatshirts and jeans walk around the statue on their way to class. One young woman sits on a tan, chunky bench writing on a notepad.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1291\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut-800x538.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut-1020x686.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut-1536x1033.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students sit around the Bruin Bear statue during lunchtime on the campus of UCLA on April 23, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. \u003ccite>(Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Diana Ortiz Aguilar, a student advocate and organizer for the group Opportunity4All at UC Berkeley, told KQED she’s familiar with the hardships many undocumented students face trying to find jobs on campus. She said, as an undocumented student herself, the regents’ decision directly impacts her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More Stories on Education' tag='education']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been barred from multiple opportunities to continue developing my career and even [getting] financial security,” she said. “This isn’t the first time that [the regents are] deciding on undocumented rights, on my rights. Mainly, it’s fear of just continuing to live in uncertainty and living in a state where I don’t feel welcome. But I’m also just very hopeful, mainly because we’ve had such strong support from multiple UCs across the UC system. So it’s a little bit of both, happiness and just fear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legal theory was developed by \u003ca href=\"https://law.ucla.edu/academics/centers/center-immigration-law-and-policy\">UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy\u003c/a> and is supported by legal scholars including \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/faculty-profiles/erwin-chemerinsky/\">Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Law.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950082\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11950082\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A tall, white clock tower punctuates the middle of a college campus outdoor space. Sections of grass and chunky trees are scattered throughout. The sky is gray. Three college students walk down a brick pathway together toward the clock tower. They wear book bags and jackets.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1282\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut-1536x1026.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students walk near Sather Tower on the University of California at Berkeley campus on February 24, 2005, in Berkeley, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Historically, states have followed a 1986 federal statute, the Immigration Reform and Control Act, that bans the hiring of undocumented immigrants without legal status and have required proof of legal status for employment. But in the view of UC’s undocumented students and their allies, UC is free to hire undocumented students because the statute doesn’t apply to state entities like UC. The legal theory was developed by \u003ca href=\"https://law.ucla.edu/academics/centers/center-immigration-law-and-policy\">UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the idea were to ultimately be adopted, it could impact thousands of students at UC. There are more than 4,000 undocumented students across the ten campuses. It’s not known how many are without DACA protections, but it’s at least hundreds and likely many more, according to a spokesperson for the Opportunity for All Campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without the ability to work at UC, undocumented students not only have a harder time affording college, but they are also shut out of critical opportunities that further their educational experience, such as internships and research jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a moral obligation to try to do what we can, because it is ridiculous,” Leib said. “We are the University of California. We’re educating people. What are we educating them for? In part, to get into the workforce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If UC were to ultimately allow the hiring of undocumented students, it could have national implications, Pérez predicted. He compared it to \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2020/in-historic-action-uc-moves-to-drop-sat-act-and-develop-a-replacement-exam-for-admissions/632174\">UC’s decision to drop the SAT and ACT as admissions requirements\u003c/a>, a policy that many other universities across the country later adopted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are often at the cutting edge of big national conversations. I think this will be much in the same way,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting from KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/bwatt#:~:text=Brian%20Watt%20is%20KQED's%20morning,his%20work%20won%20several%20awards.\">Brian Watt\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/agonzalez\">Alexander Gonzalez\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/lesleymcclurg\">Lesley McClurg\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/uc-signals-support-for-hiring-of-undocumented-students-following-six-month-study/690855\">This story was originally published in EdSource.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The University of California on Thursday took a first step toward allowing the hiring of undocumented students for jobs across the 10-campus system, a move that follows months of pleas from those students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/may23/b2.pdf\">The action by the system’s board of regents (PDF)\u003c/a> Thursday does not immediately authorize the employment of undocumented students. Instead, UC plans to create a working group that will spend the next six months considering the proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regent leaders insisted Thursday that their intention is to ultimately permit the hiring of undocumented students, but said they want time to carefully consider the issue, including legal strategies. If implemented, UC would be the first known institution to argue that a federal statute barring the hiring of undocumented immigrants doesn’t apply to state entities. Doing so could attract a legal challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is our intention to find a way to allow employment opportunities for all our students regardless of their immigration status,” John Pérez, a regent and former chair of the board, told reporters following the vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We have a moral obligation to try to do what we can, because it is ridiculous. We are the University of California. We’re educating people. What are we educating them for? In part, to get into the workforce.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>First, though, the regents want to ensure they have “the best case to do that” legally, said Richard Leib, the current chair of the board who will be responsible for creating the working group, which will be made up entirely of regents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think people would enjoy having a decision right away, but it would be irresponsible from our standpoint,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The working group will complete its work by Nov. 30, at which point it will direct the system’s president, Michael Drake, on how to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since last fall, a coalition of undocumented students and their allies, including legal scholars at UCLA, \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/university-of-californias-undocumented-students-push-for-right-to-work-campus-jobs/690413\">have called on the system to authorize the hiring of undocumented students\u003c/a> who don’t have protections offered under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA offered permission to work for tens of thousands of young people, but the Trump administration ended the program in 2017 and no new applications have been accepted since then, leaving many undocumented students in higher education ineligible to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Undocumented student leaders with the Opportunity for All Campaign, the coalition that advocated for the policy, said they consider Thursday’s vote a victory. Students had lobbied the regents with a demonstration Wednesday, the second day of the three-day regents meeting, on the campus of UCLA, where the meeting was held. The students and their allies held signs calling for UC to allow the hiring of undocumented students as they took turns speaking and then marching across the campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we were going for was full implementation, but I still consider this a win,” said Carlos Alarcón, who is pursuing a master’s degree in public policy at UCLA. “They’re creating a working group to come up with a plan of how the UC will implement and there’s a deadline of November. That is very important to us, so we can hold them accountable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alarcón said the campaign’s goal over the next several months will be to engage the regents and make sure the working group is considering the input of undocumented students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have the same opportunities our classmates are afforded,” said Carelia Maya Rios, an undocumented student who spoke during the regents meeting. “Yesterday, hundreds of students marched and rallied for victory… to let you know this is a critical and urgent need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950066\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11950066\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A large, bronze statue of a bear showing its teeth is displayed outdoors on an university campus. Six students in UCLA hooded sweatshirts and jeans walk around the statue on their way to class. One young woman sits on a tan, chunky bench writing on a notepad.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1291\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut-800x538.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut-1020x686.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS19451_GettyImages-143309520-qut-1536x1033.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students sit around the Bruin Bear statue during lunchtime on the campus of UCLA on April 23, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. \u003ccite>(Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Diana Ortiz Aguilar, a student advocate and organizer for the group Opportunity4All at UC Berkeley, told KQED she’s familiar with the hardships many undocumented students face trying to find jobs on campus. She said, as an undocumented student herself, the regents’ decision directly impacts her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been barred from multiple opportunities to continue developing my career and even [getting] financial security,” she said. “This isn’t the first time that [the regents are] deciding on undocumented rights, on my rights. Mainly, it’s fear of just continuing to live in uncertainty and living in a state where I don’t feel welcome. But I’m also just very hopeful, mainly because we’ve had such strong support from multiple UCs across the UC system. So it’s a little bit of both, happiness and just fear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legal theory was developed by \u003ca href=\"https://law.ucla.edu/academics/centers/center-immigration-law-and-policy\">UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy\u003c/a> and is supported by legal scholars including \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/faculty-profiles/erwin-chemerinsky/\">Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Law.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950082\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11950082\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A tall, white clock tower punctuates the middle of a college campus outdoor space. Sections of grass and chunky trees are scattered throughout. The sky is gray. Three college students walk down a brick pathway together toward the clock tower. They wear book bags and jackets.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1282\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS18894_GettyImages-52237594-qut-1536x1026.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students walk near Sather Tower on the University of California at Berkeley campus on February 24, 2005, in Berkeley, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Historically, states have followed a 1986 federal statute, the Immigration Reform and Control Act, that bans the hiring of undocumented immigrants without legal status and have required proof of legal status for employment. But in the view of UC’s undocumented students and their allies, UC is free to hire undocumented students because the statute doesn’t apply to state entities like UC. The legal theory was developed by \u003ca href=\"https://law.ucla.edu/academics/centers/center-immigration-law-and-policy\">UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the idea were to ultimately be adopted, it could impact thousands of students at UC. There are more than 4,000 undocumented students across the ten campuses. It’s not known how many are without DACA protections, but it’s at least hundreds and likely many more, according to a spokesperson for the Opportunity for All Campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without the ability to work at UC, undocumented students not only have a harder time affording college, but they are also shut out of critical opportunities that further their educational experience, such as internships and research jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a moral obligation to try to do what we can, because it is ridiculous,” Leib said. “We are the University of California. We’re educating people. What are we educating them for? In part, to get into the workforce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If UC were to ultimately allow the hiring of undocumented students, it could have national implications, Pérez predicted. He compared it to \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2020/in-historic-action-uc-moves-to-drop-sat-act-and-develop-a-replacement-exam-for-admissions/632174\">UC’s decision to drop the SAT and ACT as admissions requirements\u003c/a>, a policy that many other universities across the country later adopted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are often at the cutting edge of big national conversations. I think this will be much in the same way,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting from KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/bwatt#:~:text=Brian%20Watt%20is%20KQED's%20morning,his%20work%20won%20several%20awards.\">Brian Watt\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/agonzalez\">Alexander Gonzalez\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/lesleymcclurg\">Lesley McClurg\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/uc-signals-support-for-hiring-of-undocumented-students-following-six-month-study/690855\">This story was originally published in EdSource.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>California’s proposed state budget revision could make a dent in the state’s ongoing teacher shortage by reducing obstacles to earning teaching credentials, such as making it easier for members of the military and their spouses to earn teaching credentials, requiring that teacher residents are paid and preparing more bilingual teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite a $2 billion cut to TK-12 and community colleges from the budget proposed in January, the \u003ca href=\"https://ebudget.ca.gov/\">budget revision\u003c/a> adds funding for state programs that train teachers for hard-to-fill positions. The \u003ca href=\"https://esd.dof.ca.gov/trailer-bill/public/trailerBill/pdf/909\">budget trailer bill\u003c/a> also alters former legislation to remove impediments to becoming a teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Shireen Pavri, assistant vice chancellor of educator and leadership programs, California State University\"]‘Residencies are high quality, clinically rich pathways to teacher preparation, and it is essential to provide affordable options for teacher candidates to select this preparation pathway.’[/pullquote]“In California, we are rising to the challenge and removing financial barriers to the profession in ways that are proven to not only recruit but retain quality educators,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr23/yr23rel36.asp\">in a statement\u003c/a>. “It is estimated that California needs to recruit 27,000 teachers, including thousands of universal transitional kindergarten teachers, and we are stepping in to fill this gap and find solutions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget, if passed this summer as revised, would clear the way for U.S. military service members and their spouses, who hold a valid teaching credential in another state, to earn a California credential. Currently, they must go through the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/out-of-state-app\">same process\u003c/a> as other teachers who have out-of-state credentials, including meeting the state’s basic skills requirement and verifying out-of-state teaching preparation and experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget would also give concessions to those who were unable to earn their teaching credential during the Covid-19 pandemic because they could not complete the required Teaching Performance Assessment. It would allow them to meet the requirement through a state-approved induction program or two years of satisfactory teacher evaluations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers in California must complete an induction program, focused on extensive support and mentoring during their first two years of teaching, before they can clear their credential.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Teaching residents in state-funded program would be paid\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The budget would also go a long way toward \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/california-sunk-millions-into-teacher-residency-program-but-many-cant-afford-to-enroll/685984\">fixing flaws\u003c/a> in the state’s Teacher and School Counselor Residency Grant Program. The proposed budget wouldn’t add any funding to the program, but it would ensure residents get paid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents work alongside experienced mentors for a year of clinical training, while completing required university coursework. A report by the \u003ca href=\"https://nctresidencies.org/annual-report/\">National Center for Teacher Residencies\u003c/a> found that 89% of graduates of teacher residency programs remain in the profession for at least three years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state residency grant program, initially funded with $350 million in the 2021-22 state budget, pays school districts to operate teacher residency programs in partnership with university teacher preparation programs. Another $250 million and school counselor residency programs were added to the grant program in the 2022-23 fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"mindshift_61532,news_11945189,news_11949458\" label=\"Related Posts\"]Currently, school districts can apply for grants of $25,000 per resident to administer a residency program, pay costs of resident teachers’ preparation and induction, as well as stipends to mentors. School districts are not required to pay residents a salary or stipend, although most pay something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget proposes increasing the amount paid to school districts and charter schools to $40,000 per resident. It also requires the residency programs pay residents a minimum of $20,000 a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shireen Pavri, assistant vice chancellor of educator and leadership programs at California State University, is in favor of a minimum salary for residents preparing to be teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Residencies are high quality, clinically rich pathways to teacher preparation, and it is essential to provide affordable options for teacher candidates to select this preparation pathway,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.wested.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teacher-Residency-Programs-in-California_Brief.pdf\">evaluation of the grant program by WestEd\u003c/a> earlier this year revealed that residency programs funded by the state grant were \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/california-sunk-millions-into-teacher-residency-program-but-many-cant-afford-to-enroll/685984\">struggling to fill their rosters\u003c/a> because teacher candidates could not afford to live on the stipends provided. The time commitment required of residents usually precludes them from taking even a part-time job to pay the bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 30% of teacher residents experience food or housing insecurity during their year of residency and about half of them experienced an inability to pay their bills, Kate Hirschboeck, a senior researcher for WestEd, told the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://esd.dof.ca.gov/trailer-bill/public/trailerBill/pdf/909\">trailer bill\u003c/a> to the budget would remove other hurdles for residents in the state-funded program. Residents, who are required to serve four years as a teacher after completing their preliminary credential, would no longer be restricted to the school district that hosted their residency. Instead, they could serve in any public school in the state. They also have eight years to complete their four-year teaching obligation, instead of the five years required by previous legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal also eases financial sanctions against former residents who don’t complete the four-year obligation to teach. If the budget passes, school districts who run a residency program will only be able to recover the cost of tuition and materials from former residents, and not the cost of administering the grant or the stipends paid to mentors and residents. The amount owed also depends on how long the former resident taught before quitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School districts also could be held responsible for residents’ success. Districts where more than 10% of the residents fail to earn a preliminary teaching credential in a year or fail to complete their service commitment may have to repay a portion of their grant to the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>State adds funds to prepare special education teachers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The new budget also adds $6 million to the Golden State Teacher Grant Program, which offers up to $20,000 to a teacher candidate who commits to working in a priority school for four years. The funds will support grants to teacher candidates enrolled in a special education teacher preparation program who agree to teach at a high-needs school site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nation has had a severe shortage of special education teachers. The U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted an annual need for 37,600 special education teachers between 2021 and 2031.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Budget would bring back program to prepare bilingual teachers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The governor’s proposed budget also includes $20 million, to be used over five years, to renew a program that helps prepare bilingual teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School districts in California have \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/California_COVID_Teacher_Workforce_REPORT.pdf\">struggled for years\u003c/a> to hire teachers with bilingual authorizations – a specialized credential required to teach English language learners. Demand has grown as more schools open dual language immersion programs, which teach all students in two languages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shortage is in part a legacy of Proposition 227, which voters passed in 1998, limiting bilingual education in the state. After it passed, the number of teachers receiving bilingual credentials dropped. When voters \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2017/a-new-era-for-bilingual-education-explaining-californias-proposition-58/574852\">repealed the law\u003c/a> in 2016, school districts began increasing the number of bilingual classrooms, but had a hard time finding enough teachers who had both the credentials and the experience or preparation to work in dual-language settings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program began to prepare bilingual teachers through eight county offices of education and school districts. According to the California Department of Education, the program helped 353 teachers get bilingual credentials, and helped prepare an additional 392 teachers who already had their bilingual credentials but had been teaching only in English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the program \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2021/why-training-california-bilingual-teachers-just-got-harder/656558\">ended in 2021\u003c/a>, a number of advocacy organizations, county offices of education and school districts have called for it to be renewed, and bills have been introduced in the legislature, including\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1127\"> AB 1127\u003c/a> this year, but funding was not included in the state budget until now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District officials and bilingual education advocates celebrated the proposed renewal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important that we provide these incentives, to help them pay for coursework, to help them pay for taking the tests. It really does help them get across the finish line,” said Martha I. Martínez, senior director of research and evaluation for SEAL, a nonprofit organization that provides training and assistance to help school districts implement bilingual programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nicole Knight, executive director of English Language Learner and Multilingual Achievement at Oakland Unified School District said the funding to renew this program is a step in the right direction, but not enough to fill the shortage of bilingual teachers. She said more colleges need to offer bilingual authorizations as part of their teacher credentialing programs and there needs to be more done to prepare bilingual middle and high school teachers to teach single-subject classes in languages other than English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have really struggled with getting our teachers bilingually authorized,” she said. “We’re completely reliant on the Spain and Mexico visiting teachers program, and ideally what we’re looking for is to be able to grow our own and develop completely bilingual and biliterate students and encourage cohorts of those students to enroll in programs that are affordable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/proposed-state-budget-could-make-becoming-a-teacher-easier/690789\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://edsource.org/2023/proposed-state-budget-could-make-becoming-a-teacher-easier/690789\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">This story was originally published by EdSource\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“In California, we are rising to the challenge and removing financial barriers to the profession in ways that are proven to not only recruit but retain quality educators,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr23/yr23rel36.asp\">in a statement\u003c/a>. “It is estimated that California needs to recruit 27,000 teachers, including thousands of universal transitional kindergarten teachers, and we are stepping in to fill this gap and find solutions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget, if passed this summer as revised, would clear the way for U.S. military service members and their spouses, who hold a valid teaching credential in another state, to earn a California credential. Currently, they must go through the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/out-of-state-app\">same process\u003c/a> as other teachers who have out-of-state credentials, including meeting the state’s basic skills requirement and verifying out-of-state teaching preparation and experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget would also give concessions to those who were unable to earn their teaching credential during the Covid-19 pandemic because they could not complete the required Teaching Performance Assessment. It would allow them to meet the requirement through a state-approved induction program or two years of satisfactory teacher evaluations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers in California must complete an induction program, focused on extensive support and mentoring during their first two years of teaching, before they can clear their credential.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Teaching residents in state-funded program would be paid\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The budget would also go a long way toward \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/california-sunk-millions-into-teacher-residency-program-but-many-cant-afford-to-enroll/685984\">fixing flaws\u003c/a> in the state’s Teacher and School Counselor Residency Grant Program. The proposed budget wouldn’t add any funding to the program, but it would ensure residents get paid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents work alongside experienced mentors for a year of clinical training, while completing required university coursework. A report by the \u003ca href=\"https://nctresidencies.org/annual-report/\">National Center for Teacher Residencies\u003c/a> found that 89% of graduates of teacher residency programs remain in the profession for at least three years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state residency grant program, initially funded with $350 million in the 2021-22 state budget, pays school districts to operate teacher residency programs in partnership with university teacher preparation programs. Another $250 million and school counselor residency programs were added to the grant program in the 2022-23 fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Currently, school districts can apply for grants of $25,000 per resident to administer a residency program, pay costs of resident teachers’ preparation and induction, as well as stipends to mentors. School districts are not required to pay residents a salary or stipend, although most pay something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget proposes increasing the amount paid to school districts and charter schools to $40,000 per resident. It also requires the residency programs pay residents a minimum of $20,000 a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shireen Pavri, assistant vice chancellor of educator and leadership programs at California State University, is in favor of a minimum salary for residents preparing to be teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Residencies are high quality, clinically rich pathways to teacher preparation, and it is essential to provide affordable options for teacher candidates to select this preparation pathway,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.wested.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teacher-Residency-Programs-in-California_Brief.pdf\">evaluation of the grant program by WestEd\u003c/a> earlier this year revealed that residency programs funded by the state grant were \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/california-sunk-millions-into-teacher-residency-program-but-many-cant-afford-to-enroll/685984\">struggling to fill their rosters\u003c/a> because teacher candidates could not afford to live on the stipends provided. The time commitment required of residents usually precludes them from taking even a part-time job to pay the bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 30% of teacher residents experience food or housing insecurity during their year of residency and about half of them experienced an inability to pay their bills, Kate Hirschboeck, a senior researcher for WestEd, told the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://esd.dof.ca.gov/trailer-bill/public/trailerBill/pdf/909\">trailer bill\u003c/a> to the budget would remove other hurdles for residents in the state-funded program. Residents, who are required to serve four years as a teacher after completing their preliminary credential, would no longer be restricted to the school district that hosted their residency. Instead, they could serve in any public school in the state. They also have eight years to complete their four-year teaching obligation, instead of the five years required by previous legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal also eases financial sanctions against former residents who don’t complete the four-year obligation to teach. If the budget passes, school districts who run a residency program will only be able to recover the cost of tuition and materials from former residents, and not the cost of administering the grant or the stipends paid to mentors and residents. The amount owed also depends on how long the former resident taught before quitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School districts also could be held responsible for residents’ success. Districts where more than 10% of the residents fail to earn a preliminary teaching credential in a year or fail to complete their service commitment may have to repay a portion of their grant to the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>State adds funds to prepare special education teachers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The new budget also adds $6 million to the Golden State Teacher Grant Program, which offers up to $20,000 to a teacher candidate who commits to working in a priority school for four years. The funds will support grants to teacher candidates enrolled in a special education teacher preparation program who agree to teach at a high-needs school site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nation has had a severe shortage of special education teachers. The U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted an annual need for 37,600 special education teachers between 2021 and 2031.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Budget would bring back program to prepare bilingual teachers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The governor’s proposed budget also includes $20 million, to be used over five years, to renew a program that helps prepare bilingual teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School districts in California have \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/California_COVID_Teacher_Workforce_REPORT.pdf\">struggled for years\u003c/a> to hire teachers with bilingual authorizations – a specialized credential required to teach English language learners. Demand has grown as more schools open dual language immersion programs, which teach all students in two languages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shortage is in part a legacy of Proposition 227, which voters passed in 1998, limiting bilingual education in the state. After it passed, the number of teachers receiving bilingual credentials dropped. When voters \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2017/a-new-era-for-bilingual-education-explaining-californias-proposition-58/574852\">repealed the law\u003c/a> in 2016, school districts began increasing the number of bilingual classrooms, but had a hard time finding enough teachers who had both the credentials and the experience or preparation to work in dual-language settings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program began to prepare bilingual teachers through eight county offices of education and school districts. According to the California Department of Education, the program helped 353 teachers get bilingual credentials, and helped prepare an additional 392 teachers who already had their bilingual credentials but had been teaching only in English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the program \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2021/why-training-california-bilingual-teachers-just-got-harder/656558\">ended in 2021\u003c/a>, a number of advocacy organizations, county offices of education and school districts have called for it to be renewed, and bills have been introduced in the legislature, including\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1127\"> AB 1127\u003c/a> this year, but funding was not included in the state budget until now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District officials and bilingual education advocates celebrated the proposed renewal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important that we provide these incentives, to help them pay for coursework, to help them pay for taking the tests. It really does help them get across the finish line,” said Martha I. Martínez, senior director of research and evaluation for SEAL, a nonprofit organization that provides training and assistance to help school districts implement bilingual programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nicole Knight, executive director of English Language Learner and Multilingual Achievement at Oakland Unified School District said the funding to renew this program is a step in the right direction, but not enough to fill the shortage of bilingual teachers. She said more colleges need to offer bilingual authorizations as part of their teacher credentialing programs and there needs to be more done to prepare bilingual middle and high school teachers to teach single-subject classes in languages other than English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have really struggled with getting our teachers bilingually authorized,” she said. “We’re completely reliant on the Spain and Mexico visiting teachers program, and ideally what we’re looking for is to be able to grow our own and develop completely bilingual and biliterate students and encourage cohorts of those students to enroll in programs that are affordable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/proposed-state-budget-could-make-becoming-a-teacher-easier/690789\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://edsource.org/2023/proposed-state-budget-could-make-becoming-a-teacher-easier/690789\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">This story was originally published by EdSource\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Oakland Students, Parents Keep Kids Learning at 'Solidarity Schools' During Teachers' Strike",
