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The Oakland Unified School District teacher strike has ended after the teachers union and district reached a contract deal, which includes a 15.5% pay raise for most teachers and agreements on common good items such as reparations for Black students and resources for unhoused students. The tentative agreement will be put to the school board and the members of the teachers union for a ratification vote in the coming days.
Oakland teachers are expected to continue their strike on Tuesday as the school board and union negotiators remain divided on issues beyond compensation, including common good demands such as increased resources for mental health and homeless families, reparations for Black students, and a formal role in deciding how to spend state grant money for community schools. The strike has divided parents and teachers, with some supporting the demands and others calling for an end to the walkout. The school board is split on the issue, with three members supporting the common good demands and three opposing them.
Oakland teachers began an open-ended strike over salaries, class sizes, and a long list of demands, including housing for homeless children, reparations for Black students, and landscaping. Both sides agreed they were very close on pay and benefits, but it was the optional “common good” proposals that were keeping an agreement from happening. The strike is based on the union’s claim of unfair labor practices related to what they say is the district bargaining in bad faith. The state labor board has not yet ruled on that claim.