Education

OP-ED: Charter Schools are not the Answer to Oakland’s Public School Crisis

Published

12 years ago

March 2, 2015

By Dan Siegel

The debate over charter schools is waged on misleading and superficial grounds. According to the dominant narrative, the charter school discussion pits incompetent teachers championed by corrupt unions against sincere, committed parents fighting for a decent education for their children in safe, clean schools.

Reality is much more complicated. Public education is in crisis. Many children, especially low-income children of color, are poorly served by public schools. But charter schools are no better. A recent study concludes that about 30 percent of charter schools out-perform public schools with comparable student bodies, while another 30 percent perform less well than the public schools. We can also identify many examples of successful schools, both public and charter.

But to understand the situation, and the likely result of the move to the large-scale creation of charter schools, people need to pay attention to what is occurring nationally in the charter school movement:

The charter school trend is increasingly dominated by the for profit sector and is receiving massive investments from hedge funds and other investors whose focus is profit, not improving public education.

The primary features of the for-profit model are:

1. Poorly paid, lightly trained teachers whose role is simply to present a simplistic, canned curriculum geared to performance on standardized tests. Few of these teachers will make a career of education, and many charters turn over half of their teachers every year.

2. Limited curriculum that neglects the development of higher order, critical thinking skills in favor of rote learning geared to standardized tests. Some charters actually limit instruction to English language and mathematics, with an increasing percentage of the curriculum presented by computers.

3. Elimination of very poor students, second language learners, and children with learning disabilities, behavior problems, and other characteristics that make them “too expensive” to educate.

The ultimate impact of this model is the re-creation of separate and unequal education systems. Affluent families will send their children to high performing suburban, private, and parochial schools with small classes and experienced teachers who will teach them to think critically, write well, and engage with challenging curricula in the arts, mathematics, science, and foreign languages. Graduates of these schools will be prepared for success in the nation’s best colleges and universities. The charter school graduates will be prepared, at best, to enter the military, community colleges, and the fast food industry.

Our focus in Oakland should be on improving our public schools. Fortunately, we have excellent models based on recent Oakland experience. Oakland Tech, now viewed by many as Oakland’s best high school, was recently a violent, dangerous place with little academic success. Frick Middle School, now a candidate for reorganization, was until recently regarded as a safe, successful school in a severely challenged neighborhood.

Here are some of the elements of a successful school:

1. A strong principal focused on instruction, a teacher of teachers rather than a disciplinarian or fund-raiser. Oakland has many excellent principals and many who should be replaced. When Dennis Chaconas was appointed superintendent in 2000, his first priority was the replacement of 60% of the District’s principals. And then he replaced some of the replacements.

2. Well-paid, well-trained teachers. We need to demand that teachers be paid as much as nurses or police officers, so they can support their families and make instruction a career. The relationship between principals and teachers is clear – good principals attract and retain good teachers, while poor teachers readily leave schools where the culture and peer pressure demands their best efforts.

3, Site-based decision making in the context of accountability for school results. Public schools, just like charters, should be encouraged to develop their own identities and specialties. Public schools could be organized around specialities such as environmental science, African culture, or language arts to provide choices for students and parents.

4. Programs that address students’ life circumstances, including physical and mental health, violence prevention, and nutrition.

5. Active, engaged parent involvement that participates in decision-making as well as support activities.

Over the last 20 years Oakland has enjoyed a substantial number of successful schools at all levels and in all neighborhoods. Concentrating on replicating these schools provides our best opportunities for success.

To fight for successful public schools we need a broad parent-teacher-community coalition with a vision for successful schools and a strategy to make this happen.

Dan Siegel is a civil rights attorney in Oakland.

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Education

As Progressive Democrats Celebrate ‘Blue Tsunami,’ Oakland Counts Victories

As national Democrats celebrate a significant shift in the midterm elections, local leaders in Oakland are tracking early results from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. While Mayor Barbara Lee and several City Council incumbents have secured decisive victories, attention remains fixed on high-stakes school board contests. Progressive candidates currently face strong challenges from opponents backed by corporate funding and local political organizations. With many ballots still uncounted, the final composition of the board and several regional transit measures remain in the balance. Read more.

