Unforeseen deficit may result in state bailout, takeover of Oakland school district.

• Position: News Briefs

The Oakland public school district, the sixth-largest in California, faces a severe budget shortfall and is faced with the prospect of asking the state for a bailout of nearly $100 million. Although Oakland Superintendent Dennis Chaconas has been praised for improving test scores over the past three years through ambitious school reform, he now may have to relinquish control over the school district. At the very least, he will have to consider laying off teachers and increasing class sizes, reversing earlier reform initiatives. The school district's financial problems were not anticipated until...