Oakland students resume classes as teachers’ strike ends

Thousands of Oakland students are returning to school today after about 3,000 striking public school teachers struck a tentative deal with district officials to raise teacher salaries and take some unconventional steps to improve students’ lives, including setting up a a Black Reparations Task Force and the use of district real estate to help homeless students.

Teachers, librarians, nurses and other staff in the Oakland Unified School District walked out on May 4, the latest in a series of labor disputes at academic institutions in California. During the nearly two weeks that Oakland’s teachers were off work, the district’s 80 schools remained open to the 34,000 students, but there was no instruction.

Oakland’s teachers, one of the lowest paid in the Bay Area, achieved a raise of about 15 percent over three years according to the agreement reached Monday between the district, one of the largest in the state, and the Oakland Education Association, the union representing the teachers . The starting salary for a first-year teacher in the district will be increased from $52,905 to $62,696, according to a design by the union.

District officials say they are investing $70 million in educators’ wages in the deal, making progress toward a long-term goal of paying them “what they deserve,” Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said.

“We realize we’re not there yet, but this is a critical step to get there,” Johnson-Trammell said at a press conference Monday afternoon. “It has always been important to me to move OUSD from a history of crisis to a culture of stability and achievement of quality for every student, family and employee in our district. We moved the needle significantly in that direction today.

The preliminary deal, which has yet to be ratified by union members, also includes changes aimed at improving social and economic conditions for parents, teachers and students in Oakland Unified, including the establishment of a Black Repairs Task Force which will focus on providing services to schools where 40 percent or more of the students are black. The district also agreed to involve parents, teachers, and staff members in making the best-spend decision millions of dollars in new state money for educationunion officials said.

These kinds of “public interest” clauses — provisions not directly related to workers’ wages or benefits — were first seen during the 2012 Chicago teachers’ strike and have continued to crop up across the country in recent years, Steven said. K. Ashby, professor of occupational sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and co-author of a book about the groundbreaking strike in Chicago.

Striking teachers in North Carolina called on the state legislature in 2018 to expand Medicaid to improve community health. In West Virginia, teachers who walked out managed to secure pay raises for all state employees.

This emerging trend reflects union leaders’ broader, more progressive view of the power and role of organizing, Ashby told me. “The 2012 strike shook up the labor movement,” he said. “The basic idea is: instead of negotiating for ourselves, let’s negotiate for the community – it’s a new twist.”

Several California districts recently negotiated public interest demands, including Los Angeles Unified (where workers went on strike for three days in March), San Diego Unified and West Contra Costa Unified, according to the Oakland Education Association.

The proposed Oakland contract includes a pledge from the district to hire more full-time librarians and advisors and use its resources to help its 1,500 homeless students, either by helping them obtain housing vouchers or by directly providing free showers , laundry or housing. There is also a clause requiring the district to work with AC Transit, which serves Oakland and some surrounding areas, to offer free bus passes to all students in the district.

“We are teachers because that’s what we want to do; we are trying to change the system because we have been through the system,” said Ismael Armendariz, president of the Oakland Education Association in a video on the union’s Twitter page on Monday, adding, “We want to do better for everyone.”

Where we travel

Today’s tip comes from Mary Ann Mitchell, who lives in Folsom:

“One of my favorite things to do in the spring is going for a ride in our Honda S2000. My husband and I put the roof down and drive through the foothills. The most recent trip was to Coloma for the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. We drove through the hills, saw wild flowers and took a break in the park. We wandered the dirt trails, read about the gold mining town and sites, saw people panning for gold, and watched the American River rush by. Boy, are things going fast now.

We found a great place for coffee, the Argonaut Farm to Fork Cafe, and had lattes, tea and a cookie. After that indulgence, we got back in the car to continue the drive through the green hills, with the trees in leaf and the wildflowers in bloom. A little drive is a great way to welcome spring! Go out and find the fun in the world.”

Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We will share more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

Tell us

My colleague Jill Cowan reported on the enduring fame of P-22, a mountain lion who became an icon for Angelenos.

While there have been plenty of famous domesticated animals, we’d love to hear about wild animals that have become celebrities for you. Did you have a bird, bear, or deer in your community that you became attached to? Tell us about it and why you became a fan. Email us at CAtoday@nytimes.com with your suggestions.

And before you go, good news

The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are usually seen in the northernmost regions of the world. However, in recent months they have become visible to those who live further south, including some Central California residents last month.

That’s not a fluke, but part of a trend that could see more of the world get rare glimpses of the phenomenon in the coming years, scientists say. The increased visibility of the lights will peak in 2025.

Thank you for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Soumja

PS Here it is today’s mini crossword.

Briana Scalia and Johnna Margalotti contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com.

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