Oakland Unified School District’s Reparations Initiative Faces Criticism

Five years have passed since the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) initiated a significant reparations plan for Black students. Critics argue that this effort has not met its objectives, leading to continued poor academic outcomes that originally prompted the initiative.

In March 2021, the school board approved the ‘Reparations for Black Students’ resolution, forming a 24-member Black Thriving Task Force. The task force aimed to close the Black student opportunity gap within five years. However, former members report that the group disbanded after about a year due to internal conflicts and sudden leadership changes within the district.

A former task force member, Kevin Hill, expressed frustration, saying, “It was as if we all got together and wasted our collective breath for a whole year.” Interviews with past members indicate disagreements about school closures and the role of district officials contributed to the initial effort’s collapse.

The resolution intended to create a ‘Black Thriving Fund’ to enhance recruitment of Black educators, expand a Black-centered curriculum, require anti-racism training for staff, and increase outreach to struggling families.

This initiative sought to address long-standing disparities within the district. For example, during the 2018–19 school year, Black students made up 22% of the OUSD population but accounted for 57% of suspensions. Black students with Special Education Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) were nine times more likely to be suspended than their peers.

As Lawanda Wesley, former director of the task force, noted, “We kept looking at these data points—chronic absenteeism, literacy, mathematics—it was just dismal.” Despite these concerns, after five years, Black students still demonstrate low proficiency rates in math and English, with 46% chronically absent and nearly 10% suspended.

The momentum of the original initiative has changed. The district’s reparations webpage remains outdated since 2021. Public meetings have stopped, and Black student enrollment in OUSD has declined to below 20% from nearly half two decades ago as families leave Oakland.

Following a grievance process by the local teachers’ union, the district reinstated a smaller version of the task force in 2023. This updated effort focuses on family engagement and support systems at 11 designated ‘Black Thriving Schools’ where at least 40% of students are Black.

Local educators report some aspects of the initial promise persist through new ‘Teacher on Special Assignment’ roles. However, others contend the district abandoned its prior commitments.

Although district officials did not comment immediately, OUSD spokesperson John Sasaki stated to The Mercury News that the task force “is currently active and moving forward under strong leadership, with a clear focus on supporting Black student achievement and well-being.”