1050 2nd Avenue, Oakland
CA
Join us tonight for a rally before the board meeting, and send messages today!
Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is retaliating against educators and community members protesting the district’s racist school closure policies, both through physical violence and firings.
Last Thursday, August 4, untrained, unlicensed, third-party security providers contracted by OUSD violently assaulted parents and community members at Parker School, injuring at least 11 people and sending four to the ER. Meanwhile, the district has fired at least two educators—32-year veteran Oakland educator Craig Gordon and another teacher who declines at this time to be name – who have actively participatedd in the fight against school closures, including the Parker Liberation in East Oakland.There’s a school board meeting tonight and your solidarity is needed!
Take action now – send messages to OUSD board members to demand EDUCATION, NOT RETALIATION!
Then show up for the board meeting TODAY at 5:30 pm and a rally beforehand at 4:30pm to demand that OUSD:
- STOP firing teachers for supporting the Parker liberation and other school closures
- STOP the violence that sent multiple activists to the hospital last Thursday
Mr. Gordon, a longtime teacher and now substitute, learned of his firing on August 8, the first day of the school year. Firing a district employee who has publicly criticized district officials at several recent school board meetings and who has done effective media outreach for the Parker Liberation is a blatant attack on speech and press freedom. Mr. Gordon is also involved in the teacher’s union.
A beloved OUSD contract teacher also recently learned that their contract would not be renewed for the 2022-23 school year. This teacher was about to begin their sixth year with OUSD, is a dedicated advocate for teachers, students, and families displaced by OUSD’s school closure policies, and a supporter of the Parker Liberation.
OUSD’s actions are in violation of a letter issued by Chief Governance Officer Josh Daniels to OUSD employees Moses Omolade and André San-Chez during their hunger strike protest against school closures, stating that: “OUSD will not retaliate against any OUSD employee involved in protesting school closures […] or supporting those who are involved in such protests.”
Send messages to OUSD board members demanding they stop firing teachers and attacking our community!
These firings are also part of a clear pattern of what is now sporadically violent repression waged by OUSD against teachers, parents, and community members protesting school closures, privatization, and gentrification in Oakland.
We call on OUSD Chief Talent Officer Tara Gard, Chief Governance Officer Josh Daniels, and Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell to immediately reverse the decision to terminate these educators, and to cease retaliating against anyone involved in protest against the district’s school closure policies!
Love and solidarity,
APTP
Anti Police-Terror Project is a Black-led, multi-racial, intergenerational coalition that seeks to build a replicable and sustainable model to eradicate police terror in communities of color. We support families surviving police terror in their fight for justice, documenting police abuses and connecting impacted families and community members with resources, legal referrals, and opportunities for healing.