Terry Chia/Associated Press
On Thursday, striking teachers held a rally in front of Oakland City Hall.
CNN
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Public school educators in Oakland, California, went on strike on Thursday, extending the strike to Friday after contract negotiations that called for higher wages and more attention to social concerns failed to reach an agreement. The school district announced that it is planned.
Oakland Unified School District schools remained open to the district’s approximately 34,000 students as of Thursday and will remain open for the duration of the strike unless otherwise announced, with principals and administrative staff working to educate and supervise students, the district said. officials said.
The strike, Oakland’s second in four years, includes teachers, counselors and others who the Oakland Education Association says is demanding a partial pay increase to the county median.
Strikers set up picket lines outside Oakland schools on Thursday and gathered for a rally in front of City Hall.
“Our goal…is to negotiate contracts that allow (districts) to recruit and retain quality teachers and provide much-needed services to our students,” union president Ismael Armendariz said. Ta. “We are not going to just hang out to get along. If the district does not respect and meet the urgent needs of our students and teachers, we should expect resistance.”
The strike comes less than two months after Los Angeles school workers went on a three-day strike to secure higher wages, more full-time work and increased staffing. Both work stoppages are part of a wave of school strikes across the country sparked by complaints about dilapidated school conditions, inadequate funding and low wages, among other issues.
In Oakland, the strike occurred with three weeks left in the school district’s school year. The last Oakland educators strike in 2019 lasted seven days.
The district said in a message to parents Thursday that the strike will be extended through Friday.
The district says its latest proposal would give teachers an unprecedented pay raise. The proposal would give all union members a retroactive 10% pay raise, with teacher pay in particular to rise between 13% and 22% from this year to next, with a $5,000 bonus, the district said. ing.
According to the district, the pay scale adjustments will allow the most experienced teachers to collect as much as $109,746 a year.
The union said it wants the district to improve services for students with disabilities. Provide more mental health support to students recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. and invest in historically black community schools.
The union also told CNN last month that it wants to use what it calls the district’s surplus land to house homeless students.
The district’s superintendent told reporters Thursday that so much of the budget is focused on salaries to retain teachers, “there are very few resources left to address other issues.” .
“While we agree with most of the fundamental principles of the common good, there are many other ways we can work together (with the union) in this area,” Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said. “We wanted to use her two days to focus on how best to reach and retain educators.”
“As a school district, we can’t do everything,” Johnson Trammell said.
“It will take the district much longer to find a real solution on its own,” District Labor Director Jeanine Lindsey said.
On Thursday, the union claimed it found the school board did not give district employees full authority to bargain with the union. “It’s really frustrating to come to this point after seven months of negotiations,” union executive committee member Vilma Serrano told CNN.
Reached for comment, a district spokesperson referred CNN to the district’s message to parents Thursday night.
Part of this message addresses the union’s demands on social issues.
“It is important to remember that these topics are not mandatory subjects for negotiations. We would like to discuss these important topics, but as part of the Council-led policy discussion We want to do it at a time when it should be discussed,” the message said. “While we agree that the issues raised are important, this discussion should not sustain an agreement on significant pay increases.”
The school district and union announced Wednesday night that educators will begin a strike on Thursday. The district announced Wednesday that both sides spent seven “long days and nights” negotiating before the strike.