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

4 hours ago

November 3, 2026

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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.

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COMMENTARY: Your California Living Trust Could Be Next: When Evidence Isn’t Enough

A recent California appellate ruling in the case of the Laura Dean Head Living Trust serves as a sobering warning for property owners relying on estate planning. Despite Dr. Head’s express written wishes to disinherit her estranged sisters and name a longtime friend as beneficiary, the court invalidated the trust based on undue influence. This decision highlights how documented intentions and supporting testimony from legal and medical professionals may still face successful legal challenges from disinherited relatives. Read more to see how this precedent impacts California homeowners.

Published

28 minutes ago

November 3, 2026

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By Quintella Griffin , Legal Writer

You put your home in a living trust. You choose who inherits. You expressly disinherit relatives. An attorney prepares the documents. You expect your wishes to survive you.

Dr. Laura Dean Head’s trust did not.

California property owners should examine Laura Dean Head Living Trust, Alameda County Superior Court, Oakland, Case No. RP20061734, and Hamlin v. Jendayi, California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Three, Case No. A167695.

The case delivers a sobering warning: a living trust can face a successful challenge even when its chosen beneficiary presents evidence supporting the person’s stated wishes.

Head, a San Francisco State University professor, named Zakiya Jendayi as successor trustee and primary beneficiary. They had known each other for 28 years. Seven years after Dr. Head’s death, her estranged sisters contested the trust. Jendayi alleges that they consulted various probate attorneys while forum shopping before pursuing the challenge. Judge Sandra K. Bean in Dept. 103 invalidated the trust based on undue influence.

Jendayi’s compilation, “The Truth Is in the Transcriptions,” places disputed findings beside testimony and medical records. She argues that the evidence tells a different story.

Estate planning attorney Elaine Lee testified that she reviewed the trust privately with Head, behind a closed door. Lee’s testimony, reproduced in the compilation, attributes the beneficiary choices to Head and describes her insistence that her sisters receive nothing.

Hospice social worker Jenna Noe confirmed that Head told her she wanted to leave her belongings to Jendayi. Noe also testified that Head made her own decisions in their conversations.

The court described complete dependence on Jendayi. The compilation points to paid caregivers, hospice professionals and frequent visits from friends. When the judge asked nurse Dolly Woodson whether she had witnessed Jendayi abusing Head, Woodson answered no.

Jendayi also challenges the court’s treatment of her conditional power of attorney and alleges omissions and unequal treatment of evidence.

Yet the appellate court affirmed the judgment. It found substantial evidence supporting undue influence, rejected the judicial-bias claims and deemed any deficiencies in the statement of decision harmless. The published portion held that disinherited potential intestate heirs had standing to contest the trust.

That ruling endangers Californians who have properties held in a trust. Disinheritance did not prevent this challenge, and evidence supporting Head’s intentions did not secure the outcome Jendayi sought.

For homeowners relying on a living trust, the question is urgent: how well will your documented choices withstand a contested courtroom narrative?

Read the decision at https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2024/a167695m.html

Examine the testimony. Consider what happened when a woman’s written wishes and the evidence offered to defend them were still not enough.

Sources: Hamlin v. Jendayi (2024) 105 Cal.App.5th 1064, opinion filed Oct. 17, 2024, modified Nov. 12, 2024; Jendayi’s supplied compilation of transcript excerpts and exhibits. Claims of error reflect Jendayi’s position.

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Commentary

Post News Group Nov. 3 Election Endorsements

The Post Newspaper Group has announced its official endorsements for the upcoming November 3 election, offering recommendations for a wide range of political candidates, local propositions, and regional measures. The selections cover key races in Oakland and Berkeley, including mayoral contests and city council seats, as well as critical positions for the Peralta Community College Board and AC Transit. The group also evaluated state offices and several high-profile ballot initiatives. Check the full list to see which specific candidates and measures earned the publication’s support.

Published

2 hours ago

November 3, 2026

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Nov. 3 Election Endorsements

The Post Newspaper Group endorse the following political candidates, propositions and measures.

Oakland

Mayor

Barbara Lee

City Council

District 2: Charlene Wang
District 4: Janani Ramachandran
District 6: Kevin E. Jenkins
City Auditor: Michael Houston

OUSD School Board

District 2: Jennifer Brouhard
District 6: Valarie Bachelor

Measure EE: Yes

Measure FF: Yes

Berkeley

Berkeley City Council

District 1: Laura Babbitt
District 4: No endorsement
District 7: Syrak Micael
District 8: No endorsement

Peralta Community College Board of Trustees

Area 5: Sandra Weese

East Bay Municipal Utility District

District 3: Marguerite Young

Bay Area Rapid Transit

District 4: Robert Raburn

AC Transit

District 3: Joel Young

City of Richmond

Mayor: Ahmad Anderson

State Offices

Governor: Xavier Becerra
Lt. Governor: Fiona Ma
Secretary of State: Shirley N. Weber
Controller: Malia M. Cohen
Attorney General: Rob Bonta
State Assembly, 14th District: Buffy Wicks
State Assembly, 18th District: Mia Bonta

Federal Offices

U.S. Congress, 10th District: Mark De Saulnier
U.S. Congress, 12th District: Lateefah Simon
U.S. Congress, 14th District: Aisha Wahab

State Measures:

Prop 1: Yes
Prop 2: Yes
Prop 3: Yes
Prop 4: Yes
Prop 5: Yes
Prop 37: Yes
Prop 38: No
Prop 39: No
Prop 40: No
Prop 41: No
Prop 42: No
Prop 43: No
Prop 44: No
Prop 45: No

District Measures

Regional Transit Measure: Yes

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Commentary

COMMENTARY: Valarie Bachelor and Jennifer Brouhard are Excellent School Board Members and Deserve to Be Reelected

For the first time in 22 years, the Oakland Unified School District has successfully exited state control, marking a significant shift in local educational leadership. Board President Jennifer Brouhard and Vice President Valarie Bachelor are credited with stabilizing the district by averting teacher strikes, ensuring full classroom staffing, and prioritizing funding for student-centered programs like the Black Thriving Community Schools initiative. While the incumbents focus on preventing further school closures and improving student math and reading proficiency, wealthy opposition donors are funding a different vision for the district. Read more.

Published

4 hours ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

Valarie Bachelor (L) and Jennifer Brouhard. Photo courtesy of Oaklandside.

By Dr. Kitty Kelly Epstein and Dr. Kimberly Mayfield

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.