The Incarceration Topic includes three Indicators that measure racial and ethnic disparities in adult felony arrests, jail incarceration, and prison incarceration. The first Indicator measures disparities in adult felony arrests between African Americans and Asians. The second Indicator measures disparities in jail incarceration between African Americans and Asians. The third Indicator measures disparities in prison incarceration between African Americans and Asians. In all three indicator areas the disparities between African American and White residents were nearly as large.

For a city to thrive, it is essential that neighborhoods are safe and accessible, and that residents have the opportunity to access city services and hold the city government accountable. Oakland residents face disparities based on where they live in the city, with majority non-White neighborhoods faring worse than majority White neighborhoods. Neighborhood differences rooted in historical segregation result in disparate outcomes for people of color, especially African American and Latino residents.

The Teachers Topic includes three Indicators that measure racial and ethnic disparities in teacher representation of the student population, teacher experience, and teacher turnover. The first Indicator measures disparities in teacher representation of students between Latinos and Whites. The second Indicator measures disparities in teacher experience between schools that are predominantly African American and Latino vs. schools that are majority White. The third Indicators measures disparities in teacher turnover between majority African Americans and majority White schools.

The Job Quality Topic includes three Indicators that measure access to high quality jobs that pay a living wage and promote career development and long term economic stability. The first Indicator in this Topic measures disparities in employment rates in high wage industries. The second Indicator measures racial and ethnic disparities in the likelihood of having a job that pays at least living wage. The third Indicator measures racial and ethnic disparities in participation rates in workforce development programs intended for unemployed individuals.

The Law Enforcement Topic includes three Indicators that measure disparities in police response times, stops, and use of force. The first Indicator measures disparities in police response times between Area 5 and Areas 1/3. This is a placeholder for this year that we plan to replace with an analysis of response times by police beat which can be more closely related to the racial and ethnic demographics of each beat. The second Indicator measures disparities in discretionary stops between African Americans and Asians. The third Indicator measures disparities in use of force between African Americans and Whites.

The Community Stressors Topic includes three Indicators that measure racial and ethnic disparities in domestic violence, homicides, and juvenile felony arrests. The first Indicator measures disparities in domestic violence victimization between African Americans and Asians. The second Indicator measures disparities in homicides between African Americans and Asians. The third Indicator measures disparities in juvenile felony arrests between African Americans and Whites.

The Employment Topic includes three Indicators that measure participation in the workforce, an essential component of economic wellbeing. The first Indicator in this Topic measures disparities in the rate of disconnectedness from school or work among young people ages 16 to 24 between African Americans and Asians. The second Indicator measures disparities in labor force participation, while the third Indicator focuses on disparities in unemployment, both between African American and White Oaklanders.

Oakland has a long history of activism around issues of justice and equity. Both oppression and this resistance to oppression have shaped the city’s past and the lives of its residents to this day. It is, therefore, not surprising that Oakland was chosen in 2017 to be among the first cohort of five cities to develop local Equity Indicators tools in partnership with the City University of New York’s Institute for State and Local Governance (CUNY ISLG) and with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation.

The influx of development in the Bay Area, soaring housing costs, and a lack of affordable housing, have all contributed to the displacement of Oakland residents. Displacement is difficult to measure, but the three Indicators in this Topic serve as proxies for this larger, more complex issue. Homelessness is one possible consequence of displacement, and it is also a possible consequence of eviction, which is measured in the third Indicator. The second Indicator in this Topic is a measure of housing stability, which may help to prevent displacement among homeowners.

The Achievement Topic includes three Indicators that measure racial and ethnic disparities in 3rd grade ELA (English Language Arts) proficiency, high school readiness, and A-G completion. The first Indicator measures disparities in 3rd grade ELA proficiency between Latinos and Whites. The second Indicator measures disparities in high school readiness between African Americans and Asians. The third Indicators measures disparities in A-G completion between African Americans and Whites.