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"headTitle": "Oakland Students, Parents Keep Kids Learning at ‘Solidarity Schools’ During Teachers’ Strike | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>On Wednesday morning, as her \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948465/oakland-teachers-to-go-on-strike-thursday-amid-deadlock-with-district\">teachers hit the picket lines\u003c/a> for the fifth day of a district-wide strike, 17-year-old Noemi Grascoeur arrived at the picnic area of Dimond Park to help look after a group of Oakland elementary school students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re playing frisbee with them, drawing with them, teaching them how to share, which is odd because I’ve never had to do that before. I don’t have experience with kids,” said the Oakland Tech senior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What else do I have to do?” she added. “I could go to the picket line or I can come and change these kids’ lives because, ultimately, we make a huge difference for these kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1455px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4D019DC6-33FE-4B0F-9326-F41794B0ECB9.jpg\" alt='A black sign with pink and blue writing sits on a table at a park. The sign reads, \"OEA Strike Solidarity School.\" It also reads, \"Free meals, arts and crafts, and a safe place to stand in solidarity with our teachers and staff!\" There is a single apple on the table, along with blue and white, three-ring binders. A white pastry box and a bottle of hand sanitizer are also on the table. Parents and children are blurry in the background.' width=\"1455\" height=\"970\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4D019DC6-33FE-4B0F-9326-F41794B0ECB9.jpg 1455w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4D019DC6-33FE-4B0F-9326-F41794B0ECB9-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4D019DC6-33FE-4B0F-9326-F41794B0ECB9-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4D019DC6-33FE-4B0F-9326-F41794B0ECB9-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1455px) 100vw, 1455px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for the OEA strike solidarity school sits on a picnic table in Dimond Park on May 11, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The pop-up child care program, known as a “solidarity school,” offers parents who don’t want to cross the picket line a safe place to drop off their kids for the day. The teachers union and parent volunteers have operated a handful of these across the city since schools emptied out last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anna Beliel, whose daughter is a kindergartner at Manzanita Seed Elementary in East Oakland, is running the temporary child care center at Dimond Park.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Anna Beliel, parent and solidarity school volunteer\"]‘[T]he hardest part is that I didn’t expect nearly as many kids as we ended up getting. This is all just parent-run, so one of the hardest parts … is financially trying to fund it. But, we’re making that work, too.’[/pullquote]“I think the hardest part is that I didn’t expect nearly as many kids as we ended up getting,” she said. “This is all just parent-run, so one of the hardest parts I think is financially trying to fund it. But, we’re making that work, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it opened last Thursday, on the first day of the Oakland teachers’ strike, only two students showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ever since, it’s evolved,” said Grascouer, who has come every day to volunteer. “Like now, we have over 50 kids and we just spend our days playing with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the students drop their backpacks on a wooden bench and sprint for the grass, Ruby Mechanic, a fellow Oakland Tech senior, heads to the line of picnic tables that are overflowing with backpacks, snacks and art supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949297\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949297\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8.jpg\" alt=\"A blonde, teenage girl looks over students at a park. A pop-up canopy is seen in the background, along with many parents and little kids.\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8.jpg 1620w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified high school student Ruby Mechanic helps hand out lunch to OUSD students at a ‘solidarity school’ in Dimond Park. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think we spend most of our time running around, getting energy out, because with this many kids and these few volunteers, it’s definitely a high ratio of energy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mechanic found out about this opportunity from her old elementary school teacher, whom she’s kept in touch with over the years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s important that there’s a place for these kids, and that we’re here,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with just over two weeks left in their high school careers, both Mechanic and Grascouer are struggling with the uncertainty of this moment, and don’t know whether they’ll actually get a chance to return to their school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949293\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1375px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949293\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4A3FD665-2737-44A9-8FE3-2554B45C63CB.jpg\" alt=\"A boy in an orange T-shirt and short, dark hair does a handshake with a teenage girl who is watching him at the park. The two sit at a wooden picnic table talking. Green grass and large trees are in the background, along with parents and children playing.\" width=\"1375\" height=\"917\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4A3FD665-2737-44A9-8FE3-2554B45C63CB.jpg 1375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4A3FD665-2737-44A9-8FE3-2554B45C63CB-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4A3FD665-2737-44A9-8FE3-2554B45C63CB-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4A3FD665-2737-44A9-8FE3-2554B45C63CB-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1375px) 100vw, 1375px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">High school student Noemi Grascoeur hangs with students at a ‘solidarity school’ in Dimond Park. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t finish my graduation project,” Grascouer said. “I feel kind of weird because I didn’t say bye to any teacher. I didn’t say bye to any friends. Like, I’m done with high school more or less.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added, “I just think we’re kind of stuck. We don’t know if our high school experience is over or if we have to go back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Mechanic was able to finish her final senior project, she’s disappointed her classmates won’t be able to see it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949296\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949296\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up shot of a grown-up's hand, handing a wrapped snack to a child's hand. A box of red apples and a box of tangerines, along with pallets of water bottles and juice boxes are pictured in the background placed on a park picnic table.\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC.jpg 1620w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified students pick up lunch at a ‘solidarity school’ in Dimond Park. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a goal of our entire high school experience that would be nice to complete and present before we go,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advanced placement testing, which was scheduled for this week, has also been a challenge — it’s forced students to cross picket lines to enter their schools where the exams are administered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve had to cross the picket line twice,” Grascouer said. “The teachers have been really nice about it. They’ve been supporting us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For seniors, the strike has also complicated many quintessential end-of-high school events. Senior prom, for instance, is on Friday, and students have to pick up their tickets at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949295\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949295\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4.jpg\" alt='A man wears a black jacket with a white patch with red and black print that reads,\"Strike for a fair contract.\" He stands next to a boy wearing a green T-shirt. The two are in front of a green picnic table that has many snacks and juice boxes on top of it. Many children and parents are seen in the background, along with a blue playground structure shaded by lush trees.' width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4.jpg 1620w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Parents, teachers and high school students hand out lunch to Oakland Unified students. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mechanic said that her striking teachers are sympathetic and have tried to make it as easy as possible for their students.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside label='More on Education' tag='education']\u003c/span>“I think the teachers are doing their best to make it possible for us to get those prom tickets and to finish our few tests without feeling ashamed for crossing the picket line,” she said. “They opened the entrance on the side of the school so we didn’t have to go through the front.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With many unknowns between now and their graduation on May 24, Grascouer and Mechanic both said working at the solidarity school is a good way to stay busy and fill an important need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, the two spent the morning playing basketball with fifth graders at the park and tricking children into capturing dummy squirrels made out of wood chips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though I’m talking about how I’m done with high school and I’m going on to college next year, I’m acting like a little kid today and this past week,” Grascouer said, “and I’ve absolutely loved it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Oakland Students, Parents Keep Kids Learning at 'Solidarity Schools' During Teachers' Strike | KQED",
"description": "Oakland's Dimond Park has doubled as a solidarity school run by parent and student volunteers to care for OUSD students during the ongoing teachers' strike.",
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"headline": "Oakland Students, Parents Keep Kids Learning at 'Solidarity Schools' During Teachers' Strike",
"datePublished": "2023-05-12T13:21:51-07:00",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Wednesday morning, as her \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948465/oakland-teachers-to-go-on-strike-thursday-amid-deadlock-with-district\">teachers hit the picket lines\u003c/a> for the fifth day of a district-wide strike, 17-year-old Noemi Grascoeur arrived at the picnic area of Dimond Park to help look after a group of Oakland elementary school students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re playing frisbee with them, drawing with them, teaching them how to share, which is odd because I’ve never had to do that before. I don’t have experience with kids,” said the Oakland Tech senior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What else do I have to do?” she added. “I could go to the picket line or I can come and change these kids’ lives because, ultimately, we make a huge difference for these kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1455px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4D019DC6-33FE-4B0F-9326-F41794B0ECB9.jpg\" alt='A black sign with pink and blue writing sits on a table at a park. The sign reads, \"OEA Strike Solidarity School.\" It also reads, \"Free meals, arts and crafts, and a safe place to stand in solidarity with our teachers and staff!\" There is a single apple on the table, along with blue and white, three-ring binders. A white pastry box and a bottle of hand sanitizer are also on the table. Parents and children are blurry in the background.' width=\"1455\" height=\"970\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4D019DC6-33FE-4B0F-9326-F41794B0ECB9.jpg 1455w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4D019DC6-33FE-4B0F-9326-F41794B0ECB9-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4D019DC6-33FE-4B0F-9326-F41794B0ECB9-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4D019DC6-33FE-4B0F-9326-F41794B0ECB9-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1455px) 100vw, 1455px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for the OEA strike solidarity school sits on a picnic table in Dimond Park on May 11, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The pop-up child care program, known as a “solidarity school,” offers parents who don’t want to cross the picket line a safe place to drop off their kids for the day. The teachers union and parent volunteers have operated a handful of these across the city since schools emptied out last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anna Beliel, whose daughter is a kindergartner at Manzanita Seed Elementary in East Oakland, is running the temporary child care center at Dimond Park.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘[T]he hardest part is that I didn’t expect nearly as many kids as we ended up getting. This is all just parent-run, so one of the hardest parts … is financially trying to fund it. But, we’re making that work, too.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I think the hardest part is that I didn’t expect nearly as many kids as we ended up getting,” she said. “This is all just parent-run, so one of the hardest parts I think is financially trying to fund it. But, we’re making that work, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it opened last Thursday, on the first day of the Oakland teachers’ strike, only two students showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ever since, it’s evolved,” said Grascouer, who has come every day to volunteer. “Like now, we have over 50 kids and we just spend our days playing with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the students drop their backpacks on a wooden bench and sprint for the grass, Ruby Mechanic, a fellow Oakland Tech senior, heads to the line of picnic tables that are overflowing with backpacks, snacks and art supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949297\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949297\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8.jpg\" alt=\"A blonde, teenage girl looks over students at a park. A pop-up canopy is seen in the background, along with many parents and little kids.\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8.jpg 1620w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/8138DCC0-E68A-42EE-BC51-73B3DE2AE9B8-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified high school student Ruby Mechanic helps hand out lunch to OUSD students at a ‘solidarity school’ in Dimond Park. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think we spend most of our time running around, getting energy out, because with this many kids and these few volunteers, it’s definitely a high ratio of energy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mechanic found out about this opportunity from her old elementary school teacher, whom she’s kept in touch with over the years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s important that there’s a place for these kids, and that we’re here,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with just over two weeks left in their high school careers, both Mechanic and Grascouer are struggling with the uncertainty of this moment, and don’t know whether they’ll actually get a chance to return to their school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949293\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1375px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949293\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4A3FD665-2737-44A9-8FE3-2554B45C63CB.jpg\" alt=\"A boy in an orange T-shirt and short, dark hair does a handshake with a teenage girl who is watching him at the park. The two sit at a wooden picnic table talking. Green grass and large trees are in the background, along with parents and children playing.\" width=\"1375\" height=\"917\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4A3FD665-2737-44A9-8FE3-2554B45C63CB.jpg 1375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4A3FD665-2737-44A9-8FE3-2554B45C63CB-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4A3FD665-2737-44A9-8FE3-2554B45C63CB-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/4A3FD665-2737-44A9-8FE3-2554B45C63CB-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1375px) 100vw, 1375px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">High school student Noemi Grascoeur hangs with students at a ‘solidarity school’ in Dimond Park. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t finish my graduation project,” Grascouer said. “I feel kind of weird because I didn’t say bye to any teacher. I didn’t say bye to any friends. Like, I’m done with high school more or less.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added, “I just think we’re kind of stuck. We don’t know if our high school experience is over or if we have to go back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Mechanic was able to finish her final senior project, she’s disappointed her classmates won’t be able to see it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949296\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949296\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up shot of a grown-up's hand, handing a wrapped snack to a child's hand. A box of red apples and a box of tangerines, along with pallets of water bottles and juice boxes are pictured in the background placed on a park picnic table.\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC.jpg 1620w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/9AFA50B6-E57B-4FD9-A2B7-2373A90DE8AC-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified students pick up lunch at a ‘solidarity school’ in Dimond Park. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a goal of our entire high school experience that would be nice to complete and present before we go,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advanced placement testing, which was scheduled for this week, has also been a challenge — it’s forced students to cross picket lines to enter their schools where the exams are administered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve had to cross the picket line twice,” Grascouer said. “The teachers have been really nice about it. They’ve been supporting us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For seniors, the strike has also complicated many quintessential end-of-high school events. Senior prom, for instance, is on Friday, and students have to pick up their tickets at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949295\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949295\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4.jpg\" alt='A man wears a black jacket with a white patch with red and black print that reads,\"Strike for a fair contract.\" He stands next to a boy wearing a green T-shirt. The two are in front of a green picnic table that has many snacks and juice boxes on top of it. Many children and parents are seen in the background, along with a blue playground structure shaded by lush trees.' width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4.jpg 1620w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/B9D5ABF9-88DE-4A08-B2AA-756617549DF4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Parents, teachers and high school students hand out lunch to Oakland Unified students. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mechanic said that her striking teachers are sympathetic and have tried to make it as easy as possible for their students.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>“I think the teachers are doing their best to make it possible for us to get those prom tickets and to finish our few tests without feeling ashamed for crossing the picket line,” she said. “They opened the entrance on the side of the school so we didn’t have to go through the front.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With many unknowns between now and their graduation on May 24, Grascouer and Mechanic both said working at the solidarity school is a good way to stay busy and fill an important need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, the two spent the morning playing basketball with fifth graders at the park and tricking children into capturing dummy squirrels made out of wood chips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though I’m talking about how I’m done with high school and I’m going on to college next year, I’m acting like a little kid today and this past week,” Grascouer said, “and I’ve absolutely loved it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Oakland Teachers' Strike Continues Despite Incremental Gains at Bargaining Table",
"headTitle": "Oakland Teachers’ Strike Continues Despite Incremental Gains at Bargaining Table | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This article will no longer be updated.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 2 p.m. Friday:\u003c/strong> As the standoff between striking educators and the Oakland Unified School District continues into its seventh school day, a major sticking point remains the “common good” demands from the union, with both sides citing wildly varying figures on the costs of implementing them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement Thursday evening, OUSD Director of Communications John Sasaki told KQED that the Oakland Education Association’s proposal is “cost prohibitive” and that the overall price tag could run upwards of $1 billion. Sasaki said many of the “common good” demands would fall under \u003ca href=\"https://www.ousd.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=39353&dataid=36993&FileName=2020%20Facilities%20Master%20Plan.pdf\">OUSD’s Facilities Master Plan (PDF)\u003c/a>, which “shows the District has a total of $3.4 billion in upgrades and other changes that must happen to get all schools upgraded and modernized,” adding that OEA’s proposal is “far too costly for the District to handle” and that it should not be included in any collective bargaining agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Rachel Warino of the California Teachers Association — which has expressed its solidarity with the OEA — said OUSD’s numbers are “months old” and “ridiculous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goals we are committed to winning would cost an estimated $500,000 annually — this would be to pay for staffing increases including counselors,” Warino said, in a statement emailed to KQED on Thursday evening. “It’s unfortunate that the district is spending time sending out outlandish claims about proposals that are months old when we are 6 days into a strike. It’s unfair and unhelpful for our Oakland community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Warino did not provide cost estimates for the rest of the “common good” proposals, which include housing unhoused students in vacant school buildings and replacing HVAC systems in aging school buildings. On Wednesday, OEA Interim President Ismael Armendariz argued the union’s common good proposals “reflect the priorities identified by Oakland educators and in conversations with thousands of OUSD parents and community members,” and that several of them “would not cost the district a dime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949362\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949362\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874.jpg\" alt=\"a group of people which appears to be multi-ethnic in composition walks down a street carrying a large banner reading 'ready to strike for a fair contract' in both English and Spanish\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874.jpg 1620w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">OUSD educators and their supporters rally outside Glenview Elementary in Oakland on May 11. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On Friday morning, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who has been mediating the negotiations since last Thursday, praised both parties for “working incredibly hard” and said the talks had been “productive,” but added that it’s ultimately up to the two sides to come to an agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state is providing right now historic levels of funding that can be used to provide these services for students: $4 billion for community schools, $8 billion for the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, $3.5 billion dollars for arts, financial literacy and basically giving districts discretion to do as they will, $4 billion for expanded learning — after-school programs, before-school programs,” said Thurmond, in a press conference at Burbank Elementary School in Hayward. “We have not seen funding at this level before. [W]e are seeing the state provide districts with resources that they can use for programs that would support the common good of students. Ultimately, it’s up to the board of every one of our 1,000 school districts, including Oakland, to decide how those resources might get used.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thurmond said he had no idea how long the strike would last, adding that he wouldn’t be mediating if he “thought the strike would take up the whole school year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a believer that we can all win, that we can find an agreement that compensates educators the way they deserve to be compensated, that we can find a way to provide programs that support students who’ve been disadvantaged, and we can do it in a way where we prioritize getting our students back into the classroom — and that is the priority,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 6 p.m. Thursday:\u003c/strong> As the Oakland teachers’ strike continues to grind on, the number of students attending their teacherless schools — which have remained open, behind the picket lines — has steadily dipped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, the fifth day of the ongoing walkout, just 1,200 of OUSD’s more than 34,000 students attended one of its 77 school sites, where food and other basic services and activities are still being offered, according to district spokesperson John Sasaki.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Oakland city officials say they’ve seen a 75% drop in attendance in city-run after-school programs since the strike began last Thursday. The teachers union and parent volunteers also have organized pop-up care centers — called “solidarity schools” — at various sites throughout the city, but it’s unclear how many students are attending them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949257\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11949257 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905.jpg\" alt=\"In the foreground is what appears to be a middle school student in a full-body, bright green Oscar the Grouch costume, with a fuzzy brown unibrow, big googly eyes, and the person's face inside the mouth, holding a cardboard sign on a flat wooden stick that says, 'OUSD, Stop bringing us proposals that belong in the trash!' Oscar is in a crowd of people in a street, including someone to their right playing a trombone.\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905.jpg 1620w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District teachers, parents and students rally outside Glenview Elementary in Oakland on May 11, 2023, during a teacher strike. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That massive disappearing act offers some indication of just how disruptive this strike has been for Oakland students and their families, who still have no idea when — or if — school will open again before the year ends in just two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, the sixth day of the district-wide strike, tense negotiations continued between the teachers union and school district officials, with the union’s “common good” demands for more community services remaining the major sticking point, even as the two sides appeared close to an agreement over compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosa Gonzalez, vice president of her ninth grade class at Castlemont High School in East Oakland, came out Thursday to support her teachers on the picket line, even as most of her classmates stayed home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/OaklandEA/status/1656747427133788161\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel bored at home,” she said. “I decided to come and strike with my teachers because they work hard. They plan lessons. They take time out of their personal lives to grade and stuff like that, and they deserve what they’re asking for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At an Oakland City Council committee hearing on Thursday, a stream of attendees spoke of the decrepit conditions they’ve witnessed in many of the district’s schools, and implored city officials to get involved in the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OUSD teacher Edgar Sanchez, whose daughter attends United for Success Academy, told council members of the school’s rodent problems and “the issue of the sewage coming into the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve been asking for that to be fixed for a year and a half,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez added that the school where he teaches doesn’t have air-conditioning in the classrooms, and said that during last year’s heat wave, teachers had to constantly move students to cooler areas of the building just to maintain a safe learning environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So on Day Six of our strike, you all need to stand with us and push the district to do what’s right for our kids,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement Thursday, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who has remained largely quiet during the labor dispute, urged the school district and teachers union to “work together to settle the strike.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 8 a.m. Thursday:\u003c/b> Thousands of Oakland teachers, counselors and librarians, along with their supporters, once again formed picket lines in front of schools on Thursday, the sixth day of a district-wide strike that has emptied out classrooms and ground instruction to a halt, with little more than two weeks remaining in the school year and a deal still out of reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Vilma Serrano, bargaining co-chair, Oakland Education Association\"]‘We want to be back in our classrooms, back in our schools. But we’ll do whatever it takes to really get a strong, tentative agreement that improves teaching and learning conditions for our kids and for our members.’[/pullquote]As heated negotiations continue between the district and the teachers union — including a Tuesday session that ran until 1 a.m. — both sides say they are inching closer to a tentative contract agreement, but have given little indication as to how soon the walkout might end. Meanwhile, as an immediate resolution seemed increasingly unlikely, the district canceled its regularly scheduled Wednesday evening school board meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vilma Serrano, a teacher at Oakland’s Melrose Leadership Academy, and the bargaining co-chair for the Oakland Education Association, said her team is standing firm on its list of demands. She said the district this week delivered “a fuller package” counteroffer that, for the first time, suggests it is willing to consider some of the union’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/ousd-teacher-strike-oakland-schools-common-good-18081358.php\">common good proposals\u003c/a> in the new contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But “we still have many issues on the table that are unresolved. So there’s still a lot of work ahead of us to reach a tentative agreement,” Serrano said. “We want to be back in our classrooms, back in our schools. But we’ll do whatever it takes to really get a strong, tentative agreement that improves teaching and learning conditions for our kids and for our members.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More support for special education teachers and their students is among the many outstanding demands on which the union refuses to budge, said Timothy Douglas, the other co-chair of OEA’s bargaining team, and a fifth grade teacher at International Community School in East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of issues in special education that we find unacceptable and potentially illegal,” he said. “So we are really working with the district to implement a more sustainable and healthier workload model for our educators.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among those educators is Gena Rinaldi, a special education teacher at Kaiser Early Childhood Center in the Oakland hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that we’re really focused on right now is increasing our support staff to ensure the safety of students in our classrooms,” she said, during a spirited rally Wednesday at Burbank Elementary in East Oakland. “Many of our teachers and our para-educators are not getting their lunch breaks right now because we don’t have enough staff for teachers to leave and still have supervision for our students. So we’re trying to convince the district that our youngest students need more support and we’re hopeful we can come to an agreement to make that happen.”[aside label=\"More Oakland Schools coverage\" postID=\"news_11948320,news_11937906,news_11912597\"]Meanwhile, district officials have reiterated that they’ve offered teachers an unprecedented compensation package — yielding significant pay increases of as much as 22%, plus back pay — and do not have the financial capacity or legal authority to negotiate many of the union’s key “common good” proposals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We appear close to an agreement for a robust compensation package, which would give teachers a historic raise … thereby supporting the critical goal of attracting and retaining excellent teachers,” OUSD Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said in \u003ca href=\"https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/20430541?s=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxNjA5ODQ3OSwiZXhwIjoxNjkxNzE5Mzc5LCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5wYXJlbnRzcXVhcmUuY29tL2ZlZWRzLzIwNDMwNTQxIiwibWV0aG9kIjoiR0VUIiwicXVlcnkiOnt9LCJyZXF1ZXN0Ijp7fX0.PePW3sJs4be05bTASVEqyC0pp0U8LRec86ZLQOe46PY\">a video message sent to families\u003c/a> on Wednesday evening. “The remaining issue is how best to work on the common good proposal, which seeks to assign the school district with addressing such broad societal issues as housing for homeless [students] and drought-tolerant landscaping.