The dust has barely settled on the San Francisco teacher’s strike as East Bay educators get ready to follow suit.
Oakland teachers voted to authorize a strike last week — with 91% of the union’s 3,000 members voting “yes.”
Oakland’s teachers union and school district have been in talks for a year. They’ve had 15 bargaining sessions but haven’t been able to reach a deal.
Teachers are asking for a 12-14% raise alongside other demands, including that the district support arts programming, address safety concerns, and make changes to class sizes.
The district has offered about half of what the union wants — a 6.5-8% increase. It says declining enrollment — which means fewer dollars from the state — and increased operational costs have limited what it can offer.
The union says Oakland teachers are the lowest paid in a comparison of Bay Area unified school districts. And that’s one of the reasons that about 400 educators leave OUSD each year.
A neutral fact-finding report released this month noted: “The difference in salaries is significant, and a wage increase is necessary and appropriate to aggressively recruit and retain competent educators.”
OUSD has a “qualified” budget certification status from the state — meaning it may not be on track to meet its financial obligations in the next few years. And the district still needs to make major budget cuts.
But, the report stated: “Historically the District has told OEA it lacks the resources to pay competitive wages, yet at the eleventh hour, the District has found enough funds to either avert or end a strike."
A strike could happen as early as next week.
