Hear from students on how they experienced the strike, look at the costs and benefits and also the lived experiences of students in terms of school quality. Please read and share this important report from our partners at Energy Convertors and the State of Black Education in Oakland (SoBEO).
Some excerpts are below, read the whole report for the whole story
” The strike ended as if it never started, but I will forever be for my teachers. So much community came forth for teachers to get the pay they deserve, for nurses, and counselors workload to decrease and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. However, it lasted a week and should’ve continued longer had there been better communication.
The strike ended with a raise that the teachers won’t even feel and with nurses and counselors workloads remaining the same. All the while, the schools that students deserve remains on the back burner. I don’t want to say that one group is more important than the other because that’s not how I work, there are just forces that turned us against each other and had us using each other without even realizing it. “
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” Teachers should be paid more, hard stop. Now that that’s out the way, I’m concerned. I am trying to get to college. I need to complete FAFSA. I need letters of recommendation. I need good grades in my classes this semester. The colleges do not care about the strike, as deadlines are deadlines. I know that many of my classmates are planning to join the picket line and I may too, but I am really concerned that this might impact my college aspirations. I am not trying to be selfish, but I have worked very hard to get here. “
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” I’ve been following the strike, and a lot is going on. Is there a focus at all on improving quality? Like, I know that it is assumed that if the strike is successful, things will get better but is that part of the contract? It is all kind of confusing. My teachers are passionate about this though, and I want them to be able to take care of their families. ”
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“This report is not solely about the Oakland teachers’ strike. It is about the level of quality education a student living in Oakland receives. With so many pressing issues happening in the city at this time, it is easy for us to lose sight on just how well education is serving all of our students. In this report we highlight the strike, graduation rates, who has access to A-G attainment, and what our students have to say about all of it. “