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are critical issues, Johnson-Trammell noted, but they “demand multiagency and government support,” and certainly can’t be single-handedly tackled through the school district’s limited budget. Fully implementing the proposals, district officials said, would cost more than $1 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Moreover, as laudable as common good causes may be, they should not hold children’s learning hostage or deprive students of the services that schools provide,” she said. “OUSD wants to find a way other than the bargaining table to take on these issues and move forward with getting students back in the classroom and putting a significant raise into employees’ paychecks now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in an email response sent late Wednesday to KQED, Ismael Armendariz, OEA’s interim president, argued the union’s common good proposals “reflect the priorities identified by Oakland educators and in conversations with thousands of OUSD parents and community members,” and said several of them “would not cost the district a dime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of these issues are critical to supporting our schools,” he said. “We urge the district to spend more time negotiating in good faith and less time making outlandish claims about the total cost of the proposals in email blasts to the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And although scores of families in the district during the walkout have continued to staunchly support teachers — and their demands — some parent leaders are lambasting the union, accusing its negotiators of pushing for unrealistic goals at the expense of the most vulnerable students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a false assumption going around that this ongoing strike is meant to help Black and brown students. It’s not. Instead, this strike is proving the opposite,” Lakisha Young, co-founder of The Oakland Reach, a parent-run group, said in a statement on Wednesday. “Without school in session, the flatlands of Oakland are a ghost town, where our lower income Black and brown students already have some of the lowest reading and math scores in California and an absenteeism rate close to 50% among Black students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The longer this strike continues,” she added, “the more it will cost us — physically, emotionally, academically, and in literal dollars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 7:25 p.m. Tuesday: \u003c/strong>For Laura Kaneko, a middle school teacher at Melrose Leadership Academy in East Oakland, this strike is about much more than demanding a much-needed raise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been kind of rejuvenating … to remember that our community is here supporting us not only for our compensation, but really for the common good for everybody,” said Kaneko, while attending a teacher support rally outside her school on Tuesday, the fourth day of a district-wide walkout. “They’ve made so much progress in the negotiations for a contract for our salary, but there’s still so much more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just look at the school’s defective HVAC system, Kaneko said. “Our heater here at the site has been broken for 10 years. So it’s either too hot on warm days or it’s off on really cold days. And there’s no way for us to control that,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so one of the common good demands that we’re asking for is for a plan for there to be climate control in every classroom. Seems like a fairly reasonable thing to ask for our students’ learning conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, the district has largely conceded to the union’s demands for a significant pay raise, offering up to a 22% salary increase, along with a retroactive bump and a one-time payout as part of a nearly $70 million compensation package. The sticking point, though, and apparent reason the strike is still on — with just 12 days left in the school year — is the impasse over those “common good” proposals: things like building housing for the district’s many unhoused students on surplus district land, offering reparations to historically underserved Black students, addressing long-neglected safety and infrastructure issues at school sites and allowing for shared governance of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ousd.org/communityschools\">district’s community schools\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Oakland Education Association’s negotiating team on Tuesday continued to grapple with district officials behind closed doors over the terms of a new contract — with little indication of resolution anytime soon — union leaders and teachers on the picket line made clear that those demands were just as essential for a fair contract as the most generous salary increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My message to the community is that you are here with us today. You have been with us through the years and we are with you at the bargaining table,” interim OEA President Ismael Armendariz, a special education teacher, told supporters gathered outside Melrose on Tuesday. “And your demands are central, just as valuable to us, as is our wages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An increasing number of teachers unions around the country have in recent years begun fighting for similar common good demands, including Los Angeles educators, who during a 2019 strike pushed their district to commit to a host of racial and environmental justice initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But OUSD leaders, and half the members of the school board, argue that these goals, while admirable, pertain to larger societal issues the district can’t single-handedly address and that certainly don’t belong in a teachers’ contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would love to continue partnering with teachers and the teachers union to find solutions to some of these issues that plague our communities,” Mike Hutchinson, president of the school board, told reporters on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, he argued, the district’s bargaining team is not authorized to even consider many of these proposals. “Items that are outside of the scope of the contract, which are basically compensation and work conditions, are not going to be negotiated,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Union officials, however, say district negotiators, desperate to get students back in the classroom, are finally beginning to consider some of these proposals — even though the district has not publicly confirmed this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back at the Melrose rally, Malaika Parker, who runs Oakland’s Black Organizing Project, said the district was being extremely shortsighted in refusing to even consider many of the union’s common good proposals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The debate over teacher compensation versus common good is ridiculous,” she said. “That is a false choice. We deserve communities where all is incorporated — where our teachers are paid well and where our young people feel safe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers shouldn’t have to demand these things, Parker argued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why are our teachers, the people who we trust with our children, not automatically guaranteed respect and living conditions?” she said. “Why are we having to ask for the basics when we should be demanding the most? Our teachers, our communities, deserve to thrive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 9 p.m. Monday:\u003c/b> Oakland school district officials and the teachers union on Monday evening announced that some 3,000 teachers and other school staff would continue striking on Tuesday, leaving classrooms across the district largely empty for a fourth day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As another day of working toward an agreement with the Oakland Education Association approaches an end, we are sorry to report we are preparing for a fourth consecutive day of the teachers’ strike,” the district said in a letter to parents, noting that schools will remain open, with food service and other resources still available for students. “But with teachers engaging in the work stoppage, school operations will be reduced as they have been since Thursday of last week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 4:30 p.m. Monday:\u003c/b> With less than three weeks remaining in the school year, some 3,000 Oakland teachers, counselors and other school staff returned to the picket lines Monday for the third day of a district-wide strike, after the teachers union and the school district failed to reach a contract agreement over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, Oakland School Board President Mike Hutchinson expressed his “disappointment for where we are today,” imploring the Oakland Education Association to come back to the negotiating table and accusing its leaders of holding up the process with unreasonable demands, at the expense of Oakland students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unprecedented and simply unacceptable for our students and families to be forced into this position during a time when we should instead be focused on planning, graduation and end-of-year celebrations,” he told reporters at an afternoon press briefing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson said that despite the the union’s claims to the contrary, the district’s bargaining team has continued to negotiate in good faith and devoted countless hours toward reaching a deal, including a late-night Sunday session to review OEA’s latest counterproposal. And while State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and his staff helped support the process over the weekend, “it still did not lead us to an agreement,” Hutchinson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district, he said, has already made a nearly $70 million \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZNSGZxnaZU5S_HBv_FNZPr0R_TbJG0xd\">“historic” offer to teachers\u003c/a> that would significantly boost their pay — up to 22% — while addressing a host of other demands for more support and resources. But Hutchinson said the union remains unrealistically fixated on its “\u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/view/oeabargaining-2022-2023/\">common good proposals\u003c/a>” demands — including housing for unhoused students, major school infrastructure and safety improvements, climate change actions and racial justice measures such as reparations for Black students and their families. The district supports these objectives, he said, but fundamentally lacks the capacity to take them on single-handedly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we agree on the principles of the proposal, they simply do not belong in contract language and we have not authorized any changes to our approach to this position shared last week,” Hutchinson said. He argued that the district already has some policies in place to work toward certain common good goals, and that other demands — including more mental health services for students — have already been addressed in the current contract offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our students need to be back at school immediately and I cannot make this point more urgently,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the union argues that the district has long been aware of, but until recently ignored, these common good proposals, which OEA presented months ago. And the district, the union insists, already has the resources in place to address them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“OUSD is a district exactly designed to deal with outside things like homelessness,” said Jacob Fowler, a Lincoln Elementary School teacher and member of the union’s negotiating team, in \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOgkb2v_sw4\">a video message\u003c/a> to parents over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948680\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948680\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators.jpg\" alt='A huge crowd of protestors walk down a street in Oakland carrying green and yellow picket signs that read \"On Strike Unfair Labor Practices.\" Many participants wear red and one woman has a hooded sweatshirt that reads \"phenomenal teacher.\" Another sign reads \"Safe, Stable and Racially Just Schools\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1398\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators-800x583.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators-1020x743.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators-160x117.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators-1536x1118.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Educators and their supporters march down Foothill Avenue in Oakland on the second day of an ongoing teachers strike on May 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The district, he argued, receives millions of dollars a year from the state for its \u003ca href=\"https://www.ousd.org/communityschools\">community schools\u003c/a>, aimed at providing services to students outside of the normal school day. The union simply wants to make sure there is a community engagement strategy in place to determine how those funds get spent, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re not asking for any more funds. It costs the district $0 to agree to this proposal. But they’re not even addressing it,” Fowler said. “We just want a fair, complete proposal so that we can get back to the classroom quickly. If OUSD continues to drag their feet, we will continue to be on strike.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fowler added that the union has also set up “solidarity schools” across the district, run by credentialed teachers and community members, for students to attend for as long as the strike lasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-IOS_GK0T-GK1C&mibextid=YCRy0i&ref=watch_permalink&v=591680859401402\">press conference on Monday morning\u003c/a> in front of the district’s headquarters, Oakland school board members Valarie Bachelor, Jennifer Brouhard and VanCedric Williams — representing half of the board — voiced their support for the union’s common good proposals and urged the other three members of the board, including Hutchinson, to embrace them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do not agree that common good should require a separate authorization to negotiate,” Bachelor said. As one of the largest landowners in Oakland, the district is particularly well positioned to work toward housing solutions for its many unhoused students, she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brouhard, a retired Oakland teacher, said recent historic state funding for community schools has created the opportunity to change how decisions in schools are made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For too long, decision-making power has been held at the district level,” she said. “It must be shared with teachers, parents and students and those voices must be centered at the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brouhard recalled, as a teacher, sitting on committees that had no real power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We met, we met, we met. We talked about things our students needed, and they were never funded,” she said. “It’s time to have shared governance in our common good goals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 7 p.m. Saturday: \u003c/b>No negotiations were planned over the weekend, said Oakland Education Association bargaining team member Samia Khattab, raising the prospect that striking teachers would be back on the picket lines on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Friday] evening we received a package proposal from [the OUSD] that is still incomplete and [that has] quite a few errors in it,” said Khattab, who is a teacher and librarian at Franklin Elementary School, in an interview with KQED. “We haven’t been able to sit at the table with them to go over some of these inconsistencies, to be able to discuss and walk through the proposal with them, because there is a holdup, and the holdup is that the OUSD school board has not given authority to the OUSD bargaining team to bargain on all of the proposals that the OEA has brought forth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khattab said the 50-member OEA bargaining team was working on a counterproposal Saturday, and said she hopes the district is able to return to the table so they can begin the “back-and-forth process of settling a fair contract.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district hasn’t responded this weekend,” said Khattab. “We have nothing on our agenda that indicates that they are going to be joining us at the table today … We will be on the picket lines unless we can come to an agreement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a separate interview with KQED on Saturday, Deputy Mayor Kimberly Mayfield said Oakland is committed to education and that the mayor’s office has a good relationship with the districts and the teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our desire is that they can work as hard as they can over this weekend to come up with a solution that will be agreeable to both parties,” said Mayfield. “I will trust the wisdom of the bargaining teams to make the best decision to bring our kids back to school and to bring our teachers back to school with safe conditions for learning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 6 p.m. Friday:\u003c/b> Oakland teachers continued to strike for a second day Friday, with union, district and state education officials saying they planned to continue negotiating, likely through the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One union rally was held at the United for Success Academy in Oakland’s Fruitvale District on Thursday. Oakland Education Association representatives said they chose the OUSD middle school because it highlights the lack of needed “common good” measures that teachers are demanding in their ongoing fight for a new contract across the school district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers at the UFSA say the school’s buildings are old and in need of renovation, that there’s \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/06/03/fruitvale-students-lead-soil-contamination-poisoning/\">lead in the soil\u003c/a> and a rat and mice infestation in the classrooms, and that they’re concerned about lead in the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/KQEDnews/status/1654608654396710913\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maha Nusrat, a sixth grade humanities teacher who’s taught at UFSA for 13 years, told KQED that it’s impossible to separate the physical conditions of the buildings from the teaching experience, or a child’s home environment from their education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we’re talking about common good proposals, we’re talking about disability justice, we’re talking about racial justice, we’re talking about social justice, we’re talking about schools in the flatlands having a just experience,” said Nusrat. “And that’s both in the environment, coming to a school that is welcoming, loving, safe — physically — and also [has] enough resources to actually fully serve those students that are in the building.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Aponte, a special education teacher going into his eighth year at UFSA, advocated for the needs of the most vulnerable students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The [special education] program at UFSA is closing down, and as a special education teacher, that really hits us where it hurts,” said Aponte. “The students need these supports and these services … We need more qualified teachers to support the most vulnerable students that we have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948687\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948687\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner.jpg\" alt=\"Striking teachers marching holding a big colorful banner.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1443\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner-800x601.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner-1020x767.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner-1536x1154.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland teachers and their supporters march down Foothill Avenue from United for Success Academy, on May 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nusrat said schools like UFSA in the flatlands are a hub for families, a place to find additional resources outside the school day, and a place that serves as a safe space where students can get an “equitable education experience,” adding that UFSA is “a model” of some of the “common good” proposals teachers are demanding in the current strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When people on campuses like ours are doing eight jobs because we simply don’t have the human power, no one is actually able to do their job that well,” said Nusrat. “We want to create wraparound services. We want to serve the whole student, including their families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While district officials have said they agree in principle with the union’s proposals, they are prioritizing teacher retention by offering raises of up to 22%. But teachers demand that their “common good” proposals be met and that OUSD have a long-term plan in place for the coming years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would love to have that transparency of a long game,” said Nusrat. “A two-year plan, a three-year plan, a five-year plan that’s going to include some of those common good things and some of those staffing issues that actually don’t let us do the jobs that we need to in our buildings with the integrity that we want to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 5 p.m. Friday:\u003c/strong> As the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893056/oaklands-teachers-are-on-strike-again\">Oakland teachers’ strike\u003c/a> continues into its second day, First Covenant Church is opening its doors during the day to support K–5 students in the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pastor Danny Fitelson said\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandfcc.org/who-we-are\"> the church\u003c/a> also provided a space for students to read and learn when Oakland Unified teachers went on strike in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of our mission statements is to be a light to the city. We think this is just a way to respond to a need that our city has right now,” Fitelson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The church transformed the choir room into a library for kids to lounge, snuggle with stuffed animals, read and munch on popcorn. Volunteers offered lessons on multiplication and division, and showed a science video about building bridges using pasta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The church’s board voted to provide this “community educational support program” until at least the end of next week if the strike continues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This isn’t just about everybody making more money, it’s also about trying to get schools taken care of that have maybe been neglected,” Fitelson said. “I’ve been weighing that, and I think that hopefully something will get worked out. But I know it’s tough for everybody while it’s getting worked out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Oakland parents remain frustrated by the disruption in schools as a teachers’ strike continues into its second day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Education Association, which represents 3,000 teachers, librarians, nurses and other staff members, has asked the district for what it’s calling “common good” proposals, including providing housing for unhoused students and investing in historically Black schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum\">KQED’s Forum\u003c/a> on Friday morning, Lakisha Young, founder of the parent-run organization The Oakland Reach, said some of the issues being raised are deep and longstanding, and unlikely to be resolved any time soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So when does this end?” Young said. “I feel like this is what parents are saying. They’re saying, ‘Why does my kid have to be out of school for these conversations amongst adults to happen?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Reach and another parent group, CA Parent Power, proposed a resolution last year to the school board that would have offered families more of a say in collective bargaining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11927865 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS59078_Oakland_Parents_003-qut-1020x681.jpg']It’s unclear when the students and teachers will return to the classroom. State Superintendent Tony Thurmond has been mediating talks between the district and the union since Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thurmond aims to continue the mediated talks through the weekend in hopes of ending the strike, though a spokesperson for the California Department of Education said several “significant items” remain unresolved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 7 p.m. Thursday:\u003c/strong> In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/OaklandEA/posts/pfbid02tGwEMfFZtoLntHwTSvwcYxuU5mjv361p4VV3AnkcQq2PY6qnbDyRWggiQ9hz3vV6l\">update posted to social media Thursday evening\u003c/a>, the Oakland Education Association confirmed that the strike would continue on Friday, with the union’s president calling for a return to the picket lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“United we will win,” said OEA President Ismael Armendariz in a video update. “We will have a midday rally at United for Success [Academy, in Oakland], to highlight our social justice and environmental justice demands. We’ll see you on the picket lines at 7:30 a.m.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the same video, Vilma Serrano, bargaining co-chair for OEA, called on Oaklanders and supporters to “push the school board to have a meeting to give the OUSD bargaining team the authority to bargain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We learned this week that the school board has not given the OUSD full authority to bargain,” said Serrano. “It has been really deeply frustrating to get to this point after seven months of bargaining … We need to settle a contract.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948634\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948634\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354.jpg\" alt=\"Protestors in a square, with one man holding a sign and arms raised high.\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354.jpg 1616w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354-800x535.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hundreds of Oakland teachers and their supporters converged on Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in front of City Hall Thursday afternoon for a festive rally to close out the first day of an open-ended strike. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 3 p.m. Thursday: \u003c/b>After spending the morning picketing in front of their schools, hundreds of Oakland teachers and supporters converged on Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of City Hall Thursday afternoon for a festive rally to close out the first day of an open-ended strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With union and school district negotiators still at an impasse over the terms of a new contract, it appeared likely — save for a last-minute agreement — that teachers would be spending at least one more day on the picket lines, resulting in empty classrooms and another lost day of instruction for some 34,000 students in the district, with just three weeks left in the school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948635\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948635\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247.jpg\" alt=\"Protestors in front of Oakland City Hall, carrying signs and banners.\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247.jpg 1616w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247-800x535.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Striking educators and their supporters at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza on Thursday. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jesse Shapiro, a veteran Oakland High School history and photography teacher, said the district had not yet put forward a reasonable offer, and urged parents and other community members to be patient despite the disruption caused by the walkout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People have to understand that short-term sacrifice is something that’s necessary for long-term gains,” he said at the rally, as Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” reverberated from the speakers behind him. “So I’d ask them to be patient, supportive of what the people who teach their children are asking for. Because we’re not just asking for us, we’re asking for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shapiro said his daughter, who attends an elementary school in the district, stands to directly gain from the increases teachers are demanding — rather than being subjected to a succession of novice teachers who leave the district after a year or two because the pay is so low and the resources so limited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948637\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948637\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397.jpg\" alt=\"Protestors gather and hold signs, with two female protestors engaged in a mock sword fight.\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397.jpg 1616w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397-800x535.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The picket took on a festive air Thursday with hundreds gathered at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I want her to be in a classroom where there’s a teacher who wants to be there, who has a manageable number of kids, who has the facilities to teach my kid in a safe environment where she wants to be when she gets into high school,” he said. “I want her to be able to have access to a counselor so she can discuss what her options are after high school. And I think every parent wants that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karen Chan, a single mom of a fifth grader at Sequoia Elementary School in the Lower Dimond District, said she came to the rally to support teachers in their fight for a fair contract that “really values them in the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that we just need the district to listen to the teachers on what they’re saying,” Chan said, pointing to accounts she’s heard from teachers of working in dilapidated classrooms where the ceiling tiles were literally falling down, or where students were experiencing homelessness or suffering from serious mental health issues that were not being addressed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948638\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11948638 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636.jpg\" alt=\"Misa Takaki and her son, Akira Takaki, hold a sign that reads "We Love Teachers" at Thursday's noontime rally at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. \" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636.jpg 1616w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636-800x535.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Misa Takaki and her son, Akira Takaki, hold a sign that reads “We Love Teachers” at Thursday’s noontime rally at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Particularly as a single mom, Chan said, a strike like this makes life a lot more difficult. “But I think we as parents have dealt with a lot of issues the last few years, and interruptions. We’ve dealt with smoke days, we’ve dealt with the pandemic,” she said. “And this was completely preventable by the district. But we’re going to keep on dealing with it because it’s the right thing to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some parents, however, took to social media to voice their frustrations with both the district and the teachers union, lambasting the two sides for failing to reach an agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At 9pm at night, we learn our kids won’t have school tomorrow,” Lakisha Young, co-founder of parent advocacy group The Oakland Reach, wrote in a tweet late Wednesday, after the strike was announced. “I’m so disappointed in both sides. Once again, our kids are collateral damage in adult fights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 12 p.m. Thursday:\u003c/strong> Thousands of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948320/weary-oakland-parents-divided-over-whether-to-support-teachers-in-looming-strike\">Oakland teachers\u003c/a> joined picket lines early Thursday morning in front of schools, leaving classrooms largely empty, on the first day of an open-ended strike in an ongoing push for higher wages and better working conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luz Chavez, a resource specialist at Manzanita Community School, marched with her colleagues in front of their East Oakland elementary school, chanting, “We want justice for our students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chavez said that while it was essential for teachers in the district to receive higher pay, this walkout is about much more than just compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of what we’re fighting for are just basic rights, especially for our special education students,” she said. “Those are legal mandates that we aren’t meeting because we don’t have the human capacity to meet them. And a lot of the other things that we’re asking are like, for safety in our schools, for actual ACs, and not to have mice, and not to have real just basic health concerns.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ismael Armendariz, interim president of the Oakland Education Association, the union representing some 3,000 teachers and other school personnel, joined Manzanita teachers on Thursday morning. He said the district had not delivered on its promise to submit a comprehensive proposal to the union, and had consistently failed to address many of \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/view/oeabargaining-2022-2023/bargaining-proposals?authuser=0\">its crucial demands\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have not received anything in writing. We are waiting to receive everything in writing so that we can settle this contract,” said Armendariz. He urged the school board president to intervene in the negotiating process, which he called “dysfunctional,” accusing the district of negotiating in bad faith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference on Thursday morning, Oakland school board president Mike Hutchinson denied that claim, arguing, “We have been negotiating every day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OUSD leaders said \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ousdnews/posts/pfbid027XfdPTjL7txwyziTMF4E6SPawMrR265SCCKPD8zhH1XBDotZ5nrXrmwpQpoaUKoGl\">their latest contract offer\u003c/a>, of nearly $70 million, would give teachers a generous raise — of as much as 22% — while addressing a host of other demands, including investing to hire more counselors and performing arts teachers and giving teachers more classroom preparation time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The latest salary proposal would give teachers an unprecedented raise — one that they deserve, and one that OUSD teachers haven’t seen in years if not decades,” OUSD Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said, noting that teacher retention was her top priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/e_baldi/status/1654185032083185664\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My team has thoughtfully planned out a way and made recommendations to make sure the district can afford this massive compensation package to maintain financial stability in the years to come.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, she said, despite negotiations that ran late into the evening on Wednesday, the union ultimately walked away because of what she called wholly unrealistic demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union is asking the district to “singularly solve complex societal realities, such as homelessness, that go far beyond the scope of what public schools can and should do alone,” Johnson-Trammell said. “As a district we simply can’t do everything, and it is our mission critical that we remain focused on prioritizing our primary purpose, which is teaching and learning and student well-being.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Superintendent Tony Thurmond on Thursday said he had invited the union and the district to come back to the table, where he and his team could “formally mediate negotiations to end the strike.” Thurmond offered to arrange a meeting space where his staff could “lead, facilitate, and mediate discussions between the parties.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are disappointed that the parties could not find an agreement in time to avert a strike,” he said in a statement. “Our goal is to help the parties reach an agreement and to end the strike so that students can return to class as quickly as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story, 5 a.m. Thursday:\u003c/strong> Some 3,000 Oakland teachers are striking Thursday morning in a push for higher wages and better resources, the teachers union and school district confirmed late Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The walkout — \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/ousd-teacher-strike-oakland-schools-could-close-17920873.php\">the third in just over a year\u003c/a> — comes after the two sides, who have been in intense negotiations for seven days, failed to reach an agreement over a new contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The impasse leaves the district’s more than 34,000 students stranded without teachers and other school staff, including counselors, nurses, librarians and social workers, who are also represented by the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Educators will be on the picket line tomorrow, on strike for our students & for Oakland schools,” the Oakland Education Association said in a tweet Wednesday night, accusing the district of not negotiating in good faith. “We will continue to negotiate in good faith and hope the district will do the same.