Voices Against Privatizing Public Education
Our main goal is to ensure equal access to a quality public education for all. Access to a quality public education is a right and not a privilege.
davisvanguard.org/2026/05/davis-schools-facing-closure/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSI3lVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlk…
Letter: Teachers Warn of Davis School Closures as Enrollment Plummets – Davis Vanguard
davisvanguard.org
The Davis Joint Unified School District is weighing the closure of two elementary schools and potentially a junior high school, a measure prompted by significant declines in student enrollment. Distri…As LAUSD faces layoffs, federal investigations, and ongoing questions about oversight, Tuesday’s school board election could shape the future of public education in Los Angeles for years to come. I’ve published my endorsements for the 2026 LAUSD races in Board Districts 2 and 4, including why I’m supporting Ankur Patel and Dr. Rocío Rivas — and where I still have concerns. Read here: medium.com/educreation/lausd-election-endorsements-why-im-supporting-ankur-patel-and-dr-roc%C3%AD…
www.idahoednews.org/top-news/idaho-schools-reduce-staff-amid-rising-costs-enrollment-declines/?fb…
Idaho schools reduce staff amid rising costs, enrollment declines
www.idahoednews.org
Local budgets are tightening, even though K-12 was mostly spared from state cuts this year.
Billionaire Netflix Owner & Charger Supporter Reed Hastings-A major new player in education giving, The City Fund uses over $100 million in grants to grow charter and charter-like schools
www.chalkbeat.org/2020/2/21/21178789/a-major-new-player-in-education-giving-the-city-fund-uses-ov…
By
Matt Barnum
|February 21, 2020, 11:06am PST
The newest major player in school reform has already issued more than $110 million in grants to support the growth of charter and charter-like schools across the U.S.
The City Fund’s spending, detailed on a new website, means the organization has quickly become one of the country’s largest K-12 education grantmakers. The money has gone to organizations in more than a dozen cities, including Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Denver, Memphis, and Oakland.
The spending is evidence that The City Fund’s brand of school reform continues to attract major financial support — and may foretell more battles over education politics in those cities.
The City Fund “is being led by an incredibly well-connected group of people,” said Sarah Reckhow, a Michigan State University professor who follows education philanthropy and politics. “If a district’s name is on this list, then yes, you would expect some things to happen.”
The City Fund’s strategy is to grow the number of schools, including charters, run by nonprofits rather than traditional school boards. Advocates say that shift will help low-income students of color, pointing to academic improvements in virtually all-charter New Orleans as one example. Critics argue that strategy undermines teachers unions, democratically elected school boards, and existing public schools.
Overall, The City Fund says it has raised $225 million, largely from Netflix founder Reed Hastings and Texas philanthropist John Arnold. (Chalkbeat is funded by Arnold Ventures.) The organization has also created a political arm, Public School Allies, which has raised $15 million from Hastings and Arnold to support officials vying for state and local office.
In a speech in December, Hastings, who is also on The City Fund’s board, spelled out his vision.
“Let’s year by year expand the nonprofit school sector,” he said. “We know the school district is probably not going to like it, but we’re not against them. We’re for good schools, period. If there’s a very high-performing school district school, let’s keep it. But the low-performing school district public school — let’s have a nonprofit public school take it over.”
The City Fund is supporting city-based organizations and charter networks
The City Fund is spending its money to promote the growth of charter schools as well as hybrids where charter operators or other nonprofits lead schools under the auspices of school districts. Examples include Indianapolis’ “innovation network”schools, “renaissance” schools in Camden, New Jersey, and turnaround schools in Atlanta.
That is connected to an approach to running schools referred to as the “portfolio model.” Under this approach, schools that succeed are encouraged to grow; those that fall short are closed or turned over to new management. Schools are often run by nonprofit boards who hire staff, who are rarely unionized, while districts oversee centralized functions like enrollment.
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New Orleans, Denver, and Indianapolis’ central school district have adopted many elements of that structure, and The City Fund has given to groups in each.
The Denver nonprofit RootEd netted a $21 million grant. The Mind Trust in Indianapolis, previously run by City Fund partner David Harris, got $18 million. New Schools for New Orleans, previously run by City Fund partner Neerav Kingsland, won $7 million. (These and many other grants are for multiple years.)
In turn, these organizations have doled out their own grants to local parent groups, teacher training organizations, political action committees, and charter networks, among others.
The City Fund has supported groups in cities that haven’t already embraced the portfolio model, too. In Oakland, The City Fund has given to a local parent group (Oakland Reach), a charter network (Education for Change), and an education-focused nonprofit (Educate78).
In Nashville, it’s backed charter schools and networks, including KIPP Nashville, Nashville Classical Charter, RePublic Schools, and Valor Collegiate.
