Posts tagged Oakland Unified School District
Oakland Teachers OK a May Day Strike Amid District’s Budget Cuts
April 28, 2025 // The potential strike would be the fourth by OUSD teachers since 2019. Tensions have mounted between top district officials and the teachers union since a union-backed school board majority voted on Wednesday to remove Oakland’s longtime superintendent, Kyla Johnson-Trammell, two years before the end of her contract. At the same meeting, the union representing Oakland school administrators alleged that its members had been threatened by teachers union leadership. Cary Kaufman, president of the United Administrators of Oakland Schools, said a teachers union leader told a district principal: “We control the board. We got [Johnson-Trammell] fired, we can get you fired.”
Commentary: Teachers strikes cost students weeks of school in 2023
January 3, 2024 // Betsy DeVos said that the strike-induced school closures "are continuing to exacerbate a problem [the unions] created by the extended lockdowns and shutdowns during COVID." "They're doing it at the expense of the kids they are supposed to be serving," she said. "The unions continue to try to amass more and more political power and extort taxpayers for more and more money and continue to promote a very leftist ideology across the board." DeVos said that lost learning due to missed school days is "devastating for kids [and] families" and noted that closing schools creates difficulties for families beyond the missed time in the classroom. "For those people who have jobs to go to on a daily basis, [they] now have to scramble to try to figure out what to do with the children that are left at home because their schools aren't opening to serve them," she said. "These unions continue to really whipsaw the people around who are supposed to be their customers; they're supposed to be the people they're serving. And yet there's no regard for the impacts on them.
Oakland teachers union on strike; schools open without them
May 5, 2023 // More than 3,000 teachers and other workers in the Oakland Unified School District are on strike after claiming the district failed to bargain in good faith on a new contract
Oakland teachers vote to authorize strike
April 27, 2023 // The union has demanded an initial 23% raise. It is also asking for more school counselors and social workers along with smaller class sizes. The district has proposed a 22% raise next year, with a one-time $3,000 payment to cover back pay. But union officials say that only applies to tenured teachers and not other staff. OUSD says its proposed package, "would mean teachers in Oakland will, for the first time in decades, be paid higher than the average salary for educators in our region." The district has been struggling with its finances and declining enrollment. It says there's simply not enough money to cover all of the union's demands.
Oakland teachers union opens vote on strike authorization
April 25, 2023 // There is general agreement that teachers are not paid enough. But at the offices of parent advocacy group The Oakland REACH, founder Lakisha Young said while she supports better salaries for educators, it should not be at the expense of the students. "Now we're being asked to sign on to an action that is disruptive to our children, just in support of teachers. And it's like, no, we can support teachers and not support a teacher strike," said Young. "It's what's been put on the table and maybe we need to create a new playbook behind this. Because this has become excessive." Another REACH member, Lupe Canchola, said, like a lot of parents, she will be hard-pressed to find a place for her child if the schools close. She said, in the past, she always supported the teachers' work actions.
Teacher Union Tantrums Now Count as Sick Days in California
January 26, 2022 // For more than 6.5 million children here in California, that means it’s time to go back to school. But in several major school districts across the state, schools remained closed the first week back — negatively impacting tens of thousands of students ready to learn and reconnect with friends. Thousands were literally turned away in the parking lot.