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/OaklandEA/status/1653983303840727040\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Unified School District said in a statement it couldn’t predict how long the strike would last, but pledged to continue negotiating with the teachers union. District officials held a news conference on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at the district office in downtown Oakland “to discuss the strike, the impact it will have on Oakland’s young people, and the reasons behind it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The end of the school year is always filled with milestone events for our students, so we want to ensure regular school resumes as soon as possible,” the district said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schools will still be open, with central office staff assigned to each site “to ensure students are safe,” according to the statement. Students are expected to attend school, but those who don’t will receive an “excused absence,” the district said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School meals, including a simplified breakfast and full lunch, will still be served in each campus’ cafeteria, and most after-school programs will continue, according to the district’s multilingual \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bcqhvvyZPTL8JTXCjJhMic7ipY1pSKgm\">strike information document\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OEA contends that its teachers receive inadequate support and some of the lowest salaries in the region, even after modest gains in recent years, contributing to the district’s low teacher-retention rates. A first-year Oakland teacher \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OUSDNews/status/1653844779145351169/photo/1\">currently makes just under $53,000\u003c/a>, which the union says falls far short of what is necessary to make ends meet in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Negotiators are \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/view/oeabargaining-2022-2023/bargaining-proposals?authuser=0\">demanding a 23% raise\u003c/a> for all of its members. The union has also pushed for smaller special education classes, better services for students experiencing homelessness, more nursing and mental health staff and improvements to physical infrastructure, among other asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland teachers have been working without an active contract since their previous one expired in the fall of 2022. That contract only came to fruition after teachers \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Parents-children-brace-for-Oakland-teacher-strike-13631422.php\">staged a six-day strike in 2019\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We promise you we’ve done everything we can to avert this strike,” interim union president Ismael Armendariz said during a press conference earlier this week. “The district has truly failed our students, and the time for us to act is now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union recently filed an unfair labor practice grievance with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board, accusing the district of not “bargaining in good faith” by arriving late or repeatedly failing to show up to bargaining sessions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District officials on Tuesday said they had offered teachers a fair contract that would give all union members a 13% to 22% raise, as well as a one-time bonus and backpay. The offer would also reduce health care costs by 15%. Under that proposal, first-year teachers would get a bump of about 20% — to $63,604.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our teachers want a pay increase, and we agree they need it,” district officials said, noting they were committed to continuing to negotiate, and imploring the union to avoid calling for a walkout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Following all the turmoil and disruption of Covid, the idea that our children might be out of school yet again while both sides work to reach an agreement only harms our students and families,” the district said in the statement. “The adults need to be adults, so that students can be students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland teachers most recently went on \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/oakland-teacher-strike-wildcat-ousd-contract-negotiations/13004171/\">a one-day “wildcat strike”\u003c/a> in March — one not authorized by the union — over staffing cuts and what they called the school board’s unwillingness to address teacher pay. And in April 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/04/29/oakland-teachers-strike-school-closures/\">teachers staged another one-day walkout\u003c/a> over the board’s decision to permanently shutter multiple schools in the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luz Chavez, a resource specialist at Manzanita Community School, said this was “unfortunately” her fourth strike in “these long 15 years” she’s worked for the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re asking for support, we’re asking for resources, we’re asking for actual human beings to be here to give those resources,” she said. “And especially with inflation and the housing market in the Bay Area, we’ve lost hordes of people every single year that we don’t ever get back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chavez added, “We’re really asking the district to match the pay and the resources that other districts have so that it’s for our Oakland youth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Phoebe Quinton, Attila Pelit, Juan Carlos Lara, Christopher Alam and Billy Cruz contributed to this story. This story was originally published on May 4.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This article will no longer be updated.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 2 p.m. Friday:\u003c/strong> As the standoff between striking educators and the Oakland Unified School District continues into its seventh school day, a major sticking point remains the “common good” demands from the union, with both sides citing wildly varying figures on the costs of implementing them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement Thursday evening, OUSD Director of Communications John Sasaki told KQED that the Oakland Education Association’s proposal is “cost prohibitive” and that the overall price tag could run upwards of $1 billion. Sasaki said many of the “common good” demands would fall under \u003ca href=\"https://www.ousd.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=39353&dataid=36993&FileName=2020%20Facilities%20Master%20Plan.pdf\">OUSD’s Facilities Master Plan (PDF)\u003c/a>, which “shows the District has a total of $3.4 billion in upgrades and other changes that must happen to get all schools upgraded and modernized,” adding that OEA’s proposal is “far too costly for the District to handle” and that it should not be included in any collective bargaining agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Rachel Warino of the California Teachers Association — which has expressed its solidarity with the OEA — said OUSD’s numbers are “months old” and “ridiculous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goals we are committed to winning would cost an estimated $500,000 annually — this would be to pay for staffing increases including counselors,” Warino said, in a statement emailed to KQED on Thursday evening. “It’s unfortunate that the district is spending time sending out outlandish claims about proposals that are months old when we are 6 days into a strike. It’s unfair and unhelpful for our Oakland community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Warino did not provide cost estimates for the rest of the “common good” proposals, which include housing unhoused students in vacant school buildings and replacing HVAC systems in aging school buildings. On Wednesday, OEA Interim President Ismael Armendariz argued the union’s common good proposals “reflect the priorities identified by Oakland educators and in conversations with thousands of OUSD parents and community members,” and that several of them “would not cost the district a dime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949362\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949362\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874.jpg\" alt=\"a group of people which appears to be multi-ethnic in composition walks down a street carrying a large banner reading 'ready to strike for a fair contract' in both English and Spanish\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874.jpg 1620w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9874-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">OUSD educators and their supporters rally outside Glenview Elementary in Oakland on May 11. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On Friday morning, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who has been mediating the negotiations since last Thursday, praised both parties for “working incredibly hard” and said the talks had been “productive,” but added that it’s ultimately up to the two sides to come to an agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state is providing right now historic levels of funding that can be used to provide these services for students: $4 billion for community schools, $8 billion for the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, $3.5 billion dollars for arts, financial literacy and basically giving districts discretion to do as they will, $4 billion for expanded learning — after-school programs, before-school programs,” said Thurmond, in a press conference at Burbank Elementary School in Hayward. “We have not seen funding at this level before. [W]e are seeing the state provide districts with resources that they can use for programs that would support the common good of students. Ultimately, it’s up to the board of every one of our 1,000 school districts, including Oakland, to decide how those resources might get used.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thurmond said he had no idea how long the strike would last, adding that he wouldn’t be mediating if he “thought the strike would take up the whole school year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a believer that we can all win, that we can find an agreement that compensates educators the way they deserve to be compensated, that we can find a way to provide programs that support students who’ve been disadvantaged, and we can do it in a way where we prioritize getting our students back into the classroom — and that is the priority,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 6 p.m. Thursday:\u003c/strong> As the Oakland teachers’ strike continues to grind on, the number of students attending their teacherless schools — which have remained open, behind the picket lines — has steadily dipped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, the fifth day of the ongoing walkout, just 1,200 of OUSD’s more than 34,000 students attended one of its 77 school sites, where food and other basic services and activities are still being offered, according to district spokesperson John Sasaki.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Oakland city officials say they’ve seen a 75% drop in attendance in city-run after-school programs since the strike began last Thursday. The teachers union and parent volunteers also have organized pop-up care centers — called “solidarity schools” — at various sites throughout the city, but it’s unclear how many students are attending them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949257\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11949257 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905.jpg\" alt=\"In the foreground is what appears to be a middle school student in a full-body, bright green Oscar the Grouch costume, with a fuzzy brown unibrow, big googly eyes, and the person's face inside the mouth, holding a cardboard sign on a flat wooden stick that says, 'OUSD, Stop bringing us proposals that belong in the trash!' Oscar is in a crowd of people in a street, including someone to their right playing a trombone.\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905.jpg 1620w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC_9905-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District teachers, parents and students rally outside Glenview Elementary in Oakland on May 11, 2023, during a teacher strike. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That massive disappearing act offers some indication of just how disruptive this strike has been for Oakland students and their families, who still have no idea when — or if — school will open again before the year ends in just two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, the sixth day of the district-wide strike, tense negotiations continued between the teachers union and school district officials, with the union’s “common good” demands for more community services remaining the major sticking point, even as the two sides appeared close to an agreement over compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosa Gonzalez, vice president of her ninth grade class at Castlemont High School in East Oakland, came out Thursday to support her teachers on the picket line, even as most of her classmates stayed home.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel bored at home,” she said. “I decided to come and strike with my teachers because they work hard. They plan lessons. They take time out of their personal lives to grade and stuff like that, and they deserve what they’re asking for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At an Oakland City Council committee hearing on Thursday, a stream of attendees spoke of the decrepit conditions they’ve witnessed in many of the district’s schools, and implored city officials to get involved in the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OUSD teacher Edgar Sanchez, whose daughter attends United for Success Academy, told council members of the school’s rodent problems and “the issue of the sewage coming into the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve been asking for that to be fixed for a year and a half,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez added that the school where he teaches doesn’t have air-conditioning in the classrooms, and said that during last year’s heat wave, teachers had to constantly move students to cooler areas of the building just to maintain a safe learning environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So on Day Six of our strike, you all need to stand with us and push the district to do what’s right for our kids,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement Thursday, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who has remained largely quiet during the labor dispute, urged the school district and teachers union to “work together to settle the strike.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 8 a.m. Thursday:\u003c/b> Thousands of Oakland teachers, counselors and librarians, along with their supporters, once again formed picket lines in front of schools on Thursday, the sixth day of a district-wide strike that has emptied out classrooms and ground instruction to a halt, with little more than two weeks remaining in the school year and a deal still out of reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We want to be back in our classrooms, back in our schools. But we’ll do whatever it takes to really get a strong, tentative agreement that improves teaching and learning conditions for our kids and for our members.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>As heated negotiations continue between the district and the teachers union — including a Tuesday session that ran until 1 a.m. — both sides say they are inching closer to a tentative contract agreement, but have given little indication as to how soon the walkout might end. Meanwhile, as an immediate resolution seemed increasingly unlikely, the district canceled its regularly scheduled Wednesday evening school board meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vilma Serrano, a teacher at Oakland’s Melrose Leadership Academy, and the bargaining co-chair for the Oakland Education Association, said her team is standing firm on its list of demands. She said the district this week delivered “a fuller package” counteroffer that, for the first time, suggests it is willing to consider some of the union’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/ousd-teacher-strike-oakland-schools-common-good-18081358.php\">common good proposals\u003c/a> in the new contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But “we still have many issues on the table that are unresolved. So there’s still a lot of work ahead of us to reach a tentative agreement,” Serrano said. “We want to be back in our classrooms, back in our schools. But we’ll do whatever it takes to really get a strong, tentative agreement that improves teaching and learning conditions for our kids and for our members.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More support for special education teachers and their students is among the many outstanding demands on which the union refuses to budge, said Timothy Douglas, the other co-chair of OEA’s bargaining team, and a fifth grade teacher at International Community School in East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of issues in special education that we find unacceptable and potentially illegal,” he said. “So we are really working with the district to implement a more sustainable and healthier workload model for our educators.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among those educators is Gena Rinaldi, a special education teacher at Kaiser Early Childhood Center in the Oakland hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that we’re really focused on right now is increasing our support staff to ensure the safety of students in our classrooms,” she said, during a spirited rally Wednesday at Burbank Elementary in East Oakland. “Many of our teachers and our para-educators are not getting their lunch breaks right now because we don’t have enough staff for teachers to leave and still have supervision for our students. So we’re trying to convince the district that our youngest students need more support and we’re hopeful we can come to an agreement to make that happen.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Meanwhile, district officials have reiterated that they’ve offered teachers an unprecedented compensation package — yielding significant pay increases of as much as 22%, plus back pay — and do not have the financial capacity or legal authority to negotiate many of the union’s key “common good” proposals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We appear close to an agreement for a robust compensation package, which would give teachers a historic raise … thereby supporting the critical goal of attracting and retaining excellent teachers,” OUSD Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said in \u003ca href=\"https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/20430541?s=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxNjA5ODQ3OSwiZXhwIjoxNjkxNzE5Mzc5LCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5wYXJlbnRzcXVhcmUuY29tL2ZlZWRzLzIwNDMwNTQxIiwibWV0aG9kIjoiR0VUIiwicXVlcnkiOnt9LCJyZXF1ZXN0Ijp7fX0.PePW3sJs4be05bTASVEqyC0pp0U8LRec86ZLQOe46PY\">a video message sent to families\u003c/a> on Wednesday evening. “The remaining issue is how best to work on the common good proposal, which seeks to assign the school district with addressing such broad societal issues as housing for homeless [students] and drought-tolerant landscaping.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are critical issues, Johnson-Trammell noted, but they “demand multiagency and government support,” and certainly can’t be single-handedly tackled through the school district’s limited budget. Fully implementing the proposals, district officials said, would cost more than $1 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Moreover, as laudable as common good causes may be, they should not hold children’s learning hostage or deprive students of the services that schools provide,” she said. “OUSD wants to find a way other than the bargaining table to take on these issues and move forward with getting students back in the classroom and putting a significant raise into employees’ paychecks now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in an email response sent late Wednesday to KQED, Ismael Armendariz, OEA’s interim president, argued the union’s common good proposals “reflect the priorities identified by Oakland educators and in conversations with thousands of OUSD parents and community members,” and said several of them “would not cost the district a dime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of these issues are critical to supporting our schools,” he said. “We urge the district to spend more time negotiating in good faith and less time making outlandish claims about the total cost of the proposals in email blasts to the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And although scores of families in the district during the walkout have continued to staunchly support teachers — and their demands — some parent leaders are lambasting the union, accusing its negotiators of pushing for unrealistic goals at the expense of the most vulnerable students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a false assumption going around that this ongoing strike is meant to help Black and brown students. It’s not. Instead, this strike is proving the opposite,” Lakisha Young, co-founder of The Oakland Reach, a parent-run group, said in a statement on Wednesday. “Without school in session, the flatlands of Oakland are a ghost town, where our lower income Black and brown students already have some of the lowest reading and math scores in California and an absenteeism rate close to 50% among Black students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The longer this strike continues,” she added, “the more it will cost us — physically, emotionally, academically, and in literal dollars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 7:25 p.m. Tuesday: \u003c/strong>For Laura Kaneko, a middle school teacher at Melrose Leadership Academy in East Oakland, this strike is about much more than demanding a much-needed raise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been kind of rejuvenating … to remember that our community is here supporting us not only for our compensation, but really for the common good for everybody,” said Kaneko, while attending a teacher support rally outside her school on Tuesday, the fourth day of a district-wide walkout. “They’ve made so much progress in the negotiations for a contract for our salary, but there’s still so much more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just look at the school’s defective HVAC system, Kaneko said. “Our heater here at the site has been broken for 10 years. So it’s either too hot on warm days or it’s off on really cold days. And there’s no way for us to control that,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so one of the common good demands that we’re asking for is for a plan for there to be climate control in every classroom. Seems like a fairly reasonable thing to ask for our students’ learning conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, the district has largely conceded to the union’s demands for a significant pay raise, offering up to a 22% salary increase, along with a retroactive bump and a one-time payout as part of a nearly $70 million compensation package. The sticking point, though, and apparent reason the strike is still on — with just 12 days left in the school year — is the impasse over those “common good” proposals: things like building housing for the district’s many unhoused students on surplus district land, offering reparations to historically underserved Black students, addressing long-neglected safety and infrastructure issues at school sites and allowing for shared governance of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ousd.org/communityschools\">district’s community schools\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Oakland Education Association’s negotiating team on Tuesday continued to grapple with district officials behind closed doors over the terms of a new contract — with little indication of resolution anytime soon — union leaders and teachers on the picket line made clear that those demands were just as essential for a fair contract as the most generous salary increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My message to the community is that you are here with us today. You have been with us through the years and we are with you at the bargaining table,” interim OEA President Ismael Armendariz, a special education teacher, told supporters gathered outside Melrose on Tuesday. “And your demands are central, just as valuable to us, as is our wages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An increasing number of teachers unions around the country have in recent years begun fighting for similar common good demands, including Los Angeles educators, who during a 2019 strike pushed their district to commit to a host of racial and environmental justice initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But OUSD leaders, and half the members of the school board, argue that these goals, while admirable, pertain to larger societal issues the district can’t single-handedly address and that certainly don’t belong in a teachers’ contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would love to continue partnering with teachers and the teachers union to find solutions to some of these issues that plague our communities,” Mike Hutchinson, president of the school board, told reporters on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, he argued, the district’s bargaining team is not authorized to even consider many of these proposals. “Items that are outside of the scope of the contract, which are basically compensation and work conditions, are not going to be negotiated,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Union officials, however, say district negotiators, desperate to get students back in the classroom, are finally beginning to consider some of these proposals — even though the district has not publicly confirmed this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back at the Melrose rally, Malaika Parker, who runs Oakland’s Black Organizing Project, said the district was being extremely shortsighted in refusing to even consider many of the union’s common good proposals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The debate over teacher compensation versus common good is ridiculous,” she said. “That is a false choice. We deserve communities where all is incorporated — where our teachers are paid well and where our young people feel safe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers shouldn’t have to demand these things, Parker argued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why are our teachers, the people who we trust with our children, not automatically guaranteed respect and living conditions?” she said. “Why are we having to ask for the basics when we should be demanding the most? Our teachers, our communities, deserve to thrive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 9 p.m. Monday:\u003c/b> Oakland school district officials and the teachers union on Monday evening announced that some 3,000 teachers and other school staff would continue striking on Tuesday, leaving classrooms across the district largely empty for a fourth day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As another day of working toward an agreement with the Oakland Education Association approaches an end, we are sorry to report we are preparing for a fourth consecutive day of the teachers’ strike,” the district said in a letter to parents, noting that schools will remain open, with food service and other resources still available for students. “But with teachers engaging in the work stoppage, school operations will be reduced as they have been since Thursday of last week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 4:30 p.m. Monday:\u003c/b> With less than three weeks remaining in the school year, some 3,000 Oakland teachers, counselors and other school staff returned to the picket lines Monday for the third day of a district-wide strike, after the teachers union and the school district failed to reach a contract agreement over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, Oakland School Board President Mike Hutchinson expressed his “disappointment for where we are today,” imploring the Oakland Education Association to come back to the negotiating table and accusing its leaders of holding up the process with unreasonable demands, at the expense of Oakland students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unprecedented and simply unacceptable for our students and families to be forced into this position during a time when we should instead be focused on planning, graduation and end-of-year celebrations,” he told reporters at an afternoon press briefing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson said that despite the the union’s claims to the contrary, the district’s bargaining team has continued to negotiate in good faith and devoted countless hours toward reaching a deal, including a late-night Sunday session to review OEA’s latest counterproposal. And while State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and his staff helped support the process over the weekend, “it still did not lead us to an agreement,” Hutchinson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district, he said, has already made a nearly $70 million \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZNSGZxnaZU5S_HBv_FNZPr0R_TbJG0xd\">“historic” offer to teachers\u003c/a> that would significantly boost their pay — up to 22% — while addressing a host of other demands for more support and resources. But Hutchinson said the union remains unrealistically fixated on its “\u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/view/oeabargaining-2022-2023/\">common good proposals\u003c/a>” demands — including housing for unhoused students, major school infrastructure and safety improvements, climate change actions and racial justice measures such as reparations for Black students and their families. The district supports these objectives, he said, but fundamentally lacks the capacity to take them on single-handedly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we agree on the principles of the proposal, they simply do not belong in contract language and we have not authorized any changes to our approach to this position shared last week,” Hutchinson said. He argued that the district already has some policies in place to work toward certain common good goals, and that other demands — including more mental health services for students — have already been addressed in the current contract offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our students need to be back at school immediately and I cannot make this point more urgently,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the union argues that the district has long been aware of, but until recently ignored, these common good proposals, which OEA presented months ago. And the district, the union insists, already has the resources in place to address them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“OUSD is a district exactly designed to deal with outside things like homelessness,” said Jacob Fowler, a Lincoln Elementary School teacher and member of the union’s negotiating team, in \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOgkb2v_sw4\">a video message\u003c/a> to parents over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948680\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948680\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators.jpg\" alt='A huge crowd of protestors walk down a street in Oakland carrying green and yellow picket signs that read \"On Strike Unfair Labor Practices.\" Many participants wear red and one woman has a hooded sweatshirt that reads \"phenomenal teacher.\" Another sign reads \"Safe, Stable and Racially Just Schools\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1398\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators-800x583.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators-1020x743.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators-160x117.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/StrikingEducators-1536x1118.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Educators and their supporters march down Foothill Avenue in Oakland on the second day of an ongoing teachers strike on May 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The district, he argued, receives millions of dollars a year from the state for its \u003ca href=\"https://www.ousd.org/communityschools\">community schools\u003c/a>, aimed at providing services to students outside of the normal school day. The union simply wants to make sure there is a community engagement strategy in place to determine how those funds get spent, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re not asking for any more funds. It costs the district $0 to agree to this proposal. But they’re not even addressing it,” Fowler said. “We just want a fair, complete proposal so that we can get back to the classroom quickly. If OUSD continues to drag their feet, we will continue to be on strike.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fowler added that the union has also set up “solidarity schools” across the district, run by credentialed teachers and community members, for students to attend for as long as the strike lasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-IOS_GK0T-GK1C&mibextid=YCRy0i&ref=watch_permalink&v=591680859401402\">press conference on Monday morning\u003c/a> in front of the district’s headquarters, Oakland school board members Valarie Bachelor, Jennifer Brouhard and VanCedric Williams — representing half of the board — voiced their support for the union’s common good proposals and urged the other three members of the board, including Hutchinson, to embrace them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do not agree that common good should require a separate authorization to negotiate,” Bachelor said. As one of the largest landowners in Oakland, the district is particularly well positioned to work toward housing solutions for its many unhoused students, she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brouhard, a retired Oakland teacher, said recent historic state funding for community schools has created the opportunity to change how decisions in schools are made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For too long, decision-making power has been held at the district level,” she said. “It must be shared with teachers, parents and students and those voices must be centered at the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brouhard recalled, as a teacher, sitting on committees that had no real power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We met, we met, we met. We talked about things our students needed, and they were never funded,” she said. “It’s time to have shared governance in our common good goals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 7 p.m. Saturday: \u003c/b>No negotiations were planned over the weekend, said Oakland Education Association bargaining team member Samia Khattab, raising the prospect that striking teachers would be back on the picket lines on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Friday] evening we received a package proposal from [the OUSD] that is still incomplete and [that has] quite a few errors in it,” said Khattab, who is a teacher and librarian at Franklin Elementary School, in an interview with KQED. “We haven’t been able to sit at the table with them to go over some of these inconsistencies, to be able to discuss and walk through the proposal with them, because there is a holdup, and the holdup is that the OUSD school board has not given authority to the OUSD bargaining team to bargain on all of the proposals that the OEA has brought forth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khattab said the 50-member OEA bargaining team was working on a counterproposal Saturday, and said she hopes the district is able to return to the table so they can begin the “back-and-forth process of settling a fair contract.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district hasn’t responded this weekend,” said Khattab. “We have nothing on our agenda that indicates that they are going to be joining us at the table today … We will be on the picket lines unless we can come to an agreement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a separate interview with KQED on Saturday, Deputy Mayor Kimberly Mayfield said Oakland is committed to education and that the mayor’s office has a good relationship with the districts and the teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our desire is that they can work as hard as they can over this weekend to come up with a solution that will be agreeable to both parties,” said Mayfield. “I will trust the wisdom of the bargaining teams to make the best decision to bring our kids back to school and to bring our teachers back to school with safe conditions for learning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 6 p.m. Friday:\u003c/b> Oakland teachers continued to strike for a second day Friday, with union, district and state education officials saying they planned to continue negotiating, likely through the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One union rally was held at the United for Success Academy in Oakland’s Fruitvale District on Thursday. Oakland Education Association representatives said they chose the OUSD middle school because it highlights the lack of needed “common good” measures that teachers are demanding in their ongoing fight for a new contract across the school district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers at the UFSA say the school’s buildings are old and in need of renovation, that there’s \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/06/03/fruitvale-students-lead-soil-contamination-poisoning/\">lead in the soil\u003c/a> and a rat and mice infestation in the classrooms, and that they’re concerned about lead in the water.