Report says Oakland Unified can’t afford to pay teachers the 12 percent raise they want to avoid strike
A neutral arbitrator says the district’s finances prevent it from offering teachers competitive pay.
OAKLAND — Teachers here are poised to go on strike Thursday despite the findings of a state-appointed arbitrator that the financially strapped district can’t afford to give them the raise they’re asking for, a dilemma that union leaders say was avoidable.
In a non-binding “fact-finding report” released over the weekend, arbitrator Najeeb N. Khoury acknowledged that the district’s offer of a 5 percent raise over three years won’t keep pace with inflation but also noted the Oakland Education Association’s demand for a 12 percent increase over three years is beyond the district’s means.
Khoury indicated he would like to see teachers get a 9 percent raise over three years — 3 percent a year — because it would make their salaries more competitive with other districts, but even that would “place too much of a strain on the district’s current finances.”
Instead, he recommended a 6 percent raise retroactive to the 2017-18 school year and called for salary negotiations to reopen for the 2019-20 school year, at which time the district might be able to land more money from the state under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal.
He also noted Oakland Unified might be able to offer more than 6 percent later if raises are put off for now.
The union’s appointee to the fact-finding team, Charles King, agreed with the 6 percent retroactive raise for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years, but he also wanted the district to lock in a 5 percent raise for the 2019-2020 year rather than reopen negotiations.
“An agreement now gives the district several weeks to build an appropriate budget prospective in their next multiyear projection,” King said. “The Oakland community cannot continue to wait for the OUSD school board and administration to fulfill this promise.”
The district is desperately searching for ways to prevent its funding shortfall from growing to $56.6 million by the 2020-21. The deficit is due in part to a sharp decline in student enrollment over the past 15 years, from 54,000 to 37,000, and district officials’ failure to budget accordingly — a predicament that some critics blame on fiscal mismanagement.
Skyline teacher Donna Salonga said it’s nice that Khoury’s 6 percent recommendation at CONTINUE READING: Report: Oakland Unified should pay teachers more, but can't
Unchecked charter growth is starving our schools of necessary resources. This is why we we're striking against the district's plan to close 24 of our neighborhood public schools. #Unite4OaklandKids
