Teachers in Oakland, California, reach agreement with school district on ‘common good’ demands as strike continues

By Tina Burnside and Zoe Sottile, CNN

More than a week after public school educators in Oakland, California, hit the picket lines, the teachers’ union announced it has reached an agreement with the school district on four “common good” demands on Saturday night.

The Oakland Education Association, which represents the teachers, announced the agreement in a Facebook post.

“We are still on strike, but momentum is on our side,” they wrote.

“We have an agreement around supports for unhoused students, our Black thriving community schools, and school closures,” Kampala Taiz-Rancifer, the vice president of the Oakland Education Association, told CNN affiliate KGO.

Teachers went on strike on May 4 after contract negotiations with Oakland Unified School District, in which they were seeking higher pay and more efforts to address social concerns, failed to yield a deal.

The union said that no deal has been signed to end the strike as they are still actively negotiating an agreement on teacher salaries, special education programs, and class sizes.

The school district said it was pleased to have reached an agreement on common good issues. “OUSD appreciates the collaborative nature of the discussions and the effort of the OEA members involved to reach these agreements,” the district said in a statement to KGO.

“We are making good progress and will keep our families and community updated throughout the night,” the Oakland Unified School District said in a statement to CNN on Sunday.

The first “common good” agreement, “Housing and Transportation,” stipulates that the union and the school district will collaborate on support for unhoused and housing insecure students and expand access to free bus passes for qualifying students.

The second agreement, “Community Schools Grant,” regulates shared governance for “community schools” that receive funding from the California Community Schools Partnership Program.

The third agreement, “Black Thriving Community Schools,” provides support for “Historically Black Schools” in which 40% or more of the student population is Black.

The fourth agreement, “School Closures,” specifies a process the district must follow before closing a school.

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