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Maha Nusrat, a sixth grade humanities teacher who’s taught at UFSA for 13 years, told KQED that it’s impossible to separate the physical conditions of the buildings from the teaching experience, or a child’s home environment from their education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we’re talking about common good proposals, we’re talking about disability justice, we’re talking about racial justice, we’re talking about social justice, we’re talking about schools in the flatlands having a just experience,” said Nusrat. “And that’s both in the environment, coming to a school that is welcoming, loving, safe — physically — and also [has] enough resources to actually fully serve those students that are in the building.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Aponte, a special education teacher going into his eighth year at UFSA, advocated for the needs of the most vulnerable students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The [special education] program at UFSA is closing down, and as a special education teacher, that really hits us where it hurts,” said Aponte. “The students need these supports and these services … We need more qualified teachers to support the most vulnerable students that we have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948687\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948687\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner.jpg\" alt=\"Striking teachers marching holding a big colorful banner.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1443\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner-800x601.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner-1020x767.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/TeachersStrikeBanner-1536x1154.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland teachers and their supporters march down Foothill Avenue from United for Success Academy, on May 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nusrat said schools like UFSA in the flatlands are a hub for families, a place to find additional resources outside the school day, and a place that serves as a safe space where students can get an “equitable education experience,” adding that UFSA is “a model” of some of the “common good” proposals teachers are demanding in the current strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When people on campuses like ours are doing eight jobs because we simply don’t have the human power, no one is actually able to do their job that well,” said Nusrat. “We want to create wraparound services. We want to serve the whole student, including their families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While district officials have said they agree in principle with the union’s proposals, they are prioritizing teacher retention by offering raises of up to 22%. But teachers demand that their “common good” proposals be met and that OUSD have a long-term plan in place for the coming years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would love to have that transparency of a long game,” said Nusrat. “A two-year plan, a three-year plan, a five-year plan that’s going to include some of those common good things and some of those staffing issues that actually don’t let us do the jobs that we need to in our buildings with the integrity that we want to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 5 p.m. Friday:\u003c/strong> As the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893056/oaklands-teachers-are-on-strike-again\">Oakland teachers’ strike\u003c/a> continues into its second day, First Covenant Church is opening its doors during the day to support K–5 students in the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pastor Danny Fitelson said\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandfcc.org/who-we-are\"> the church\u003c/a> also provided a space for students to read and learn when Oakland Unified teachers went on strike in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of our mission statements is to be a light to the city. We think this is just a way to respond to a need that our city has right now,” Fitelson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The church transformed the choir room into a library for kids to lounge, snuggle with stuffed animals, read and munch on popcorn. Volunteers offered lessons on multiplication and division, and showed a science video about building bridges using pasta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The church’s board voted to provide this “community educational support program” until at least the end of next week if the strike continues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This isn’t just about everybody making more money, it’s also about trying to get schools taken care of that have maybe been neglected,” Fitelson said. “I’ve been weighing that, and I think that hopefully something will get worked out. But I know it’s tough for everybody while it’s getting worked out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Oakland parents remain frustrated by the disruption in schools as a teachers’ strike continues into its second day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Education Association, which represents 3,000 teachers, librarians, nurses and other staff members, has asked the district for what it’s calling “common good” proposals, including providing housing for unhoused students and investing in historically Black schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum\">KQED’s Forum\u003c/a> on Friday morning, Lakisha Young, founder of the parent-run organization The Oakland Reach, said some of the issues being raised are deep and longstanding, and unlikely to be resolved any time soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So when does this end?” Young said. “I feel like this is what parents are saying. They’re saying, ‘Why does my kid have to be out of school for these conversations amongst adults to happen?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Reach and another parent group, CA Parent Power, proposed a resolution last year to the school board that would have offered families more of a say in collective bargaining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s unclear when the students and teachers will return to the classroom. State Superintendent Tony Thurmond has been mediating talks between the district and the union since Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thurmond aims to continue the mediated talks through the weekend in hopes of ending the strike, though a spokesperson for the California Department of Education said several “significant items” remain unresolved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 7 p.m. Thursday:\u003c/strong> In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/OaklandEA/posts/pfbid02tGwEMfFZtoLntHwTSvwcYxuU5mjv361p4VV3AnkcQq2PY6qnbDyRWggiQ9hz3vV6l\">update posted to social media Thursday evening\u003c/a>, the Oakland Education Association confirmed that the strike would continue on Friday, with the union’s president calling for a return to the picket lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“United we will win,” said OEA President Ismael Armendariz in a video update. “We will have a midday rally at United for Success [Academy, in Oakland], to highlight our social justice and environmental justice demands. We’ll see you on the picket lines at 7:30 a.m.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the same video, Vilma Serrano, bargaining co-chair for OEA, called on Oaklanders and supporters to “push the school board to have a meeting to give the OUSD bargaining team the authority to bargain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We learned this week that the school board has not given the OUSD full authority to bargain,” said Serrano. “It has been really deeply frustrating to get to this point after seven months of bargaining … We need to settle a contract.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948634\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948634\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354.jpg\" alt=\"Protestors in a square, with one man holding a sign and arms raised high.\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354.jpg 1616w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354-800x535.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7354-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hundreds of Oakland teachers and their supporters converged on Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in front of City Hall Thursday afternoon for a festive rally to close out the first day of an open-ended strike. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 3 p.m. Thursday: \u003c/b>After spending the morning picketing in front of their schools, hundreds of Oakland teachers and supporters converged on Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of City Hall Thursday afternoon for a festive rally to close out the first day of an open-ended strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With union and school district negotiators still at an impasse over the terms of a new contract, it appeared likely — save for a last-minute agreement — that teachers would be spending at least one more day on the picket lines, resulting in empty classrooms and another lost day of instruction for some 34,000 students in the district, with just three weeks left in the school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948635\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948635\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247.jpg\" alt=\"Protestors in front of Oakland City Hall, carrying signs and banners.\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247.jpg 1616w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247-800x535.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7247-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Striking educators and their supporters at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza on Thursday. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jesse Shapiro, a veteran Oakland High School history and photography teacher, said the district had not yet put forward a reasonable offer, and urged parents and other community members to be patient despite the disruption caused by the walkout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People have to understand that short-term sacrifice is something that’s necessary for long-term gains,” he said at the rally, as Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” reverberated from the speakers behind him. “So I’d ask them to be patient, supportive of what the people who teach their children are asking for. Because we’re not just asking for us, we’re asking for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shapiro said his daughter, who attends an elementary school in the district, stands to directly gain from the increases teachers are demanding — rather than being subjected to a succession of novice teachers who leave the district after a year or two because the pay is so low and the resources so limited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948637\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948637\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397.jpg\" alt=\"Protestors gather and hold signs, with two female protestors engaged in a mock sword fight.\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397.jpg 1616w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397-800x535.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC7397-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The picket took on a festive air Thursday with hundreds gathered at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I want her to be in a classroom where there’s a teacher who wants to be there, who has a manageable number of kids, who has the facilities to teach my kid in a safe environment where she wants to be when she gets into high school,” he said. “I want her to be able to have access to a counselor so she can discuss what her options are after high school. And I think every parent wants that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karen Chan, a single mom of a fifth grader at Sequoia Elementary School in the Lower Dimond District, said she came to the rally to support teachers in their fight for a fair contract that “really values them in the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that we just need the district to listen to the teachers on what they’re saying,” Chan said, pointing to accounts she’s heard from teachers of working in dilapidated classrooms where the ceiling tiles were literally falling down, or where students were experiencing homelessness or suffering from serious mental health issues that were not being addressed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948638\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11948638 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636.jpg\" alt=\"Misa Takaki and her son, Akira Takaki, hold a sign that reads "We Love Teachers" at Thursday's noontime rally at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. \" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636.jpg 1616w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636-800x535.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/DSC06636-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Misa Takaki and her son, Akira Takaki, hold a sign that reads “We Love Teachers” at Thursday’s noontime rally at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Particularly as a single mom, Chan said, a strike like this makes life a lot more difficult. “But I think we as parents have dealt with a lot of issues the last few years, and interruptions. We’ve dealt with smoke days, we’ve dealt with the pandemic,” she said. “And this was completely preventable by the district. But we’re going to keep on dealing with it because it’s the right thing to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some parents, however, took to social media to voice their frustrations with both the district and the teachers union, lambasting the two sides for failing to reach an agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At 9pm at night, we learn our kids won’t have school tomorrow,” Lakisha Young, co-founder of parent advocacy group The Oakland Reach, wrote in a tweet late Wednesday, after the strike was announced. “I’m so disappointed in both sides. Once again, our kids are collateral damage in adult fights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 12 p.m. Thursday:\u003c/strong> Thousands of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948320/weary-oakland-parents-divided-over-whether-to-support-teachers-in-looming-strike\">Oakland teachers\u003c/a> joined picket lines early Thursday morning in front of schools, leaving classrooms largely empty, on the first day of an open-ended strike in an ongoing push for higher wages and better working conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luz Chavez, a resource specialist at Manzanita Community School, marched with her colleagues in front of their East Oakland elementary school, chanting, “We want justice for our students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chavez said that while it was essential for teachers in the district to receive higher pay, this walkout is about much more than just compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of what we’re fighting for are just basic rights, especially for our special education students,” she said. “Those are legal mandates that we aren’t meeting because we don’t have the human capacity to meet them. And a lot of the other things that we’re asking are like, for safety in our schools, for actual ACs, and not to have mice, and not to have real just basic health concerns.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ismael Armendariz, interim president of the Oakland Education Association, the union representing some 3,000 teachers and other school personnel, joined Manzanita teachers on Thursday morning. He said the district had not delivered on its promise to submit a comprehensive proposal to the union, and had consistently failed to address many of \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/view/oeabargaining-2022-2023/bargaining-proposals?authuser=0\">its crucial demands\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have not received anything in writing. We are waiting to receive everything in writing so that we can settle this contract,” said Armendariz. He urged the school board president to intervene in the negotiating process, which he called “dysfunctional,” accusing the district of negotiating in bad faith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference on Thursday morning, Oakland school board president Mike Hutchinson denied that claim, arguing, “We have been negotiating every day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OUSD leaders said \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ousdnews/posts/pfbid027XfdPTjL7txwyziTMF4E6SPawMrR265SCCKPD8zhH1XBDotZ5nrXrmwpQpoaUKoGl\">their latest contract offer\u003c/a>, of nearly $70 million, would give teachers a generous raise — of as much as 22% — while addressing a host of other demands, including investing to hire more counselors and performing arts teachers and giving teachers more classroom preparation time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The latest salary proposal would give teachers an unprecedented raise — one that they deserve, and one that OUSD teachers haven’t seen in years if not decades,” OUSD Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said, noting that teacher retention was her top priority.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>“My team has thoughtfully planned out a way and made recommendations to make sure the district can afford this massive compensation package to maintain financial stability in the years to come.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, she said, despite negotiations that ran late into the evening on Wednesday, the union ultimately walked away because of what she called wholly unrealistic demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union is asking the district to “singularly solve complex societal realities, such as homelessness, that go far beyond the scope of what public schools can and should do alone,” Johnson-Trammell said. “As a district we simply can’t do everything, and it is our mission critical that we remain focused on prioritizing our primary purpose, which is teaching and learning and student well-being.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Superintendent Tony Thurmond on Thursday said he had invited the union and the district to come back to the table, where he and his team could “formally mediate negotiations to end the strike.” Thurmond offered to arrange a meeting space where his staff could “lead, facilitate, and mediate discussions between the parties.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are disappointed that the parties could not find an agreement in time to avert a strike,” he said in a statement. “Our goal is to help the parties reach an agreement and to end the strike so that students can return to class as quickly as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story, 5 a.m. Thursday:\u003c/strong> Some 3,000 Oakland teachers are striking Thursday morning in a push for higher wages and better resources, the teachers union and school district confirmed late Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The walkout — \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/ousd-teacher-strike-oakland-schools-could-close-17920873.php\">the third in just over a year\u003c/a> — comes after the two sides, who have been in intense negotiations for seven days, failed to reach an agreement over a new contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The impasse leaves the district’s more than 34,000 students stranded without teachers and other school staff, including counselors, nurses, librarians and social workers, who are also represented by the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Educators will be on the picket line tomorrow, on strike for our students & for Oakland schools,” the Oakland Education Association said in a tweet Wednesday night, accusing the district of not negotiating in good faith. “We will continue to negotiate in good faith and hope the district will do the same.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Unified School District said in a statement it couldn’t predict how long the strike would last, but pledged to continue negotiating with the teachers union. District officials held a news conference on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at the district office in downtown Oakland “to discuss the strike, the impact it will have on Oakland’s young people, and the reasons behind it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The end of the school year is always filled with milestone events for our students, so we want to ensure regular school resumes as soon as possible,” the district said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schools will still be open, with central office staff assigned to each site “to ensure students are safe,” according to the statement. Students are expected to attend school, but those who don’t will receive an “excused absence,” the district said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School meals, including a simplified breakfast and full lunch, will still be served in each campus’ cafeteria, and most after-school programs will continue, according to the district’s multilingual \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bcqhvvyZPTL8JTXCjJhMic7ipY1pSKgm\">strike information document\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OEA contends that its teachers receive inadequate support and some of the lowest salaries in the region, even after modest gains in recent years, contributing to the district’s low teacher-retention rates. A first-year Oakland teacher \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OUSDNews/status/1653844779145351169/photo/1\">currently makes just under $53,000\u003c/a>, which the union says falls far short of what is necessary to make ends meet in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Negotiators are \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/view/oeabargaining-2022-2023/bargaining-proposals?authuser=0\">demanding a 23% raise\u003c/a> for all of its members. The union has also pushed for smaller special education classes, better services for students experiencing homelessness, more nursing and mental health staff and improvements to physical infrastructure, among other asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland teachers have been working without an active contract since their previous one expired in the fall of 2022. That contract only came to fruition after teachers \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Parents-children-brace-for-Oakland-teacher-strike-13631422.php\">staged a six-day strike in 2019\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We promise you we’ve done everything we can to avert this strike,” interim union president Ismael Armendariz said during a press conference earlier this week. “The district has truly failed our students, and the time for us to act is now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union recently filed an unfair labor practice grievance with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board, accusing the district of not “bargaining in good faith” by arriving late or repeatedly failing to show up to bargaining sessions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District officials on Tuesday said they had offered teachers a fair contract that would give all union members a 13% to 22% raise, as well as a one-time bonus and backpay. The offer would also reduce health care costs by 15%. Under that proposal, first-year teachers would get a bump of about 20% — to $63,604.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our teachers want a pay increase, and we agree they need it,” district officials said, noting they were committed to continuing to negotiate, and imploring the union to avoid calling for a walkout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Following all the turmoil and disruption of Covid, the idea that our children might be out of school yet again while both sides work to reach an agreement only harms our students and families,” the district said in the statement. “The adults need to be adults, so that students can be students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland teachers most recently went on \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/oakland-teacher-strike-wildcat-ousd-contract-negotiations/13004171/\">a one-day “wildcat strike”\u003c/a> in March — one not authorized by the union — over staffing cuts and what they called the school board’s unwillingness to address teacher pay. And in April 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/04/29/oakland-teachers-strike-school-closures/\">teachers staged another one-day walkout\u003c/a> over the board’s decision to permanently shutter multiple schools in the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luz Chavez, a resource specialist at Manzanita Community School, said this was “unfortunately” her fourth strike in “these long 15 years” she’s worked for the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re asking for support, we’re asking for resources, we’re asking for actual human beings to be here to give those resources,” she said. “And especially with inflation and the housing market in the Bay Area, we’ve lost hordes of people every single year that we don’t ever get back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chavez added, “We’re really asking the district to match the pay and the resources that other districts have so that it’s for our Oakland youth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Phoebe Quinton, Attila Pelit, Juan Carlos Lara, Christopher Alam and Billy Cruz contributed to this story. This story was originally published on May 4.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Pandemic Aid for Child Care 'Family Fees' Extended for 3 Months",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948773/guarderias-en-california-cuotas-familiares\">\u003cem>Leer en español\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update 11:20 a.m., Friday: \u003c/strong>If you’re a parent or caregiver who’s had your monthly fees for child care assistance programs waived during the pandemic, those fees will now continue to be waived until Sept. 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom has agreed to extend financial aid for lower-income families who receive subsidies for child care for at least another three months. As federal pandemic aid for these programs begins to expire, that relief was originally scheduled to go away starting July 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Gov. Newsom announced Thursday in his revised budget proposal for 2023–24 that the state will use $29.4 million in available federal funds to continue waiving these “family fees ” through September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislators have sent the governor two bills that propose to establish a new sliding-scale fee structure, and Newsom has until May 19 to sign them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story, \u003cb>April 26, 2023\u003c/b>:\u003c/strong> During the pandemic, California made it easier for lower-income families to access child care by waiving monthly fees for numerous child care assistance programs. But starting July 1, that relief is scheduled to go away — which means these families may have to pay a lot more to keep their child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a complicated, evolving situation — and to make it even more complex, \u003ca href=\"#familyfeespossiblechange\">these changes could be halted by one or more legal measures in the works\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if you or someone you know depends on state-subsidized child care, keep reading for how you could be affected, what you can do now to prepare for a potential increase in costs and what officials are doing in response to this situation. We’ll keep updating this guide as we know more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#prepare\">\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: What you can do if you’d be affected by the return of these fees\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>Why is the cost of state-subsidized child care going up in California?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since 1998, families who participate in various child care assistance programs in California \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/calworks-child-care/program-eligibility\">have had to chip in a monthly fee\u003c/a> — also called a co-payment — that is determined by their income level. These monthly fees are known as “family fees,” and they range from $36 per month to almost $600 per month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the start of the pandemic, California received permission from the federal government to waive family fees and temporarily stopped collecting them from families who already received subsidies for part-time or full-time child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California was able to waive these fees thanks to funds from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. That aid, however, is running out and the fee waiver is set to expire on June 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means that starting July 1, families will once again have to pay this co-payment — \u003ca href=\"#familyfeespossiblechange\">unless the state extends the fee waiver, or changes the law around family fees\u003c/a>.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>If child care fees return on July 1, which families would have to pay?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Federal rules allow states to \u003ca href=\"https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/family_co-payment_brief_0.pdf#:~:text=While%20the%20definition%20did%20not%20change%2C%20the%20Administration,access%20section%20of%20the%20CCDF%20Final%203%20Rule.\">set their own fees based on family size and income (PDF)\u003c/a>, so long as they’re affordable and don’t become a barrier to families receiving assistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, to qualify for state-subsidized child care, a family must earn 85% or less of the state median household income. That’s an annual income of $82,102 for a family of three, and a $95,289 annual income for a family of four.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who earn less than 40% of that amount pay nothing for child care. Families earning \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CDSS_Famfeeschedule_SubChildCare_FY2022-23.pdf\">between 40% and 85% of the state median income pay child care fees on a sliding scale (PDF)\u003c/a> that could be as much as 10% of their household income.[pullquote size='medium' align='right']Families who earn 39% or below of the state median income, and families who receive CalWORKS cash aid, will not be required to pay fees after July 1, according to state officials.[/pullquote]The California Department of Social Services has reiterated, however, that families who earn 39% or below of the state median income, and families who receive CalWORKS cash aid, will not be required to pay fees after July 1. Families that are involved in Child Protective Services can have their family fees waived for another 12 months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can use the California Department of Social Service’s \u003ca href=\"https://ccffrc.ccdd.dss.ca.gov/\">Child Care Family Fee Rate Calculator\u003c/a> to see how much the monthly co-payment for state-subsidized child care would be, based on the number of people in your family and your monthly income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having trouble calculating your family’s monthly income? You can use \u003ca href=\"https://ccffrc.ccdd.dss.ca.gov/FeeRate2021/CalculationWorksheet\">this calculation worksheet\u003c/a>, which also provides instructions for how to accurately add up income from irregular or seasonal work. You’ll also find instructions on how to include other sources of monthly income, including public assistance, disability or unemployment benefits and spousal support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947673\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11947673 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A father sits with his infant daughter on a couch. The father kisses his daughter on the forehead and the daughter smiles at the camera.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1709\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-1920x1282.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Advocates for child care and early education programs are recommending that parents start saving money, if they can, to prepare for the potential return of family fees on July 1. \u003ccite>(Cavan Images/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"prepare\">\u003c/a>What can families do right now amid this uncertainty?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Don’t make any big changes regarding your child’s care\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nina Buthee, executive director of nonprofit organization \u003ca href=\"https://www.everychildca.org/\">EveryChild California\u003c/a>, says her message to families right now is “definitely hang in there” and sit tight — even though things may feel insecure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t make any rash movement or move your child out of any program whatsoever, regardless of what this piece of paper says in terms of fees,” said Buthee, whose organization advocates for early care and education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buthee also believes it is very likely the state will reduce the fees, even without the support from the federal government — something EveryChild California, with others, is advocating for. See below for \u003ca href=\"#familyfeespossiblechange\">more information on the legal measures that could change the family fee situation in the next few months\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Consider saving what money you can to prepare for the potential return of family fees\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buthee recommends that if your family is able to “save some money,” you should do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while you’re saving — if you’re able — “know that advocates and the Legislature are working very, very hard to make sure that family fees are waived at least until October 1 — and in addition, we’re hoping to get those reduced for the rest of the year,” said Buthee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Make sure your family is getting all the benefits you’re entitled to\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If your household \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11943420/your-calfresh-benefits-will-drop-in-april-heres-what-you-can-do\">is eligible to receive CalFresh food benefits\u003c/a>, make sure you’re getting the funds you’re entitled to. You could qualify for more funds, especially if your income has gone down or your expenses have gone up. If this is your situation, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdss.ca.gov/county-offices\">contact your local social services office\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdss.ca.gov/Portals/9/CalFreshOutreach/Brochures/Income_Inserts_FFY2023-English.pdf?ver=2022-09-27-105231-437\">See the income thresholds and maximum CalFresh monthly allotments (PDF)\u003c/a> currently in effect through Sept. 30, 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11943420\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/GettyImages-1144627849-1020x680.jpg\"]If you’re getting your full CalFresh allotment and are having problems securing food for your family now that the extra monthly pandemic payments have gone away, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11943420/your-calfresh-benefits-will-drop-in-april-heres-what-you-can-do#foodsupport\">consult our list of alternative food assistance sources, including food banks and grocery box options\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also be aware that if your family uses Medi-Cal, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11944543/on-medi-cal-eligibility-changes-starting-in-april-could-mean-you-lose-coverage-heres-what-to-do\">as of April you’ll need to recertify your eligibility to keep your Medi-Cal coverage\u003c/a> for the first time since the pandemic began. Make sure your local social services office has your most up-to-date contact information, especially if you’ve moved during the pandemic. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11944543/on-medi-cal-eligibility-changes-starting-in-april-could-mean-you-lose-coverage-heres-what-to-do\">Read more about how to make sure you keep your Medi-Cal coverage.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"familyfeespossiblechange\">\u003c/a>What might change the situation with family fees?