The halls at Oakland High are already a claustrophobic mess. Oakland High went from an already overcrowded 1,700 students in 1995 to 2,256 in 1997. The classrooms reflect it. One afternoon Spanish class I attended had 54 students. Students were sitting on couches bought by the teacher because there weren't enough chairs.
Students stand at the back of many classrooms.
Needless to say, it is almost impossible to maintain classroom order or attention with fifty students. Noise levels are high and attention spans are short. Just in front of me, a young woman puts her head down on the desk, checked out for the day. Delaine Eastin, Superintendent of California Public Schools, agrees there is a problem. At a recent luncheon with reporters from the ethnic press, Eastin likened some California schools to schools in Apartheid South Africa.