Potential Oakland Teachers Strike: What Should Families Know?

Weeks after San Francisco educators wrapped up a four-day strike that shuttered schools and left many families across the city scrambling for child care, Oakland teachers are gearing up for a possible labor battle of their own.

Late last week, the Oakland Education Association — the union representing nearly 3,000 teachers, social workers, counselors and other staff across the Oakland Unified School District — voted to authorize a strike. The threat comes after nearly a year of labor negotiations between the union and the school district without a contract deal.

Unlike San Francisco’s teachers strike, which was the city’s first in almost half a century, Oakland teachers have taken to the picket lines in recent years. During contract negotiations in 2019 and 2023, OUSD educators held strikes that each lasted about a week and ended after the district offered wage increases to staff.

Despite those raises, the parties’ major sticking point again revolves around pay. OUSD’s teachers are among the lowest paid in the Bay Area.

• Jump straight to: When’s the soonest an Oakland teachers strike could take place?

While Oakland families might have gained more familiarity in navigating teacher strikes in the last few years, the challenges of keeping up with rapid back-and-forth negotiations between the union and district — and to find access to food, child care and instructional resources for kids whose schools could be impacted — are the same.

Keep reading for what we know about a possible Oakland teachers strike.

Is an OUSD strike definitely happening?

Not yet. But while no OUSD strike has been called, it could be announced at any time.

Last Friday, teachers gave their OEA union permission to call a work stoppage, and they have completed the legally mandated mediation process.

The union has said it’s still open to negotiating with the school district to avoid a strike, though, and the two sides have another bargaining session on the books for Thursday evening.

But OEA representatives have said the union will need real movement from the district on wages to come to any agreement.

What does the Oakland teachers union want, and what’s the latest?

OUSD and OEA have been negotiating a new contract since last March.

While the two sides have reached some tentative agreements on smaller proposals, they’ve made little progress on wage increases. Like districts across the state, OUSD is facing enrollment decline, and said its spending is outpacing its revenue.

But the union said its teachers are paid too little to live in Oakland, and that low wages are contributing to high teacher turnover rates in the district.

The union has demanded a raise between 12% and 14% over two years. In reply, OUSD has proposed raises that would equal 8% by 2027.

Last week, a neutral mediator, who was appointed to collect financial information and hear arguments of both sides, issued a recommendation that falls somewhere in the middle: a 6% raise over two years, plus an additional 3% to 4% raise in 2027. The mediator also suggested an extra 2% bump for special education teachers.

The mediator’s full report, known as a “fact-finding report,” was released last week and marked the final step in mediation.

Since then, the parties met to bargain on Monday and are expected to return to the table on Thursday afternoon.

On Tuesday night, the district’s school board held a closed-door meeting to discuss the negotiations, but didn’t take any new actions.

What’s going on with Oakland’s budget? And what does it have to do with a strike?

Oakland’s school district is in the midst of making major budget cuts, which have become routine in recent years.

Last summer, the district regained full local financial control 20 years after it declared bankruptcy in 2003. But without cuts, interim Superintendent Denise Saddler told the school board this week, OUSD won’t be able to right a $102 million budget deficit projected next year and could risk again needing state assistance.

On Wednesday, the district approved a plan to eliminate almost 400 staff positions through a combination of layoffs, early retirement buyouts and eliminations of roles that are currently vacant. Those cuts will save about $11 million, according to district fiscal advisors. The district is also eyeing plans to reduce schools’ individual budgets, and a lofty proposal to significantly increase the special education services it offers in district schools.

So far, it’s identified about $65 million in cuts it could make, and is still aiming to identify another $35 million before its budget is due in June. That total dollar amount doesn’t factor in any additional costs associated with a new contract with OEA.

Across other Bay Area school districts, rocked by strikes in recent weeks, officials have indicated that spending more on teachers’ contracts could force districts to make deeper cuts during budget planning.

In San Francisco, the deal that educators and the district struck earlier this month increased the district’s expenditures by more than $180 million for two years, and could lead to additional cuts or layoffs, according to school leaders there. West Contra Costa County, which also just approved a new labor contract after a four-day strike in December, passed a plan that will slash 10% of its workforce at the end of the school year.

When’s the soonest an Oakland teachers strike could take place?

Since mediation has wrapped up, and the union has authorized a walkout, the call for an Oakland teachers strike could come at any time.

OEA has to give the district 48 hours’ notice before taking to picket lines, so the earliest a strike would likely interrupt schools is Monday.

Has this kind of strike ever happened before in Oakland?

Yes. Oakland’s OEA union held similar strikes in both 2019 and 2023.

In 2019, the walkout came after Oakland teachers had been working under an expired deal for nearly two years. Lasting a week, the strike ended with a four-year contract that included raises, along with commitments to decrease class sizes and put a monthslong moratorium on school closures.

OUSD operates more small campuses compared to similarly sized districts, and for years has gone back and forth on plans to shutter some schools, often reneging on plans after community pushback.

Oakland educators again walked out for about a week in 2023, after another monthslong negotiation cycle.

What happens during a teachers strike? Will Oakland schools close?

While San Francisco schools closed earlier this month, Oakland’s could remain open during a walkout.

During the 2023 strike, students who attended school were supervised by principals and central office staff. But little instruction actually occurred, and attendance dropped as low as 4%, according to The Oaklandside.

What does ‘crossing a picket line’ actually mean?

Families sending students to school during a strike

During the SFUSD strike earlier this month, the California Teachers Union said that as a parent or guardian, “you’ll have to decide if you want your child in this environment” of a school that’s in the middle of a strike.

“A strike is most powerful when students do not attend school, because this puts financial pressure on the district to negotiate with educators or lose more money from the state,” the statewide union’s guidance for SFUSD families read. CTA has not yet issued specific guidance for OUSD families.

Volunteers teaching in schools during a strike in the absence of teachers

The National PTA’s guidance to local branches also states that “PTA should not man the classrooms” unless “possibly for a day in the absence of advance notice of a strike.”

“Not only is manning of classrooms inconsistent with PTA efforts to obtain a qualified teacher in every classroom, but personal liability may be incurred,” the notice reads. “If the school administration intends to keep the schools open during a teacher walkout, it should develop a corps of volunteers outside the PTA structure.”

What about families who rely on free meals at school?

Many families may rely on schools to provide no-cost meals during weekdays.

During the SFUSD strike, the district and the mayor’s office organized several pick-up locations throughout for breakfasts and lunches — and OUSD may do the same. KQED has asked the district for details of any resources it plans to offer families in the event of a strike.

KQED has a thorough guide on how to find food pantries in the Bay Area, including Alameda County resources like:

• The California Association of Food Banks’ online tool, which lists all the major food banks in the state
• The state’s 211 hotline
• The Alameda County Community Food Bank tool can locate food resources in the area. You can also call 510-635-3663 for any emergencies
• Alameda Food Bank at 677 W. Ranger Ave. in Alameda
• A map of food services and distribution locations in Alameda County