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Right now, Gov. Gavin Newsom has not included a proposal to continue waiving the family fee in his 2023–2024 budget. But there are two legal measures in the works that could change this situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first is at the state level: California Assembly Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes \u003ca href=\"https://a50.asmdc.org/press-releases/20230209-assembly-majority-leader-reyes-and-senator-senator-limon-introduce-child\">proposes to suspend collecting these fees until the state implements an equitable sliding scale\u003c/a>. This legislation would also address the way child care workers get reimbursed for providing subsidized care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for where this legislation currently stands, it was passed unanimously by the Assembly Committee on Human Services last month and is now being considered in the Committee on Education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11941863\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/RS63080_02172023_ksuzuki_tkprogress-121-qut-1-1020x678.jpg\"]Reyes told KQED that California families are paying “up to 25% of their income” on these co-payments — families that have proven they meet the income thresholds to receive subsidized child care in the first place. “And yet we’re saying, yes, but you have to pay almost $600 a month per child to have your child taken care of,” said Reyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A previous bill by Reyes \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB92\">to lower the fees outright starting July 1\u003c/a> was vetoed by Newsom last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second big development that could affect family fees is that on April 18, President Joe Biden signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/04/18/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-most-sweeping-set-of-executive-actions-to-improve-care-in-history/\">a series of executive orders aimed at improving access to child care\u003c/a> — and they include directing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to consider actions to reduce or eliminate co-payments for families benefiting from the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buthee of EveryChild California said the executive order is encouraging states to not impose fees upon those who earn 75% or less of the state median household income. For families who are above the 75th percentile, family fees would still be paid on a sliding scale — but Biden’s order states that the fees cannot exceed 7% of their household income. That’s because the federal government determined that child care that costs more than 7% of a household budget is considered unaffordable.[aside label='More Explainers from KQED' tag='kqed-guides']The reason Biden’s executive order is so significant is that the clock is ticking in California: Last week, the state Department of Social Services and the Department of Education issued to providers the new family fee schedule that would go into effect starting July 1 (when California’s new fiscal year begins) because families need at least a 60-day notice. That said, it’s still unclear when the federal government could change the rules regarding these co-payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, California child care advocates and lawmakers like Reyes have urged the state to request a federal extension to continue waiving the fees until Sept. 30, using any unspent funding from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, which originally enabled the family fee waiver. This would buy the state more time until the federal fiscal year begins on October 1, when the U.S. government may change the regulation regarding fees associated with child care programs such as the CCDBG.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 25, a spokesperson for the California Department of Social Services told KQED in an email that “[c]urrently, California does not have a pending proposal or request with the federal government regarding family fees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In short, it’s a waiting game. One update: On Wednesday, the state Senate signaled its support for Reyes’ bill by including in its\u003ca href=\"https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/sites/sbud.senate.ca.gov/files/Protect%20Our%20Progress%20Senate%20Budget%20Plan.pdf\"> 2023-24 budget proposal\u003c/a> funding to overhaul the family fee structure “to prevent low-income families from losing access to child care because they cannot afford fees”.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>If these fees return, how would California families be affected?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California Department of Social Services spokesperson Scott Murray told CalMatters that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/children-and-youth/2022/10/subsidized-child-care/\">more than 26,000 families in various child care assistance programs “may have benefited from family fee waivers in the 2021-22 fiscal year.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a 2023 survey from EveryChild California of parents and guardians with children enrolled in state-subsidized child care, 56% of respondents said they would not be able to keep their child in their current program if family fees were reinstated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Church, a single parent in San Francisco who works in customer service, depends on state-subsidized child care for her 6-year-old. She shared that before the pandemic, she was paying $200 a month on child care family fees. “I have food stamps and I work full time, and just making ends meet and living paycheck to paycheck, the family fee does become a burden,” said Church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I have had to pay, it’s really, really challenging, even with a full-time schedule, having to make that payment,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having to pay fees again “would definitely leave us without, I would think, food,” said Church. “Like, that’s the first thing that comes to mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2023. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, helpful explainers and guides about issues like COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken id=\"10483\" src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/10483.js\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948773/guarderias-en-california-cuotas-familiares\">\u003cem>Leer en español\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update 11:20 a.m., Friday: \u003c/strong>If you’re a parent or caregiver who’s had your monthly fees for child care assistance programs waived during the pandemic, those fees will now continue to be waived until Sept. 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom has agreed to extend financial aid for lower-income families who receive subsidies for child care for at least another three months. As federal pandemic aid for these programs begins to expire, that relief was originally scheduled to go away starting July 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Gov. Newsom announced Thursday in his revised budget proposal for 2023–24 that the state will use $29.4 million in available federal funds to continue waiving these “family fees ” through September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislators have sent the governor two bills that propose to establish a new sliding-scale fee structure, and Newsom has until May 19 to sign them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story, \u003cb>April 26, 2023\u003c/b>:\u003c/strong> During the pandemic, California made it easier for lower-income families to access child care by waiving monthly fees for numerous child care assistance programs. But starting July 1, that relief is scheduled to go away — which means these families may have to pay a lot more to keep their child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a complicated, evolving situation — and to make it even more complex, \u003ca href=\"#familyfeespossiblechange\">these changes could be halted by one or more legal measures in the works\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if you or someone you know depends on state-subsidized child care, keep reading for how you could be affected, what you can do now to prepare for a potential increase in costs and what officials are doing in response to this situation. We’ll keep updating this guide as we know more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#prepare\">\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: What you can do if you’d be affected by the return of these fees\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>Why is the cost of state-subsidized child care going up in California?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since 1998, families who participate in various child care assistance programs in California \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/calworks-child-care/program-eligibility\">have had to chip in a monthly fee\u003c/a> — also called a co-payment — that is determined by their income level. These monthly fees are known as “family fees,” and they range from $36 per month to almost $600 per month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the start of the pandemic, California received permission from the federal government to waive family fees and temporarily stopped collecting them from families who already received subsidies for part-time or full-time child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California was able to waive these fees thanks to funds from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. That aid, however, is running out and the fee waiver is set to expire on June 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means that starting July 1, families will once again have to pay this co-payment — \u003ca href=\"#familyfeespossiblechange\">unless the state extends the fee waiver, or changes the law around family fees\u003c/a>.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>If child care fees return on July 1, which families would have to pay?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Federal rules allow states to \u003ca href=\"https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/family_co-payment_brief_0.pdf#:~:text=While%20the%20definition%20did%20not%20change%2C%20the%20Administration,access%20section%20of%20the%20CCDF%20Final%203%20Rule.\">set their own fees based on family size and income (PDF)\u003c/a>, so long as they’re affordable and don’t become a barrier to families receiving assistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, to qualify for state-subsidized child care, a family must earn 85% or less of the state median household income. That’s an annual income of $82,102 for a family of three, and a $95,289 annual income for a family of four.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who earn less than 40% of that amount pay nothing for child care. Families earning \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CDSS_Famfeeschedule_SubChildCare_FY2022-23.pdf\">between 40% and 85% of the state median income pay child care fees on a sliding scale (PDF)\u003c/a> that could be as much as 10% of their household income.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "Families who earn 39% or below of the state median income, and families who receive CalWORKS cash aid, will not be required to pay fees after July 1, according to state officials.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The California Department of Social Services has reiterated, however, that families who earn 39% or below of the state median income, and families who receive CalWORKS cash aid, will not be required to pay fees after July 1. Families that are involved in Child Protective Services can have their family fees waived for another 12 months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can use the California Department of Social Service’s \u003ca href=\"https://ccffrc.ccdd.dss.ca.gov/\">Child Care Family Fee Rate Calculator\u003c/a> to see how much the monthly co-payment for state-subsidized child care would be, based on the number of people in your family and your monthly income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having trouble calculating your family’s monthly income? You can use \u003ca href=\"https://ccffrc.ccdd.dss.ca.gov/FeeRate2021/CalculationWorksheet\">this calculation worksheet\u003c/a>, which also provides instructions for how to accurately add up income from irregular or seasonal work. You’ll also find instructions on how to include other sources of monthly income, including public assistance, disability or unemployment benefits and spousal support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947673\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11947673 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A father sits with his infant daughter on a couch. The father kisses his daughter on the forehead and the daughter smiles at the camera.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1709\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1202273101-1-1920x1282.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Advocates for child care and early education programs are recommending that parents start saving money, if they can, to prepare for the potential return of family fees on July 1. \u003ccite>(Cavan Images/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"prepare\">\u003c/a>What can families do right now amid this uncertainty?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Don’t make any big changes regarding your child’s care\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nina Buthee, executive director of nonprofit organization \u003ca href=\"https://www.everychildca.org/\">EveryChild California\u003c/a>, says her message to families right now is “definitely hang in there” and sit tight — even though things may feel insecure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t make any rash movement or move your child out of any program whatsoever, regardless of what this piece of paper says in terms of fees,” said Buthee, whose organization advocates for early care and education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buthee also believes it is very likely the state will reduce the fees, even without the support from the federal government — something EveryChild California, with others, is advocating for. See below for \u003ca href=\"#familyfeespossiblechange\">more information on the legal measures that could change the family fee situation in the next few months\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Consider saving what money you can to prepare for the potential return of family fees\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buthee recommends that if your family is able to “save some money,” you should do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while you’re saving — if you’re able — “know that advocates and the Legislature are working very, very hard to make sure that family fees are waived at least until October 1 — and in addition, we’re hoping to get those reduced for the rest of the year,” said Buthee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Make sure your family is getting all the benefits you’re entitled to\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If your household \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11943420/your-calfresh-benefits-will-drop-in-april-heres-what-you-can-do\">is eligible to receive CalFresh food benefits\u003c/a>, make sure you’re getting the funds you’re entitled to. You could qualify for more funds, especially if your income has gone down or your expenses have gone up. If this is your situation, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdss.ca.gov/county-offices\">contact your local social services office\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdss.ca.gov/Portals/9/CalFreshOutreach/Brochures/Income_Inserts_FFY2023-English.pdf?ver=2022-09-27-105231-437\">See the income thresholds and maximum CalFresh monthly allotments (PDF)\u003c/a> currently in effect through Sept. 30, 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If you’re getting your full CalFresh allotment and are having problems securing food for your family now that the extra monthly pandemic payments have gone away, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11943420/your-calfresh-benefits-will-drop-in-april-heres-what-you-can-do#foodsupport\">consult our list of alternative food assistance sources, including food banks and grocery box options\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also be aware that if your family uses Medi-Cal, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11944543/on-medi-cal-eligibility-changes-starting-in-april-could-mean-you-lose-coverage-heres-what-to-do\">as of April you’ll need to recertify your eligibility to keep your Medi-Cal coverage\u003c/a> for the first time since the pandemic began. Make sure your local social services office has your most up-to-date contact information, especially if you’ve moved during the pandemic. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11944543/on-medi-cal-eligibility-changes-starting-in-april-could-mean-you-lose-coverage-heres-what-to-do\">Read more about how to make sure you keep your Medi-Cal coverage.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"familyfeespossiblechange\">\u003c/a>What might change the situation with family fees?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Right now, Gov. Gavin Newsom has not included a proposal to continue waiving the family fee in his 2023–2024 budget. But there are two legal measures in the works that could change this situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first is at the state level: California Assembly Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes \u003ca href=\"https://a50.asmdc.org/press-releases/20230209-assembly-majority-leader-reyes-and-senator-senator-limon-introduce-child\">proposes to suspend collecting these fees until the state implements an equitable sliding scale\u003c/a>. This legislation would also address the way child care workers get reimbursed for providing subsidized care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for where this legislation currently stands, it was passed unanimously by the Assembly Committee on Human Services last month and is now being considered in the Committee on Education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Reyes told KQED that California families are paying “up to 25% of their income” on these co-payments — families that have proven they meet the income thresholds to receive subsidized child care in the first place. “And yet we’re saying, yes, but you have to pay almost $600 a month per child to have your child taken care of,” said Reyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A previous bill by Reyes \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB92\">to lower the fees outright starting July 1\u003c/a> was vetoed by Newsom last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second big development that could affect family fees is that on April 18, President Joe Biden signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/04/18/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-most-sweeping-set-of-executive-actions-to-improve-care-in-history/\">a series of executive orders aimed at improving access to child care\u003c/a> — and they include directing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to consider actions to reduce or eliminate co-payments for families benefiting from the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buthee of EveryChild California said the executive order is encouraging states to not impose fees upon those who earn 75% or less of the state median household income. For families who are above the 75th percentile, family fees would still be paid on a sliding scale — but Biden’s order states that the fees cannot exceed 7% of their household income. That’s because the federal government determined that child care that costs more than 7% of a household budget is considered unaffordable.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The reason Biden’s executive order is so significant is that the clock is ticking in California: Last week, the state Department of Social Services and the Department of Education issued to providers the new family fee schedule that would go into effect starting July 1 (when California’s new fiscal year begins) because families need at least a 60-day notice. That said, it’s still unclear when the federal government could change the rules regarding these co-payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, California child care advocates and lawmakers like Reyes have urged the state to request a federal extension to continue waiving the fees until Sept. 30, using any unspent funding from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, which originally enabled the family fee waiver. This would buy the state more time until the federal fiscal year begins on October 1, when the U.S. government may change the regulation regarding fees associated with child care programs such as the CCDBG.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 25, a spokesperson for the California Department of Social Services told KQED in an email that “[c]urrently, California does not have a pending proposal or request with the federal government regarding family fees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In short, it’s a waiting game. One update: On Wednesday, the state Senate signaled its support for Reyes’ bill by including in its\u003ca href=\"https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/sites/sbud.senate.ca.gov/files/Protect%20Our%20Progress%20Senate%20Budget%20Plan.pdf\"> 2023-24 budget proposal\u003c/a> funding to overhaul the family fee structure “to prevent low-income families from losing access to child care because they cannot afford fees”.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>If these fees return, how would California families be affected?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California Department of Social Services spokesperson Scott Murray told CalMatters that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/children-and-youth/2022/10/subsidized-child-care/\">more than 26,000 families in various child care assistance programs “may have benefited from family fee waivers in the 2021-22 fiscal year.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a 2023 survey from EveryChild California of parents and guardians with children enrolled in state-subsidized child care, 56% of respondents said they would not be able to keep their child in their current program if family fees were reinstated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Church, a single parent in San Francisco who works in customer service, depends on state-subsidized child care for her 6-year-old. She shared that before the pandemic, she was paying $200 a month on child care family fees. “I have food stamps and I work full time, and just making ends meet and living paycheck to paycheck, the family fee does become a burden,” said Church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I have had to pay, it’s really, really challenging, even with a full-time schedule, having to make that payment,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having to pay fees again “would definitely leave us without, I would think, food,” said Church. “Like, that’s the first thing that comes to mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2023. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, helpful explainers and guides about issues like COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "How a Local Tax Is Keeping Much-Needed Child Care in San Francisco Affordable",
"headTitle": "How a Local Tax Is Keeping Much-Needed Child Care in San Francisco Affordable | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>When rain from an atmospheric river storm flooded the preschool inside Corey Santillan’s hillside home in San Francisco this past winter, she thought she’d have to cancel class for weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water seeping from underground wrecked the wood floors, books, art supplies, costumes for pretend play and other classroom materials. The damage was the latest existential threat to La Bamba Preschool — a business Santillan started 16 years ago when she couldn’t find a Spanish-immersion program for her daughter in their Oceanview neighborhood. It survived a recession, a pandemic in which two of her longtime teachers quit and years of financial struggle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There have been times when I thought it was time to say goodbye to this beautiful program,” Santillan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But thanks to Baby Prop. C, a business tax to support San Francisco’s goal of providing early education and care for all of the city’s children, Santillan is starting to see some change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She received a $15,000 grant to install a water pump and repair some of the damage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948785\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948785\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A teacher reads to children gathered around her.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teacher Martha Guarnizo reads a book with her students in the back yard at La Bamba day care in San Francisco on April 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She also received stipends to boost her income — enough to allow her to hire a part-time assistant — and was able to access funding to build a structure in her back yard that will be used as a therapeutic room for kids who experience sensory overload. Since the pandemic, she’s seeing more kids with developmental delays due to social isolation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel I can afford to hire an extra staff so we can do that one-on-one work with the children that need it,” Santillan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, San Francisco voters narrowly approved a commercial rent tax to expand access to child care, particularly for lower- and middle-income families, and to help pay early educators a living wage. At the time, proponents argued for a dedicated funding stream for child care to help with waitlists \u003ca href=\"https://sfelections.sfgov.org/sites/default/files/Documents/candidates/Universal_Child_Rent_Tax.pdf\">for subsidized care for children under the age of 4 (PDF)\u003c/a> and to cover pay raises for early educators, a third of whom were relying on public assistance programs to make ends meet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep them in the workforce, the city intends to pay early educators \u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/mayor-breed-announces-landmark-pay-raise-initiative-for-early-educators-in-city-funded-programs/\">at least $28 per hour by 2025\u003c/a>. This far exceeds \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/states/california/\">the $13.43 median wage for child care workers in California\u003c/a>, according to the latest data from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948703\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948703\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A Latinx woman looks up at a boy as they stand in a yard with plants.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Corey Santillan works with a student in the back yard at La Bamba day care in San Francisco on April 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Taxpayer and business groups challenged the measure and held it up in the courts but funds collected under it began reaching families and providers last year. Around the same time, Mayor London Breed launched the Department of Early Childhood, dedicating $300 million annually to support the city’s goal of providing universal early care and education to all young children. The bulk of the revenue comes from the commercial tax, although that number will likely dip \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco-office-vacancy/3204043/#:~:text=%22The%20vacancy%20rate%20in%20San,commercial%20real%20estate%20firm%20CBRE.\">due to rising vacancy rates at downtown offices and retail spaces\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"The Benefits of Investing in Early Childhood Education and Care\" src=\"https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/the-benefits-of-investing-in-early-childhood-educa/embed#?secret=2SEccoZXfv\" data-secret=\"2SEccoZXfv\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those funds \u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/decs-year-in-review/\">have increased wages for teachers and expanded access to child care\u003c/a>, putting San Francisco further along than the rest of the state in reforming the child care system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, families making up to 110% of the San Francisco area’s median income — \u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/paying-for-ece/\">or up to $152,400 a year for a family of four\u003c/a> — can qualify for subsidized child care for their kids under age 4.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not some luxury that you can do without,” said Wei-min Wang, deputy director for the Department of Early Childhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think at this point, almost every family, every parent, every caregiver knows that early education is essential to getting kids a leg up in terms of getting ready for school — and, by virtue of that, ready for life,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948712\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11948712 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023.jpg\" alt=\"A Latinx woman engaged in arts activity with two children, one boy and one girl.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teacher Martha Guarnizo engages in an art activity with her students at La Bamba day care in San Francisco on April 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since the rollout of Baby Prop. C, the waitlist for families eligible for subsidized care has gotten shorter — from the 2,000–3,000 range down to about 1,000, according to Wang — but there are lingering concerns about meeting the needs of families with babies and toddlers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ability to provide subsidies for low-income families with infant and toddlers will take some time. The infrastructure needed will take time,” former Supervisor Norman Yee, who spearheaded the campaign for Baby Prop. C, told KQED in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most concern I have is the growing of the workforce,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because caring for infants and toddlers is a labor-intensive job that costs more than other types of child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is the most expensive because ideally you’re in a situation where you have no more than three infants to each adult. Anything higher than that, I mean, you can just imagine … like having to care for four babies at one time,” Wang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='The True Cost of Child Care' tag='true-cost-of-child-care']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Krystle Danridge-Pierson saw the acute demand when, a year ago, she opened Each One Teach One out of her home in the Bernal Heights neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The minute I opened, my waitlist filled with pregnant women trying to line up child care for the babies in their bellies,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danridge-Pierson said she received robust support from the San Francisco Children’s Council’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.childrenscouncil.org/for-child-care-programs/start-or-grow-your-business/\">Family Child Care Business Incubator program\u003c/a> to obtain a state license to open and grow her business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nine months after opening, she was able to access city funding after meeting a set of high-quality standards. They include maintaining a safe and enriching environment, closely monitoring children’s development, communicating with parents about their children’s learning and keeping up with training to improve her skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also has to agree to serve lower- and middle-income parents and guardians like Keith Anderson, grandfather of a 2-year-old named Ajani — ensuring that they have access to a high-quality program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His growth in communication, his activities, the way he sings, the way he plays the piano,” Anderson said. “I can attribute that to Miss Krystle because she has a music session once a week on Fridays.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parent Katie Le-Blanc said she sends her 5-year-old son, Remo, to Santillan’s small program because it offers him the opportunity to learn Spanish and focuses on developing the whole child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s growing compassionate children, she’s teaching curious children and she’s teaching them things like social justice, environmentalism, art, dance, sports,” Le-Blanc said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Santillan and Danridge-Pierson are certified to teach in elementary schools, but instead they choose to dedicate themselves to early childhood education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948823\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948823\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman holds a small child up to her face while smiling. The child touches her face.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Krystle Danridge-Pierson, founder and director at Each One Teach One Child Care, holds a small child at the San Francisco day care facility on April 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The age group that I enjoy and love pretty much the most is the babies, the beginning of all of their educational journey,” Danridge-Pierson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The longer-term goal is to pay early educators the same salary as public school teachers so they can see a future in the profession, Wang said.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When rain from an atmospheric river storm flooded the preschool inside Corey Santillan’s hillside home in San Francisco this past winter, she thought she’d have to cancel class for weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water seeping from underground wrecked the wood floors, books, art supplies, costumes for pretend play and other classroom materials. The damage was the latest existential threat to La Bamba Preschool — a business Santillan started 16 years ago when she couldn’t find a Spanish-immersion program for her daughter in their Oceanview neighborhood. It survived a recession, a pandemic in which two of her longtime teachers quit and years of financial struggle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There have been times when I thought it was time to say goodbye to this beautiful program,” Santillan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But thanks to Baby Prop. C, a business tax to support San Francisco’s goal of providing early education and care for all of the city’s children, Santillan is starting to see some change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She received a $15,000 grant to install a water pump and repair some of the damage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948785\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948785\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A teacher reads to children gathered around her.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/RS64791_015_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teacher Martha Guarnizo reads a book with her students in the back yard at La Bamba day care in San Francisco on April 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She also received stipends to boost her income — enough to allow her to hire a part-time assistant — and was able to access funding to build a structure in her back yard that will be used as a therapeutic room for kids who experience sensory overload. Since the pandemic, she’s seeing more kids with developmental delays due to social isolation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel I can afford to hire an extra staff so we can do that one-on-one work with the children that need it,” Santillan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, San Francisco voters narrowly approved a commercial rent tax to expand access to child care, particularly for lower- and middle-income families, and to help pay early educators a living wage. At the time, proponents argued for a dedicated funding stream for child care to help with waitlists \u003ca href=\"https://sfelections.sfgov.org/sites/default/files/Documents/candidates/Universal_Child_Rent_Tax.pdf\">for subsidized care for children under the age of 4 (PDF)\u003c/a> and to cover pay raises for early educators, a third of whom were relying on public assistance programs to make ends meet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep them in the workforce, the city intends to pay early educators \u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/mayor-breed-announces-landmark-pay-raise-initiative-for-early-educators-in-city-funded-programs/\">at least $28 per hour by 2025\u003c/a>. This far exceeds \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/states/california/\">the $13.43 median wage for child care workers in California\u003c/a>, according to the latest data from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948703\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948703\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A Latinx woman looks up at a boy as they stand in a yard with plants.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS64799_029_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Corey Santillan works with a student in the back yard at La Bamba day care in San Francisco on April 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Taxpayer and business groups challenged the measure and held it up in the courts but funds collected under it began reaching families and providers last year. Around the same time, Mayor London Breed launched the Department of Early Childhood, dedicating $300 million annually to support the city’s goal of providing universal early care and education to all young children. The bulk of the revenue comes from the commercial tax, although that number will likely dip \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco-office-vacancy/3204043/#:~:text=%22The%20vacancy%20rate%20in%20San,commercial%20real%20estate%20firm%20CBRE.