The dust has barely settled on the San Francisco teacher\u2019s strike as East Bay educators get ready to follow suit.<\/p>\n
Oakland teachers voted to authorize a strike last week \u2014 with 91% of the union\u2019s 3,000 members voting \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oakland\u2019s teachers union and school district have been in talks for a year. They\u2019ve had 15 bargaining sessions but haven\u2019t been able to reach a deal.<\/p>\n
Teachers are asking for a 12-14% raise alongside other demands, including that the district support arts programming, address safety concerns, and make changes to class sizes.<\/p>\n
The district has offered about half of what the union wants \u2014 a 6.5-8% increase. It says declining enrollment \u2014 which means fewer dollars from the state \u2014 and increased operational costs have limited what it can offer.<\/p>\n
The union says Oakland teachers are the lowest paid in a comparison of Bay Area unified school districts. And that\u2019s one of the reasons that about 400 educators leave OUSD each year.<\/p>\n