The City Fund has also made large grants to nonprofits in Atlanta ($2.75 million to redefinED); Baton Rouge ($13.49 million to New Schools for Baton Rouge); Memphis ($5 million to the Memphis Education Fund); Newark ($5.33 million to the New Jersey Children’s Foundation); St. Louis ($5.5 million to The Opportunity Trust); and San Antonio ($4.98 to City Education Partners).
A handful of grants have gone to national groups, like $2 million to the pro-charter 50CAN and $875,000 to the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a University of Washington think tank that has studied and promoted the portfolio model. Smaller grants have gone to nonprofits in other cities, including Boston and Minneapolis.
All told, The City Fund’s grants are of similar magnitude to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s annual education giving, and about half the size of the Walton Family Foundation’s annual K-12 education giving. (Walton also backs The City Fund, and CZI and Walton are both supporters of Chalkbeat.)
Janelle Scott, a Berkeley education professor, noted that many of The City Fund’s large grants are for general operating expenses, crucial for nonprofits. “This is an attempt at institution building,” she said.
Kingsland, who declined an interview request but answered questions by email, said the group’s emphasis is supporting local organizations. “Our goal is to work with local leaders in the cities so that every child has access to a high-quality school, regardless of governance,” he said. “The goal is 100% great public schools.”
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Why the approach is controversial, and in some cities facing backlash
In some of The City Fund’s target cities, the political winds are shifting in ways that could complicate its efforts.
Denver, for example, has pursued portfolio-style reforms for well over a decade. But union-backed candidates recently took control of the school board. Since then, the board has effectively halted closures of low-performing schools and a working group has recommended scrapping the district’s system of measuring school performance.
“The new local school board has expressed skepticism on certain aspects of the reforms, such as intervening in lower performing schools,” said Kingsland. “To the extent this skepticism is widespread within Denver and across other cities, that will be an important sign on which types of policies are sustainable and which are not. Ultimately, we only want to support policies that are backed by local leaders.”
In Indianapolis’ central school district, two critics of the innovation schools model were recently elected to the school board. And nationally, charter schools face challenges as more states and cities limit their growth and support among Democrats wanes.
“Charter schools are more polarized both in local politics and national politics,” said Reckhow.
Critics note that the growth of alternative schools can place financial strain on existing schools and can lead them to close. Both Oakland and St. Louis are facing district school closures now.
For districts, it comes down to “how much they can absorb new schools without having to close existing schools,” said Reckhow. “Closing existing schools is unpopular.” (Kingsland acknowledged those financial pressures, and said The City Fund will help local leaders with financial planning and to push for more overall school funding.)
In elections where The City Fund’s political arm has gotten involved, the local teachers union has often been on the other side. Charter schools are rarely unionized.
The City Fund makes its case
The key argument made by The City Fund is a straightforward one: its approach works.
The organization’s new website cites evidence that nonprofit charter schools in urban areas outperform district schools, that district students aren’t hurt academically by charter expansion, and that in New Orleans and Washington, D.C., where charter schools have rapidly grown, overall student performance has improved. These claims are generally supported by research.
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But it’s hard to say whether overall changes in performance in certain cities are due to portfolio-style policies or other reasons, like the infusion of more money into schools in New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina.
And The City Fund omits other research that is less favorable to its approach, including a study of the Achievement School District in Tennessee, in which charter operators attempted to turn around struggling schools, predominantly in Memphis. This initiative, led by Chris Barbic, now a City Fund partner, did not produce gains in student achievement.
Another study in Atlanta, again looking at charter takeovers of low-performing district schools, showed mixed results after two years.
Kingsland said the Memphis results were disappointing and reflect “the challenges of whole school turnarounds,” while the study in Atlanta was early and based on a small number of schools.
Meanwhile, Hastings argued in a recent speech to a Louisiana business group that having nonprofits run schools promotes stable leadership. He repeatedly pointed to the widely cited statistic that big-city schools superintendents leave every three years as evidence. But this figure is not accurate. Superintendents of large districts turn over about every six years or so, according to a recent analysis
The City Fund has given out over $100 million to support charter and charter-like schools
www.chalkbeat.org
The City Fund’s spending, detailed on a new website, means the organization has quickly become one of the country’s largest K-12 education grantmakers.
Educators for Palestine, Vetoed: The cases of the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Historical Association (AHA)
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UjsAX2QGQ5S2ftHza2SgRQ#/registration
Date & Time
Jun 6, 2026 11:00 AM in
Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Description
A joint panel by Educators for Palestine-NEA (E4P-NEA) and Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD). Endorsed by: Labor for Palestine National Network.