\">due to rising vacancy rates at downtown offices and retail spaces\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"The Benefits of Investing in Early Childhood Education and Care\" src=\"https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/the-benefits-of-investing-in-early-childhood-educa/embed#?secret=2SEccoZXfv\" data-secret=\"2SEccoZXfv\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those funds \u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/decs-year-in-review/\">have increased wages for teachers and expanded access to child care\u003c/a>, putting San Francisco further along than the rest of the state in reforming the child care system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, families making up to 110% of the San Francisco area’s median income — \u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/paying-for-ece/\">or up to $152,400 a year for a family of four\u003c/a> — can qualify for subsidized child care for their kids under age 4.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not some luxury that you can do without,” said Wei-min Wang, deputy director for the Department of Early Childhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think at this point, almost every family, every parent, every caregiver knows that early education is essential to getting kids a leg up in terms of getting ready for school — and, by virtue of that, ready for life,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948712\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11948712 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023.jpg\" alt=\"A Latinx woman engaged in arts activity with two children, one boy and one girl.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/022_KQED_LaBombaPreschool_04202023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teacher Martha Guarnizo engages in an art activity with her students at La Bamba day care in San Francisco on April 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since the rollout of Baby Prop. C, the waitlist for families eligible for subsidized care has gotten shorter — from the 2,000–3,000 range down to about 1,000, according to Wang — but there are lingering concerns about meeting the needs of families with babies and toddlers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ability to provide subsidies for low-income families with infant and toddlers will take some time. The infrastructure needed will take time,” former Supervisor Norman Yee, who spearheaded the campaign for Baby Prop. C, told KQED in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most concern I have is the growing of the workforce,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because caring for infants and toddlers is a labor-intensive job that costs more than other types of child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is the most expensive because ideally you’re in a situation where you have no more than three infants to each adult. Anything higher than that, I mean, you can just imagine … like having to care for four babies at one time,” Wang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Krystle Danridge-Pierson saw the acute demand when, a year ago, she opened Each One Teach One out of her home in the Bernal Heights neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The minute I opened, my waitlist filled with pregnant women trying to line up child care for the babies in their bellies,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danridge-Pierson said she received robust support from the San Francisco Children’s Council’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.childrenscouncil.org/for-child-care-programs/start-or-grow-your-business/\">Family Child Care Business Incubator program\u003c/a> to obtain a state license to open and grow her business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nine months after opening, she was able to access city funding after meeting a set of high-quality standards. They include maintaining a safe and enriching environment, closely monitoring children’s development, communicating with parents about their children’s learning and keeping up with training to improve her skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also has to agree to serve lower- and middle-income parents and guardians like Keith Anderson, grandfather of a 2-year-old named Ajani — ensuring that they have access to a high-quality program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His growth in communication, his activities, the way he sings, the way he plays the piano,” Anderson said. “I can attribute that to Miss Krystle because she has a music session once a week on Fridays.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parent Katie Le-Blanc said she sends her 5-year-old son, Remo, to Santillan’s small program because it offers him the opportunity to learn Spanish and focuses on developing the whole child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s growing compassionate children, she’s teaching curious children and she’s teaching them things like social justice, environmentalism, art, dance, sports,” Le-Blanc said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Santillan and Danridge-Pierson are certified to teach in elementary schools, but instead they choose to dedicate themselves to early childhood education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11948823\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11948823\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman holds a small child up to her face while smiling. The child touches her face.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2030/05/018_KQED_EachOneTeachOneChildCare_04262023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Krystle Danridge-Pierson, founder and director at Each One Teach One Child Care, holds a small child at the San Francisco day care facility on April 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The age group that I enjoy and love pretty much the most is the babies, the beginning of all of their educational journey,” Danridge-Pierson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The longer-term goal is to pay early educators the same salary as public school teachers so they can see a future in the profession, Wang said.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Weary Oakland Parents Divided Over Whether to Support Teachers in Looming Strike",
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"content": "\u003cp>As Oakland teachers \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/oakland-teachers-strike-schools-close-ousd-18001248.php\">threaten to once again go on strike\u003c/a> as soon as Thursday, parents in the district say they are split over whether to support them this time around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of an ongoing push for higher wages and smaller class sizes, the walkout could potentially strand some 34,000 students for at least one day. It would mark the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/ousd-teacher-strike-oakland-schools-could-close-17920873.php\">third teacher walkout in just over a year\u003c/a>, a track record that Lakisha Young, founder of the parent-run organization The Oakland REACH, calls “excessive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They always strike during a bargaining agreement,” Young said, noting that she supports teachers’ demands, but not their tactics. “Enough is enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland teachers most recently launched \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/oakland-teacher-strike-wildcat-ousd-contract-negotiations/13004171/\">a one-day wildcat strike\u003c/a> in March, which was not authorized by the union, over staffing cuts and what they called the school board’s unwillingness to address teacher pay. And in April 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/04/29/oakland-teachers-strike-school-closures/\">educators staged a one-day walkout\u003c/a> over the board’s decision to permanently shutter multiple schools in the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young said students and their families have already suffered from enough disruption during the pandemic, when schools were forced to operate remotely. Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/California-reading-and-math-scores-finally-show-17530574.php\">just over a third\u003c/a> of students in the district tested proficient in reading levels. In math, it was just over a quarter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a district where most kids can’t read and kids can’t do math, we need to have every kid in the building doing work every day,” Young said. “They should not be missing school.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other parent leaders, however, said they would stand in solidarity with teachers, even if that meant having to scramble to find alternative options for their kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see the conditions teachers are experiencing,” said Pecolia Manigo, a parent and former school board candidate. “We know how difficult it is to recruit teachers, even ones who live in our lovely city of Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Education Association has argued that the teachers it represents receive inadequate support and some of the lowest salaries in the region, even after modest gains in recent years. Meanwhile, just 57% of teachers are assigned to classrooms they are actually credentialed to teach – one of the lowest ratios in the state, \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2022/oakland-with-the-lowest-ratio-of-fully-prepared-rightly-assigned-teachers-has-a-strategy-to-address-teacher-churn/676288\">according to EdSource\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We promise you we’ve done everything we can to avert this strike,” interim union president Ismael Armendariz said during a Monday evening press conference announcing the potential walkout. “The district has truly failed our students, and the time for us to act is now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"More Education Coverage\" tag=\"education\"]The union accuses the district of bargaining in bad faith and repeatedly failing to show up, or arriving late, to bargaining sessions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district did not respond to requests for comment. But in a statement it issued Tuesday, officials said they had offered teachers a fair contract that would provide raises of up to 22%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our teachers want a pay increase, and we agree they need it,” the district said. “We are committed to continuing to work with our labor leaders to discuss their salaries and support services for our students without the need for a strike. Let’s not interrupt our students’ learning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Samia Khattab, an OUSD teacher-librarian on the union’s bargaining team, says this isn’t just about the money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Compensation is one out of the 20 proposals that we put forth,” she said. The other sticking points concern mental health support for students, smaller special education classes, more services for students experiencing homelessness and improvements to physical infrastructure, among other asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is ultimately our goal that the contract that we hopefully will ratify soon will reflect the values that we hold in order to have racially just, safe and high-quality schools in Oakland,” Khattab said. She added that state and county education officials, including California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, had gotten involved in negotiations today to help avert a strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, after the union voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, talks between the two sides resumed in earnest, but Vilma Serrano, the union’s lead negotiator, said more work was needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have been making some progress,” Serrano said. But, she added, “We’re still needing to see movement on our common good demands to really support our community and our students in other ways beyond just our normal teaching and learning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robert Daves, a former OUSD English teacher, said low salaries and lack of support were big reasons he left the district in the spring of 2020, before leaving the profession altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re part of a team that is bringing resources to address problems, then you kind of feel like you’re all in the trenches together,” said Daves, who now works as a field chemist, and is the parent of a middle school student in the district. “But if you feel like you’re a lone voice in the wilderness, it can be isolating and lonely to be in a classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said that although a strike would be an inconvenience for his family, he intended to fully support his former colleagues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t feel like this is out of greed,” Daves said. “This is out of [teachers] wanting smaller class sizes, wanting a wage that allows them to live in the Bay Area and not be broke all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Oakland teachers' union announced plans late Monday to potentially go on strike as early as Thursday if an agreement cannot be reached in ongoing contract negotiations with the district.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As Oakland teachers \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/oakland-teachers-strike-schools-close-ousd-18001248.php\">threaten to once again go on strike\u003c/a> as soon as Thursday, parents in the district say they are split over whether to support them this time around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of an ongoing push for higher wages and smaller class sizes, the walkout could potentially strand some 34,000 students for at least one day. It would mark the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/ousd-teacher-strike-oakland-schools-could-close-17920873.php\">third teacher walkout in just over a year\u003c/a>, a track record that Lakisha Young, founder of the parent-run organization The Oakland REACH, calls “excessive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They always strike during a bargaining agreement,” Young said, noting that she supports teachers’ demands, but not their tactics. “Enough is enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland teachers most recently launched \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/oakland-teacher-strike-wildcat-ousd-contract-negotiations/13004171/\">a one-day wildcat strike\u003c/a> in March, which was not authorized by the union, over staffing cuts and what they called the school board’s unwillingness to address teacher pay. And in April 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/04/29/oakland-teachers-strike-school-closures/\">educators staged a one-day walkout\u003c/a> over the board’s decision to permanently shutter multiple schools in the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young said students and their families have already suffered from enough disruption during the pandemic, when schools were forced to operate remotely. Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/California-reading-and-math-scores-finally-show-17530574.php\">just over a third\u003c/a> of students in the district tested proficient in reading levels. In math, it was just over a quarter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a district where most kids can’t read and kids can’t do math, we need to have every kid in the building doing work every day,” Young said. “They should not be missing school.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other parent leaders, however, said they would stand in solidarity with teachers, even if that meant having to scramble to find alternative options for their kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see the conditions teachers are experiencing,” said Pecolia Manigo, a parent and former school board candidate. “We know how difficult it is to recruit teachers, even ones who live in our lovely city of Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Education Association has argued that the teachers it represents receive inadequate support and some of the lowest salaries in the region, even after modest gains in recent years. Meanwhile, just 57% of teachers are assigned to classrooms they are actually credentialed to teach – one of the lowest ratios in the state, \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2022/oakland-with-the-lowest-ratio-of-fully-prepared-rightly-assigned-teachers-has-a-strategy-to-address-teacher-churn/676288\">according to EdSource\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We promise you we’ve done everything we can to avert this strike,” interim union president Ismael Armendariz said during a Monday evening press conference announcing the potential walkout. “The district has truly failed our students, and the time for us to act is now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The union accuses the district of bargaining in bad faith and repeatedly failing to show up, or arriving late, to bargaining sessions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district did not respond to requests for comment. But in a statement it issued Tuesday, officials said they had offered teachers a fair contract that would provide raises of up to 22%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our teachers want a pay increase, and we agree they need it,” the district said. “We are committed to continuing to work with our labor leaders to discuss their salaries and support services for our students without the need for a strike. Let’s not interrupt our students’ learning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Samia Khattab, an OUSD teacher-librarian on the union’s bargaining team, says this isn’t just about the money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Compensation is one out of the 20 proposals that we put forth,” she said. The other sticking points concern mental health support for students, smaller special education classes, more services for students experiencing homelessness and improvements to physical infrastructure, among other asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is ultimately our goal that the contract that we hopefully will ratify soon will reflect the values that we hold in order to have racially just, safe and high-quality schools in Oakland,” Khattab said. She added that state and county education officials, including California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, had gotten involved in negotiations today to help avert a strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, after the union voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, talks between the two sides resumed in earnest, but Vilma Serrano, the union’s lead negotiator, said more work was needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have been making some progress,” Serrano said. But, she added, “We’re still needing to see movement on our common good demands to really support our community and our students in other ways beyond just our normal teaching and learning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robert Daves, a former OUSD English teacher, said low salaries and lack of support were big reasons he left the district in the spring of 2020, before leaving the profession altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re part of a team that is bringing resources to address problems, then you kind of feel like you’re all in the trenches together,” said Daves, who now works as a field chemist, and is the parent of a middle school student in the district. “But if you feel like you’re a lone voice in the wilderness, it can be isolating and lonely to be in a classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said that although a strike would be an inconvenience for his family, he intended to fully support his former colleagues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t feel like this is out of greed,” Daves said. “This is out of [teachers] wanting smaller class sizes, wanting a wage that allows them to live in the Bay Area and not be broke all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "kqed-asked-about-your-experiences-growing-up-mixed-race-heres-what-you-told-us",
"title": "KQED Asked About Your Experiences Growing Up Mixed Race. Here's What You Told Us",
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"headTitle": "KQED Asked About Your Experiences Growing Up Mixed Race. Here’s What You Told Us | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>For the past eight weeks, the California Report Magazine has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mixedrace\">featured the voices of a diverse array of mixed-race Californians\u003c/a>. Musicians, teachers, activists, parents and teenagers described the joy of belonging to multiple ethnic groups and their ability to bridge divides because of their identities. But, they also shared feelings of loneliness and isolation, of not “being enough.” Now, we hear from members of KQED’s audience about their experiences, focusing on the question: “What’s something only fellow mixed folks understand about growing up mixed?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Katie Andresen, San Francisco\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I tend to start my story of being multiracial with my hair. Growing up, it was the thing that defined me. In contrast to my classmates, who possessed a mostly straight assortment of blonds, browns and black, my hair sprung from the base of my head outwards and had a mind of its own. It was difficult to manage and never really sat the same way (many tears were shed as my mother combed my hair), despite the exact same methodology of styling. Multiple friends told me that they could pick me out from across the playground by recognizing my halo of curls that stood out in the sea of straight hair. Still, as I would learn later, my hair was considered the “good” type of hair — not overly kinky or coily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947741\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947741\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen.jpg\" alt=\"A woman smiles from a gray sofa. She has long, curly brown hair and a friendly face. She wears a gold necklace and a black, sleeveless dress. A happy, green house plant is positioned behind her and the light shines brightly on her face.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen-1638x2048.jpg 1638w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Katie Andresen is the host of the podcast Mixed Kid Chronicles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Israel Alemu)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It would take many years later to realize that my combination of curly hair and light skin was confounding to many. I learned how to navigate the question of “What are you?” as a lesson in geography. Most people in California hadn’t heard of the small island country my mom was from called Cabo Verde. My dad, a white Californian, had a less exciting origin story, but was still an important factor for people getting an answer to their initial question. Years later, I would realize that question wasn’t about me. It was a reflection of how race in the U.S. is constructed as a binary — you are this or that. There is no in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was too white for the Black folks and too Black for the white folks. Or rather — it took too much explanation to both groups with whom I was supposed to be part of that I did, indeed, belong. It didn’t help that I routinely got mistaken as Latina. A series of conversations with both multiracial friends and strangers got me thinking; we all had similar salient experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947742\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1152px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947742\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen02.jpg\" alt=\"A family portrait of a father, mother and their two children: a son and a daughter, posing in front of a body of water. The photo looks old with a tan patina to it.\" width=\"1152\" height=\"1152\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen02.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen02-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen02-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen02-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1152px) 100vw, 1152px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Katie Andresen (far right) with her parents and brother. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Katie Andresen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We all had answered the question “What are you?” a million times. We all had people approach us, speaking another language because they assumed we had a different racial affiliation. Outside of these one-on-one conversations, I didn’t see a place for a wider discussion of these topics. I also didn’t see a place to have an honest conversation about how structures of race and racism shaped these perceptions. I started \u003ca href=\"https://www.mixedkidchronicles.com/\">Mixed Kid Chronicles\u003c/a> to create that space for conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Katie Andresen, San Francisco\"]‘I don’t want to be put in a box. I am multiracial. I am Black. I am a woman. I am from California. I am proud to be a product of the people and communities that have raised me.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through this dialogue, I’ve learned that white people are generally very uncomfortable discussing race, while people of color can’t escape it. I’ve learned in discussing race, you have to be comfortable making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. I’ve learned that race is different depending on which country you’re in. I’ve learned my power in bridging gaps because of my dual heritage. I also know I’ll never experience racism like my darker-skinned family members and individuals. Most of all, I’ve learned that no one’s experience is quite the same, and despite points of salience, we should allow room for those points of divergence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, I enjoy unpacking the messy, complex world of race. It is a construct built by structures of power to enforce a certain world order. Questioning it, stretching it and testing it is the only way to find yourself in this world. I don’t want to be put in a box. I am multiracial. I am Black. I am a woman. I am from California. I am proud to be a product of the people and communities that have raised me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Andrew Jabara, Tustin\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I’m Chinese and Lebanese, born and raised in Orange County, California. I’m fond of saying that “my Chinese side is my American side” because we’ve been in California since the 1800s, making me a fifth-generation Chinese American (Mom, Grandpa and Great-Grandma were all born in California). My Lebanese side is my “immigrant” side — Baba moved from Beirut to California to finish med school and seek opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947739\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947739\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01.jpg\" alt=\"A cute baby is seen sitting barefoot on a white, leather sofa. He wears black and gold, traditional Lebanese garb.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Jabara as a baby in traditional Lebanese garb in 1997. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Andrew Jabara)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Beside my younger brother, I didn’t know anyone quite like me growing up. Sure, I knew other Chinese American kids, but their parents emigrated from China in the 1990s, not the 1890s. Arab American identity at the turn of the 21st century meant defending pride in my heritage against a barrage of slurs and threats. English was my first language; I never learned Cantonese, and I barely knew any Levantine Arabic. At home, we made a variety of American staple dishes, but also folded pot stickers and wontons, cooked coosa rice and tabbouleh, turned leftover Thanksgiving turkey bones into jook, or packed a pita and lebni sandwich for lunch. We celebrated Chinese New Year and played Lebanese egg games on Easter. From a young age, even if I didn’t have the words to express it, my background made me aware of the wealth of cultures beyond homogeneous suburbia, how they were interwoven within me, and how they could intersect in the world at large.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Sonia Dholakia, Atherton\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I’m Indian on my dad’s side and white on my mom’s. I remember going to Benihana’s with my mom when I was in elementary school and starting a conversation with the woman sitting adjacent to us. She turned to my mom and asked, “And your husband is … ,” trailing off and waiting for her to complete the sentence. In that moment, I realized that being mixed was not the norm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947743\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947743\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling family of five sit on an outdoor planter with chubby, green bushes behind them. From left to right: A bald dad with glasses sits next to his daughter with long, brown hair and jeans. She, sits next to her brother who smiles holding a happy tan dog with floppy ears. He is seated next to his mother with blond hair and a gray, scoop-neck blouse.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sonia Dholakia (center left) is a student at Menlo School in Atherton. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Sonia Dholakia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since then, being mixed has become a crucial part of my identity. I’ve been able to celebrate two very different cultures, enjoying both Diwali and Christmas traditions, but I also faced rejection from both sides of my identity. I often feel too white for my Indian friends, but too Indian for my white friends. I used to feel like I didn’t belong anywhere, like I was living in the middle.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sonia Dholakia, Atherton\"]‘I often feel too white for my Indian friends, but too Indian for my white friends. I used to feel like I didn’t belong anywhere, like I was living in the middle.’[/pullquote]I knew there were other mixed kids at my school, but I didn’t have a place to share my experience and to learn from theirs. This upset me, and I created an affinity group for mixed students like myself. It has been so rewarding to have a place where I know I can be my true self and others can be theirs. At our first meeting, we all answered the question, “When did you first realize you were mixed?” Hearing everyone’s honest, vulnerable answers, I knew we had created that safe community I sought.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chanda Stacker-Chung, Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As a mixed kid, you can always feel the stares. Eyes would travel from me to my mom, to my dad, and then back down to me when I’d walk alongside my mom and dad. To this day, “What are you?” remains the most popular question I receive from strangers and acquaintances alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947740\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1884px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947740\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01.jpg\" alt=\"A family is pictured sitting inside a restaurant setting. A grandmother, two parental figures, and their young daughter all smile for the camera. The daughter wears a royal blue college graduation sash around her shoulders.\" width=\"1884\" height=\"1250\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01.jpg 1884w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01-1536x1019.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1884px) 100vw, 1884px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chanda Stacker-Chung (far right) with her grandmother and parents celebrating her college graduation. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Chanda Stacker-Chung)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When I was a child, I always answered by telling people that I was Black and Filipino. Somewhere down the line, I started answering that I was half Black and half Filipino. I never realized how my language in identifying myself (from saying I was Black and Filipino to saying I was half Black and half Filipino) was influenced by others around me. Perhaps it was an attempt to preemptively answer the clarifying questions that always seemed to follow: “Oh, so you’re half-and-half?”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Chanda Stacker-Chung, Oakland\"]‘To this day, ‘What are you?’ remains the most popular question I receive from strangers and acquaintances alike.’[/pullquote]At my father’s funeral in 2020, the hearse driver observed my blended family and was curious who he had the honor of driving to the service. “My dad,” I said. He followed up wanting to know more about my background. So I shared that I was half Black and half Filipino. He stopped me and said, “Now, wait a minute, you’re not half of anything.” I’ve been conscious of my language ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Leo Bersamina, North Bay\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I grew up with a German/French mother and a Mexican/Filipino dad in the ’60s and ’70s. After my father left when I was 4 years old, my mom raised us kids on her own until the age of 8. Even growing up in liberal San Francisco, we would get a lot of looks as a family with my mom being white with five brown kids. This continued when my white stepdad married my mother, but as I got older, it mattered less to me. Eventually, a few other mixed-race families moved into our community, which made me feel more connected and confident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947764\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 768px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947764\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGLeoBersamina01.jpg\" alt=\"A man with a bright, yellow, long-sleeved shirt smiles in front of a multicolored, funky-patterned mural. He stands with his hands on his hips.\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGLeoBersamina01.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGLeoBersamina01-160x213.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist Leo Bersamina in front of his mural on the side of the Adobe Founders Tower in downtown San José. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Leo Bersamina)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While it continues to be a confusing issue for me to choose an identity, I try to work through it in my art practice by celebrating all of my ancestral influences through the ideas I process visually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I recently created \u003ca href=\"https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2022/09/29/behind-the-brush-celebrating-art-community-leo-bersamina\">a large mural in San José for Adobe Inc.\u003c/a> that relates to the idea of being mixed. This project was a great way for me to convey what I have been feeling my whole life: that being mixed has been a rich experience.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Leo Bersamina, North Bay\"]‘Even growing up in liberal San Francisco, we would get a lot of looks as a family with my mom being white with five brown kids.’[/pullquote]One aggravating aspect of being mixed is that most of the government forms are too limiting. While some have gotten a little better in regard to me choosing an identity, it is still a pretty difficult issue for me, as the questions about identity are mostly heavy-handed with not enough nuance. I often find myself having to choose “other” as an answer, which doesn’t feel right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a college professor, being mixed has helped me make connections with many of my students, connections that may not have been available to me if I had not been of a mixed race. It has allowed me to have multidimensional perspectives that I can share with many students, creating a rich learning environment in my classes. Overall, it has been a blessing for me to have a mixed background. I feel comfortable with many types of people, and can relate to many types of perspectives. A bonus is that I often find myself at home whenever I travel to Latin America, Asia, Polynesia and Europe.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Maya Sisneros, Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I’m of Chinese and Mexican descent. I believe the mixed-race category is often romanticized and rendered unique, even though mixed-race people have been around since the early days of colonialism. It’s a complicated identity that, in pop discourse, we’ve often conflated with a fantasy of racial progress and multicultural harmony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947766\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947766\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01.jpg\" alt=\"Two sisters wear large, straw sun hats and smile for the camera.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maya Sisneros (left) with her sister. