Oakland is entering a critical moment in the efforts to resolve OUSD’s budget crisis, and we urge the Board and district leaders to exercise the leadership and discipline it will take to right the ship and truly address the roots of the current budget problems. The outcomes of the next couple weeks cannot be more instability and more mid-year cuts while tinkering around the edges of broken systems.
Three key issues have appeared in the current OUSD fiscal crisis. All three issues are a little wonky and technical, but are actually critical to resolving OUSD finances. With this blog, we aim to give some very high level information on each key issue and offer links to a deeper dive post for each one.
In the coming weeks, the Oakland school board will likely vote on over $15.1 million in mid-year budget adjustments for this current school year. While most Oaklanders rightly worry about the immediate impact on students, we should also be worried about possibility of returning to full state receivership.