Oakland Teachers “Day without Educators” 1 Day Work Action To Protest Attack On Pub Ed

1/18 Oakland Teachers “Day without Educators” One Day Work Action To Protest Attack On Public Education

Educators and community members from schools all over Oakland will rally at Oakland Technical High School from 8:00 am until 9:00 am. At 9:00 am, educators will march down Broadway towards the OUSD office at 1000 Broadway and converge there until approximately 1:00pm.

A Day Without Educators Within OUSD
Oakland Tech Teachers Join In With Teachers from Fremont, Madison Park, Skyline, United for Success, Life Academy, Oakland Tech, Oakland High, Roots Middle, Rudsdale Newcomer, and West Oakland Middle School in 2nd Work Action


CONTACTS
OaklandTechEducators [at] gmail.com
Heath Madom (917) 755-2235
Alicia Arnold
Jah-Yee Woo
Katie Bailey
Elizabeth Haugen

OAKLAND, Calif. - Jan 16, 2019 -- On Friday January 18th, 2019, teachers and support staff from Oakland Technical High School will join together with educators from across Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in a one-day work action. This work action will significantly impact the school day, and we expect that a large majority of educators at Oakland Tech will participate. Educators and community members from schools all over Oakland will rally at Oakland Technical High School from 8:00 am until 9:00 am. At 9:00 am, educators will march down Broadway towards the OUSD office at 1000 Broadway and converge there until approximately 1:00pm.

This “Day without Educators” will give a small preview of what an actual, open-ended strike would feel like. We are doing this to demonstrate to OUSD that we are ready to strike for smaller class sizes and a competitive wage that will allow us to keep working with our families and students in the city that we love. OUSD has systematically underinvested in students and classrooms for years, and we are no longer willing to accept that reality. We demand that OUSD prioritize investing in students and classrooms to ensure that teachers can stay in Oakland and that our students get the support they need to succeed.

“Public schools are the fertile ground for our city and our country’s future growth, and it is dangerously short-sighted to underfund them. I have taught in the Health Academy at Oakland Tech for 10 years, and now when I take my children to their appointments, I find former students taking their vitals and giving them care. Our society will get out of our schools what we put into them. In an increasingly complex age, the only way to ensure our children and our country’s health and well being is to invest in students, teachers, and classrooms,” said Katie Bailey, an English and U.S. Government teacher at Oakland Tech.

For nearly 2 years, the Oakland Education Association has been negotiating with the Oakland Unified School District to secure more resources for classrooms, including:

A living wage to enable experienced teachers to remain teaching in Oakland
Smaller class sizes so students can receive the individualized support they deserve
Commitment to sufficient student support staff in every school, such as nurses, counselors, librarians, psychologists, speech pathologists and resource specialists

“Schools are not factories, and in order for teachers to be able to provide students with the individualized support they need to grow and thrive, and to build relationships based on trust, smaller class sizes are necessary,” said Jah-Yee Woo, an English and U.S. History teacher at Oakland Tech. Many teachers at Tech have class sizes above the contractual limit of 32, with some reporting class sizes as high as 37 and 38 students.

Although the district had a 30 million dollar surplus last year, it claims it cannot afford to make these improvements and invest in the success of OUSD students. Moreover, the district is threatening to shut down as many as 24 schools in the Flatlands without adequate community input and engagement.

We are not willing to wait any longer. There are no schools without quality educators. And there are no quality schools without community involvement and adequate resources. We invite members of the press and the community to join us on Friday, January 18th for our work action. Oakland teachers demand better for our students, and our students deserve it.

Charter Controlled Bosses OUSD Threaten OEA Teachers With Discipline For Sick Out On Jan 18, 2019

January 15, 2019



Dear Certificated Staff,

Your site has been identified as one of the schools 1) with teachers who participated in an illegal sick out on December 10, 2018 or 2) that plans to participate in the near future. This letter is to provide you with accurate information about illegal sick outs, “wildcat strikes” and inform you of the ramifications of participating in this illegal action. The District is committed to our continued work with our teachers union to resolve our contract. We remain committed to working together to better support our valued teachers. However, as your employer it is our responsibility to inform you of the ramifications of participating in sick-outs, “wildcat strikes” and to provide you with accurate information.

Your site has been identified as one of the schools 1) with teachers who participated in an illegal sick out on December 10, 2018 or 2) that plan to participate in the near future. The District is committed to our continued work with our teachers union to resolve our contract. We remain committed to working together to better support our valued teachers. However, as your employer it is our responsibility to inform you of the ramifications of participating in sick-outs, “wildcat strikes” and to provide you with accurate information.


Sick Outs, Strikes and Other Concerted Activities are Illegal, as OUSD and OEA are Currently in the Fact-finding Stage of Negotiations.

