By HARRY HARRIS | hharris@bayareanewsgroup.com and MARISA KENDALL | mkendall@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: October 2, 2021 at 7:49 a.m. | UPDATED: October 3, 2021 at 9:05 a.m.

OAKLAND — A man known as a fearless advocate for equity in local schools was fatally shot and his wife wounded late Friday night in a home-invasion robbery at their Maxwell Park home in East Oakland.

Police had not released their names as of Saturday evening, but a co-worker and long-time friend of the victim identified him as Dirk Tillotson — a champion for equity in schools in Oakland, New York and around the world. The educational community on both coasts was reeling Saturday as people who knew Tillotson reckoned with the senseless act of violence that cost them their friend.

“They’re just in shock,” said Paul Le, who with Tillotson founded Great School Choices — a nonprofit that fights to give all students an equal shot at educational success. “Just don’t have any answers as to why. Why it had to be him. Because he just gives and gives and gives.”

The shooting was reported about 11:29 p.m. Friday at the couple’s home in the 2600 block of Monticello Avenue, which is a primarily residential neighborhood. Authorities said both victims were asleep when at least one person broke into the home.

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Tillotson, 52, was awakened by the noise and was shot after confronting the suspect, who also shot Tillotson’s wife, authorities said.

Tillotson died at the scene and his wife was taken to a hospital. Le said Tillotson’s wife is OK and is staying with friends.

Police are trying to determine why the house was targeted and what, if anything, was taken. Detailed descriptions of any suspects have not been released and no arrests have been made.

Tillotson was born in upstate New York, and went to college at SUNY Brockport before moving on to UC Berkeley Law School. From there, he launched a career in education activism that took him all over the globe, from helping to reform schools in Qatar, to working on educational equity issues in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, to helping to incubate the first autism inclusion school in Harlem, New York, to expanding translation services for Oakland students.

His fingerprints are everywhere, Le said.

“The world lost one of the best advocates for education in the world,” Le said. “Even though he never tooted his own horn, that’s what we lost last night.”

A GoFundMe page set up to support Tillotson’s wife, Amina, and son, Malcolm, had raised more than $5,000 as of Sunday morning.

Tillotson moved to Oakland around 2013, Le said, and founded the Great School Voices blog to serve as a watchdog for equity issues in the Oakland school system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he fought to make sure all students had access to the internet, computers and any other resources they needed to learn successfully at home.

Theo Oliphant was friends with Tillotson for 29 years — they met on their first day of law school at UC Berkeley and quickly became close. Oliphant was blown away by his friend’s dedication to activism from the very beginning. By his second year of law school, Tillotson already was volunteering as a court-appointed special advocate, fighting for the educational rights of foster children, Oliphant said.

As a friend, Tillotson pushed you to be the best version of yourself, said Oliphant, a 51-year-old real estate developer living in Martinez, who also serves on the board of Great School Choices. People were drawn to him, and his house was always a social hub.

“He was a magnet for people because you could be vulnerable around him and he supported you in your vulnerability,” Oliphant said. “And there was no judgement.”

Tillotson never pulled punches when he was fighting for what he believed in, but he always made sure whoever he was sparring with felt valued and respected, Le said.

“He had no filter,” Le said. “He just kind of told it like it is.”

In the next few weeks, Tillotson and Le were set to launch a new initiative to expand their activism nationwide. The project, Led Better, will offer teachers remote, digital training in special education, English as a second language, and other high-need areas, Le said. The goal is to make these services more accessible and more affordable to all educators. The project is set to start in California and New York, and then branch out to other states.

The project still will launch in Tillotson’s name, Le said.

“But it sucks that he won’t be able to see the fruits of that labor,” he said.

Tillotson’s killing is the 105th death being investigated as a homicide this year by Oakland police. Last year at this time police had investigated 80 homicides in the city. Oakland police investigated a total of 109 homicides last year.

Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $15,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3821 or 510-238-7950 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.