Oakland Schools' Cash Stash

Even as schools across the city hunger for basic program funding, the district sits atop vast surpluses with no plans to spend the money.  By spending a substantial portion of her time last year in Maryland instead in of the East Bay, outgoing Oakland schools State Administrator Kim Statham didn't just cheat taxpayers — she cheated nearly forty thousand children. In fact, newly released public records show that the school district under Statham's command shortchanged kids, especially those from low-income families, out of more than $40 million worth of education. This startling fact came to light quietly last week: The district revealed that after it closed the accounting books on its 2006-07 academic year, it was left with huge surpluses in nearly all of its accounts. Public records show that the eye-popping windfall was mostly the result of the district having failed to spend the money allotted to it by the state and federal governments. In addition, records show that Statham, who is to leave the district next week, had no plans to spend any of the excess cash this year. If the district doesn't spend that money, Oakland students will again be cheated out of millions of dollars in government funds designed to improve their education. "It's really unnerving," said teachers' union president Betty Olson-Jones, after learning of the excess funds during a presentation at last week's school board meeting by district interim CFO Leon Glaster. "It's a lot of money." SOURCE OF THIS STORY