OAKLAND – Testifying before the Senate Education Committee, Alameda County Schools Superintendent Sheila Jordan suggested that California follow the framework she has successfully used to help school districts facing bankruptcy.

Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan testifies before the State Senate Education Committee.

Since 1990, seven California school districts have been in such financial straits that the state has had to step in to bring spending under control. The formula for success in Alameda County has been the use of a fiscal adviser (rather than a state administrator), who works in close collaboration with the Alameda County Office of Education and the state Superintendent of Public Instruction.

“School reform, no matter how great it sounds, if it’s built on a fiscal house of cards, will fail,” Jordan said at the Dec. 3 hearing.

Jordan pointed to the current situation in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), which in 2003, declared bankruptcy. The state bailed out the district with a $100 million emergency loan with the requirement that the district be controlled by a state administrator, who reports directly to the state Superintendent of Public Instruction.

None of the three state administrators have been financial experts, Jordan said. Oakland would benefit from a fiscal adviser, particularly since the state recently restored some decision-make power to OUSD’s Board of Education.

“I have had some districts cry when their fiscal adviser left because that person was able to really hold the line on the district’s finances,” Jordan said.

Other invited speakers included OUSD Board of Education President David Kakishiba, Henry Der, a former state administrator for Emery Unified; and Javetta Robinson, OUSD’s former chief financial officer under that district’s first State Administrator. The committee also heard from several members of the public, including Sharon Cornu, Oakland City Councilmember Jean Quan and OUSD Board of Education trustee Noel Gallo.

Click here to view Superintendent Jordan’s full testimony to the Senate Education Committee.