When: Saturday June 6 at 11am pst/12pm mountain/1pm central/2pm est
Zoom: webinar (with registration)
In January 2025 and 2026, while Israel committed genocide against Palestinians, the American Historical Association voted overwhelmingly to pass the Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza. However, the AHA Council vetoed the resolution and overturned the decision of the membership.
In July 2025, the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union, passed a resolution that “NEA will not use, endorse, or publicize any materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).” However, the NEA's Board of Directors voted not to implement this proposal.
This panel will address the following:
• What responsibility do academic workers have in regards to the ongoing genocide in Palestine and other concurrent or future wars?
• What material and ideological support can we give to peoples’ movements resisting genocide and war?
• What happens when our ostensibly democratic organizations overturn our democratic decisions?
• What are the next steps for educators organizing for Palestine solidarity
us06web.zoom.us
A joint panel by Educators for Palestine-NEA (E4P-NEA) and Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD). Endorsed by: Labor for Palestine National Network. When: Saturday June 6 at 11am pst/12pm mountai…
SF Mayor Lurie and City plans future redevelopment of former naval shipyard which is still contaminated
www.sfexaminer.com/news/urban-development/sf-plans-to-bring-more-parks-to-old-hunters-point-shipy…
SF Mayor Lurie and City plans future redevelopment of former naval shipyard which is still contaminated
By James Salazar | Examiner staff writer 5 hrs ago
Parts of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard have already been redeveloped into 767 units of housing and nearly 14 acres of parks and open space
Craig Lee/The Examiner
Parks and open spaces in the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard are coming under The City's purview.
The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department and the San Francisco Arts Commission will oversee the maintenance and operation of green spaces in the area as part of a longstanding redevelopment project that, once completed, will supply the neighborhood with 26 acres of parks and open land.
The setup was approved in a resolution at this past Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting and will be funded by a special property tax being distributed by the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, a successor to San Francisco’s dissolved redevelopment agency. The OCII will also oversee the future construction of additional housing, parks and commercial space in the shipyard.
Rec and Parks Director of Administration and Finance Antonio Guerra said under the approved joint facilities agreement, his department will continue providing “comprehensive park and facility management to ensure that these parks are upheld to the same standard as all of our other properties.”
Guerra said the effort will include staffing custodians and gardeners, as well as a park supervisor for rangers, in locations like Hillpoint Park and the Galvez Overlook.
OCII Deputy of Projects and Programs Marc Slutzkin said during the May 13 Budget and Finance Committee meeting, where the resolution was first introduced, that the shipyard currently has 767 units of housing, with 13.5 acres of parks and open space. A proposal calls for the development of the new Hillside residential neighborhood, with construction beginning in the rest of the shipyard after 2030.
Under the agreement, Rec and Parks will be able to issue permits for community events and other public gatherings, while also setting up a reservation system that will allow visitors to access amenities like picnic tables and lawn seating.
Last July, Rec and Parks entered into an 11-month maintenance agreement over the shipyard with the OCII. As part of the recently approved 66-year joint community facilities agreement, Rec and Parks and the Arts Commission will be responsible for submitting annual operating and maintenance budgets to the OCII, allowing costs invested in the parks and open spaces to be reimbursed to both groups.
Supervisor Myrna Melgar’s proposal has sparked a debate pitting some owners and patrons against public health experts
Lawmakers push charter amendments to increase the size of an affordable-housing trust fund, establish a public bank and streamline The City’s commission system
The Arts Commission will bring eight existing public-art installations into The City’s Civic Art collection. New entries include Jerry Ross Barrish’s bronze sculpture “The Bayview Horn” depicting a lone musician towering over the shipyard and “Flotilla,” a sculptural railing by artist Eric Powell that overlooks the space. Those pieces will be joined by works like “Hale Konon,” a Native American memorial designed by Jessica Bodner to honor Bayview’s original inhabitants.
Arts Commission Director of Public Art and Collections Mary Chou said in a statement that the commission "looks forward to welcoming these artworks into the Civic Art Collection."
"Dedicated support for their ongoing care and maintenance will help ensure they remain a lasting source of inspiration and enjoyment for residents and communities for years to come," she said.
By the end of June, the OCII is expected to introduce a conveyance agreement that will transfer property ownership of the shipyard’s parks and open spaces to The City. As specifics around the area’s future continue getting established, Supervisor Connie Chan said during the committee meeting earlier this month that she hopes both departments will continue facilitating dialogue with neighborhood residents, allowing them “to figure out what that space and how that space should be utilized.”
Rec and Parks has plans for “significant community engagement” in the area, Guerra said.
Once completed, the India Basin Waterfront Park will provide 10 acres of open space along San Francisco's shoreline.
