Oakland Voters Give Brown Broader Say Over Schools

By Catherine Gewertz

In a cluster of decisions expanding Mayor Jerry Brown's power over the embattled Oakland, Calif., public schools, city voters last week placed at least two of his endorsed candidates on the school board and agreed to let him appoint another three.

A group of questions on the March 7 ballot functioned collectively as a thermometer of support for the Democratic mayor's controversial attempts to enhance his influence over school district policy. Mr. Brown prevailed on most, though the one on which he had staked the most political capital—Measure D, which allows him to appoint three additional members to the seven-member, elected school board—passed only narrowly.

That measure, which will expire in 2004, makes Oakland the only city in the country to try governing schools with a "hybrid" board of both appointed and elected members. ( "Jerry Brown's Next Project: Oakland Schools," ...