OAKLAND - Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) issued the following statement regarding the tentative agreement reached to end the Oakland Unified School District Teachers’ Strike:
I’m extremely pleased that each side has found common ground and reached a fair and just tentative agreement to end the Oakland Teacher’s Strike. This agreement represents the outcome of thoughtful and robust negotiations that intensified over the last several days. I especially want to thank our State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond who played a pivotal role in this outcome by directly engaging in the negotiations to help the parties identify a solution. I was pleased to work with him and the parties in this process, including participating in multiple all-day and late-night bargaining sessions at the State Building in Oakland. Together, we have arrived at an agreement that is good for our students, our teachers, our parents, and our entire community.
The agreement will: reduce class size; increase support for students, including greater access to counselors and nurses; address Oakland’s teacher retention crisis; and help provide a strong school district for all Oaklanders. This tentative agreement will allow students and educators to get back where they belong— in the classroom where they can grow and thrive together. The last week has demonstrated the Oakland community deeply loves their neighborhood schools. Continuing that engagement is critical. To that end, I worked closely with Board President Aimee Eng to develop a resolution that helps ensure greater community involvement when hard choices about closures or consolidations of schools are being considered. Real parent, teacher and stakeholder engagement is critical to successful schools. I look forward to working with OEA and OUSD to expand on this in the months to come.
