This is a sampling of The Education Report, Katy Murphy's Oakland schools blog. Read more atwww.IBAbuzz.com/education. Follow her at Twitter.com/KatyMurphy.

Nov. 4: On the day of Occupy Oakland's general strike, 294 Oakland public school teachers, almost 15 percent of the teaching force, stayed out of school. In most cases, they took a day of paid personal leave to support the effort. (The school district dispatched substitute teachers and central office staff members to fill in for them.) Still other teachers joined the protesters after school let out, or taught lessons related to the Occupy movement. The Oakland Education Association has supported the movement in other ways, too; the union helped arrange the installment of portable toilets at the camp.

Here's what some readers had to say about the role of Oakland teachers and their union in the movement:

OUSD Parent: I don't know about the older grades, but both kindergarten teachers at our elementary school had subs today. I am personally conflicted on this issue. I don't think missing one day of kindergarten instruction is monumental in my child's education. Honestly, I am more skeptical about how the Occupy movement would be turned into a lesson for my kids. While I consider myself

pretty liberal, I want my kids to learn critical thinking. Turns out I am very glad that I was personally able to explain why their teachers were absent. To me it's really about expressing an individual's freedom of speech. Yes, I think