Oakland Inauguration Day

On January 6, our two new school board members, Rachel Latta and Patrice Berry, were sworn in, as were re-elected members VanCedric Williams and Dr. Clifford Thompson.



I am so excited for the leadership that Rachel and Patrice bring, and their perspectives as mothers of school-aged children, despite the cloud that hangs over Oakland Unified after the negative certification of its first interim budget report last month.

(For context, most districts' reports are certified as positive, but for Oakland this is the first report marked negative since the state's intervention in 2003. For many years, Oakland has hovered in the gray area known as 'qualified certification,' traditionally an alarm bell that triggers major changes. Now that we have the negative rating, the County is entitled to revise our budget unilaterally or appoint an advisor to get the district back on track.)

Patrice Berry gives her inaugural speech with her family at the podium, as the rest of the School Board looks on in Council chambers on Jan. 6.



This first Oakland school board meeting of the year took place in City Hall as required by our Oakland City Charter, immediately following the City Council's first meeting, at which Councilmember Kevin Jenkins was elected their president, which due to the recent mayoral recall automatically elevated him to the role of interim mayor until the special election in April. 



The Council also elected Noel Gallo as president pro tem, and appointed Rebecca Kaplan, who just finished her last term as Councilmember-At-Large, to be the interim Councilmember for District 2, also until the special election, since that seat was vacant upon Nikki Fortunato Bas's election to the county Board of Supervisors.



Zac Unger, Ken Houston and Rowena Brown were sworn in as newly elected Councilmembers, and Ryan Richardson as City Attorney.



With Rowena Brown, the new Councilmember-At-Large elected to represent all of Oakland.

The council chambers were abuzz that morning with the news that former Congresswoman Barbara Lee was coming out of her four-day-long retirement to run for Mayor. 



(The Bay Area's Congressional delegation is also seeing major transitions, with Lateefah Simon replacing Barbara Lee after her 27 years in office, and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo replacing Anna Eshoo after her 32 years. Meanwhile, Adam Gray flipped an adjoining inland district blue by just a handful of votes to join them in the 119th Congress, where Republicans lead by only 219 to 215.)



Back to the school board meeting, where Jennifer Brouhard was elected as President, replacing me, and Valarie Bachelor as Vice President, replacing Mike Hutchinson. 



Brouhard's committee assignments were also approved, making Latta the chair of Charter Matters, and Williams the chair of Teaching & Learning. Bachelor and Hutchinson remained in their roles as chairs of Facilities and Budget & Finance, respectively. 



I handed over the gavel and my service as school board President came to an end.



Board Recognition

And so suddenly I find myself no longer an elected official! On my way out, I gave some detailed parting perspectives in an interview with Oaklandside (which you can read by clicking here) and a "Grow With Us" podcast episode with Director of Enrollment Kilian Betlach (available on Spotify).

I am so grateful to all those who turned out to speak in my honor at the January 8 school board meeting, where the board passed a resolution thanking me for my service. Jorge Lerma, former District 5 board member and lifetime educator, was also honored, after which the two of us retired (literally) to the pub for a parting libation.

My family joined me at the Board meeting where the resolution thanking me for my service was approved.



As I finally leave OUSD after 8 years as an employee and 13 years as a parent and activist, which included 4 years as a board director and one year as President, I am proud of what I was able to accomplish, sad that many necessary changes remain incomplete, and worried about what the new federal administration will mean for our town and our children.



Next Steps

I'm still only 52 years old, so although I leave the Board significantly grayer than when I was elected in 2020, I am full of energy to take on new roles, and open to the opportunities that 2025 will bring.



Right now, I have thrown my proverbial hat into the ring for ADEM delegate to the California Democratic Party (CDP). If you are a registered Democrat who wants our state party to take strong yet strategic positions on the issues, and to endorse candidates that will fight back against the Trump administration while choosing our battles wisely, please register to vote here by January 31, so that you will receive a secure email ballot.



You can also vote in-person at the Laborers Local 304 Hall at 29475 Mission Blvd., Hayward, on Feb. 22 from 11 to 3, or Feb. 23 from 12 to 4. 



ADEM delegates are elected by state assembly district (you can find your district by typing in your address at this site), and join other appointed delegates at the CDP convention to elect the party chair and to vote on policies and endorsements.

I recommend that residents of Assembly District 18 vote for the Housing and Climate Progressive Democratic Slate, shown below, which includes myself along with leaders from labor and the local Democratic Party, policy experts, and Oakland activists.

Click here to register to vote online for delegates to the California Democratic Party, and join me in voting for these proven leaders from labor and the Democratic Party, policy experts, and local activists.



Here is my ballot statement to further explain why I have chosen to run for ADEM delegate. Thanks for your vote and I'll send another update from the convention floor in May if I'm elected!



Why I'm Running for ADEM Delegate

I’m a former teacher and parent activist who served on the Oakland School Board from 2021-25, now running for ADEMs on the Housing and Climate Progressive Democratic Slate to fight strategically for our values in the daunting era of Trump 2.0.



I have four priorities as a delegate. First, on the School Board I promoted building affordable and workforce housing on district land. There is so much vacant public property causing blight in our community. I have the experience to create policy to accelerate repurposing these empty sites to house those who are struggling to stay in California.



Second, we must stand with our immigrant community to fight Trump’s deportation campaign. In 2018, I joined those leading the Let Our People Go protests at the Richmond jail, causing the county to end its contract with ICE. My mom’s family fled the Nazis in 1939, so I know what this country can represent in its better moments. We can build a powerful coalition rooted in faith and real family values—families in all their beautiful forms—that rejects hate, racism and xenophobia.



Third, I will continue my education work. In 2022, I led the Measure H campaign to renew College and Career for All in the Oakland high schools, which passed with an 81% yes vote. I also stood with our teens to win implementation of Oakland Youth Vote in 2024. 



As a parent, I have learned so much about our teens’ experience of the gender spectrum. While I use he/him pronouns myself, we must support each person’s right to choose how to identify, including at schools and on sports teams. It’s sickening that Republicans target our trans youth as a wedge issue.



At the Oakland Youth Vote celebration with Californians for Justice organizers Maura Villanueva and Armon Matthews, and newly-elected County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas.

Fourth, my School Board experience taught me that good stewardship of public dollars is a progressive, not a conservative, value. One of my proudest achievements was allocating OUSD bond funds equitably to renovate four schools in the flatlands where promises were broken by prior administrations. Our system sets up elected leaders to be in conflict with labor, but I always worked to restore those relationships. Labor is an essential partner in good governance.



I was an ADEM delegate in 2019-20, and humbly ask that you vote for me to return. I currently work for the UC on a project tracking the eligibility of students from across California for CSU and UC admission. I have a BA from UC Berkeley and an MS from Cal State East Bay, both in Math.



In December, my last school visit was to the classroom of Fremont High School construction tech teacher Andrew Prober (second from right) with former superintendent Gary Yee, my successor Rachel Latta, and Fremont Architecture Academy Director Hoang Phong. Fremont students designed and built these wonderful wooden chairs for use in the Prescott Elementary School TK classroom, where Rachel's children have attended. Thanks to investments by the district from Measures N, H and J, and the hard work of Fremont staff, the high school's graduation rate of 80% now matches that of the district as a whole, over 30 points higher than it was 10 years ago.