February 20, 2019
Dear Community,
Prescott Circus Theatre believes in and supports Oakland Unified School District teachers. These teachers work relentlessly to provide mentorship and guidance for young people and their families that extend far beyond their daily lessons in reading, writing, math, science, physical education, and art.
Our professional Teaching Artists work to support and complement the efforts of Oakland teachers to nurture young people’s capacity to be engaged members of the broader Oakland community as innovative creators, critical thinkers, empathetic collaborators, and effective communicators.
Prescott Circus Theatre Board of Directors and employees, along with many other Oakland based arts providers, stand by our certified teacher colleagues during the Oakland Education Association strike as they call for increases in student supports, smaller class size, a livable wage to keep teachers in Oakland, and a mandate to keep our public schools open. In solidarity with our teachers, we’ve committed to not conducting any school site based, school-day programming during the strike. During after school hours, after 3:00pm, Prescott Circus will align our activities with our afterschool partners at each school of our six program sites. All programs will continue to operate to serve children.
We urge the Oakland Unified School District to act quickly to respond to teachers’ demands that address these critical education needs. The Board of Education must align the school district’s budget to its mission and values, and evaluate continued spending on programs, offices, and departments that have little impact on the classroom; lead the organization of large scale funding partnerships with the City of Oakland and County of Alameda to provide integrated support services in schools; and organize and advocate for increased State funding to public schools.
Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns at dhunt @ prescottcircus.org or 510-967-0355.
Sincerely,
David Hunt
Executive / Artistic Director