By Clayton Trosclair/WEST OAKLAND

The students in Ms. Scott’s fourth grade class at Prescott Elementary have yet to see her this year.

Every morning for two months now, they’ve shown up to their West Oakland campus and wondered which substitute teacher will take her place that day. A rotating cast of temporary teachers has been standing in for Ms. Scott while she’s away on extended medical leave, and since school began on Aug. 25, at least four substitutes have been assigned to her class.

Last year, the Oakland Unified School district rotated a roster of teachers through two classes at Prescott Elementary – a third-grade class and a fifth-grade class – for the entire year.

“They had subs all year long,” said Enomwoyi Booker, the school’s principal, while pointing out that some of those third-grade students are without a permanent teacher again this year in fourth grade. “So we’re talking about going on two years now, which is not good.”

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By Clayton Trosclair/WEST OAKLAND

In 2000, the Oakland school district was about to hit rock bottom. Classrooms were so crowded teachers resorted to hallways, most students could not read at grade level and the district was named in a class-action lawsuit for failing to provide such basic necessities  as textbooks and qualified teachers.

Administrators decided part of the problem was megaschools – overgrown, impersonal campuses that enrolled as many as 2,300 students; too many, it was believed, to adequately support or manage in one place. The district responded that year with a restructuring plan: the largest schools would be split in two, and dozens of new campuses would be created from scratch.

The first review of the project, in 2003, reported higher test scores, attendance and graduation rates. Parents were more involved, it said, and students were better-behaved. The city drew national attention and a $15 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Oakland believed it had turned a corner on the problems of the past.

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