As most of you are aware, OUSD and OEA are at an impasse in contract negotiations and currently engaged in the fact-finding process facilitated by the Public Employee Relations Board (“PERB’). During this process, concerted activities, such as sick-outs, walk-outs or strikes are illegal. Sick outs and “wildcat strikes” are illegal because, OEA and OUSD are required by law to make a final, good faith, attempt to resolve outstanding issues on the table with the assistance of a three person panel (one OEA appointee, one OUSD appointee, and one neutral appointee to serve as chair). For more information, please see the FAQ on Sick Outs, Concerted Activities and Strikes. Again, any sickouts, walk-outs or strikes conducted during this time are illegal and employees are subject to consequences for participation.

OEA, the Exclusive Union Representative for Teachers, Has Not Sanctioned Any Sick-Outs, Strikes or Other Illegal Concerted Activities.

It is important to note that OEA, has not endorsed or sanctioned any sick outs or strikes to date. This is, at least in part, because OEA can be subject to an Unfair Labor Practice charge for leading these illegal actions. If you receive incorrect information suggesting that OEA is leading a sick out, please contact the OEA office or the District’s Labor Relations office immediately. For more information on allowable organized efforts that will not put you at risk of violating the law, please contact your OEA President, Vice President or CTA staff.

Teachers Who Participate in Illegal Sick-Outs Will Be Subject to Discipline and Will Not Be Paid For Time Out.
Teachers participating in sick-outs will be subject to disciplinary action and will lose pay for time missed as these coordinated actions present significant safety and instructional problems for our students. Please be advised, teachers who participated in the December 10, 2018 sick out and/or teachers who participate in any future planned illegal, non-union sickouts, walk outs or strikes will face disciplinary consequences and loss of pay.
Oakland Unified has dedicated, competent and highly professional teachers. Based on the above information, we urge our valued teachers to make the decision for themselves and for our students when deciding whether to participate in illegal activities. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Labor Relations Office at (510) 879-4048.


Sincerely,



Sondra Aguilera, Chief Academic Officer Tara Gard, Deputy Chief Talent



Attachments area



Oakland teachers prepare wildcat walk-out Friday amid disruptive LA strike

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-teachers-wildcat-walkout-protest-unions-la-13539231.php?src=hp_totn

Local // Bay Area & State


1of22FILE — Joined by students and supporters, teachers from Oakland High and other schools, gather to protest their wages outside Oakland City Photo: Jana Asenbrennerova / Special to The Chronicle

2of22Joined by students and supporters, teachers from Oakland High and other schools, gather to protest their wages outside Oakland City Hall on Photo: Jana Asenbrennerova / Special to The Chronicle

3of22Joined by students and supporters, teachers from Oakland High and other schools, gather to protest their wages outside Oakland City Hall on Photo: Jana Asenbrennerova / Special to The Chronicle
Teachers from half a dozen schools in Oakland are planning to walk out Friday to warn the district of a looming strike if they aren’t offered better pay — a move that comes amid a massive teachers’ strike in Los Angeles.

The walkout is the latest action educators have planned since the Oakland Unified School District offered 5 percent raises over a few years last spring — an offer teachers balked at and countered with a 12 percent raise.

With negotiations at an impasse, the district and the Oakland Education Association teachers union entered the fact-finding phase this month, the final step before a strike vote. The walkout, however, is not sanctioned by the union.

“This is an additional attempt, after several, to try to get OUSD’s school board to come back to the table with a decent offer for teachers,” Oakland High School science teacher Suzi Lebaron said. “There’s a chance we could be taking a strike vote very soon and be striking during the first weeks of February.”

On Friday at 8 a.m., teachers from five Oakland high schools and one middle school will meet in front of Oakland Technical High School and walk to the school district offices at 1000 Broadway in downtown Oakland for a demonstration.

Oakland superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell agreed that teachers deserve to be paid more, but urged the educators to come to school to support their students on Friday.

“We are committed to working with the OEA to come to an equitable contract that works for both sides,” she said in a statement.

The school district hasn’t released a plan yet for teacher coverage during the walkout.

Several districts across the country have seen teachers go on strike in the past year, most recently in Los Angeles, where thousands of teachers, striking since Monday, are demanding pay raises, smaller class sizes and more support staff.

“You would think they would look at the national news and see that most of these situations have been resolved in favor of teachers,” Lebaron said. “You would think, ‘Why would we even put our city through the trauma, expense and public scrutiny?’ Why not come back to the table and come up with something we can all agree on?”

Oakland teachers have been working under an expired contract since July 2017. After the fact-finding phase, the district will make a “final and best” offer, after which teachers will decide to accept or take a strike vote.

Because the walkout is not sanctioned by the Oakland Education Association, the school district could discipline teachers who participate by docking their pay.

In December, more than 100 teachers, mainly from Oakland High School, walked out to stage a protest at Oakland City Hall. That unsanctioned action did earn teachers a docked paycheck, Lebaron said.

“Our superintendent is misguided in that she thinks that’s a deterrent when all it really did was really piss people off and make them more determined,” Lebaron said.