Jack O’Connell Restores Local Control as State Administrator Declares Impasse!

News Release

We need as many members as possible to join us at our press conference Monday, June 29th (details below)! Stand with President Betty Olson-Jones and members of our Bargaining Team to let the District know we will not back down from our demand for a fair contract!

Contact: OEA President Betty Olson-Jones  510-866-3676 (cell) or 763-4020 x 15

Jack O’Connell Gives Local Control and

$80 Million Debt to Oakland School Board

State Administration Declares Impasse in

Teacher Negotiations

OAKLAND, June 27, 2009 - The Oakland Education Association (OEA), representing nearly 3,000 Oakland teachers, will hold a press conference Monday, June 29, just before the signing ceremony that will return full local control to the Board of Education (BOE). Teachers want the public to know that one of the last acts of the State Administration was to notify the OEA – by email – that the District was declaring impasse in their negotiations with OEA to secure a new contract. Despite the fact that there are several issues that have not been discussed at the bargaining table, the State Administration unilaterally declared impasse just a week after the end of the school year, when teachers are on vacation, and just three days before the return to full local control. Is this a coincidence or just a set-up, pitting the local BOE against District employees?

While the OEA enthusiastically welcomes the long-overdue return to local control, we are conscious of the enormous challenges the Board faces. Although the alleged goal of the state takeover was to restore fiscal solvency to the District, the past six years have seen an even further erosion of fiscal stability. The recent exposure of a $15 million shortfall due to the State Administration’s failure to reconcile cash and payroll accounts during the entire period of state takeover is just the latest example of the state’s failure to carry out its stated mission. As it resumes full control, the BOE is being handed a debt of at least $80 million during a period of extreme state and national economic crisis. Teachers and other employees of the District have not had more than minimal raises since 2002-03, and most District unions are currently in negotiations. The unions are told that “there is no money and employees must be laid off.” Yet there was $80 million to spend on consultants, there is money to pay for new management positions, and our new Superintendent will assume office on July 1 with a 6% raise and a bloated administration. The latest financial report revealed that OUSD spent $42 million less on classroom education compensation than the state law requires. That money could have and should have been used to hire more teachers and begin to bring salaries up to the level of surrounding districts. Yet teachers are being offered a 3% pay CUT!

“This District must set new priorities to attract and retain quality educators—priorities that will improve conditions for teachers and students,” says Betty Olson-Jones, OEA President. “It is unacceptable to tell OEA members that they are the most important person in a child’s school-life but then threaten them with pay cuts, caps on health benefits, increases in class sizes and caseloads for counselors and nurses, and the elimination of elementary enrichment classes. This is no way to create success!”

When:             Monday, June 29^th, 2009 at 12:00 pm

Where:            United for Success Middle School (Calvin Simmons campus)

2101 35^th Avenue, Oakland 94601