I'm Matt Glaser, proud dad of two students attending public school in Oakland, California. In 2025, I became obsessively engaged with the troubled history and dire present of OUSD and the perennial budget, labor and service issues that seemed to crop up yearly as my kids started their K-12 journey at Peralta Elementary.

I am currently the chair of our School Site Council (SSC) and a lead delegate on the Parent and Student Advisory Committee, as well as a founding member of a group of stakeholders working on a sustainable vision for our future as a district. While my family and I seem to be experiencing our school district at an absolute low point, the communities within it and the city it serves are incredibly beautiful, diverse, and worth fighting hard to support. I believe we have the culture, talent and resources here to set an example for other districts and cities, but what we lack is agreement and cooperation around a specific vision.

This blog is a collection of writing that I've been doing to try and make the processes of the district a bit more accessible and understandable to the community.

Universal Disclaimer

While I'm trying to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can, I cannot claim any special expertise other than what I've gained from reading, discussions with folks from many different groups, and my own experience in the district. While I often use LLMs to compile and sort through research, all of the writing here is mine (genuine human-certified!), unless otherwise specified. I don't represent anyone's opinions but my own, and I welcome and cherish respectful, good-faith disagreement and dialogue with anyone who loves this city and its community as much as I do. Please send me feedback — especially corrections — at any time. You can email me at matt@oakvs.world.

Thanks for reading!