Courtesy Jensen Architects
The department has been introducing itself to community members, he said, through the development of India Basin Waterfront Park, a space on the decommissioned naval property that once served as a boatyard for vessels. When completed, it will provide residents with 10 acres of green space along the shoreline. Being constructed at a cost of over $150 million, the park will connect nearly two miles of the Bay Trail. It will come with amenities like a playground and basketball courts.
“We’ve been very pleased,” Guerra said of how residents have taken advantage of the new space, adding that the department will ensure future outdoor developments continue meeting visitors’ needs and enhancing their quality of life.
City plots future redevelopment of naval shipyard
www.sfexaminer.com
As part of new agreement, local leaders will turn the former military base into green space.
California State University renews controversial systemwide contract with OpenAI
edsource.org/2026/cal-state-renews-controversial-system-wide-contract-with-openai/758919
010925_RW_NUOakland_060-150×150.jpg
KATE RIX
PUBLISHED
MAY 21, 2026
REPUBLISH
The California State University system will pay $13 million annually for a three-year subscription to OpenAI's ChatGPT Edu.
Credit: Sanket Mishra / Pexels
TOP TAKEAWAYS
California State University officials renewed their contract with OpenAI for three years at an annual cost of $13 million.
The CSU contract with OpenAI is the largest partnership the company has with a higher education institution.
News of the renewal has reignited a fervent debate about the cost of the agreement and quality of ChatGPT Edu.
California State University officials have renewed their controversial contract with OpenAI — developer of ChatGPT — reigniting a fight over institutional priorities at a time when the system faces millions of dollars in budget cuts.
A CSU spokesperson confirmed to EdSource on Wednesday that the university will pay $13 million a year for three years to provide systemwide access to its more than 470,000 students and 63,000 faculty and staff. The previous 18-month subscription cost $17 million and expires at the end of June.
The CSU contract with OpenAI is the largest partnership the company has with a higher education institution. It is also the largest among others that the CSU has with tech companies, including Adobe, Google and IBM, as part of the system’s AI Initiative to make artificial intelligence tools available to students, faculty and staff.
But the announcement of the contract renewal, which faculty received on Tuesday, reopened debate about the cost of the agreement and the quality of ChatGPT Edu — a version of ChatGPT designed for higher education. In January, faculty delivered a petition to CSU leadership urging cancellation of the contract over concerns that ChatGPT Edu is “not designed, trained, or optimized for education.”
CSU officials, however, argue that the renewal follows an “ongoing and iterative process intended to balance innovation, risk management and educational outcomes.”
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Cal State students widely use AI tools, but mistrust results and fear job impact
APRIL 1, 2026
“We recognize that artificial intelligence is a topic that has sparked important debate and a wide range of perspectives,” a CSU spokesperson said in a statement, “and we take seriously the concerns expressed about the ethical and responsible use of AI. At the same time, the CSU has made significant progress expanding access to AI tools and training for nearly half a million students and more than 63,000 faculty and staff. We believe continuing that work is essential to preparing our students, faculty, and staff for the future.”
Faculty who oppose the contract said that they are specifically concerned about the use of chatbots like ChatGPT in education, not all artificial intelligence and machine learning tools. ChatGPT Edu is a commercial product, they say, was not designed by educators, and the results it provides cannot be completely trusted.
“If what we do in the university is create reliable evidence-based knowledge where we cite our sources, these general-purpose chatbots are not well suited to that task,” said Martha Kenney, professor of Women and Gender Studies at San Francisco State. “This technology is not right for the CSU at this budget moment.”
The CSU system faces $144 million in budget cuts, and a planned 5% funding increase was deferred from this year’s budget to 2027.
Some faculty argue that students benefit from the systemwide agreement. In an opinion piece, Chico State professors Nik Janos and Zach Justus wrote that without a subscription to ChatGPT, some students would be forced to use a free version, which has limitations, and that ChatGPT Edu provides crucial data security.
“Without a customized and secure product like ChatGPT Edu, students, faculty, staff and administrators will have less secure data and privacy,” they wrote. “This has huge implications for sensitive personal data, intellectual property and the crown jewels of university data.”
Other faculty expressed ethical concerns about the agreement between CSU and OpenAI. Citing lawsuits in California courts over claims that using ChatGPT has led to suicide or psychological harm, one professor said that the CSU may place itself in an “ambiguous legal position” by distributing the service to all students.
Martha Lincoln, a professor of anthropology at San Francisco State, said that the ChatGPT product is “suspected to be very dangerous to a percent of its users,” but that by providing the service the CSU system is implying that it is “fine and safe to use.”
Taiyo Inoue, a professor of math at the Cal Poly Maritime Academy, said the agreement between CSU and OpenAI provides privacy features that align with federal standards and gives the university the “opportunity to help shape the future of AI in education.”
