Oakland schools have excellent leadership right now. I know it’s hard to believe – because there is so much wrong with the national education picture.
This school year:
- The Oakland Unified School District escaped from state control after 22 years.
- Every classroom had a teacher at the beginning of the year, unlike past years when many classes started the year with day-to-day substitute teachers.
- Dr. Denise Saddler, an African American woman, is leading the district as Superintendent. She was an excellent choice with vast understanding of Oakland, of schools, and of educational systems.
- The school board and teachers managed to avert a teachers’ strike by strategizing, listening and compromising.
- The school board does not plan to close more schools for the first time in decades.
The two women leading the school board are excellent educators.
Board President Jennifer Brouhard (District 2) served as an Oakland teacher and was awarded a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching and the U.C. Berkeley Social Science Project Teacher of the Year Award.
When Brouhard joined the board four years ago, she voted to reverse the vote of the previous board which had planned to close Brookfield, Carl B. Munck, Grass Valley, Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy and Horace Mann elementary. Half the students at Carl Munck and at least a third of the students at several others were African American.
She focused funding on classrooms rather than paying outside consultants. For that, she and her colleagues have incurred the wrath of real estate developers and school privatizers who want to get their hands on public property.
Board Vice President Valerie Bachelor (District 6) has worked on important facilities projects. She helped to set up the first school-based dental project at Frick United Academy of Language. She championed the Melrose Leadership Academy groundbreaking and the Skyline dining facilities.
Bachelor facilitated a balanced budget, which was pivotal in helping the district finally end state control. She also has worked to direct funding toward student-centered programs like the Black Thriving Community Schools Program.
The people financing the opposition candidates are Ryan Graciano, co-founder of Credit Karma, which made $ 2.7 billion last year; and Gagan Biyani, who says he became a millionaire at age 25.
The literature produced on behalf of the opposition supports closing schools, which harms student and could put us back under state control.
Looking at past school years, parents and educators can see how far the district has come. Oakland students and families have seen 25%-30% of educators leave their classrooms for districts with more competitive salaries.
But this year, we saw a change in those trends.
Since Jennifer and Valarie have taken office, Oakland Black student progress in reading and math is outpacing California’s state average. California School Dashboard data show that from 2023 to 2026, Black students in OUSD made greater progress toward proficiency than Black students statewide overall in both English Language Arts and math.
To read more, go to Education Week, “The Harm of School Closures Can Last a Lifetime, New Research Shows” (2024), www.edweek.org/leadership/the-harm-of-school-closures-can-last-a-lifetime-new-research-shows/2024/06
About the Authors
Dr. Kitty Kelly is a Professor of Education and Urban Studies. Dr. Kimberly Mayfield is Dean at Kalmanovitz School of Education, Saint Mary’s College of California.
Oakland Post Publisher Paul Cobb, a former Oakland school board member, contributed to this article.
