OAKLAND — Teachers here are poised to go on strike Thursday despite the findings of a state-appointed arbitrator that the financially strapped district can’t afford to give them the raise they’re asking for, a dilemma that union leaders say was avoidable.
In a non-binding “fact-finding report” released over the weekend, arbitrator Najeeb N. Khoury acknowledged the district’s offer of a 5 percent raise over three years won’t keep pace with inflation, but also noted the Oakland Education Association’s demand for a 12 percent increase over three years is beyond the district’s means.
Khoury indicated he would like to see teachers get a 9 percent raise over three years — 3 percent a year — because it would make their salaries more competitive with other districts, but even that would “place too much of a strain on the district’s current finances.”
Instead, he recommended a 6 percent raise retroactive to the 2017-18 school year and called for salary negotiations to reopen for the 2019-20 school year, at which time the district might be able to land more money from the state under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal.
He also noted Oakland Unified may be able to offer more than 6 percent later if raises are put off for now.
The union’s appointee to the fact-finding team, Charles King, agreed with the 6 percent retroactive raise for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years, but he also wanted the district to lock in a 5 percent raise for the 2019-2020 year rather than reopen negotiations.
“An agreement now gives the district several weeks to build an appropriate budget prospective in their next multi-year projection,” King said. “The Oakland community cannot continue to wait for the OUSD school board and administration to fulfill this promise.”
The district is desperately searching for ways to prevent its funding shortfall from growing to $56.6 million by the 2020-21. The deficit is due in part to a sharp decline in student enrollment over the past 15 years from 54,000 to 37,000 and district officials’ failure to budget accordingly — a predicament that some critics blame on fiscal mismanagement.
Skyline teacher Donna Salonga said it’s nice that Khoury’s 6 percent recommendation at least accounts for inflation, but added that’s not enough to cover the Bay Area’s rising housing costs.
“I was born and raised in San Francisco, so coming from that point of view, 6 percent is better than 5 percent, but we are not going to accept that,” Salonga said in an interview.
The Oakland Education Association has urged district officials to reduce administrative costs to make up for higher teacher pay. The school board is expected to vote before the end of the month on a proposal to cut $21.75 million from next year’s budget by closing some schools, laying off teachers and other employees and slashing administrative expenses.
The average annual salary for Oakland teachers was $63,149 during the 2017-18 school year, according to a report from the state’s Department of Education. Salaries range from $46,570 to $83,724.
Oakland teachers are among the lowest paid in Alameda County and neighboring counties, causing a “retention crisis” in the district, the fact-finding report states.
District officials would not comment on the specific findings in the report. Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell, in a video message sent to the community Friday, said the district is “encouraged” by the report and requests that the union return to the bargaining table rather than go on strike Thursday.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Oakland Unified issued a news release urging students to attend classes if a strike happens. Although the city of Oakland has offered to provide up to 15 recreation centers for students to go to to if they don’t want to cross picket lines, district officials said that’s not a district-sanctioned alternative.
Oakland Education Association President Keith Brown told reporters at a news conference Monday that the union has negotiated since 2017 and is waiting for the district to send a suitable proposal to avoid a strike.
Brown did not respond Monday to requests for comment on the fact-finding report.
The union maintains that the district’s reported budget deficit is a sham, according to the fact-finding report.
“OEA believes that OUSD constantly overestimates expenses, which creates an appearance of a budget crisis only to lead invariably to actual surpluses,” Khoury said.
The district argues that the surpluses are the result of an influx of grant funds, which by law cannot be used for across-the-board labor costs. The union disputes that legal interpretation.
Khoury did not address the union’s claim, but did point out the district’s deficit is why a 12 percent raise isn’t feasible.
The union also requested the district reduce maximum class sizes by two students across all schools, according to the report. Khoury said reducing class sizes in addition to increasing teachers’ salaries would be tricky, but recommended an across-the-board class size reduction of one student, to be implemented by July 2020.
To attract and retain school nurses, the report also calls for the district to offer a signing bonus of $5,000 and retention bonuses of $2,500 to be paid after each two years of service.