“The very real concerns about hallucinations and mental health are precisely why we need faculty and institutions in the conversation, not standing outside it,” Inoue said.
Students have raised concerns about inconsistent policies related to AI use in the classroom. In a February response, the system’s AI Initiative, the Cal State Student Association wrote that “some professors encourage AI literacy while others penalize any perceived use of it, creating confusion, fear, and mistrust.”
In a Tuesday newsletter sent to faculty and staff, CSU Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Patrick Lenz wrote that the system “will increase training opportunities and create clear, consistent and student-centered guidance on AI use, privacy and expectations so that faculty and students can use AI with confidence.”
A CSU spokesperson said Wednesday that the system had no further details about planned guidance available at this time.
A 2025 systemwide survey confirmed that ChatGPT is the most used AI tool across the system’s 22 campuses, but also found widespread concerns about the future impact of AI. Among all responding CSU students, 95% reported using an AI tool; 84% said they used ChatGPT and 82% worry that AI will negatively affect their future job security.
California State University renews controversial systemwide contract with OpenAI
edsource.org
The move has sparked debate about the cost of the agreement and the quality of ChatGPT Edu, a version of ChatGPT designed for higher education.
First Community College Student Workers Union Formed
Union in Bargaining After Winning Important Victories Before Certification
by Robert Ovetz
The wave of unionization in higher education over the past decade has resulted in a new breakthrough. The first exclusive student worker union at a community college has been certified by the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). While there are some unionized student workers at private colleges and public universities, most student workers are included in larger bargaining units. The union with the largest number of students in the bargaining unit is the California State University Employees Union which added about 20,000 students in 2024.
Located in rural Gilroy, California, the 117 members the bargaining unit represented by the independent Gavilan Student Workers Union (GSWU) work as peer tutors and mentors, and library and office assistants. GSWU was certified by the PERB on March 6, 2026 after the Gavilan Joint Community College District voluntarily recognized the new union.
Recognition was a formality because the GSWU had already achieved important victories in the months after being formed. In an interview, Payam Barghi, GSWU co-founder and Interim Vice President, explained how the students began self-organizing in October 2024 by forming a five member organizing committee (OC). The OC recruited about eight other workers that helped with different projects, zines, newsletters, videos, editing, and building its website GSWU.org that helped organize support from campus student workers.
The workers began organizing a “march on the boss” by acting as an unofficial union. Their meeting with the Superintendent and testimony at the Board of Trustees led to negotiations that resulted in extracting an impressive 17 percent wage increase, $480 one time bonus, and free campus parking in June 2025. Voluntary recognition followed in March 2026.
GSWU’s successful organizing demonstrated that even precarious public sector workers can organize effectively without labor law. Formal recognition is helpful but not a precursor to organizing for power and winning changes in the workplace.
“We are proud to be the first community college student workers union in the nation, but this victory is bigger than Gavilan,” Interim Vice President Payam Barghi told me in an interview. “We are the first, not the last, and we hope GSWU serves as a model for student workers across the country and shows them what is possible.”
According to my research, confirmed by the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College, City University of New York and the UC Santa Cruz Center for Labor and Community, GSWU is the very first exclusive student worker union at a community college in the US. While the first, it is certain to be followed by other unionization efforts at community colleges because there is an urgent need for them.
Recent studies of community college and California State University students in California have found a large number of students are housing and food insecure with many homeless and even sleeping in their cars, as many of my students have experienced. Many of my community college students are working one or more jobs because local and state minimum wages are far too low in one of the most expensive metropolitan areas of the country.
At the bargaining table since March, GSWU is now focused on achieving a $22 minimum wage, rehire rights, holiday pay, and mental health paid time off. Considering the high rate of mental health issues among college students, PTO will be a critical lifeline for many student workers.
Today GSWU joins unionized community college student who are members of community college staff unions in Arizona, Connecticut, and Minnesota.
The campus conditions of community college students and their precarious conditions as campus workers make GSWU a successful model for student workers at the many community colleges around the country that have high turnover of students.
As GSWU Interim President Alyssa De Jesus explained in a statement issued by the union, “This is an empowering first step for workers. It paves the way for collaborative work between community colleges and their student workers across the country. It shows everyone involved that student work is real work.”
Robert Ovetz is a rank and file organizer with the California Faculty Association, senior lecturer in Political Science at San José State University, and teaches at two community colleges. He is the author and editor of six books on the global labor movement.
Oakland schools struck a costly teachers deal. Now no one seems sure they can pay for it
www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/oakland-school-teacher-union-salary-22268594.php
By Jill Tucker,
Staff Writer
May 24, 2026
Educators and advocates brought signs supporting their causes during an Oakland School Board meeting in February. The district and teachers agreed to a deal, but months later it’s not finalized.
