OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — Teachers and their families spent hours on Saturday making signs that will be used to carry on a possible picket line after teachers voted on Friday to strike.
“On Friday, we ended a two-week process where members voted to give our executive board and our president authorization to call a strike,” says Olivia Udovic, who is one of 60 teachers on the Oakland Education Association’s (OEA) bargaining team. “We have not decided on a strike date. We will be providing the community with 48-72 hour notice of an impending strike. It is not what we what to do.”
The teachers have been working without a contract since July. Udovic says this past Wednesday there was a breakthrough.
“Up until late Wednesday night, the district was offering us a 0% raise. They have made some limited movement from that,” explains Udovic, without going into details.
Teachers want a 14% pay raise, adding that will help the district to retain teachers.
“We see a large percentage of teachers that leave our district to go work in a neighboring school district because they can’t afford to live in Oakland with the wage they make in Oakland. And they can make $10,000, $20,000, $30,000 a year, working in a neighboring school district,” says Udovic.
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The teachers’ union also want smaller class size. One argument is that smaller class sizes in earlier grades will develop stronger students, who will be then be higher academic achievers in later grades. The OEA is also calling for cutting using outside contractors and high-level, high-paid admin positions.
“We feel optimistic about the new fiscal team that has come in since January to support OUSD in identifying that don’t actually have a $100 million budget deficit. Within three weeks, they found $50 million misallocated funds,” says Udovic.
But at the last school board meeting two weeks ago, the district presentation shows the that deficit is still $100 million.
“We have also been told by the county and by others that in order to negotiate any new contracts with our labor partners, we need to first address the budgetary shortfall,” says OUSD School Board Member, Mike Hutchinson, who represents District 4.
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Hutchinson says to date, the school board hasn’t approved any spending cuts for the 2026-2027 school year. Hutchinson adding, “Unless the school board votes on budget or a budgetary change, it doesn’t exist.”
“If the district has no money to offer OEA, for a raise, then we can’t make that offer. Whether there is a strike or not a strike, that doesn’t change our financial situation,” suggests Hutchinson.
The school board faces a deadline at this Wednesday’s meeting on where to make $100 million in cuts. But Hutchinson says with four days to go, there are still no documents for a fiscal solvency plan on the agenda, which need to be posted by 4 p.m. on Sunday.
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