Teachers’ Strikes in Oakland and Los Angeles Change the Conversation about Charter Expansion
Students and teachers were back at school yesterday in Oakland, California. Oakland’s teachers ended their seven day strike on Sunday night by voting to ratify an agreement reached last Friday. Teachers are adamant that the fight for well-funded public schools must continue. Oakland’s strike is the latest in a yearlong wave of walkouts by teachers—a state-by-state cry for help from a profession of hard-working, dedicated public servants disgusted with despicable working conditions, lack of desperately needed services for their students, and, in Oakland’s case, pay so low that teachers cannot afford to live in the Bay Area, where the cost of living is skyrocketing.
After a long meeting where the agreement was ratified on Sunday afternoon, the president of the Oakland Education Association, Keith Brown expressed gratitude for what the strike achieved, at the same time explaining that it does not go far enough to address problems for Oakland’s schools resulting from a long fiscal crisis in the district. It is only a beginning: “This victory, accomplished through our collective strength on the picket lines with Oakland parents and students, sends the message that educators will no longer let this school district starve our neighborhood schools of resources. Our fight is not over, though. Oakland educators spoke clearly today at our ratification vote that this agreement will not be the end of our struggle, and we will continue to fight in Oakland and Sacramento for the schools our students deserve.”
The Oakland Education Association describes what are hard-won but very modest gains. Teachers, the lowest paid in the Bay Area, won an 11 percent raise over three years with a 3 percent bonus. The district had originally offered 7 percent over three years. Turnover among teachers has been a serious problem, with the district losing 500 teachers every year, according to the teachers’ union.
Teachers won modestly improved services for their students—a reduction in maximum class size by one student this year and another reduction by one student next year. Caseloads for counselors were reduced from 600:1 to 500:1, along with reductions in case loads for CONTINUE READING: Teachers’ Strikes in Oakland and Los Angeles Change the Conversation about Charter Expansion | janresseger
