Oakland charter school may have to lay off teaching staff

Students and teachers at an Oakland charter school are speaking out in an effort to save the teaching staff.

The non-profit that runs Civicorps Learning Academy in West Oakland is considering partnering with an outside company and critics say the seven teachers at the school would be replaced.

The students, who are mainly Black and Latino, range from 18 to 26 years old, and say the school and staff give them chances they wouldn't get from others.

 "A lot of the teachers here see hope in us and a lot of people don't," said student Luis Benitez. 

Teacher Avery Moore said that the school has many formerly incarcerated students and former foster youth and Civicorops is "the one place they can get that one-on-one support." 

The Civicorps board of directors will be voting on the proposed change next Wednesday.

The nonprofit says "the vote is based on a series of recommendations from an ad hoc committee of the board, which conducted an exhaustive review of options that would allow Civicorps to preserve its mission.