Public school students in Oakland deserve schools that open doors for them to pursue their dreams. Classrooms should be safe, filled with supplies and learning materials, and abundant with enrichment opportunities. In Oakland, 15 public schools have PTAs that raise $5 million annually, while the remaining schools combined raise just a small fraction of that. The Equity Fund was launched two years ago by the parent group Equity Allies for OUSD, a project we fiscally sponsor. In June, the Equity Fund made 20 donations of $5k each to the highest-stressed schools in the district.
The 20 schools that received donations were selected based on an Equity Index, which ranks all OUSD schools based on the numbers of students and families impacted by poverty, numbers of students receiving special education services, schools located in high-stress communities, and internal challenges such as high teacher turnover rates. The index ensures schools facing greater stress receive Equity Fund grants.
This year the Equity Fund raised more than $100,000 from more than 230 generous individuals, foundations, and local school communities including Emerson, Peralta, Glenview, and Sequoia Elementary Schools, and Oakland Tech High School. The OUSD schools that received the $5,000 donations included the following:
- ACORN Woodland Elementary
- Allendale Elementary
- East Oakland PRIDE Elementary
- EnCompass Academy
- Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy
- Fruitvale Elementary School
- Futures Elementary/Community United
- Garfield Elementary
- Horace Mann Elementary
- Howard Elementary
- Madison Park Academy TK-5
- Manzanita Community School
- Markham Elementary
- Martin Luther King Jr Elementary
- New Highland Academy
- PLACE @ Prescott
- Reach Academy
- RISE Community School
- Sankofa United
- Think College Now