Charter school supporters spend big on Oakland school board races
Four political committees, including two pro-charter groups, a local education policy organization, and the teachers’ union are supporting opposing slates in contentious school board races.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent on advertising to support opposing slates of Oakland school board candidates this year, with pro-charter-school organizations, the teachers’ union, and others picking different sides. Wealthy individuals including former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Silicon Valley businessman Arthur Rock, and oil company heiress Stacy Schusterman are among the billionaires who have given money to committees spending money on school board races here.
Critics question whether a few local groups backed by wealthy donors are having an outsized influence on voters. But supporters of these groups point out that local community members are driving the groups’ endorsements, even if the biggest contributions are mostly coming from a few wealthy individuals who live outside of Oakland. Some candidates, meanwhile, say the debate over who’s spending what, and where the money is coming from, distracts from more pertinent education issues in Oakland.
With 17 candidates running for four open seats on the Oakland Unified School District board, it’s a pivotal moment that will reshape the school system’s governing body and influence the direction of the district. On top of their regular duties, when the new school board is seated in January, members will likely oversee the reopening of school buildings and the implementation of a police-free school safety plan. And if Measure Y passes in November, the board will also manage a $735 million facilities bond for campus upgrades.
Billionaire donors support Oakland charter school groups
Power2Families is the newest political action committee to get involved in local school board races. Hae-Sin Thomas, who stepped down as the CEO of the Education for Change charter school network this summer, said she was motivated to start Power2Families after hearing negative rhetoric from some school board candidates and community members towards charter schools. Many OUSD parents, teachers, and some of the current board candidates favor a moratorium on new charter schools, arguing that charters have worsened the financial stability of the district.
“This came about in fear of potentially having school board candidates who could really negatively impact the futures of 16,000 children across the city,” Thomas said, referring to the number of students enrolled in charter schools across Oakland. More than 16,000 students attended one of the 45 charter schools in the city last year, about 32% of Oakland public school students. There are about 80 public schools operated by OUSD in Oakland. “We made a decision to go out and ask some funders whether they would consider funding a CONTINUE READING: Who's donating to the Oakland Unified school board elections?
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