Prior to 2012, Oakland school board elections had historically been narrowly watched, with limited expenditure of limited funds, mostly raised from local donors. In 2012 that all changed when GO Public Schools, through its Political Action Committee (PAC), raised $184,000 from organizations and individuals, many from outside of Oakland. GO used those funds to elect School Board candidates who went on to support the market reform agenda of their big money donors: the expansion and proliferation of charter schools, at the expense of our traditional public schools.

District 1 has twice elected Jody London to be its representative on the School Board. In 2008, Director London ran against Brian Rogers — a founder of GO Public Schools — and won. In the next election, in 2012, Jody won again, without the endorsement of GO, who did not endorse in that race. In 2013, Director London publicly declared that she would not vote for any more charter schools in Oakland, a position that was contrary to positions taken by GO and its major donors, the Rogers family and the California Charter School Association. But times have changed, Director London has voted to approve charter schools, including, most recently, a school that GO founder Brian Rogers sits on the board of. This year, Jody London has been endorsed by GO Public Schools as their candidate of choice in District 1.
We believe it is time for a change in District 1. Jody used to be an independent voice on the board, but she no longer is. Parents United for Public Schools believes that Donald Macleay will be an independent voice for parents who believe that we need to focus on creating and supporting strong public schools, not privately-managed charter schools. Accordingly, Parents United joins the Oakland Education Association, the Oakland Justice Coalition, and numerous others in endorsing Don Macleay for School Board in District 1.

The contrast between Don’s answers to our candidate questionnaire, and Jody’s answers, is troubling:

• Don believes that we need to end the school-to-prison pipeline by providing restorative justice counselors and a decreased police presence on every campus. Jody isn’t sure.
• Don understands that we need enrollment reform, not common enrollment. Jody isn’t sure.
• Don does not support an “Equity Pledge” that hasn’t come from community needs or demands and which doesn’t hold charter schools accountable. Jody isn’t sure.
• Don believes that the OUSD office tasked with ensuring oversight of our charter schools should be fully staffed with independent staff members who have the training and experience to hold charter schools accountable. Jody isn’t sure.
• Don has committed to refusing campaign contributions from organizations or individuals which have an agenda of charter proliferation. Jody isn’t sure.

In this time of unprecedented spending by wealthy individuals and organizations from outside of Oakland, we need someone who is sure they will not be politically influenced, and who will focus on keeping public schools public, transparent and accountable. Don’s campaign motto is “Accountability Matters.” We believe that Don Macleay will be accountable to parents, students, teachers and community leaders. We believe that Don will hold charter schools accountable for serving all students. We believe that Don Macleay is the best candidate in District 1.

Without GO behind him, Don will need our help in reaching out to voters in District 1. Come meet Don on Wednesday, September 28th at 6:30 p.m. at an open education forum at 4920 Telegraph Avenue. Go to Don’s website to volunteer or to make a donation: http://www.don4ousd.org/  Let’s continue to work to take back our school district and keep our public schools public, and elect Don Macleay to the School Board in District 1.

You can read Don’s complete answers to our candidate questionnaire by clicking here.

In this Presidential election year, there has been a great focus on getting big money out of politics in recognition of the negative impact it has on our democracy. Here in Oakland, over the last handful of years, an unprecedented amount of money has poured into our local school board elections from largely out of town big money donors. The majority of the current members of the OUSD Board of Education were elected with contributions from corporate interests, and those board members have consistently voted in ways that reflect those interests. Parents United for Public Schools believes that our public schools need strong leaders on the school board who are free from the influence of Wall Street billionaires and corporations who have an agenda to privatize our public school system.

In District 3, we believe that Kharyshi Wiginton will be just that type of strong independent leader who will fight for the public schools that all our students deserve. Kharyshi – affectionately called “Ms. K” by the students and families at McClymonds High School in West Oakland where she works – has pledged to refuse campaign contributions from GO Public Schools, the California Charter School Association, and other corporate interests focused on replacing our public school system with a private top-down business model of education.

When you meet Kharyshi, you can’t help but be drawn-in by her enthusiasm and passion for her students and her West Oakland community. Ms. K runs the after school program at McClymonds, where she is involved in multiple aspects of the school, including as a member of the Intensive Support re-design team. Through her involvement, Kharyshi has seen first-hand how OUSD fails to authentically engage the community about the direction of our District, instead making decisions behind closed doors or in secret committees, and then attempting to sell major changes to the community as community engagement after the fact.