Educators and advocates brought signs supporting their causes during an Oakland School Board meeting in February. The district and teachers agreed to a deal, but months later it’s not finalized.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
It’s been nearly three months since Oakland teachers celebrated a decisive victory at the bargaining table after district officials gave in to nearly all their demands to avoid a strike.
Yet, so far, the expensive deal is still pending, meaning salary increases and other wins for the union remain on hold, including the educators’ retroactive raises back to last July.
The reason for this delay is tangled in a complex web of questionable bookkeeping, backroom deals, school board bickering and an overall sense of chaos, according to the extensive public record of meetings, correspondence and official documents.
Or, more specifically, it’s unclear whether the Oakland Unified School District can afford it — and recent budget projections have vacillated between district coffers filled with cash and a balance sheet running on empty.
Keeping up with the complicated developments has challenged even the most dedicated district devotees. The Chronicle has tracked the evolving situation and created a reference guide on what is happening in the perennially embattled public school district and, in part, what led to this and how bad it could get.
What did the tentative agreement with the teachers union include?
The deal, reached on Feb. 27, includes an 11% to 13% raise for all members of the union over a two-year period, including a retroactive raise back to July 1, 2025. It also gives additional increases to specialized educators nurses and social workers.
Was the tentative agreement reached without the district knowing how much it would cost?
Yes. And, no, this is not normal operating procedure. Typically, district negotiators cost out a deal before agreeing to it so they know if they can afford it. In this case, Oakland’s top district officials stepped in to avert a strike and agreed to the deal without a clear estimate of the cost.
District officials said earlier this month the deal would cost an estimated $13 million this school year, $33 million next year and then $62 million for the 2027-2028 school year. But, so far, there is no detailed breakdown or analysis on how the district will cover those costs, which is required before the school board can vote on it.
The tentative agreement “is among the most complex multi-year labor commitments in this District’s recent history,” Superintendent Denise Saddler said in a letter to the County Office of Education explaining the delay. “Accurate costing requires a level of analytical rigor that produces figures this Board, our bargaining unit, and this community can rely upon. That work is currently underway.”
Ok, but if those figures are accurate estimates, can the district afford the contract?
That’s the $108 million question. Currently, there is no official answer.
Wouldn’t that price tag add to an already massive deficit and fiscal crisis?
Yes. In December, the annual structural deficit had reached $100 million — with the school board consistently using one-time funds to cover the difference between spending and revenue. That includes pandemic recovery money, which is now gone.
Since then, officials have made cuts to staffing and services while shifting some costs to restricted pots of money, like grant funding, reducing costs by $65 million. But that still leaves about a $20 million deficit this year and up to $50 million next year, given rising costs and not including the price tag on the teacher’s contract.
There is also a new contract with SEIU support staff, which is expected to cost about $12 million over a three-year period, starting this year.
What does all this mean in terms of the district’s fiscal bottom line?
That remains unclear. Oakland Unified’s books are a bit of a mess right now. Those in charge are currently doing a major budget overhaul, which means moving a lot of money from one pot to another within a system that is incredibly complicated and bureaucratic.
They have until the end of June to not only come up with a balanced budget for the upcoming school year and get approval from the school board, but also estimate the budgets for the following next two years.
How’s all that going?
Well, District officials say everything is fine, nothing to see here, while others are predicting serious issues and bracing for disaster.
The doomsdayers cite the wild fluctuations coming out of the district’s budget office in recent weeks. That includes a $16 million cash balance at the end of the 2026-2027 school year, which was part of a budget synopsis they submitted in late April to Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro, who oversees district budgets.
Less than two weeks later, during the May 18 school board meeting, those same officials projected an ending cash balance of $150 million to $180 million, for the same date, with no detailed explanation for the discrepancy.
How is that even possible?
That could happen as part of the budget overhaul. But it could also be a huge red flag that things are going seriously sideways, Castro told the Chronicle.
There are a lot of questions about the district’s fiscal stability that won’t be known until the June budget is complete, she said, adding county staff are meeting with district officials regularly to provide guidance and better understand the situation.
But, for a while now, a lot of people, including Castro, have been in the dark about what exactly is happening in Oakland Unified’s budgeting department, which the district’s human resources director also runs.
“I’m not sure they know how much money they have; I’m also not sure they don’t,” Castro told the Chronicle. “We have to sit in that uncertainty a little longer.”
Should staff, students and families be worried?
Well, in the short-term, the district won’t run out of money. But the question is whether it can stay afloat next year or the year after, especially given the costly labor contracts. Current budget estimates show the district with a $133 million deficit next year, including the new labor contracts, which could shrink to $60 million or so given expected budget reductions. The following year, the deficit would still be at least $50 million.
