Thomas Ultican, retired teacher of advanced math and physics, has been analyzing the depredations of the privatization movement, which dares to call itself a “reform” movement, thus debasing the plain meaning of reform.
In this post, he digs into the machinations of the billionaire privatizers and their plans to buy and privatize the public schools of Oakland, California. Their tentacles reach far, and they have paid for seats on the school board as well as a panoply of organizations, who have a common purpose.
They don’t care that they have failed and failed and failed to improve the education of the children of Oakland. Their goal is power, and they have always been able to pay people to do their bidding.
Ultican writes:
Community based schools run under the authority of an elected school board have served as the foundation for American democracy for two centuries. Feckless billionaires operating from hubris or theological commitment or a desire to avoid taxes or a pursuit of more wealth are sundering those foundations.
Will activists of good will be able to throw off the yoke of billionaire financed tyranny and defend their public schools in Oakland?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Here’s the link to this important post: https://tultican.com/2020/05/29/persistent-billionaire-financed-attack-on-oakland-public-schools-continues/
This country now has more than 600 billionaires, and Jeff Bezos is now a trillionaire. The pandemic has given them more money and power. Why are such obscene amounts of money trying to control the Oakland School District board of education? In my opinion it is about displacing black citizens to clear a path for developers. Real estate in northern California near San Francisco is so valuable, and Oakland is a bedroom community of San Francisco. Privatization of the public schools enables social engineering. It will place students where they “deserve to be” according to their socioeconomic value. Privatize the schools, and you can control the neighborhood real estate. We have seen the same dynamics in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, etc. Democracy sits in the back of the bus when there is profit to be made. Neither party has the political will to upset the billionaire class and actually work for the rights of citizens.http://thepioneeronline.com/39009/metro/gentrification-in-oakland-on-the-rise/
You are correct. Our most recent school closure, Kaiser Elementary, sits on a valuable parcel of land, nestled in the hills with SF bay views. By every measure (however one wants to “measure” anything) it was one of the best schools in Oakland. Diverse, with experienced teachers, a significant LGBTQ population and a real waitlist, it was everything a “quality” neighborhood school should be, and yet the billionaire-backed board closed it. The property is now sitting idle, but there is talk of selling it, and FCMAT has now proposed amendments to AB1840, which passed the first stage in the Senate Subcommittee and will now wind its way through the Assembly. These amendments would force OUSD to sell off property, rather than giving the district the flexibility of using other means to get their financials in order. The concept of portfolio management now is in name only; they will close anything to make a fast buck, and spend it (waste it) as fast as they make it.
Siri doesn’t even recognize the word “trillionaire”. The obscene wealth gap exacerbated by both parties will be our undoing. Money has corrupted politics to the point where a modern-day FDR rising to power seems all but an impossibility.
Last minute candidates are starting to crop up (District 3) in the election out of nowhere. With minimized public /social media accounts, scrubbed to a shiny perfection of any information, and restricted in access. Along with coached candidates that have been instructed in how to respond without mentioning the words “charter”, “GO” or “portfolio” in any of the answers they have provided (District 1 and 3) so as to appear reasonable. They are the astro-turf candidates. Yeah…it’s definitely starting, and it’s going to get uglier and supported by secret PAC money hard to ferret out….. we’re all going to have to be on high alert.
District 1 is currently Jody London and District 3 is currently Jumoke Hinton-Hodge. It is hard to imagine GO has a problem with either candidate. They have spent heavily to elect Jumoke in the last two elections and in the last election they spent modestly on London for the first time. It seems like the billionaires already have their people in place in these two districts. District 5 where Rosie Torres has decided not to run again is where I would be most concerned.
It would be a great victor if a representative of Oakland citizens in Districts 1 and 3 re-captured those two billionaire owned seats.