text: In February, the Oakland School Board voted to close or merge 11 schools across the district over the next two years. Oakland is the latest in a growing number of cities across the country approving mass school closures in recent years.
  So, what happens to a city and its communities when its schools shut down?
  In a new study from Stanford University's Center for Education Policy Analysis, census information and school closure data showed that school closures lead to increased gentrification, and that gentrification increases the most in predominantly Black neighborhoods.
  In this interview we hear from Francis A. Pearman, the lead author of the study, "School Closures and the Gentrification of the Black Metropolis."