Economy

At Oakland schools on the closure list, distraught pleas to reconsider

The Oakland Unified School District spent a week in October hosting meetings at each public schools recommended for closure: Lakeview, Marshall, Maxwell Park, Lazear and Santa Fe Elementary Schools. These meetings were a chance for parents, teachers, students and concerned community members to ask questions about what their future might look like.

OUSD school closures vote Wed follows years of creating small schools, then having to pay for them

The Oakland Unified School District’s controversial proposal to close five elementary schools this fall, and more in coming years, follows a multi-year program of encouraging small small schools–subdividing bigger facilities into multiple smaller ones, each with fewer students and a more intimate climate. But funding and enrollment changes have pushed the district to what promises to be an emotional meeting and vote Wednesday night.

OPD evict Occupy Oakland protestors

At around 5:30 Tuesday morning, Oakland police raided two Occupy Oakland encampments, the main one at Frank Ogawa Plaza that had grown to house more than 100 protestors, and a smaller site at Snow Park near Lake Merritt.

Five Occupy Oakland campers speak about why they joined the protest

There used to be grass here, but it didn’t last long―not after the bodies started multiplying and the make-shift community started growing. Now the space is covered in mud and heaps of hay. And a runaway pancake that slid off of someone’s blue-plastic plate. And a stray sock, and a boardwalk of planks. And feet. Hundreds of feet. This used to be Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, but not any more. Welcome to Occupy Oakland.