There is more worrisome news for public schools across the country than the threat of closures due to frigid weather.
According to the Brookings Institute, “Studies document steep post-2020 losses in Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, and California. Research at the national level shows similar trends in urban and high-poverty districts, and a surge in both homeschooling and private-schooling that still leaves millions of children ‘missing’ from any formal roll.”
The Enrollment Crisis Reshaping Public Schools
In Chicago, for example, enrollment is down again in 2026, with 9,000 fewer students in Chicago Public Schools than last year, and a loss of almost 80,000 students over the past decade, according to a new report out by KidsFirstChicago.
This means less funding and fewer staff and opportunities for the district. District leadership needs to address these challenges promptly to ensure that all students have access to a high-quality, robust education.
Educational leaders must look to history outside the city and state for inspiration.
A Model Built Around Community
If public school administrators are interested in addressing the enrollment students’ general enrollment challenges, it would do well to explore the Oakland Unified School District education model and investigate its origins. This idea of community schools was created by the Black Panther Party, established in Oakland, California, in 1966.
Although the OCS model is over 50 years old, its dedication to principles that prioritize the holistic development of the child remains relevant today, especially amid the current economic hardships of students and families and recent ICE raids. In Black History Month and far beyond, it is essential to look to history for innovative inspiration.
Following the Community Schools Model, students have access to the educational tools they need. The model focuses on a holistic health approach that incorporates social-emotional intelligence, substance use education, restorative justice, family participation, student leadership opportunities, civic engagement, and resources to ensure the school’s deep connection to the community.
Its mission is to develop a comprehensive community district focused on high academic achievement while serving the whole child.
In Chicago, CPS has 316,224 students, and over 72% of them are considered economically disadvantaged. In total, 80% of CPS students identify as either African American or Hispanic/Latino. The city of Chicago and CPS could create a task force to explore reparations as part of an undertaking of goodwill to its residents.
The Oakland Unified School District comprises 33,995 students in the 2025-2026 academic year, with an estimated 67% classified as African American or Hispanic/Latino. The district established a task force dedicated to investigating reparations as part of its commitment to the minority population.
The OUSD curriculum is based on the needs of families and communities, emphasizing collaboration as the core of a child’s journey. Its mission is to develop a comprehensive community district focused on high academic achievement while serving the whole child.
It is also necessary to demonstrate a commitment to the needs of students everywhere. In Chicago, CPS must anchor their mission in values rooted in the needs of students and children, a duty echoed by the Interim CEO, Dr. Macquline King, in a community letter sent in January.
OUSD ensures that all students and teachers have the chance to realize their full potential. As a result, dropout rates have declined, reading levels have improved, and general school participation has grown. The cornerstone of its success is the involvement of Oakland community members, as each individual has a role in its sustained prosperity.
The Oakland Community School was an elementary-level institution that operated from 1973 to 1982 and was founded in 1971 as the Intercommunal Youth Institute. Under the direction of BPP veteran Ericka Huggins, the school’s whole child approach addressed each student’s physical, emotional, social, abstract, intrapersonal, and interpersonal intelligences.
As the children showcased their leadership abilities, including problem-solving, the judgment-free justice board meeting illustrates their advanced level. The justice board’s process is not punitive; it is collaborative problem-solving among peers of similar age. The environment is friendly, fostering students’ brainstorming, critical thinking, and pursuit of justice for themselves and their school community.
When Schools Treat Students as Whole People
At the OCS, students felt nurtured, protected, loved, and cared for. Students were fed breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the education community, it is well known that hungry kids can’t learn.
Bodies break down, making it impossible to concentrate. By feeding children and the community at large, the Black Panthers, through their community programs such as the OCS, the free breakfast program, and the food program, centered on community well-being.
The Black Panthers recognized the incompatibility of poverty, hunger, and education. They served a universal breakfast to children, as it is a prerequisite for scholastic progress, a practice the CPS has long adopted.
The model the Black Panther Party offers may not be the panacea for fixing education or for addressing all public school concerns. However, it can offer a glimpse into a school district value system that places students, their families, and the communities at the center.
It is important to note that good ideas take time to emerge and have already been planted. It is urgent to invest time to today to nurture ideas and develop them into a broader, wide-reaching plan.
Mary Frances Phillips, Ph.D., is an associate professor of African American Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project. She is the author of Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins.
Daylan Dufelmeier, Ph.D., is the director of the SNAP-Ed program at University of Illinois Chicago, associate director of the Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships at UI Health and a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project.