Oakland Unified School District paid consultants over $40,000 to facilitate anti-racist affinity groups for white educators and staff with a focus on ‘unlearning whiteness’
Incidents
Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) has paid $45,300 since 2022 to three consultants to facilitate race-based affinity groups for staff members. Over $40,000 of the districts funds were used to pay consultants to run a white educators fellowship programming focused on “unlearning whiteness.” Union members were given the choice of being paid for extended work hours or could redeem for professional development credits towards their salary schedule.
On April 23, 2025, the OUSD board approved a contract with Hope Reimagined to provide “group facilitation for White Anti-Racist Affinity Facilitator Fellowship” and to “train a cohort of self-identified white educators and invited caregivers within OUSD to learn skills and curriculum to facilitate white affinity spaces for the period of March 17, 2025 through June 30, 2025 in an amount not to exceed $7,320.00.”
The district school board had previously approved a contract with Hope Reimagined on March 27, 2024, to “train a cohort of self-identified white educators within OUSD to learn skills and curriculum to facilitate to learn skills and curriculum to facilitate white affinity spaces for the period of March 4, 2024 through April 4, 2024 in an amount not to exceed $14,700.00.”
The district also contracted with a second consultant for $10,800 to “facilitate white-bodied affinity space for educators in District; prepare and facilitate a six session ‘White AntiRacist Community of Practice’ series for District employees; pull together resources and tools for educators to access in the Racial Justice, Equity & Healing Toolkit, via Community Schools and Student Services Department, for the period of February 1, 2023 through May 31, 2023.”
On January 10, 2024, the district board approved a contract with the second consultant for $8,280 to “train a cohort of self-identified white educators and invited caregivers within District to learn skills and curriculum to facilitate white affinity spaces.”
A November 17, 2024, Instagram post from the second consultant advertising the programming states that it is for “white/European educators in the Bay” and is an “opportunity to join a learning community of white identified folks who are interested in liberatory movement towards racial justice in our own bodies, in our relationships and in the schools we work in or have our children in.”
The post continues by stating that the “majority of teachers in public schools are white people, mostly white female identified, and the majority of students are Black and Brown students” and that “there has been a lot of harm in schools, often due to cultural differences, internalized superiority and structural racism that has created deep injustice in our schools both in educational success and disproportionality in suspensions and expulsions.”
It concludes by claiming that “as white educators, it’s our work to make changes both within our own selves and our practices, while also using our systemic privileges to make systemic changes.”
Other Instagram posts by the second consultant reveal their open support for far-left activism.
A previous Defending Education report highlights a district contract in 2022 for $4,200 for race-based affinity groups. Read the report here. The district paid for this training with ESSA Title II funds.
The school district Office of Equity website includes a page titled “White Anti-Racist Learning Facilitators” states that the district is “calling on White educators, community partners who work in our schools, staff and caregiver / family leaders in Oakland schools to be part of a 2-year Facilitator Fellowship to increase the network of trained facilitators to hold racial justice learning spaces for White staff and family affinity groups at our sites.”
The “Fellowship” will “strengthen spaces for White community members in OUSD to advance their antiracist learning, skills and practice to be allies and co-conspirators in solidarity with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) students, staff and families in OUSD in times of increased racial hatred and violence and to advance equitable outcomes and support for BIPOC students.”
The staff registration page states that “All OUSD OEA and classified (SEIU & AFSCME) staff can be compensated for extended contract and extra time hours. OEA members can also choose to submit for Professional Growth Units for advancement on the salary scale instead. All other participants can receive a stipend upon completion of the program.”
STAFF AFFINITY GROUPS
The district Office of Equity offers staff Solidarity Affinity Groups which are “affinity spaces to advance racial and social justice – to create spaces of belonging and voice for marginalized groups, and to generate space for reflection, action and change by all stakeholders in our school and district communities.”
Affinity group offerings include a “Black Staff Affinity Group,” “Multi-Racial Staff Affinity Group,” “Asian & Pacific Islander Staff Affinity Group,” “Latin-X & Indigenous Affinity Group,” “Jewish Staff Affinity Group,” “Arab American Staff Affinity Group,” and “White Staff Affinity Groups.”
Links to the registration pages reveal additional information such as for the “White OUSD Affinity Circle Registration” which states that the “space is intended for ALL White-identified OUSD staff to check-in and talk about our experiences and what we can do to support, be in solidarity, and move racial justice forward in OUSD.”
The webpage also includes a link to a “folder of resources” which features a slide presentation titled “INTRO to Racial Affinity Groups.” A slide in the presentation includes the wheel of power and privilege and utilizes content from Angela Davis to foster discussion and reflection on one’s relationship to power and privilege.
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