Dr. Kimberly Mayfield, Holy Names University The Oakland Unified School District’s state overseers have mostly operated behind the scenes to enforce their dictates since they took over the district nearly 20 years ago. But last week, the state Trustee Chris Learned sent shock waves through the school community when he came to a public board meeting to announce that he would “stay” or block any motion of the board that halts or puts a temporary moratorium on permanent closing of Oakland schools
The state, acting through the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT) and the state Trustee, has pushed for austerity budgets, with annual cuts to programs in the city’s classrooms and closing as many as 20 schools since the state takeover in 2003.