Oakland— Mayor Libby Schaaf today announced David Silver
will join her administration as her Director of Education. In this
role, Mr. Silver will serve as a Chief policy advisor to the mayor
and work in partnership with students, families, educators, partners,
the Oakland Unified School District to realize a vision of
educational equity for all students in Oakland.
“David Silver has demonstrated a unique ability to pursue and
implement strategies to ensure Oakland students succeed in school
— with a special focus on correcting unacceptable disparities for
underserved communities,” said Mayor Libby Schaaf. “I am
committed to ensuring that David has the resources and support to
transform my vision of a cradle to career pipeline into reality,
creating a true continuum of excellence from pre-K through K-12
and beyond. Oakland will only succeed if our kids do.”
Mr. Silver most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer of
College Track, a national non-profit whose mission is to empower
students from underserved communities to graduate from college.
Over the past four years, he has led the organization through
significant growth – from serving 900 students to more than 2000
including expansion to Colorado, Sacramento and Los Angeles;
more than doubling the staff size from 30 to 85 employees; and
increasing the annual budget from $4.5 to $15 million. Most
importantly, quality increased as College Track scaled; four-year
college acceptance and matriculation (94% and 89% respectively)
are the highest in the organization’s history, and the college
graduation rate is more than 2.5 times the national average for
students in low-income communities. During this time, College
Track (CT) was featured at the White House Summit on increasing
educational opportunities for all, and one of CT’s students had the
honor of introducing First Lady, Michelle Obama.
“I look forward to leveraging my experiences and relationships to
strengthen education in the city I love,” said Mr. Silver. “I have
worked in education in Oakland since 1997, and I have never been
more optimistic than today. We have incredible students, dedicated
teachers and principals, committed families and community
partners, as well as a mayor, superintendent, and School Board
with a powerful vision of educational equity, and models of
successful schools. This is our time.”
Prior to College Track, Mr. Silver and a group of committed
parents, students, educators and community members created
Think College Now (TCN), a college-focused elementary school in
Oakland Unified School District whose mission is to ensure all
students have an opportunity to graduate from college and pursue
their dreams. From 2003-2011, he served as founding principal
and, during his tenure, the school received several honors including
becoming the first California Distinguished School and Title I
Award-Winning School in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood.
This position is 100% funded thru a multi-year partnership with the
Oakland Public Education Fund which is made up The Rainin
Foundation, New School Venture Fund, The Rogers Family
Foundation, and The Packard Foundation.
“As local funders, we are committed to lifting school readiness,
third grade reading, graduation and college completion; we are
thrilled with Mayor Schaaf’s commitment to education at all levels
and with Mr. Silver’s proven excellence to improve equity through
education,” states Susan True, Director of Education at the
Kenneth Rainin Foundation.
Mr. Silver graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with a B.A. in
Sociology and earned his M.ED from Harvard University. He lives
in the Dimond/Laurel neighborhood of Oakland with his wife and
young son.
Media Contact:
Erica Terry Derryck
(510) 238-7072
ederryck@oaklandca.gov