Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said the state needs to take responsibility. “Many years ago, the State of California took over control of the Oakland public schools, which they claimed was for the purpose of fixing the finances,” she said. “Sadly, the state officials controlling OUSD ran up debt, leaving the schools worse off financially. Now that California has a record-breaking budget surplus, it is all the more unjust that our youth and families should be made to suffer by cutting their schools to pay off debt that was run up by State officials.” Oakland City Council members call for action by state leaders By Ken Epstein The Oakland Board of Education has backed off on closing some schools and pushed the bulk of school closings to the end of next school year in a seeming attempt to blunt the mounting protests of school closures. Over the last week, […] Oakland City Council members call for action by state leaders By Ken Epstein The Oakland Board of Education has backed off on closing some schools and pushed the bulk of school closings to the end of next school year in a seeming attempt to blunt the mounting protests of school closures. Over the last week, […]