Education Not Privatization – Oakland

Since May 2022 and amidst a historic teacher shortage, OUSD has retaliated against 4 OUSD educators – Denise Huffstutler, Paloma Collier, Craig Gordon, and June Nelson – for their active involvement in the fight against school closures.

Denise Huffstutler, a former Parker instructional coach who spoke out against the closure of that school, received a letter of reprimand for failing to return her keys at the end of the year despite reporting them as missing, which has led to an ongoing investigation and a record in her file. June Nelson, Paloma Collier, and Craig Gordon were all fired and blacklisted from employment with OUSD for their involvement in the Parker occupation, a 125-day direct action protesting school closures, and for other political and union activities.

OUSD’s actions violate a February 2022 letter from Chief Governance Officer Josh Daniels to Moses Omolade and André San-Chez, then engaged in a 20+ day hunger strike to protest school closures. Daniels’s letter states that “OUSD will not retaliate against any OUSD employee involved in protesting school closures […] or supporting those who are involved in such protests.”