Activism

Teachers’ Union President Opposes County/FCMAT Takeover of Oakland Schools

“We’re not going to accept $90 million in budget reductions from the county,” Oakland Education Association (OEA) President Keith Brown told the Oakland Post this week. “The county has a responsibility to support our district. For the county to say we need more cuts under their watch shows they are not providing proper support for the needs of Oakland Unified.”

Published

4 years ago

December 12, 2021

Ken Epstein

Keith Brown. Courtesy of OEA.

Union and Oakland Post Community Assembly will hold press conference next week

By Ken Epstein

Oakland Education Association (OEA) President Keith Brown told the Oakland Post this week that the teachers’ union is organizing to oppose the takeover of the Oakland Unified School District by the County Office of Education (ACOE) and the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT), representing the State of California.

The union and the Oakland Post Community Assembly are co-sponsoring a press conference next Thursday, Dec. 16, to make the community aware of the takeover threat. The time and place of the event are yet to be announced.

On Nov. 8, County Schools’ Supt. L. Karen Monroe — who has been working directly with the district for years — sent OUSD a letter, labeling the district with a “lack of going concern” determination, an accounting term that means that an enterprise is bankrupt or going bankrupt.

Monroe’s letter said OUSD must cut its budget by $90 million (of a $670 million total budget) and threatened — if the district does not take sufficient steps by the end of January — to withhold salaries of the school board and Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell and place the district under direct control of FCMAT, the state’s Bakersfield-based nonprofit agency.

The letter said that FCMAT would be charged, not the locally elected school board. “The school district shall follow the recommendations of the (FCMAT) team, unless the school district shows good cause for failure to do so,” the letter said.

Brown told the Oakland Post that it does not make sense that the county and FCMAT would demand massive budget cuts amid upheavals related to the pandemic and increases in state and federal funding.

“We’re not going to accept $90 million in budget reductions from the county,” Brown said. “The county has a responsibility to support our district. For the county to say we need more cuts under their watch shows they are not providing proper support for the needs of Oakland Unified.”

“The public is not going to go for this kind of cuts when we see that the California legislative analyst is predicting a $31 billion budget surplus,” he said.

“We stand with our students and the community to say no against any proposed cuts that are coming from the county,” Brown continued. “Our students need more resources, especially in the pandemic. We need to focus more on our students and invest in community schools to meet students’ social and emotional needs.”

Brown said the takeover would also adversely affect future negotiations between the teachers’ union and the district, giving more power to unelected individuals who would be more heavily involved under the FCMAT takeover scenario.

The takeover would also undermine the rights of Oakland voters, he said.

“It’s in the best interests of our students to have a democratically elected school board because the public is able to hold the school board accountable,” he said. “In November 2020, Oakland voters made a statement that they want to see an end to school closures and an end to disinvestment in our schools, particularly schools that serve Black students.”

“FCMAT is not accountable to voters or the public. It is a slap in the face,” said Brown.

FCMAT has a long track record in Oakland. Since FCMAT gained power in the district in 2003, OUSD has closed about 20 schools and has never been out of debt.

“We know that closing schools has never resolved any budget issues in OUSD — it has done the opposite. Closing schools has led to an annual loss of $57 million,” he said, adding that Monroe’s letter appears to have been written in response to the school board’s recent decision not to close more schools.

“I think this is an issue that will unify the entire community,” said Brown. “This is an attack on the community’s democratic rights.”

Ken Epstein

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

6 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.