Kharyshi believes in a model of pro-active community engagement that really listens to students, parents and the community – especially those on the margins, including families of color, working class families, and special education families. Kharyshi has pledged that when she is elected, these stakeholders will have a permanent seat at the table, leading to true community-led reform. With a strong community service orientation, she views a position on the School Board as “The People’s Seat,” and vows to “grow leadership” from within  her district if elected.

Kharyshi believes in the community school model, saying, “a true community school model will see the student as an entire being and work to develop her/him holistically as opposed to just focusing on academic achievement. This includes providing programs and supports for the family as well.” Kharyshi and Parents United believe that expanding that model is a critical step in strengthening all Oakland public schools.

Kharyshi is also committed to ending the school-to-prison pipeline, getting police out of our schools and training more school-site staff in restorative justice practices, including School Security Officers.

For all these reasons, and more, Parents United believes that Kharyshi Wiginton is the right leader to represent Oakland public schools in District 3, and we are proud to endorse her for School Board.

Because Ms. K doesn’t have the kinds of corporate-backed support that the incumbent does, it is important that she gets the grassroots community support that can win this election. Volunteers are knocking on doors in District 3 every Saturday from 10-12, meeting at Ms K’s campaign headquarters at 1523 Myrtle St. You can email khayastar@gmail.com for more information on door knocking, phone banking, and event support.

You can read Kharyshi’s complete answers to our candidate questionnaire here.

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WONDERING HOW TO VOTE IN RANKED-CHOICE VOTING?

Because the Oakland Board of Education race is decided using ranked-choice voting, and there are multiple candidates on the ballot in District 3, Parents United encourages you to make your other choices for candidates that are supported by and funded by the community, and not Wall Street billionaires and other corporate interests focused on the privatization of our public schools.

Therefore, we recommend that you DO NOT USE ANY OF YOUR VOTES for incumbent Board member Jumoke Hinton-Hodge, who has consistently been endorsed and funded by GO Public Schools and the California Charter School Association, and has voted in line with those interests.

Director Hinton-Hodge acknowledged receipt of our questionnaire but did not respond, despite being given extra time to do so.

Parents United sent out its questionnaire to all three active candidates in District 3. You can see the answers to our candidate questionnaire from Ben Lang, another District 3 candidate who has also committed to reject corporate funding and expand community schools, on our website.

 

Last week, OUSD parents and caregivers got an email fromGreatSchools.org targeting K-8 students. It would seem that Oakland Unified School District has given (or sold) to this private organization a list of parent email addresses and (at a minimum) the grade level of our children, and that it did so without approval from our elected School Board. This is concerning because Great Schools – a data-mining company posing as a resource to help parents find good schools – has partnered with Zillow.com to guide home buyers to choose communities according to color-coded school ratings posted online. In other words: Great Schools practices modern-day educational redlining . On their advertising page they promise that if you purchase ad space on their site, you will “get your message in front of our large audience of active, educated and affluent parents.” Great Schools was launched by charter interests and is funded by Wall Street education privatizers, like the Walton Family (of Walmart fame), Goldman Sachs and Bill Gates. Parents United’s research has found NO evidence that our elected school board has voted on this troubling violation of our privacy and stated Equity values, and we have been provided with NO explanation about how our information can be used. We have asked our elected school board for more information on this troubling development, and will keep parents updated on what we hear. #TakeBackOUSD

Today, Parents United for Public Schools sent the below email to our elected School Board members raising concerns about two new ways in which the Oakland Education Fund (“Ed Fund”) has access to student and family information, and further is acting as “gatekeeper” to parents who volunteer in their children’s school. This year, when four of our seven school board seats are up for election, the Ed Fund’s close ties with organizations active in funding and pushing candidates for election, while also being given access to unprecedented parent and family information, is concerning. Parents have the right to opt-out of providing student Directory Information to the Ed Fund by submitting their intention in writing to the district, and parents who are concerned about this unprecedented use of student information are encouraged to do so. A suggested “opt-out” form which tracks the district’s own form is provided as a guide, below the letter.