Why did 30 Oakland school principals warn the school board about its budget plan?
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Oakland principals speak up
As the Oakland school board attempts to close a $102.5M structural deficit, it has begun implementing school-level budget cuts. Principals were recently sent a one-page memo outlining expected staffing reductions for the coming school year.
The school board’s priority is to retain classroom teachers while cutting critical school support staff, including instructional coaches, attendance specialists, substitute coverage, and noon supervisors.
What happened: In response, 30 elementary principals across Oakland issued a rare joint letter warning that this approach misunderstands what it actually takes to run a high-quality school and risks harming students even if classrooms technically remain open.
They argue the current strategy preserves the appearance of stability while removing the very roles that support instruction, attendance, and student success.
“We understand the magnitude of the district’s financial challenges, including the projected deficit, and we have long anticipated that difficult decisions would be required. At the same time, the consistent message we have heard is that Oakland will continue to maintain high-quality schools. We are writing because there appears to be a fundamental misunderstanding embedded in the current approach to school funding and the definition of high quality…”
Real problem, wrong solution: OUSD’s financial crisis is real, driven largely by declining enrollment and rising costs. The principals acknowledge difficult decisions are unavoidable, but argue this specific approach harms students rather than strengthens schools.
According to the principals, eliminating key school staff will:
Make it harder to improve literacy and academic outcomes
Reduce support for students who need extra help
Worsen chronic absenteeism
Strain special education coordination
Leave teachers with less instructional support
The deeper issue: The school board’s approach effectively cuts schools to the bone – spreading pain across every campus, weakening core supports everywhere, and still failing to create room for meaningful raises, stable staffing, or long-term sustainability.
The larger structural question also remains unresolved. The voter-elected school board will need to decide whether to continue spreading shrinking resources across many campuses, or pursue broader restructuring – including potential consolidation of under-enrolled schools – to stabilize staffing and resources.
For now, principals warn the current path risks weakening all schools while failing to fix the underlying problem.
“We are not willing to quietly accept a system that repeatedly asks schools to ‘do more with less’ while redefining adequacy downward.”
Why it matters: This letter stands out because of who is saying it. Principals across Oakland rarely speak together – and almost never push back this directly.
They are not disputing the budget crisis or the need for hard choices. They are asking the OUSD board members to protect the roles that actually make students succeed.
Ultimately, the school board is making cuts without a clear plan for strong schools and without making real tradeoffs, which risk hurting students and weakening school quality instead of improving it.