Oakland teachers reach agreement with school district to avoid 1-day strike

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The planned one-day strike by Oakland teachers on Thursday has been called off. It comes after a last-minute deal was reached Wednesday morning between the Oakland Unified School District and the Oakland Education Association, the teachers' union.

"It is just a really critical time of year. We are entering into state testing, the end of the year. It was very critical to avert this strike," says Jennifer Brouhard, OUSD President.

OEA claims, since last year, it has been asking for details related to potential budget cuts for the 2025-2026 school year. It threatened to strike if the information was delayed.

"Unions have the right to ask for that information and I think just sometimes there is just a lot of work going on, why that information didn't get passed on, in a timely manner as the union felt it should," says Brouhard.

The teachers union says the agreement helps to retain more than 120 high school teachers as well as substitute teachers.

"The board passed balanced budget solutions in December. And in that, called for job cuts in order to balance our budget," explains Brouhard. "And this is what the unions and the district were able to come to agreement on, was instating some of those positions."

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The teachers' union was not available for an interview. But in a statement to ABC7 News, OEA President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer says, in part, "This outcome reflects the power of educators standing together against cuts harmful to our goal of retaining experienced teachers in Oakland's hardest-to-staff classrooms."

But OUSD Board Member, Mike Hutchinson, is raising concerns.

"We have a big problem with our school board and how they have been colluding with the teacher union's leadership," says Hutchison.

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Hutchinson contends, in a 4-3 vote, the jobs the district voted to save are outside the current teachers' contract. And it voted without identifying the funding source.

This comes after board approved a voluntary separation agreement with superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammel last week.

"So, it is very clear that, even though OEA claimed they were going to strike over not receiving information, that that really wasn't the case. In the end, this was all to get a pay-out to fund jobs that are not included in the contract," claims Hutchinson.

The cuts are not related to the current teachers' contract, which goes through June. Discussions will begin in the coming weeks over the new teachers' contract.