By Ken Epstein Oakland school board candidates seeking to halt the annual ritual of closing neighborhood schools and years of cutting budgets for classroom programs are leading in two of three board races, potentially poised to join several other board members in a new progressive majority. With many thousands of votes left to count, in | By Ken Epstein Oakland school board candidates seeking to halt the annual ritual of closing neighborhood schools and years of cutting budgets for classroom programs are leading in two of three board races, potentially poised to join several other board members in a new progressive majority. With many thousands of votes left to count, in