Without significant cuts, and depending on state revenue and which of the district’s recent budget projections is used, the city’s schools would have between $6 million and $30 million left in their savings account two years from now.
At the same time, average daily attendance and the state funding that goes with it is expected to decline, according to district projections.
Worst-case scenario: The district runs out of money to pay the bills, requiring a state loan and triggering another state takeover. The city’s schools paid off the previous $100 million loan last year — 22 years after falling short of the cash needed to make payroll.
What are district officials saying?
Saddler and the school board majority, which is aligned with the teachers union, have staunchly defended the district’s financial position, saying they have taken the situation seriously and are moving toward solid ground with enough cash and plan in place to make that happen.
“We are not finished but we are making real, measurable progress, and we are moving in the right direction,” according to a staff presentation during the May 13 board meeting. “And the district is on a path toward long-term solvency.”
What are critics saying?
Those not in sync with the board majority, including outspoken board member Mike Hutchinson, fear the worst, saying information has not been clear and decisions are being made without proper public vetting.
That includes a board leadership decision to suspend a search for a new superintendent to replace Saddler, who was appointed as an interim leader when the previous superintendent resigned under pressure.
Instead, the board majority, at just before midnight on May 13, voted to extend Saddler’s contract for a year and remove her interim title, a contract initiated and negotiated behind closed doors and approved with little public notice.
Hutchinson called the situation “scandalous.”
What happens next?
With the governor’s May Revise out, district finance officials across the state are scrambling to put together next year’s final budgets and get them passed by the end of June. In Oakland, the public should see a first draft in mid-June.
At this point, it appears any costs related to the teachers contract will be pushed into the next fiscal year, with the price tag for the retroactive pay raise and the July 1 increase added to the 2026-2027 budget.
Saddler remains optimistic.
“Oakland Unified is committed to the path of fiscal stabilization and long-term excellence,” she wrote in an April 29 letter to Castro, who had ramped up fiscal oversight based on the district’s fiscal status.
“The work ahead is significant, and we do not minimize it,” Saddler continued. “But the District is on that path, moving in the right direction, with a real plan, a capable team, and a clear destination.”
Based on the convoluted budget numbers, the factious board meetings and a teachers tentative agreement gathering dust, not everyone was comforted or convinced by the superintendent’s reassurances.
That includes former school board member Sam Davis.
“I don’t miss being on the board — it was stressful having to take unpopular positions while I was in office,” he said. “But I did exactly that because I was trying to avoid the directionless sh–show that we’re in now.”
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More than 1,000 L.A. school employees expected to lose jobs, with bigger cuts ahead
www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-21/more-than-1-000-la-school-employees-expected-to-lose-…
A man sits behind a name plaque that says "Andres Chait."
LAUSD acting Supt. Andres Chait on Thursday called layoffs and other cutbacks “difficult and necessary.” (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles Times reporter Howard Blume
By Howard Blume
Staff Writer
May 21, 2026 6:37 PM PT
More than 1,000 Los Angeles Unified employees face layoffs after a Thursday board vote and a separate termination of other workers.
An updated “fiscal stability plan” outlines more than $3.6 billion in future cuts over the next three years: eliminating 6,000-plus positions, closing schools and imposing furloughs and benefit concessions on remaining staff.
Union leaders and workers called the cuts unnecessary.
More than 1,000 Los Angeles school workers are expected to lose their jobs after the Board of Education on Thursday approved layoffs and, separately, after district management quietly terminated the employment of workers without tenure or other union job protections.
The termination of the workers who lack due process job protections, including some teachers, transpired without an announcement but has been confirmed by officials.
The Los Angeles Unified board also got its first look at an updated “fiscal stability plan” that calls for cuts totaling more than $3.6 billion over the next three years — which would result in staff cutbacks on a massive scale, pay cuts for remaining employees and the closing of schools. The estimated job reductions in that scenario would be 6,000 or more, approaching 10% of the district’s workforce.
Most of the economic pain is backloaded to take effect starting July 1, 2027 — meaning officials will have a year to try to avoid the worst of these outcomes.
At Thursday’s meeting, acting Supt. Andres Chait spoke of the employees to be affected next month when the school year ends.
“All of us recognize that a reduction in force creates significant uncertainty and personal hardships for employees, families and school communities,” Chait said. “I want to be very clear that this action is not in any way a reflection of employee performance or dedication, but rather a difficult and necessary response to structural fiscal conditions.”
Two people walk near a yellow school bus.
Students walk in front of a school bus as they head to class at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex in Los Angeles this year. Some transportation staff members face being laid off at the end of the school year. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
District officials attributed the need for cuts to steadily declining enrollment: The nation’s second-largest school system, with about 390,000 students, is about half as large as in the early 2000s.
