Pages

Monday, October 20, 2014

ELECTIONS MATTER!






LEARN ABOUT MONEY FROM THE 1% FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY SENT TO DEFEAT THE TEACHER AND ELECT THE PRIVATIZEER.

click here



SUPPORT OEA ENDORSED CANDIDATES

FOR OUSD SCHOOL BOARD

KARL DEBRO, District 4

SHANTHI GONZALES, District 6







Tuesday, October 14, 2014

OUSD TAKES $1.3 MILLION AWAY FROM 2014-2015 COMPENSATION OFFER


In a stunning move of backwards bargaining, on October 14, the OUSD Bargaining Team slashed its $5.15 million increase to the salary schedule for 2014-15 to $3.8 million.

Your OEA Bargaining Team will reject this regressive move by the District, but they will only be able to banish it from consideration because the district knows that

YOU REJECT IT!

Show OUSD your displeasure and your OEA Bargaining Team your support. 

THIS HOUR OF POWER

MEANS EVEN MORE NOW! 



Wednesday, October 15

4:00 TO 5:00

ONE HOUR OF OEA POWER!


Join your colleagues, parents, and students to support a settled and fair contract!

Choose the location most convenient to you: 


51st Street and Broadway
35th Avenue and MacArthur
98th Avenue and International

Splashpad across from the Grand Lake Theatre
Thornhill and Mountain
7th Street and Market


SAVE THE DATE 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29

OEA MEMBERSHIP MEETING 

4:00-6:00

Oakland High School


If there is no significant movement, what is next?

From the Bargaining Table-

to Impasse-

to Fact Finding-

to Strike -


What every member needs to know. 

Spread the word..... 

It bears repeating: 

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

OEA Bargaining Update




You have the right to remain silent.

But if you use it too much....

We will never get the contract we deserve.



Will Your Site Have a Voice?



Copy OEA endorsed candidates to your Facebook picture until the election!

To win a contract or election against money power takes people power. We have examples from all over the country that extraordinary people power wins over extraordinary money power, every time. But not in the absence of an extra-ordinary effort by the people.

That is why I am asking you, who have already given much, to step up a little more this month. It is not the minimum you are willing that will lead us to victory, but the maximum you are able.

Let your OEA Rep know what you are willing to do. Can you do 2?

Make sure you have an ELECTED Rep attend the Rep Council at Bret Harte on 10/6 at 4:00. Without a form, they will not be able to vote on the OEA's position on Measure N. Forms have been sent several times, but even a statement signed by two witnesses will be accepted.

Read last week's mailing for arguments in Support, Neutral, or Opposed to N. Make sure your Site Rep is clear on your position.

Thank you for all you do for Oakland's children.

It's your decision. Should OEA Support, Oppose, or be Neutral on MEASURE N?




The OEA Representative Council will take a position on the parcel tax on October 6. Your OEA Rep should reflect the will of the staff on this very important topic. Please read all of the arguments below and discuss with your colleagues and come to a collective agreement.




SUPPORT
 POSITION FOR N


1. Measure N is big enough to make a real difference in graduation rates. This matters. It will generate approximately $13 million a year for high schools. That's about $1000 for every high school student. That is enough money to improve in the educational experience of our students and the working conditions of our high school teachers. 

2. This money will not be wasted on high paid central office positions. By law, at least 90% of the money goes to school site budgets. 
  
3. This is not a once size fits all top down reform initiative. Every high school gets to develop its own plan for the use of the funds. 
4. Fights the narrow test score obsession dominating our national conversation about school reform. Schools will need to demonstrate that their use of these funds contributes to higher and more equitable graduation rates and post secondary enrollment rates, not changes in test scores. These are much more holistic ways of assessing high schools are truly meeting students' needs or not. In this day and age, this is a rare chance to increase funding to our schools without signing onto the dominant narratives regarding testing. 



NEUTRAL
 POSITION ON N
  

Money to fund programs and personnel for our high schools is critically needed.

But the Oakland Education Association should not support Measure N.

Measure N will provide the opportunity for some charter schools to receive money from the parcel tax.

But the Oakland Education Association should not oppose Measure N.

What faces OEA is the promotion of an opportunity to receive more revenue vs. telling the public that teachers reject more revenue because some of it may go to Oakland children attending charter schools.

To say yes might imply that the OEA no longer feels the charter school movement advances the privatization of our public school systems.

To say no might be perceived by the public at large that Oakland educators don't care about money to help students, only money to help raise salaries.

While the above seems a dizzying ping pong game of on the one hand, on the other hand, the implications of taking a support or oppose position has serious implications for the OEA as an organization and its standing in the community.



OPPOSE
POSITION FOR N
  

The only chance for defeating Measure N is for OEA to inform the public that the consequences of its passage will be the closing of District high schools.
Measure N, the Oakland School Board's 10 year parcel tax, will advance the privatization of Oakland's public school by providing multimillion-dollars that attract charter school operators to locate to Oakland where additional charters will lower the District's high school enrollment, pressuring the closing of District high schools, and resulting in the elimination of our members' jobs.
Currently there are almost as many OUSD authorized charter high schools (11) as OUSD high schools (15) that will be eligible to apply for a portion of the approximately $20 million Measure N parcel tax funding.
The School Board is saying to charters here are millions available if you locate in Oakland; we've shown you the money, now come and get it, charter operators.
 A likely outcome of Oakland School Board multimillion-dollar incentive for Oakland charter high school growth is, that over Measure N's ten years, the number of District high schools being funded by Measure N will shrink below the funding received by School Board authorized charter schools.

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT FLYERING






OEA members signed up to pass out flyers about bargaining and the School Board elections to parents of another school at BTSNs happening this month. Almost 30 have already committed. Ask your friends around the district if they could come to your school or would like you to come to theirs to pass out OEA information to parents on Back to School Night. It takes less than an hour, it builds solidarity, and it's fun.



If you missed the evening event, you can still pass out the flyers before and after school!



There are plenty of flyers at OEA for you to pick up. For masters of the flyers in English and Spanish click here.