Oakland is closing public schools, a precise and grim measure of a city’s health. In the case of this proud city, the trend has clarified for many that Oakland, traditionally a place of radical blue-state politics, barricade-and-bullhorn protests and a grass-roots character, has fallen from vanguard to some rung far below.
Black Oakland is simply withering, overwhelmed by the steady arrival of White and Latino residents, by low Black birthrates and a cost-driven exodus, and by the uneven but pervasive gentrification transforming this city of 434,000 people.
There are not enough children to keep seven schools open after this academic year, district officials say, and it happens that the children no longer there to keep them open are predominantly Black in a city where race has defined its local identity and its national outlook for generations.
Source: Oakland’s Black residents face closed schools amid demographic changes – The Washington Post
WaPo acknowledges similar issues are now playing out in other cities – but has turned this into a racial issue blaming gentrification.
The fundamental root cause is a massive drop in the fertility rate.
As of 2020, California’s fertility rate is 1.52.
The birth rate in Alameda County is even lower than that of California – 4.3% versus 4.8% for California.
When you see the California fertility rate and realize districts all over the U.S. are faced with closing schools, this WaPo number seems to be outrage journalism that is missing the target.
