San Francisco Magazine: "Small Is Beautiful in the Public Schools"
This article appears in the October 2007 issue of San Francisco Magazine
Small Is Beautiful in the Public Schools
By Diana Kapp
In 2003, the already distressed Oakland Unified School District truly bottomed out. The chronically underperforming district was $70 million in the red and famously dysfunctional. In the largest public school bailout in California history, the state tossed out Superintendent Dennis Chaconas and seized control of the elected school board and the district. Given that 89 percent of Oakland kids go to public school (versus 70 percent in San Francisco), and 69 percent are poor enough to qualify for a free or cut-rate lunch, this was clearly a public crisis.
But Oakland must have hit the ground running, because a mere four years later, the turnaround has been astounding. Millions of dollars from heavy-hitter foundations have poured in, along with unflappable young talent and gutsy ideas --and the results are impressive. API scores are up in many places; of the 34 elementary and middle schools in the lowest performing category (with scores below 500) in 1999, zero remain there. And since 2003, the number of graduates qualified to enter the UC and CSU systems has nearly doubled. There's no doubt that major work remains at all levels, particularly in the high schools, but Steven Seleznow, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, says Oakland is "among the top three most comprehensively innovating school districts in the country right now."
One of the big ideas driving this revival is the move to get small. In 2000, the district had enacted a policy to create 10 new small schools, the idea being that smaller schools mean more personal attention and greater accountability. Juiced by $15.7 million from Gates, who has now invested close to $40 million in Oakland school reform, and in partnership with the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools, the district made itself the western frontier of this educational experiment. The effort was focused entirely in the lower-income flatlands of East and West Oakland. (Thanks to activist parents and flush local educational foundations, many of the more affluent hill neighborhoods, including Rockridge, Montclair, and Hillcrest, have high-quality elementary schools.)
After the 2003 meltdown, parents and community activists rallied to ensure that new state-appointed top dog Randy Ward embraced the concept. "We said, 'Yeah, this is bad. But how do we protect what we've done?'" "We got out in front to make the case for these schools and urge them to think long-term," says Lillian Lopez, a parent with Oakland Community Organizations.
To date, 44 new small schools have sprung up in this district of 131 schools. Most of the underperforming schools have been broken into two or more new schools or closed altogether. And of the six high schools in notorious danger zones, three have been split into 10 academies, with impressive results. The new schools boast a new mission and teacher roster, and, in many cases, a new principal.
ACORN Woodland Elementary, at the corner of 81st and Rudsdale, is one of the small-school success stories. Long home to an abandoned building that looked like a prison, the school is now bursting with potential. Another elementary school, EnCompass Academy, sits across an airy, flower-filled courtyard. The sparkly $19.3 million campus, which opened in 2005, includes an outdoor amphitheater, high-ceilinged classrooms, and two Ivy League pedigreed, 34-year-old principals, and is the second newly built school site in East Oakland in 35 years. The students are as transformed as the space. "Kids are glowing at the cellular level," says EnCompass's effusive principal, Minh-Tram Nguyen.
No one knows if the momentum at these small schools can be sustained. Oakland Unified¹s improving API scores are still well below the 800 California target, and most schools are far from where they need to be to actually attract parents who can afford one of the East Bay's many respected private schools. But most agree that hope, at least, has returned.
The excitement has even spilled over into the neighborhood, says David Kerr, a realtor who sells homes in Elmhurst. "More people are saying, 'I want to be close to this. I want to get my kid into this school.' Even housing prices, which used to be in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, are moving into the high $300,000s and low $400,000s." Important news for parts of the city that are still playing catch-up on many fronts.