Oakland Children Welcome Here
We are saddened that there seems to be a mean spirited campaign in our town to divide children lately. Ever since the Emery Unified School District joined with the City of Emeryville some five years ago to build the Center of Community Life, a growing number of residents have complained the expensive school rebuild/community center would benefit "Oakland students" owing to the 46% of children enrolled here from out of our district. This chorus has increased in volume since the City and the District have asked voters to support the $95 million Measure J school/community center bond. These disparaging comments have even occurred in the comments section of the Tattler.
At the Tattler, we feel there is much to dislike in the Center of Community Life and Measure J; an appalling lack of transparency and quashing of dissent among the myriad and glaring problems. We also agree Emeryville needs to attract more families with children to our town to create a more diverse community. We do hope that the percentage of Emeryville children at our schools increases and we will work toward that goal but we feel it is out-of-bounds to disparage Oakland children. This is bordering on scapegoating and its not flattering for Emeryville. We must remember that a child is a child, regardless of incidental municipal boundaries.
There is nothing wrong with having Oakland students attend Emeryville schools as long as Oakland taxpayers are willing to pay the full cost of their education. It is my hope that an Emeryville education becomes so superior that parents from miles around are clamoring to get their kids in. Piedmont doesn't let our kids go there. Wouldn't it be nice to tell them, "sorry, we just don't have room for your kids. You'll just have to try to improve your own schools to the high bar we have set."
ReplyDeleteWithout those kids, EUSD doesn't have enough students to stay open. There are not enough children in Emeryville to support the school system.
ReplyDeletePlain and simple.
It probably has something to with developers coming in and tearing down family homes for single person lofts and apartments, that are priced out of the reach of the average Emeryville resident.