Oakland teachers declare impasse in talks with district, but say they will return to classrooms
FacebookTwitterEmail
1of2
A Sankofa Academy classroom sits empty on Aug. 10, the first day of the school year in Oakland. The reopening effort has hit snags in negotiations.Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle 2020Show MoreShow Less
2of2
A masked first-grade student works on an assignment March 30, the first day of partial in-person instruction at Garfield Elementary School in Oakland.Jessica Christian / The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
Oakland’s teachers union is holding a vote of no confidence in the district’s reopening plans, with negotiations breaking down days before a number of elementary, middle and high schools are set to reopen.
Oakland Education Association attempts to defuse anger over reckless return to schools
Oakland teachers returned from spring break this week to find no significant preparations for a return to in-person instruction in place. With students expected to return to classrooms on Monday, there is growing anger among teachers over the unsafe and rushed plans pursued by the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and Oakland Education Association (OEA). Basic issues like work schedules and precisely which students are returning were left up in the air and have been determined haphazardly on a site-by-site basis this week.
With signs of a new surge of COVID-19 developing in California, the OEA executive board has cynically put a vote of “no confidence” in OUSD before its membership. This is a diversionary tactic, which was also employed by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) in February as they pushed through their miserable deal to reopen the third-largest district in the US. Instead of or