A parent-led PAC for Oakland schools
Oakland parents organizing to put students first
Vote like your child's future depends on it.
We're parents working to elect school board leaders who center kids — their outcomes, their safety, and their future. Families deserve a real voice in the decisions that shape our schools.
- Elect a student-first board member in District 2
- Elect a student-first board member in District 4
- Elect a student-first board member in District 6
- Hold the Board accountable for every dollar
Why now
The stakes for Oakland kids
These numbers show real kids whose futures are being limited. The district has serious problems with student outcomes, and the way it is being governed is making things worse.
- The 2026 school board elections in Districts 2, 4 and 6 are a chance to change direction.
- Financial decisions and weak oversight are affecting classrooms now and will shape the district for years.
Mission
What we're here to do
- Elect school board members in Districts 2, 4 and 6 who will put students first instead of continuing the current pattern of poor decisions and weak accountability.
- Build an organized group of parents who pay attention to what the Board is actually doing with money and oversight — and hold them responsible.
From the schools
Principals are raising serious concerns
Four letters from the people running Oakland's schools every day — 30 elementary principals, 16 middle school principals, all 15 high school principals, and a coalition representing two-thirds of schools — describe decisions that hurt classrooms and bypass rules meant to protect students and public money. Two of the district’s own voter-created oversight commissions have now objected as well.
“We will make it because we have the common sense to draw on each other, and the audacity to believe that in concert, we are equal to the great task.” — Marcus Foster, OUSD Superintendent, 1970–1973
Values
What we believe
Kids come first
Every decision should start with what's best for students — not politics or protecting the status quo.
Strong, safe, well-resourced schools
Every child deserves schools with libraries, counselors, arts, and sports — not schools stretched so thin that everyone struggles.
Honest budgets
Public money should be spent the way voters approved it, with real oversight and no accounting shortcuts.
Parents at the table
Families should have a real voice in the decisions that shape their kids' schools — before decisions are made, not after.
FAQ
Why a parent PAC for the school board?
Why start a PAC for a school board race?
In Oakland, school board races are won with money and organized volunteers, and for years one organization has brought far more of both than anyone else. Parents vote, but we haven’t been organized.
The ParentPAC exists so families can give student-first candidates the same steady, organized support that other interests already provide.
Who pays for Oakland school board races?
Mostly the teachers union. Since 2020, the Oakland Education Association’s (OEA) PAC has spent about $687,000 supporting OUSD board candidates — more than any other committee.
In 2024, Director VanCedric Williams (District 3) raised about $64,000 for his campaign, and another $94,000 was spent on his behalf, $85,000 of it by OEA’s PAC. His challenger, Dwayne Aikens Jr., raised about $15,000.
In 2022, OEA spent more than $36,000 backing Pecolia Manigo in District 4 — more than three times what sitting board member Mike Hutchinson had raised for his entire campaign a week before the election. OEA had endorsed Mike Hutchinson in each of his three previous races.
Other groups have spent big too. In 2020, charter-aligned committees outspent the union side, and three of their four candidates lost. But no single committee comes close to OEA’s spending across the last four elections.
Sources: VanCedric Williams and Dwayne Aikens Jr. filings on Open Disclosure Oakland; The Oaklandside, Nov. 2, 2022; Oakland Report, Oct. 1, 2026.
Doesn’t labor deserve a voice?
Yes. Teachers are the heart of every school, and keeping great teachers in Oakland is one of our top priorities. Labor belongs at the table.
Right now, it holds every seat. Four of the seven board members — the majority on contested votes — were elected with OEA’s backing. The board president served three terms on OEA’s executive board, and the superintendent is a former OEA president.
In June, the board approved a teachers contract adding $104.8 million over three years, despite a written warning from the Alameda County superintendent that it endangers the district’s fiscal stability. When the people across the table from the union were elected by the union, no one is negotiating for families.
Source: Oakland Report, Oct. 1, 2026.
What’s wrong with the board’s direction?
Equity should mean every school has what it needs to work. Instead, every school is losing ground, and the schools serving the highest-need kids are hit hardest.
Thirty elementary principals warned that the budget now treats anything beyond a teacher, a principal and an office assistant as optional. All 15 high school principals opposed using parcel tax money that voters restricted to cover other costs, and 16 middle school principals have now opposed a plan to divert $5 million in Measure G1 money to central office salaries. Two of the oversight commissions voters created have now formally objected too.
Which races are you working on?
The District 2, District 4 and District 6 school board races on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Board members are elected by district, and Oaklanders aged 16 and 17 can vote in school board elections.
Help change the direction of Oakland schools
Your contribution supports parent organizing and student-first candidates in the Districts 2, 4 and 6 school board races this November.
Donate now