Published

1 week ago

November 6, 2026

Post News Group

By Ken Epstein

Concerns remain over school board races as ‘moderates’ lead progressives

The Alameda County Registrar of Voters has released the first round of election results, though many ballots remain uncounted and results are still incomplete.

Nationally, Democrats, liberals and progressives celebrated Tuesday evening as President Donald Trump was dealt a devastating blow in the midterm election. The Republican Party lost control of the Senate and the House as “Maga” candidates were swept away not just by a ‘blue wave,’ but a ‘blue tsunami.’

In Oakland, incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, who served two years and ran for a full four-year term, won decisively.

A proposal backed by Lee, Measure EE, also won. The Charter amendment will create a strong mayor system of government while providing the City Council with new checks and balances on mayoral power.

District 2 Councilmember Charlene Wang is leading with 65.62% of the vote. Opponent Nate Adams trails with 34.38%.

District 4 Councilmember Janani Ramachandran, ran unopposed for reelection, receiving 14,029 votes.

District 6 Councilmember Kevin Jenkins bested opponent Nancy Sidebotham and District 2’s Charlene Wang also won reelection.

City Auditor Michael Houston is running unopposed for reelection and won 60,773 votes.

Progressive school board members, Jennifer Brouhard (D2) and Valarie Bachelor (D6), supported by teachers and school activists, face serious challenges from candidates backed by pro-corporate funders and the political organization, Empower Oakland.

Arielle Fleisher leads Brouhard 53.49% to 46.51%.

In District 6 with three contending candidates, Alexandra Williams leads with 38.06% of the vote. Incumbent Bachelor has 36.89%, and Leana Powell is trailing with 25.04%.

In District 4, incumbent Mike Hutchinson is narrowly leading a field of three candidates. He received 40.87% of the vote, while Kathryn Camp has 39.92%, and Sylvia Pfeiffer Williams has 19.21%.

In the races for AC Transit Board, Director Joel Young (Ward 3) leads with 53.11% of the vote, Sarah Syed (Ward 4) is ahead with 78.37% of the vote, and Murphy McCalley (Ward 5) leads with 63.07%.

Regional Transit Measure RTM, which would increase sales taxes in five Bay Area counties to shore up BART and other regional transit, was leading in five counties by a combined 62% of the vote.

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Commentary

COMMENTARY: Oakland’s Black Students Have Gained Ground: We Shouldn’t Stop Now

New state data reveals that Black students in the Oakland Unified School District are making academic gains in reading and math at rates significantly faster than their peers statewide. These improvements follow a 2023 decision by board leadership to cancel school closures and instead invest in the Black Thriving Community Schools program. While the district continues to address budget challenges, proponents argue that maintaining these targeted resources is essential to narrowing long-standing achievement gaps. Read more about the specific policies driving these results.

Published

1 week ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

By Walter Riley

Oakland’s Black students are making faster gains in reading and math than Black students statewide, according to state data released Oct. 15.

Those gains followed decisions by school board President Jennifer Brouhard and Vice President Valarie Bachelor to keep schools open, invest in Black students and support teachers.

Since 2023, Black students in Oakland Unified School District have gained about 31 points in English and math on the California School Dashboard — roughly three times the statewide English gain and more than twice the math gain. Our students still trail their statewide peers, but they have narrowed that gap by about a third.

In 2022, the previous board voted to close or reduce grades at 11 schools, mostly serving Black and Brown families. A state civil rights investigation later found the plan would have unlawfully discriminated against Black, low-income and disabled students. Brouhard and Bachelor opposed those closures and, after winning election, voted to cancel remaining plans in January 2023.

The board then expanded support through Black Thriving Community Schools, providing additional resources where Black enrollment exceeds 40%, and funded teachers dedicated to Black students and families. Its reparations policy requires schools to develop plans for Black student achievement.

Meanwhile, the district reduced a $100 million budget shortfall to about $30 million without closing schools, cut central office positions and approved its first balanced budget in 22 years. More than 99% of teaching positions were filled when this school year began.

These investments must grow. Black Thriving Community Schools still reach only some students who need them. Every Oakland child deserves a safe, racially just neighborhood school staffed by qualified teachers who can afford to stay.

The opposing slate argues closures should remain an option to address budget pressures. But a Stanford study found closures do not improve district finances because departing families take student funding with them. Other research links closures to lower college attendance and adult earnings. Majority-Black schools nationally are more than three times as likely to close.

