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November 2010 Elections Wrap Up: What do election results mean for Oakland Public Schools?
From local government to Capitol Hill, new leaders elected on November 2, 2010 could influence improvement for Oakland's students.  What do these leaders have planned for our schools?  

Mayor Elect Jean Quan, a former school board member, plans to strengthen volunteer recruitment, programs for  disconnected youth, and primary school  literacy rates. 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson is emphasizing school funding, neighborhood schools, charter school accountability, wraparound services and 21st Century schools.

California's Governor Jerry Brown brings a long and deep history with public schools and higher education. He plans to reform education funding, testing, teacher recruitment and training, increase local control, improve curriculum, and emphasize technology. He will have to grapple with a budget crisis and restrictive voter mandates.

Republicans regaining control of the US Congress means the No Child Left Behind (ESEA) re-authorization could be shelved, rewritten to emphasize reforms, or reworked to diminish the role of the federal government. The Race to the Top grant competition, funded with stimulus dollars, will play some role in future political deal-making.

Looking Forward: November 2012 Elections
Local elected leaders can improve the quality of our public schools. In November 2012, Oakland will elect four school board members and four City Council members in districts 1, 3, 5, and 7. To locate these districts click here.

District

Neighborhood

School Board Incumbent (year elected)

City Council Incumbent (year elected)

1

North Oakland

Jody London (2008)

Jane Brunner (1996)

3

Downtown - West Oakland

Jumoke Hinton Hodge (2008)

Nancy Nadel (1996)

5

Fruitvale - Glenview

Noel Gallo (1992)

Ignacio De La Fuente (1992)

7

East Oakland

Alice Spearman (2004)

Larry Reid (1996)

To learn more, read All About the Oakland School Board and check out interviews with School Board Directors Jody London (District 1), David Kakishiba (District 2) and Gary Yee (District 4).

Run for Oakland School Board 2012!
Oakland's School Board elections are often uncontested races.  We need more dedicated Oaklanders to step up for Oakland students! 

Why run for school board?
  • Are you committed to advocating for the best possible public education for students in Oakland? Are you willing to spend time and energy to improve public education in Oakland? The school board needs more individuals like you!
  • Our school board is democracy in action. The school board impacts how hundreds of millions of dollars are spent for Oakland's 45,000 public school students.
  • Directors make critical decisions about teaching, school facilities, parents, teachers, college and career readiness, budgeting, health, safety and more. 

What is the job description?
  • The Board's primary responsibility is to ensure that every student served by the District is well educated and demonstrates high academic achievement (from the OUSD web site). 
  • The Board meets publicly twice a month in the evening and Directors also sit on Board committees, each of which meets about twice a month. 
  • Board members are expected to engage with the schools, parents and students in their districts.
  • The current compensation for Directors is $787.50 per month. 
  • OUSD pays for board members may participate in the health and welfare benefits program provided for district employees. 
  • Elected candidates will take office January 2013.

Who can run?
To run for school board, you must be a citizen of the United States, eligible to vote, a resident of Oakland for at least 30 days, and a resident of the district from which you are a candidate for at least 30 days immediately preceding the nomination. A district employee elected to the Board must resign or be terminated before being sworn into office. 

Please make sure you are registered to vote, you may also sign up for vote-by-mail.

For more information please contact Ratna Amin, Policy Director.  

GO's 2010 Elections work
  • The 2010 Vote for Oakland: Video Education Voter Guide - GO Public Schools interviewed November 2010 candidates for Mayor and School Board and made all videos available to you. Click here to check it out!
  • 2010 Candidate Questionnaires - GO Public Schools asked all candidates for Mayor, City Council and School Board about their vision for our public schools. You can read their returned questionnaires, as well as the individual answers to questions.  Click to view Mayoral, City Council, and School Board questionnaires.
  • Measure L - The good news is that 65.05 % of Oaklanders voted to increase funding for Oakland public schools. This was about 1,000 votes shy of the 66.67% required to pass. Oakland public schools would have received $200 million over 10 years from Measure L.  OUSD and OEA will go to the bargaining table without these additional resources. Visit the Yes on L page to learn about this important ballot measure.  
  • Blog post - 2010 Elections: Oakland's Big Opportunity
  • What will our School Board, City Council and Mayoral candidates do for Oakland's public schools? Here are suggested Questions for Candidates you can use to go deeper
  • To learn more about what the Oakland School Board does, please read All About the Oakland School Board
  • Interview with Director Jody London
  • Interview with Director Gary Yee
  • Interview with Director David Kakishiba
  • Voting for State Superintendent of Public Instruction

For more information on the 2010 elections, visit our Information Center! or contact Ratna Amin, Policy Director.  


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