By Mike Myslinski
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OEA members hold one of several rallies before the settlement is reached. |
Narrowly averting a one-day strike set for April 20, the bargaining team of the Oakland Education Association reached a tentative agreement after marathon negotiations that ended late the night before the planned job action.
At press time, OEA's 3,200 members were scheduled to vote on the new pact on May 10.
If it's ratified, teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area's second-largest school district, home to 42,000 students, will have something to show for two years of tumultuous negotiations with the district's state-appointed administrator.
The strike buildup disarmed the district. In a textbook lesson in community mobilizing, Oakland teachers organized and won support from parent groups, four other unions representing non-teaching staff, the city council, the school board and OEA's endorsed mayoral candidate Ron Dellums. The Bay Area media packed a series of news conferences and community rallies.
The tentative agreement is not the best of all worlds, but makes gains in salary, benefits and other areas that will help recruit and retain teachers in the district, said OEA President Ben Visnick before the all-member vote.
"This is a district where nearly 30 percent of our teachers left our classrooms last year for districts with better pay and more respect," Visnick said. "This tentative agreement is a beginning. It's a good start for our teachers and for a community that's rightfully looking for more stability and more quality in its schools."
With some Oakland teachers criticizing the new pact as not going far enough, the OEA executive board deadlocked 8-8 on whether to recommend the pact to the membership, opting instead to take a neutral position.
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With OEA President Ben Visnick at his side, CTA Secretary-Treasurer Dean E. Vogel brings word of support from teachers around the state. |
In 2003, when the district nearly went bankrupt and had to submit to state takeover, teachers gave back 4 percent in salary increases to help out. The new three-year contract would restore that money plus give teachers another 2.25 percent. The agreement is better in most areas than a tentative agreement rejected by OEA members in April 2005. In addition to salary gains, it includes improvements in elementary classroom prep time, pay for substitutes, protections from involuntary teacher transfers, and health benefits.
Retroactive to July 1, 2005, the tentative agreement maintains district-paid health care for teachers until June 30. Educators would then pay 0.5 percent of their salaries for coverage in the second and third years of the contract. After June 30, 2008, OEA members would pay 4 percent of total health premium costs up to a maximum of $700 per year.
Several hours before the April 19 settlement, Visnick spoke at a packed OEA news conference about the real goals of the strike.
"This strike is about improving conditions for teachers so they will want to stay in Oakland and keep teaching," he told the room full of TV cameras and reporters. "Our struggle is about bringing back art and music classes to our schools, and bringing back quality education programs to all parts of the city."
