Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Tony Smith will make the case for the urgent need to improve education, in the context of more budget cuts on already diminished resources, at a community meeting Thursday hosted by Great Oakland Public Schools.

Great Oakland is a coalition of about 150 Oakland families, students, teachers, principals and community leaders whose goal is to put students first and advance the reforms that have made Oakland Unified School District the most improved district in California over the last five years. 

Formed about a year ago, lead organizer Jonathan Klein said Great Oakland Public Schools is a “work-in-progress.” The group has an e-mail list of about 1,200 supporters and is planning to make its newsletter available in English and Spanish. (More languages will be added as needed.) Volunteers from the group keep a close eye on school board meetings, and post summaries about them on its Web site along with updates on how board members voted.

“We want to keep parents informed on big policy decision-making at the school board level and to provide more transparency so that they can become involved with issues that affect them,” said Klein. “We want parents to know what the board is thinking at any given time.”

Last year when the midyear education budget cuts were announced, Klein said Great Oakland helped keep 75 percent of the cuts as far away from schools as possible. The organization examined Oakland Unified School District’s central office budget to identify and advocate for many administrative cuts rather than cuts solely from classrooms.

Great Oakland has five priority issues for the 2009-10 school year:

• Budget and school portfolio
• Results-based budgeting
• College/Career readiness
• Parcel Tax to increase teacher compensation
• Local elections

Great Oakland Public Schools’ next meeting will be held at Jack London Aquatic Center on Thursday, March 11, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.  

RSVP here.

For more information on Great Oakland Public Schools click here.