Public Schools Deserve More

By Vivian Ramirez Rodriguez 

In third grade, it was during class that we were informed our school would be shutting down. After this announcement, the school was quick to plan a last minute field trip that entailed us going to tour the new school we’d be placed at. There was a final board meeting, and students were able to give testimonies, leaving the district with no option but to keep it open. Before any of this was to happen, some 30 years ago my school district– West Contra Costa Unified School District (formerly known as Richmond Unified) filed for bankruptcy.

It wasn’t until recently this debt was paid off, and while I was in school I experienced the negative impacts that came from this debt– such as no teachers, overfilled classrooms, old ripped books from the 80’s and very underdeveloped English Second Language programs. In middle school, the issues remained consistent with an abundance of substitute teachers, no creative programs, no nurses, paired with monthly gun incidents and, as a result,– constant police presence. Thinking my education would get better in high school, I was welcomed to a school that consisted entirely of portables. Our new school building took over 8 years to complete, and by the time it was done– 10 teachers retired, leaving the school with a large portion of its staff gone, not to mention the 2 counselors looking after 1200 students. When I was given the opportunity to attend UC Berkeley, I didn’t realize how behind I was. My schools certainly did not have enough resources and there were schools with even less. Fully funding education should be a priority because I know the schools I attended are not the only ones that deal with similar issues of not being able to afford resourceschange or any type of advancement. I believe education is a fundamental right and every student should have access to quality, equitable education!