See information here. 

See file here. 

Thank you for coming to this last Rep Council of the school year. I know well how busy this time of year is, and I appreciate all the more your commitment to coming.

Public Hearing on Oakland Schools Four Years After State Takeover

Special thanks to all of you who spent last Friday evening at the public hearing sponsored by the Ad Hoc Committee to Restore Local Control/Governance to Oakland Schools! It was a tremendous success in many ways: over 200 people came (standing room only), most elected officials stayed throughout the testimony, and – most importantly – the stories were passionate, concrete, brutal pictures of life in the Oakland schools under state takeover and No Child Left Behind. I convened the hearing in honor of Rudy Rodriguez, the Bret Harte eighth grader who tragically drowned during the end-of-year celebration at Roberts Pool. Rudy was my Science student in fifth grade at Sequoia, and my dear friend Barbara Schmidt’s student for all other subjects.

When our scheduled time was almost over yet the line of speakers still stretched out the hall, most of the panelists still elected to stay, moved by the eloquence of the testimony. Mayor Dellums was there until the end; Assemblymember Sandre Swanson left just before to speak at a graduation. Others on the panel were Assemblymember Loni Hancock, Saundra Andrews for Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Supervisor Keith Carson, Executive Secretary-Treasurer Sharon Cornu of the Central Labor Council, Oakland School Board members Greg Hodge, Chris Dobbins, Noel Gallo and Alice Spearman, ACORN Leader Fannie Brown, AFT 771 President Ana Turetsky, and AFSCME 257 Leader Jo Bates.

A number of the speakers came from East Oakland Community High School, slated for closure by the District. Especially eloquent was Luis, a student whose poem spoke volumes about how society treats students of color. The hearing closed an hour late with the audience unanimously agreeing to demand a return to local control of our schools and a moratorium on school closures. Now it’s up to us to continue to push for these demands to be met.

Port Action

On May 19, a number of OEA members were part of a picket line that shut down port shipments for two shifts. Longshore workers honored our picket lines and refused to go in to work. Our demands were clear: Stop War Shipments; Port Money for Schools and Social Services; Bring the Troops Home Now—and give them the care they need! For one day, at two separate shifts, it was not business as usual at Stevedore Services of America (SSA), which leases land from the Port of Oakland. Picket lines of 60-100 people put a stop to the normal work day, while longshore workers who arrived for

their shifts stood to the side and refused to cross. In an era when fear too often seems to rule, teachers and longshore workers stood side by side, calling attention to the utter injustice of the Port leasing land to companies like SSA and APL (American President

Lines) to ship war-related goods, while at the same time giving not a penny of their substantial profits to Oakland schools or other social services.

At a time when school funding is widely recognized as totally inadequate, we cannot stand by and accept the myth that “there is no money.” Oakland is NOT a poor city. The Port of Oakland and other corporations have a civic responsibility to support our schools and social services. That was the message we were bringing on May 19th.

As we get ready to head into another round of contract negotiations, we need to be mindful that we will be told over and again that “there is no money.” That’s when we need to remember this initial, symbolic victory – for just one day, teachers and longshore workers stood side by side, refusing to load shipments for war, refusing to accept that the Port and other corporate interests have no responsibility for our youth.

When we can more effectively recognize, verbalize, and publicize the connections between inadequate resources for education and social services, on the one hand, and the seemingly inexhaustible resources for war, on the other, then we’ve begun to take back our schools, take back our democracy.

Summer Actions
Also, as we head into a new round of contract negotiations, it is imperative that we work on rebuilding OEA’s internal structure. Because of so many restructurings, reconstitutions, and closures, many of our members have moved to different schools or left Oakland, and many new members have joined us. During the summer it will be my priority to work with other OEA members on making a plan to rebuild our union, with a focus on strengthening each site through Rep and Faculty Council trainings. Please let me know if you are willing to work on this project over the summer.

And to all of you, I hope you have a most relaxing break from the challenging work you do every day. Thank you for understanding the power of unionism, for being willing to work together to defend and strengthen public education.

In unity,

Betty Olson-Jones

OEA President