Oakland knows the consequences. There is another path. Brouhard and Bachelor have begun moving Oakland in that direction, protecting classroom investments while confronting financial pressures.

Progress deserves continued public support. We cannot afford to reverse course.

About the Author

Walter Riley is a civil rights attorney and longtime community organizer in Oakland.

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Commentary

OPINION: OUSD Kids Are Eager to Learn. Our Board Is Holding Them Back

Oakland Unified School District students are facing a literacy crisis, with fewer than one in three reading at grade level. Despite receiving significant per-pupil funding, the district is struggling with what county officials describe as a decision-making problem rather than a lack of revenue. Oakland Parents for Quality Education and the local NAACP are now sounding the alarm over fiscal instability, alleging that board leadership has failed to identify necessary budget cuts while ignoring warnings from school principals. To understand how these leadership decisions are impacting campus resources and student equity, read more.

Published

1 week ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

Oakland Parents for Quality Education joined the NAACP Oakland Branch at a press conference outside MetWest High School in August calling for greater accountability and transparency in OUSD Board leadership, improved school safety, and responsible fiscal oversight. Courtesy photo.

By Edmond Chun Special to The Post

Oakland Unified students are falling behind: fewer than 1 in 3 read at grade level, and the numbers are worse for Black and Latino students. This is happening in a district that has received more per student than even the highest-funded states. As Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Alysse Castro has said, “OUSD’s biggest problem isn’t a revenue problem. It’s a decision-making problem.”

That is why Grace Park-Bradbury and I, two OUSD parents, started Oakland Parents for Quality Education, the ParentPAC. We believe our kids deserve a school board that faces hard decisions honestly. This board has not.

The county has warned them repeatedly. Earlier this year Castro said the new teachers’ contract “endangers” the district’s fiscal stability. That wasn’t because of the raises, but because the district was counting on cuts it had not identified.

Days later the board passed a budget that assumed $30 million in still-unnamed reductions. Board President Jennifer Brouhard and Vice President Valarie Bachelor voted yes. Director Mike Hutchinson voted no. The plan to name those cuts isn’t scheduled until mid-December, after the election.

The Oakland NAACP called for public forums and honest answers about the management of public funds. This fall Castro approved the budget only conditionally, noting that “a budget can be balanced but not be good for kids.”

Principals have spoken out as well. In January, 30 school leaders wrote that asking schools to do more with less “erodes the dignity of our profession” and “unconscionably compromises the quality of education our students receive.”

In April, 60 principals raised concerns that “have diminished our confidence in our current leadership,” warning that district decisions had produced “a structural deficit and cash-strapped schools.”

In June, all 15 high school principals objected to using voter-approved Measure N and H reserves for expenses already in the budget. The district did it anyway. The measures’ citizen oversight commission has demanded the money back. Auditors found the board had the legal authority, but as Castro observed, legality does not settle whether it was what voters thought they were approving.

Opponents claim we want to close schools. Our candidates do not all agree on consolidation. Hutchinson has fought closures for years, yet he also wrote the 3Rs proposal examining how many schools the district should operate.

What our candidates share is a willingness to weigh every option openly. This board told the superintendent not to even consider consolidation, and every school is being cut instead. As principals representing two-thirds of OUSD schools wrote, “the gradual starvation of our schools is also an equity issue.” Closures disrupt families, especially in Black and Brown neighborhoods. So does starving every campus.

You may have seen ads calling us a front for out-of-town billionaires. Every contribution is publicly reported, and 140 Oakland families have given. The people sounding the alarm are principals, citizen commissioners, the county superintendent, and the NAACP. None of them are billionaires. They are the people who see our schools up close.

Oakland schools are staffed by excellent principals and teachers. Our kids are like kids everywhere: eager to learn if given a real chance. They are being held back by a board that will not make hard choices.

In District 2, vote for Arielle Fleisher. In District 4, rank Kathryn Camp and Mike Hutchinson first and second. In District 6, rank Alexandra Williams and LeAna Powell first and second. Leave your third choice blank.

Vote like our children’s future depends on it. Because it does.

Edmund Chun co-founded Oakland Parents for Quality Education and is an OUSD parent.