Throwdown for the Town: Talking with Voters about Education

Great Oakland Public Schools is a nonprofit organization that connects and activates an informed community network to advance policies that ensure all Oakland students have the opportunity to attend quality public schools. We are a coalition of parents, teachers, principals, and community leaders who live and work throughout this city.

GO Public Schools believes that great school board leadership is needed to ensure all kids have access to a great school.

This summer, GO is doing a listening campaign to gather input from a diverse group of Oaklanders about public education in this city. Our survey questions are open-ended and allow participants to share their opinions about a number of issues, such as the biggest challenges facing the city of Oakland, what makes a great school, and what qualities they are looking for in school board candidates. Read all of our survey questions here. 

One goal of our survey is to increase the dialogue about the need for school board members to address the challenges facing our schools and our children. Click here to watch a video of GO Member, Sara Nuno, as she explains her experience surveying Oakland residents.

Another GO Member, Joe Ventura, recently wrote a blog about his experience walking the GO survey in two Oakland neighborhoods. Here is one of his key takeaways:

Oaklanders care about our schools, and they want to be heard. On my first walk with GO, I hesitated in front of several porch stairs, contemplating whether the "No Peddlers or Solicitors" sign applied to me. After residents learn that I'm a) not asking for money, b) not trying to sell them anything, and c) want to know what they think, it's actually more challenging to break off conversations than to get them started. Oaklanders care about Oakland students, and they've got plenty of thoughts on how to improve them. On my walks, I've met with journalists, janitors, retirees, and teachers, who are delighted to finally be asked their opinion on how to improve our schools. Just because they don't show up at school board meetings doesn't mean they don't care about improving our students' educational opportunities.


Join GO Public Schools as we continue our survey work during The Ella Baker Center’s Throw Down for the Town on Saturday, July 28th.

Visit our website to learn more about Great Oakland Public Schools.