Striking Oakland teachers return to class in exchange for 'Black reparations task force,' salary raises

An Oakland school district teachers’ union strike that left over 34,000 students without instruction for nearly two weeks finally ended after the district agreed to pay teachers more and start a Black reparations task force. 

Around 3,000 educators and staff from Oakland Unified School District returned to work Tuesday after striking a tentative deal with the district to raise teacher salaries, help homeless Black students and create the reparations task force.

The massive strike featured teachers, librarians, nurses, and other staff members walking out on their jobs May 4. Though the teachers were gone, the schools stayed opened for their 34,000 students, leaving them little to no instruction during the duration of the strike. 

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Educators in Oakland are reportedly among the lowest paid in the Bay Area. The deal struck between the school district and the Oakland Education Association on Monday secured union members an almost 15% raise over the course of three years.

A draft of the deal provided by the union noted that first time teachers’ salaries will increase from $52,905 to $62,696. 

In total, the district agreed to invest over $70 million in educators’ wages with the deal, with district Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell telling The New York Times that the pay increase is "what they deserve."

The superintendent added, "It’s always been important to me to move O.U.S.D. from a history of crisis toward a culture of stability and achieving quality for every student, family and employee in our district. We have moved the needle significantly in that direction today."

Though the real point of controversy is the district and union coming agreeing to start a Black reparations task force, which the Times said will "will focus on providing services to schools where 40 percent or more of the students are Black."

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The draft of the deal stated, "OUSD shall create a Reparations for Black Students Taskforce (TF) to identify Historically Black Schools, defined as an OUSD school in which 40% or more of the students enrolled in the schools are African American, and support the transformations of those schools into Black Thriving Community schools that provide the wrap-arounds services and supports needed for African American students to thrive."

The draft listed out the task force’s duties and responsibilities to these schools and laid out membership requirements. Representatives of the teachers’ union as well as members of the school district’s Board of Education signed the document, committing themselves to the deal. 

The Oakland Unified School District isn’t the only California institution that’s commissioned a reparations task force. The state government recently formed a California Reparations Task Force that has since recommended state lawmakers pay up to $1.2 million in reparations payments to Black California residents.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Oakland Education Association for a statement on the go ahead of the reparations task force and is waiting to hear back.