Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and the Oakland Educators Association (OEA) are negotiating the budget for the upcoming two years amid unprecedented financial distress. Previous years have seen contentious negotiations between the district and the union. Tensions are rising as various financial issues have sent the projected budget deficit to around $120 million, higher than it has ever been.
It is no secret that OUSD has struggled to negotiate and organize the budget over the last decade. Frequent issues plaguing the district such as low salaries for educators, school closure proposals, and underfunded programs have caused issues between the district and the teacher’s union. OEA strikes occurred in 2019 and 2022, greatly affecting both school years. As contract renewal comes up this spring, many teachers and students are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the current negotiations.
Vilma Serrano is an elementary school teacher and a crucial member on the OEA’s side of budget negotiations. She mentioned two main issues to blame for the current crisis: over-budgeting for books and supplies as well as outside contracts, which compared to other districts, are some of the main expenditures in the current budget.
Serrano asserted that contracting out for jobs takes up around 20% of the budget. Contracting out has a higher price tag and lowers available salaries offered for those directly hired by the district. Contracted-out educators also may not be able to stay at a school for as long as those directly hired by the district. District prioritization of funds for contracts over direct hire can result in a lack of stability for students. Serrano suggests that terminating some of these contracts could raise the salaries and benefits offered by the district and resolve some of the current overspending.
Serrano also highlighted the importance of limiting school closures, stating: “We want to also offer that stability for parents to know that from year to year they can expect their school will be there, that they’ll be able to send their child to their school, and that they’ll have educators that know that and their family over the years.”
The district has its own perspective on the current budgetary crisis. Jenine Lindsey currently leads OUSD’s legal team, and was previously the Executive Director of Labor Relations. She heads the district side of negotiations with the OEA. Lindsey mentioned that many of the current issues are in relation to “soft dollars” that were given to the district primarily during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Now, we’re in a position where there’s going to have to be some cuts and reductions because those dollars have expired,” Lindsey noted.
A pressing factor within current negotiations is the looming threat of revolving back into state receivership. Under state receivership, the district has to get every agreement signed by a state trustee. Earlier this year, OUSD strengthened its budget enough to leave state receivership. Lindsey worries that if the negotiations are not done with fiscal responsibility there is a very real chance of landing back in state receivership.
“I am concerned that things that are being put on the table with OEA would actually send us further into a deficit, if agreed to,” Lindsey told us.
As negotiations continue into the winter both representatives discussed what the future of these negotiations could look like. Lindsey stated that negotiations should continue until the end of the year, around December 21, due to a contract from last year in which the OEA agreed to extend negotiations through the fall. The OEA has multiple requests within their current budget proposals, such as increasing compensation and decreasing class sizes. In relation to the current state of negotiations, Serrano mentioned that only around half of the OEA’s 31 proposals have received responses from the district.
“I think for now we’re really keeping an eye on what types of proposals we’ll be receiving to really determine the next couple weeks and what our next moves will be,” Serrano stated.