Other factors include the expiration of COVID-relief funds, inflation surpassing state funding increases and employee contract settlements. Recent collective bargaining agreements with employee unions, which include substantial raises, will add an estimated $1.5 billion in annual costs to a district budget that stood last year at $18.8 billion.
The price of LAUSD union peace will be $1.2 billion a year. Next up is paying for it
The school board’s vote was 5 to 2, with officials keen to follow legally required steps and timelines, laid out in union contracts, to make the layoffs stick.
The “yes” votes, which board members said they cast reluctantly, were President Scott Schmerelson, Nick Melvoin, Sherlett Hendy Newbill, Tanya Ortiz Franklin and Kelly Gonez.
Board members Rocio Rivas and Karla Griego voted no.
“We’re making it a reality that our schools are going to be very much more destabilized than they have been,” Griego said. “To me, this still feels like it’s too much too soon.”
On a percentage basis, the June layoffs may fall most heavily on Local 500 of California School Employees Assn., whose members include clerical workers and library aides. The union has 254 employees on the layoff list.
“Why are the essential workers — the people who support students, teachers, school sites, technology operations, transportation, nutrition services, special education and daily campus operations — being treated as expendable?” said Ruben Alarcon, an IT support representative who addressed the Board of Education standing in front of his CSEA colleagues. “These employees are not the cause of crisis. They are the reason our schools continue functioning despite the crisis.”
“Support staff are stretched thin,” added Alarcon, who is on the layoff list. “Eliminating even more positions will only worsen conditions for students and families.”
The upcoming layoffs also fall heavily on Local 99 of Service Employees International Union, which represents the largest number of nonteaching employees, typically including the district’s lowest-paid workers.
Targeted positions include gardeners, bus supervisors and other transportation workers. More than 200 computer technical support workers from Local 99 also had been on the list but are expected to be restored based on recent contract settlements.
The board’s vote on Thursday applied to 657 workers, but a district spokesperson said the hope is that number will eventually fall to about 150 — again, based on agreements with unions and also on natural attrition and transfers of those affected to available open positions.
Young people walk b a school yard with trees and seating.
Students walk through the school yard this year at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School. The L.A. school district is reducing the staff that maintains these outdoor areas. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Not part of the board’s Thursday action are employees who lack union job protections, including some who have worked for lengthy periods under temporary status.
Among these workers, the district has issued “non-renewal notices” to 291 with teaching credentials, including 181 elementary teachers, and, at the middle and high level, 15 English teachers and 45 social science teachers.
In addition, 51 pupil services and attendance counselors on temporary contracts will be let go, according to the district.
Among additional nonteaching employees losing jobs will be 114 campus aides, 107 community representatives, 143 instructional aides and 336 school supervision aides.
Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias vowed to reverse the remaining layoffs of his members, saying the district violated due process rules.
Notwithstanding the cuts, the new union contracts included some expansions, such as additional psychiatric social workers and counselors and modest class size reductions.
A grim outlook
The three-year budget projection was a list of unwanted outcomes. Melvoin described it with a profanity for manure.
The projected cuts included near-total elimination of special discretionary aid to high-need schools and a separate program that provides academic and emotional support to Black students and others with similar needs.
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 30, 2025 — Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, provides updates on District efforts to support families as SNAP funding ends, District efforts to ensure safe, welcoming school environments for all students, and the latest English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) results at the LAUSD headquarters in downtown Los Angeles on October 30, 2025. Carvalho was joined by LAUSD school board members along with Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of LA County Department of Public Health, and community members from LA Regional Food Bank, LA YMCA, UNIDOS US, Brotherhood Crusade and many other LA County organizations.
In addition to thousands of layoffs, school employees would face seven days of unpaid furloughs and have to begin contributing to their monthly health insurance premiums.
The fiscal stability plan is part of a balancing act that requires the district to prove it can remain solvent over each of the next three years — despite uncertainties about the state budget and the economy that fuels it.
If the state economy remains healthy, much but not all of this deficit would decline over time, provided that the state continues current grants and that general state-funded school revenues continue to increase annually. However, state rules do not allow the district’s budget planners to take such a positive outlook into account.
Local 99 leader Arias dismissed the necessity of the three-year austerity plan.
“I don’t think it takes into account potential new revenues,” he said. “We still don’t believe that there’s such a financial crisis that merits such action.”
The final version of the fiscal stability plan is scheduled to go before the board in June.
More than 1,000 L.A. school employees expected to lose jobs, with bigger cuts ahead
www.latimes.com
District officials attributed the need for cuts to steadily declining enrollment: The nation’s second-largest school system, with about 390,000 students, is about half as large as in the early 2000s…www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/uc-berkeley-law-school-ai-22271280.php?fbclid=IwY2xjawR92hxl…
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