As teachers are joined by parents, students and community members on picket lines, the school board faces pressure to settle with teachers and put students first when making budget cuts for next year.
For months the district warned it needed to cut $30 million from its 2019-20 budget. When a plan to cut a lower amount came before them, the board put off a vote amid complaints that members didn't know how the cuts would impact students and schools. About 100 staffers, most from the central office, are slated to lose their jobs.
Oakland teachers voted overwhelmingly to support a strike if their union can't negotiate a new contract.
They rallied Tuesday outside Oakland city hall and won support from the city council which has no authority to settle the contract dispute with the Oakland Unified School District. A strike can not legally occur until after Feb. 15 when a neutral fact-finding report is expected to be issued.
Oakland Unified faces a budget deficit, in part because students are choosing charter and private schools. The district enrolls only 58 percent of the nearly 63,000 school-age children who live in Oakland.
Teachers' union has threatened to strike after rejecting the district's offer of a 5 percent salary increase. Both sides must first participate in a fact-finding with a three-member independent panel.
The West Contra Costa Unified School Board for the first time in its history has a Latina majority who will now join in the tough task of making $12 million in budget cuts to help pay for salary increases for teachers and other employees in a region with soaring housing costs.
Gary Yee, a former interim superintendent, principal, teacher and board member, was coaxed out of retirement to run for the board.
He says he wants to be seen as a "village elder" on education issues.