May 29, 2009 9:08 pm US/Pacific
Assembly Approves Local Control Of Oakland Schools
OAKLAND (BCN) ―
The state Assembly has voted 44-26 to approve a bill that would return full control of Oakland's schools to its elected school board on July 1 after six years of state control.
Assemblyman Sandre Swanson D-Alameda, who introduced the bill, said in a statement, "With the passage of AB 791, we are one step closer to setting a concrete deadline for the complete return of control to the Oakland Unified School District."
Swanson said, "After repeated delays in transitioning to local control, it is time that the state sets a date certain so that the board, teachers, parents, and the community can once again fully participate in the direction of their children's education."
Following the Assembly's vote on Thursday, the bill now moves to the state Senate. If the Senate also approves it, the bill will then go to Gov. Schwarzenegger for his signature.
Swanson said the Oakland Unified School District received a clean bill of health five months ago from a state-mandated independent auditing firm, but he said the state is dragging its feet on returning the final areas of responsibility to the school board.
Oakland's schools were placed under state receivership in 2003 because they faced a huge budget deficit.
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell returned community relations and governance to Oakland's school board in 2007 and he returned facilities and personnel management to local control on April 8, 2008.
But the areas of student achievement and financial management remain under state control.
Hilary McLean, O'Connell's spokeswoman, said today that O'Connell still doesn't have a specific time frame for returning full control of the district to Oakland's school board.
McLean said O'Connell "has a responsibility to make a decision based on the circumstances at the school district, not on politics in Sacramento."
McLean said, "Oakland's schools are continuing to make progress and we're staying in close touch with people there."
She said O'Connell also is encouraged that Oakland's school board voted last week to hire Tony Smith as the district's new superintendent, saying he has a strong track record.
Smith, who currently is the deputy superintendent for instruction, innovation and social justice in the San Francisco Unified School District and was superintendent of the Emery Unified School District in Emeryville between 2004 and 2007, is scheduled to begin his new job on July 1.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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