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Maya Sisneros)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One thing we don’t talk about enough that complicates the mixed-race umbrella is white privilege. Mixed-race people with a white parent get a significant amount of privilege because of their whiteness. Even if they don’t look white, they still benefit from other aspects of white privilege. People who are mixed minorities don’t have that same access to white privilege, and tend to have a very different lived experience.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Maya Sisneros, Oakland\"]‘I believe the mixed-race category is often romanticized and rendered unique, even though mixed-race people have been around since the early days of colonialism.’[/pullquote]What many mixed-race people do share are questions of belonging, and not being “x” enough. But are these shared experiences of “not belonging” or “belonging to both” substantial enough to characterize a unified identity? Maybe instead of an identity, it’s a shared orientation, a unique position to make more choices around your relationship to your racial and ethnic identity. I’m always interested in reforming the question “Who are you?” to asking instead, “What choices are you making around your identity?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d love to see KQED complicate the narrative around mixed-race people as unique, by exploring the limits of today’s pop discourse around mixed people or by exploring the history of how the mixed-race identity became popularized and how this affects the distribution of race-based resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Alexa Senter, Contra Costa County\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One thing that sticks out from growing up mixed is that look from random elders. I grew up with a lot of narratives about my family’s identities. On my mom’s side, I heard about her maternal grandmother’s hidden Native American roots and my grandpa’s strict German uncles who didn’t approve of children playing when they could be working. On my dad’s side, the narrative was always “somos españoles” because one distant grandfather arrived in California with the first wave of colonizers and missionaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While my grandma, who quietly claimed “Indian” heritage, looked much different than the rest of our family, I came to believe that she likely appropriated Native identity to establish some kind of belonging and ownership in the American West after migrating to Washington from Tennessee during WWI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947762\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947762\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01.jpg\" alt=\"A family of three is pictured inside a clothing store with T-shirts hanging in the background. To the left, a father wears a black bicycle helmet with tropical shirt. In the center, an older daughter wears an army green hat with blue tank top as she smiles. To her right, her mother wears a black tank top and smiles hugging her daughter.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1445\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01-800x602.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01-1020x768.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01-1536x1156.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alexa Senter with her parents, Art and Carol. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alexa Senter)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since my family is small and most of my elders have passed, I have always gotten so excited when strangers (usually older women) share a sly smile and speak to me in Spanish. And, while that excitement is usually quickly replaced by panic about my mediocre language skills, the joy of being seen helps balance out the “What are you?” and “Why do you talk like a white girl?” questions that I generally got from my peers. My first job here in the Bay Area had me doing a lot of promotional events in the South Bay. On multiple occasions, older South Asian aunties would approach me with incredible warmth and sometimes even ask me about my Indian heritage. I’d respond with happiness from just feeling included and say something along the lines of, “Oh, I am kind of a mutt but I am not South Asian, as far as I know.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Alexa Senter, Contra Costa County\"]‘Since my family is small and most of my elders have passed, I have always gotten so excited when strangers (usually older women) share a sly smile and speak to me in Spanish.’[/pullquote]Since losing both my parents, I have spent a lot of my 30s digging deeper into the family archives and even exploring genetic testing to fill in the gaps in my knowledge. Family trees and genetic testing confirmed that my dad’s Spanish identity was, in reality, mostly Indigenous Mexican heritage. I also now know that those aunties I met in San José were on to something that none of my family realized. That grandma who claimed to be Indian? It turns out she was indeed Indian … just not the American kind. The aunties always know.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ariane Li, San Francisco\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Being mixed gives you the benefit of being able to engage with multiple cultures as part of your heritage. I’m Karen on my mom’s side (ethnic group from Myanmar) and Chinese/white on my dad’s side. I get to celebrate all the Western holidays like Christmas, Easter, etc., as well as Eastern holidays like Lunar New Year. I feel particularly lucky because all sides of my family like each other and enjoy celebrating with each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947763\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947763\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGArianeLi01.jpg\" alt=\"A family of eight stand smiling outside of a house. There are two males and six females pictured.\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGArianeLi01.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGArianeLi01-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGArianeLi01-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGArianeLi01-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ariane Li (far right) and her cousins at Thanksgiving. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Ariane Li)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nobody can tell you what you are or are not. If and when you do get bullied or put down by other people for being mixed, it’s not just white people who do this, other people of color will absolutely put you down for being mixed, probably because it makes them feel better and more secure about their own identities. But people will judge you for engaging in a culture you’re part of if you don’t look (Asian, Latino, Black, etc.) enough to belong. Mixed people tend to get caught in the crossfire of calling out cultural appropriation, especially if they’re white passing. I think most mixed people have learned to give others the benefit of the doubt before calling out cultural appropriation because that other person wearing a kimono or using cultural slang might also be mixed.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Ariane Li, San Francisco\"]‘Talking about growing up mixed is an easy way for mixed people to relate to each other, especially when they know the other person isn’t going to judge them for it.’[/pullquote]You also learn to recognize other mixed people really quickly. Talking about growing up mixed is an easy way for mixed people to relate to each other, especially when they know the other person isn’t going to judge them for it. I’ve been able to turn my mixed-ness into a fun guessing game when meeting new people because they always want to know what you are, but, being part of a minority ethnic group from a semi-obscure country in Southeast Asia, most people don’t know to guess “Karen.” I think if some people grow up with more connection to one culture early in life, they’ll try to reconnect with other parts of their identity when they’re older. For me, personally, I grew up surrounded mostly by the white side of my family. Now that I’m an adult, I try to connect more with the Chinese/Southeast Asian side by incorporating things from those cultures into my creative projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Maria T. Allocco, Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I never saw myself reflected in the world: this is something mixed-race people know. To never read a children’s book written for someone like you. To never see yourself in any school material. To never watch a film with actors who look like you. I never saw myself reflected in the collective reality. As a mixed-race Korean and Italian writer, I learned to trust and represent my own experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947765\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947765\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01.jpg\" alt=\"Two grandparents stand with their young granddaughter amid green trees and a pond of water. A ceramic statue of a saint is also in the background. The photo is old and has a classic patina to it.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Allocco with her grandparents. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Maria Allocco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first time I felt what I imagine monoracial people may feel in the presence of other monoracial people like themselves was in a room full of only other mixed-race people at Oakland’s East Bay Meditation Center. In 2012, Michele Benzamin-Miki facilitated an all mixed-race meditation workshop.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Maria Allocco, Oakland\"]‘The love mixed-race people have for our parents and extended families inspires and often requires multiple understandings. We carry them with us throughout our lives.’[/pullquote]My body received a mutual understanding. We shared a foundation of experiences and affirmed them for one another. Afterwards, I co-founded a mixed-race meditation group at the EBMC with four other mixed-race people. My wish was for others to also experience conscious community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The love mixed-race people have for our parents and extended families inspires and often requires multiple understandings. We carry them with us throughout our lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For the past eight weeks, the California Report Magazine has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mixedrace\">featured the voices of a diverse array of mixed-race Californians\u003c/a>. Musicians, teachers, activists, parents and teenagers described the joy of belonging to multiple ethnic groups and their ability to bridge divides because of their identities. But, they also shared feelings of loneliness and isolation, of not “being enough.” Now, we hear from members of KQED’s audience about their experiences, focusing on the question: “What’s something only fellow mixed folks understand about growing up mixed?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Katie Andresen, San Francisco\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I tend to start my story of being multiracial with my hair. Growing up, it was the thing that defined me. In contrast to my classmates, who possessed a mostly straight assortment of blonds, browns and black, my hair sprung from the base of my head outwards and had a mind of its own. It was difficult to manage and never really sat the same way (many tears were shed as my mother combed my hair), despite the exact same methodology of styling. Multiple friends told me that they could pick me out from across the playground by recognizing my halo of curls that stood out in the sea of straight hair. Still, as I would learn later, my hair was considered the “good” type of hair — not overly kinky or coily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947741\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947741\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen.jpg\" alt=\"A woman smiles from a gray sofa. She has long, curly brown hair and a friendly face. She wears a gold necklace and a black, sleeveless dress. A happy, green house plant is positioned behind her and the light shines brightly on her face.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen-1638x2048.jpg 1638w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Katie Andresen is the host of the podcast Mixed Kid Chronicles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Israel Alemu)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It would take many years later to realize that my combination of curly hair and light skin was confounding to many. I learned how to navigate the question of “What are you?” as a lesson in geography. Most people in California hadn’t heard of the small island country my mom was from called Cabo Verde. My dad, a white Californian, had a less exciting origin story, but was still an important factor for people getting an answer to their initial question. Years later, I would realize that question wasn’t about me. It was a reflection of how race in the U.S. is constructed as a binary — you are this or that. There is no in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was too white for the Black folks and too Black for the white folks. Or rather — it took too much explanation to both groups with whom I was supposed to be part of that I did, indeed, belong. It didn’t help that I routinely got mistaken as Latina. A series of conversations with both multiracial friends and strangers got me thinking; we all had similar salient experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947742\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1152px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947742\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen02.jpg\" alt=\"A family portrait of a father, mother and their two children: a son and a daughter, posing in front of a body of water. The photo looks old with a tan patina to it.\" width=\"1152\" height=\"1152\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen02.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen02-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen02-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGKatieAndresen02-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1152px) 100vw, 1152px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Katie Andresen (far right) with her parents and brother. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Katie Andresen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We all had answered the question “What are you?” a million times. We all had people approach us, speaking another language because they assumed we had a different racial affiliation. Outside of these one-on-one conversations, I didn’t see a place for a wider discussion of these topics. I also didn’t see a place to have an honest conversation about how structures of race and racism shaped these perceptions. I started \u003ca href=\"https://www.mixedkidchronicles.com/\">Mixed Kid Chronicles\u003c/a> to create that space for conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I don’t want to be put in a box. I am multiracial. I am Black. I am a woman. I am from California. I am proud to be a product of the people and communities that have raised me.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through this dialogue, I’ve learned that white people are generally very uncomfortable discussing race, while people of color can’t escape it. I’ve learned in discussing race, you have to be comfortable making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. I’ve learned that race is different depending on which country you’re in. I’ve learned my power in bridging gaps because of my dual heritage. I also know I’ll never experience racism like my darker-skinned family members and individuals. Most of all, I’ve learned that no one’s experience is quite the same, and despite points of salience, we should allow room for those points of divergence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, I enjoy unpacking the messy, complex world of race. It is a construct built by structures of power to enforce a certain world order. Questioning it, stretching it and testing it is the only way to find yourself in this world. I don’t want to be put in a box. I am multiracial. I am Black. I am a woman. I am from California. I am proud to be a product of the people and communities that have raised me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Andrew Jabara, Tustin\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I’m Chinese and Lebanese, born and raised in Orange County, California. I’m fond of saying that “my Chinese side is my American side” because we’ve been in California since the 1800s, making me a fifth-generation Chinese American (Mom, Grandpa and Great-Grandma were all born in California). My Lebanese side is my “immigrant” side — Baba moved from Beirut to California to finish med school and seek opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947739\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947739\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01.jpg\" alt=\"A cute baby is seen sitting barefoot on a white, leather sofa. He wears black and gold, traditional Lebanese garb.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAndrewJabara01-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Jabara as a baby in traditional Lebanese garb in 1997. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Andrew Jabara)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Beside my younger brother, I didn’t know anyone quite like me growing up. Sure, I knew other Chinese American kids, but their parents emigrated from China in the 1990s, not the 1890s. Arab American identity at the turn of the 21st century meant defending pride in my heritage against a barrage of slurs and threats. English was my first language; I never learned Cantonese, and I barely knew any Levantine Arabic. At home, we made a variety of American staple dishes, but also folded pot stickers and wontons, cooked coosa rice and tabbouleh, turned leftover Thanksgiving turkey bones into jook, or packed a pita and lebni sandwich for lunch. We celebrated Chinese New Year and played Lebanese egg games on Easter. From a young age, even if I didn’t have the words to express it, my background made me aware of the wealth of cultures beyond homogeneous suburbia, how they were interwoven within me, and how they could intersect in the world at large.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Sonia Dholakia, Atherton\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I’m Indian on my dad’s side and white on my mom’s. I remember going to Benihana’s with my mom when I was in elementary school and starting a conversation with the woman sitting adjacent to us. She turned to my mom and asked, “And your husband is … ,” trailing off and waiting for her to complete the sentence. In that moment, I realized that being mixed was not the norm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947743\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947743\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling family of five sit on an outdoor planter with chubby, green bushes behind them. From left to right: A bald dad with glasses sits next to his daughter with long, brown hair and jeans. She, sits next to her brother who smiles holding a happy tan dog with floppy ears. He is seated next to his mother with blond hair and a gray, scoop-neck blouse.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGSoniaDholakia01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sonia Dholakia (center left) is a student at Menlo School in Atherton. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Sonia Dholakia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since then, being mixed has become a crucial part of my identity. I’ve been able to celebrate two very different cultures, enjoying both Diwali and Christmas traditions, but I also faced rejection from both sides of my identity. I often feel too white for my Indian friends, but too Indian for my white friends. I used to feel like I didn’t belong anywhere, like I was living in the middle.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>I knew there were other mixed kids at my school, but I didn’t have a place to share my experience and to learn from theirs. This upset me, and I created an affinity group for mixed students like myself. It has been so rewarding to have a place where I know I can be my true self and others can be theirs. At our first meeting, we all answered the question, “When did you first realize you were mixed?” Hearing everyone’s honest, vulnerable answers, I knew we had created that safe community I sought.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chanda Stacker-Chung, Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As a mixed kid, you can always feel the stares. Eyes would travel from me to my mom, to my dad, and then back down to me when I’d walk alongside my mom and dad. To this day, “What are you?” remains the most popular question I receive from strangers and acquaintances alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947740\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1884px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947740\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01.jpg\" alt=\"A family is pictured sitting inside a restaurant setting. A grandmother, two parental figures, and their young daughter all smile for the camera. The daughter wears a royal blue college graduation sash around her shoulders.\" width=\"1884\" height=\"1250\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01.jpg 1884w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGChandaStackerChung01-1536x1019.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1884px) 100vw, 1884px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chanda Stacker-Chung (far right) with her grandmother and parents celebrating her college graduation. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Chanda Stacker-Chung)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When I was a child, I always answered by telling people that I was Black and Filipino. Somewhere down the line, I started answering that I was half Black and half Filipino. I never realized how my language in identifying myself (from saying I was Black and Filipino to saying I was half Black and half Filipino) was influenced by others around me. Perhaps it was an attempt to preemptively answer the clarifying questions that always seemed to follow: “Oh, so you’re half-and-half?”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘To this day, ‘What are you?’ remains the most popular question I receive from strangers and acquaintances alike.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At my father’s funeral in 2020, the hearse driver observed my blended family and was curious who he had the honor of driving to the service. “My dad,” I said. He followed up wanting to know more about my background. So I shared that I was half Black and half Filipino. He stopped me and said, “Now, wait a minute, you’re not half of anything.” I’ve been conscious of my language ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Leo Bersamina, North Bay\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I grew up with a German/French mother and a Mexican/Filipino dad in the ’60s and ’70s. After my father left when I was 4 years old, my mom raised us kids on her own until the age of 8. Even growing up in liberal San Francisco, we would get a lot of looks as a family with my mom being white with five brown kids. This continued when my white stepdad married my mother, but as I got older, it mattered less to me. Eventually, a few other mixed-race families moved into our community, which made me feel more connected and confident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947764\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 768px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947764\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGLeoBersamina01.jpg\" alt=\"A man with a bright, yellow, long-sleeved shirt smiles in front of a multicolored, funky-patterned mural. He stands with his hands on his hips.\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGLeoBersamina01.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGLeoBersamina01-160x213.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist Leo Bersamina in front of his mural on the side of the Adobe Founders Tower in downtown San José. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Leo Bersamina)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While it continues to be a confusing issue for me to choose an identity, I try to work through it in my art practice by celebrating all of my ancestral influences through the ideas I process visually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I recently created \u003ca href=\"https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2022/09/29/behind-the-brush-celebrating-art-community-leo-bersamina\">a large mural in San José for Adobe Inc.\u003c/a> that relates to the idea of being mixed. This project was a great way for me to convey what I have been feeling my whole life: that being mixed has been a rich experience.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Even growing up in liberal San Francisco, we would get a lot of looks as a family with my mom being white with five brown kids.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>One aggravating aspect of being mixed is that most of the government forms are too limiting. While some have gotten a little better in regard to me choosing an identity, it is still a pretty difficult issue for me, as the questions about identity are mostly heavy-handed with not enough nuance. I often find myself having to choose “other” as an answer, which doesn’t feel right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a college professor, being mixed has helped me make connections with many of my students, connections that may not have been available to me if I had not been of a mixed race. It has allowed me to have multidimensional perspectives that I can share with many students, creating a rich learning environment in my classes. Overall, it has been a blessing for me to have a mixed background. I feel comfortable with many types of people, and can relate to many types of perspectives. A bonus is that I often find myself at home whenever I travel to Latin America, Asia, Polynesia and Europe.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Maya Sisneros, Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I’m of Chinese and Mexican descent. I believe the mixed-race category is often romanticized and rendered unique, even though mixed-race people have been around since the early days of colonialism. It’s a complicated identity that, in pop discourse, we’ve often conflated with a fantasy of racial progress and multicultural harmony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947766\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947766\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01.jpg\" alt=\"Two sisters wear large, straw sun hats and smile for the camera.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMayaSisneros01-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maya Sisneros (left) with her sister. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Maya Sisneros)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One thing we don’t talk about enough that complicates the mixed-race umbrella is white privilege. Mixed-race people with a white parent get a significant amount of privilege because of their whiteness. Even if they don’t look white, they still benefit from other aspects of white privilege. People who are mixed minorities don’t have that same access to white privilege, and tend to have a very different lived experience.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I believe the mixed-race category is often romanticized and rendered unique, even though mixed-race people have been around since the early days of colonialism.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>What many mixed-race people do share are questions of belonging, and not being “x” enough. But are these shared experiences of “not belonging” or “belonging to both” substantial enough to characterize a unified identity? Maybe instead of an identity, it’s a shared orientation, a unique position to make more choices around your relationship to your racial and ethnic identity. I’m always interested in reforming the question “Who are you?” to asking instead, “What choices are you making around your identity?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d love to see KQED complicate the narrative around mixed-race people as unique, by exploring the limits of today’s pop discourse around mixed people or by exploring the history of how the mixed-race identity became popularized and how this affects the distribution of race-based resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Alexa Senter, Contra Costa County\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One thing that sticks out from growing up mixed is that look from random elders. I grew up with a lot of narratives about my family’s identities. On my mom’s side, I heard about her maternal grandmother’s hidden Native American roots and my grandpa’s strict German uncles who didn’t approve of children playing when they could be working. On my dad’s side, the narrative was always “somos españoles” because one distant grandfather arrived in California with the first wave of colonizers and missionaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While my grandma, who quietly claimed “Indian” heritage, looked much different than the rest of our family, I came to believe that she likely appropriated Native identity to establish some kind of belonging and ownership in the American West after migrating to Washington from Tennessee during WWI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947762\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947762\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01.jpg\" alt=\"A family of three is pictured inside a clothing store with T-shirts hanging in the background. To the left, a father wears a black bicycle helmet with tropical shirt. In the center, an older daughter wears an army green hat with blue tank top as she smiles. To her right, her mother wears a black tank top and smiles hugging her daughter.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1445\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01-800x602.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01-1020x768.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGAlexaSenter01-1536x1156.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alexa Senter with her parents, Art and Carol. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alexa Senter)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since my family is small and most of my elders have passed, I have always gotten so excited when strangers (usually older women) share a sly smile and speak to me in Spanish. And, while that excitement is usually quickly replaced by panic about my mediocre language skills, the joy of being seen helps balance out the “What are you?” and “Why do you talk like a white girl?” questions that I generally got from my peers. My first job here in the Bay Area had me doing a lot of promotional events in the South Bay. On multiple occasions, older South Asian aunties would approach me with incredible warmth and sometimes even ask me about my Indian heritage. I’d respond with happiness from just feeling included and say something along the lines of, “Oh, I am kind of a mutt but I am not South Asian, as far as I know.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Since my family is small and most of my elders have passed, I have always gotten so excited when strangers (usually older women) share a sly smile and speak to me in Spanish.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Since losing both my parents, I have spent a lot of my 30s digging deeper into the family archives and even exploring genetic testing to fill in the gaps in my knowledge. Family trees and genetic testing confirmed that my dad’s Spanish identity was, in reality, mostly Indigenous Mexican heritage. I also now know that those aunties I met in San José were on to something that none of my family realized. That grandma who claimed to be Indian? It turns out she was indeed Indian … just not the American kind. The aunties always know.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ariane Li, San Francisco\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Being mixed gives you the benefit of being able to engage with multiple cultures as part of your heritage. I’m Karen on my mom’s side (ethnic group from Myanmar) and Chinese/white on my dad’s side. I get to celebrate all the Western holidays like Christmas, Easter, etc., as well as Eastern holidays like Lunar New Year. I feel particularly lucky because all sides of my family like each other and enjoy celebrating with each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947763\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947763\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGArianeLi01.jpg\" alt=\"A family of eight stand smiling outside of a house. There are two males and six females pictured.\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGArianeLi01.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGArianeLi01-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGArianeLi01-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGArianeLi01-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ariane Li (far right) and her cousins at Thanksgiving. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Ariane Li)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nobody can tell you what you are or are not. If and when you do get bullied or put down by other people for being mixed, it’s not just white people who do this, other people of color will absolutely put you down for being mixed, probably because it makes them feel better and more secure about their own identities. But people will judge you for engaging in a culture you’re part of if you don’t look (Asian, Latino, Black, etc.) enough to belong. Mixed people tend to get caught in the crossfire of calling out cultural appropriation, especially if they’re white passing. I think most mixed people have learned to give others the benefit of the doubt before calling out cultural appropriation because that other person wearing a kimono or using cultural slang might also be mixed.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Talking about growing up mixed is an easy way for mixed people to relate to each other, especially when they know the other person isn’t going to judge them for it.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>You also learn to recognize other mixed people really quickly. Talking about growing up mixed is an easy way for mixed people to relate to each other, especially when they know the other person isn’t going to judge them for it. I’ve been able to turn my mixed-ness into a fun guessing game when meeting new people because they always want to know what you are, but, being part of a minority ethnic group from a semi-obscure country in Southeast Asia, most people don’t know to guess “Karen.” I think if some people grow up with more connection to one culture early in life, they’ll try to reconnect with other parts of their identity when they’re older. For me, personally, I grew up surrounded mostly by the white side of my family. Now that I’m an adult, I try to connect more with the Chinese/Southeast Asian side by incorporating things from those cultures into my creative projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Maria T. Allocco, Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I never saw myself reflected in the world: this is something mixed-race people know. To never read a children’s book written for someone like you. To never see yourself in any school material. To never watch a film with actors who look like you. I never saw myself reflected in the collective reality. As a mixed-race Korean and Italian writer, I learned to trust and represent my own experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947765\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11947765\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01.jpg\" alt=\"Two grandparents stand with their young granddaughter amid green trees and a pond of water. A ceramic statue of a saint is also in the background. The photo is old and has a classic patina to it.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/TCRMAGMariaAllocco01-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Allocco with her grandparents. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Maria Allocco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first time I felt what I imagine monoracial people may feel in the presence of other monoracial people like themselves was in a room full of only other mixed-race people at Oakland’s East Bay Meditation Center. In 2012, Michele Benzamin-Miki facilitated an all mixed-race meditation workshop.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘The love mixed-race people have for our parents and extended families inspires and often requires multiple understandings. We carry them with us throughout our lives.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>My body received a mutual understanding. We shared a foundation of experiences and affirmed them for one another. Afterwards, I co-founded a mixed-race meditation group at the EBMC with four other mixed-race people. My wish was for others to also experience conscious community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The love mixed-race people have for our parents and extended families inspires and often requires multiple understandings. We carry them with us throughout our lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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