I cannot bear a strike, not after keeping kids out of school for a year and a half. Teachers deserve a raise, and budgets will have to “adjust” in ways that hurt many people to give them that raise. These are the facts and a strike will not change those facts. Please avert a strike. Kids cannot be robbed of another day/week/month of school.
I’m so worried for our students who will again be held hostage by adults inability to work together on a compromise. This inability to work on a compromise to fund teacher salary increases is another, ANOTHER example of why families are leaving the district. We’re tired of it!
Compromise is not easy, but it’s what every party in this equation was brought on board to do. Closing and merging under populated and unsafe schools and cutting at central office should both be in the plan. Taking school closures off the list doomed the outcome.
OUSD and OEA- Be the leaders Oakland needs and our students and faculty deserve and come up with a working compromise with all sides giving up some ground.
The school board must immediately take the necessary vote to direct staff to take the budget adjustments so that they can give the teachers and site staff the raises the deserve and need. Please follow Mike Hutchinson's lead. SFUSD among other neighboring Districts is negotiating now to teachers and paraprofessional a good raise. OUSD will lose teachers to other Districts if OUSD leadership does not act now. .
This cannot go on. Our children should not be the result of a stalemate (at best) and more accurately, negligence. These board decisions are simply that- negligent.
Teachers need equitable and inclusive salaries. We are losing staff almost as fast as we’re losing students. And, our family, our children, can not endure another strike. What does it teach my children to see their teachers strike THREE times during their education in OUSD? They are wise enough to read the strike posters.
Go back to the budget. Have the hard conversations that lead to the most fruitful outcomes. Our family, our community, need you to show up and step up.
I fully support giving our teachers a raise. They absolutely deserve to be fairly compensated. The big question is where will these funds come from? OEA leadership has been gaslighting the community about OUSD's finances. The district cannot use one time funds for a permanent raise. We all know that. We also all know that OUSD has way too many schools which is probably why we have such a large central office. Please work together to figure this out ASAP or the district will continue to fall apart. It is unfair to our kids to let things get this out of control! Where are the adults in the room?
OUSD has got to get back to the basics and cut out the noise. Facts are OUSD has lost thousands of kids, which means budget and finances need to be adjusted.
Additionally there is no doubt the most important thing for a student is a good teacher. We should pay our teachers very well, keep them accountable and attract great teachers to the district. This also means finance and budget adjustments are needed to make that happen.
If you continue to fail to adjust, there is no money for teachers, they go on strike , more OUSD chaos is created AND you WILL lose even more students AND teachers who will want to flee the circus.
This board must act to not only give our teachers and staff the raise they deserve, but we have to face the reality that enrollment has dramatically declined and to offer the best opportunities for our students and staff, that must mean making hard choices to right size this district. OUSD operates 78 schools, most districts our enrollment size have at least 1/3 to almost 1/2 less schools. Failing to pass budget adjustment means this board (and specifically the members who voted no) will be walking our district right back to receivership AND failing our students and staff.
As an OUSD parent, I support 100% a significant pay increase for our district staff and especially our front line teachers. However, a significant pay rise needs a structural adjustment to *our* OUSD budget. One cannot give a significant pay increase across the district on the biggest expenditure in our district - staff salary - by funding from one time funds such as budget reserves. That is not a permanent solution for a permanent pay increase. It's a temporary solution to a permanent issue that can put us up against the edge financially once again in OUSD as we attempt to leave state control.
I cannot bear a strike, not after keeping kids out of school for a year and a half. Teachers deserve a raise, and budgets will have to “adjust” in ways that hurt many people to give them that raise. These are the facts and a strike will not change those facts. Please avert a strike. Kids cannot be robbed of another day/week/month of school.
I’m so worried for our students who will again be held hostage by adults inability to work together on a compromise. This inability to work on a compromise to fund teacher salary increases is another, ANOTHER example of why families are leaving the district. We’re tired of it!
Compromise is not easy, but it’s what every party in this equation was brought on board to do. Closing and merging under populated and unsafe schools and cutting at central office should both be in the plan. Taking school closures off the list doomed the outcome.
OUSD and OEA- Be the leaders Oakland needs and our students and faculty deserve and come up with a working compromise with all sides giving up some ground.
The school board must immediately take the necessary vote to direct staff to take the budget adjustments so that they can give the teachers and site staff the raises the deserve and need. Please follow Mike Hutchinson's lead. SFUSD among other neighboring Districts is negotiating now to teachers and paraprofessional a good raise. OUSD will lose teachers to other Districts if OUSD leadership does not act now. .
This cannot go on. Our children should not be the result of a stalemate (at best) and more accurately, negligence. These board decisions are simply that- negligent.
Teachers need equitable and inclusive salaries. We are losing staff almost as fast as we’re losing students. And, our family, our children, can not endure another strike. What does it teach my children to see their teachers strike THREE times during their education in OUSD? They are wise enough to read the strike posters.
Go back to the budget. Have the hard conversations that lead to the most fruitful outcomes. Our family, our community, need you to show up and step up.
-Hopeless in Oakland
I fully support giving our teachers a raise. They absolutely deserve to be fairly compensated. The big question is where will these funds come from? OEA leadership has been gaslighting the community about OUSD's finances. The district cannot use one time funds for a permanent raise. We all know that. We also all know that OUSD has way too many schools which is probably why we have such a large central office. Please work together to figure this out ASAP or the district will continue to fall apart. It is unfair to our kids to let things get this out of control! Where are the adults in the room?
OUSD has got to get back to the basics and cut out the noise. Facts are OUSD has lost thousands of kids, which means budget and finances need to be adjusted.
Additionally there is no doubt the most important thing for a student is a good teacher. We should pay our teachers very well, keep them accountable and attract great teachers to the district. This also means finance and budget adjustments are needed to make that happen.
If you continue to fail to adjust, there is no money for teachers, they go on strike , more OUSD chaos is created AND you WILL lose even more students AND teachers who will want to flee the circus.
This board must act to not only give our teachers and staff the raise they deserve, but we have to face the reality that enrollment has dramatically declined and to offer the best opportunities for our students and staff, that must mean making hard choices to right size this district. OUSD operates 78 schools, most districts our enrollment size have at least 1/3 to almost 1/2 less schools. Failing to pass budget adjustment means this board (and specifically the members who voted no) will be walking our district right back to receivership AND failing our students and staff.
1/
As an OUSD parent, I support 100% a significant pay increase for our district staff and especially our front line teachers. However, a significant pay rise needs a structural adjustment to *our* OUSD budget. One cannot give a significant pay increase across the district on the biggest expenditure in our district - staff salary - by funding from one time funds such as budget reserves. That is not a permanent solution for a permanent pay increase. It's a temporary solution to a permanent issue that can put us up against the edge financially once again in OUSD as we attempt to leave state control.