Education

High school students are looking for material that they can relate to. In this commentary, student Frances Saux from the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco realizes she's not connecting with her work as much as she could and that there's a specific reason why.

Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) has seen its share of upheaval over the past decade. In 2003, the state took control of OUSD after a series of financial missteps. In 2009, local control was returned to the district – with the understanding that it would pay back nearly $90 million in debt to the state. That was two days before Tony Smith took office as superintendent.