Oakland’s Black, Brown Students Lag Behind State Levels for Reading, Math: Report

A new report shows that half of Oakland’s Black and Brown students don’t meet the basic eligibility requirements for college.

“It is really disturbing. We are looking at very little progress in Oakland education, for particularly Black and Brown students,” says Kimi Kean. She is CEO of Families In Action, which works to help parents better advocate for their students.

Families in Action released a new report on Thursday called Raise the Bar.

The data suggests that only 2 in 10 Black and Brown students are reading at grade level, which is 14 percentage points below the state average. Just 1 in 10 are doing math at grade level, which is 10% below the state average. And, that the math proficiency is unchanged since 2015.

“Those show that about 50% of Black and Brown students graduate from high school, being able to apply to college,” explains Kean.

The report is based on publicly available data. It covers all of Oakland’s public schools – both district and charter schools. That’s about 45,000 students.

Keans says the root of the problem is leadership.

“The numbers are shocking. But what’s more shocking to us is that our elected officials and citywide leaders are not focused enough on making a difference.,” says Kean.

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