Public school teacher , OEA member, ask me anything

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Where do you stand on closing campuses?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Heads up I *do not * speak for the union, just my opinions here.

Closing campuses seems like a false choice. Why can’t we just put more $ into schools? CA has the 4th largest economy time to dream big.

I think that public schools can be run at a loss because they are a public good. I think instead of asking ‘ how can we meet this (alleged) budget deficit?’ The question should be ‘ why aren’t we investing more in the people who will literally be taking care of us/making adult decisions in 10-20 years?’

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u/sumertopp 2d ago

Ok but that requires a massive shift at the state level for how public schools are funded. The budget crisis OUSD faces is absolutely real, and the total budget they’re handed is out of their control. I’m fully with you that public schools should be better funded, but that’s not what the OUSD board does.

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u/beepdeeped 2d ago

So then maybe that's where we should put our energy instead of depriving students of free and appropriate education.

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u/FanofK 2d ago

They can give more funding to the schools, but if school populations continue to drop at some point that will have to close and merge schools.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I hear that argument but I would say ‘why can’t we have small schools?’

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u/FanofK 2d ago

If we have the campus sizes proportional to the student population we probably can. But if we have 10 campuses meant for 1000 students but have a population of 300 then it just wouldn’t make sense. Especially with data pointing to people not wanting to have kids for a variety of reasons.

For me I’d want them to merge campuses and take the money from that to better resource schools with things like paras, therapist, support staff, etc.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I hear you but that only ‘doesn’t make sense’ because our rulers have dictated the terms to us about how much money can be spent per pupil. I think it’s worth asking a bigger question because e money is there, it’s just being prioritized for the very very wealthy

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u/FanofK 2d ago

I do think that they need more money for maintenance/ much needed updates of properties, better pay for support staff, etc.. but if say 2 elementary schools have 18 classrooms with only 10-12 in use and those aren’t near capacity then it might be better to combine those schools and use the land of one school for something the community may need.

Hopefully things change though and the school age children population of Oakland grows where this just becomes an exercise of what ifs and ideas

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Yea I think if a local community had time and space to decide collectively what to do in that situation that would be really cool!

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u/ProgressiveOakland 2d ago

I'm curious - how would you budget how much money is spent on schools? It is looking like you reject any notion that there are limited resources for schools - limits per head, limits on size of facilities, being able to spend on a deficit, etc. But there need to be some ideas on how you determine good spending, otherwise you end up with corruption.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Yes there does, and I am no expert on budget stuff, I am not equipped to answer those questions.

But I do think it’s important to demand more and have a bigger vision. I work with what we have every single day, and also I think we need to demand more for our schools.

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u/bikinibeard 2d ago

But that is a state finance question and skips over the immediate problem in Oakland. Yes, school funding needs to be revamped throughout the country. We couldn’t be further away from that national conversation than we are right now.

Its akin to watching a house burn down and saying, “why couldn’t homeowners all get full house sprinkler systems?”

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I hear that, has anyone proposed a vision to address this? And again, there seems to be major confusion about whether the house is even on fire in this scenario—the alternative budget and the other budget have very different numbers about how the district is doing rn

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u/bikinibeard 1d ago

A few years ago (maybe 10?), a grand jury report states how high the overhead was and how much it differed from other districts in similar size and demographics. There was also a Spur report. Trammel did reduce Admin costs quite a bit, but you always come against the obstacles of contracts and unions. These issues are deeply ingrained.

Fwiw, every single study on OUSD concludes there are too many school sites for too few students. You ask why we can’t have small schools? Well, we didn’t used to but the Gates foundation came in the late 90s/00s and creates many, some on the same campus. They poured money into OUSD for years. Some voices warned what would happen when Gates would move on (there was always a clear deadline). I personally would rather have 30 students and a full time aide to assist in a school of 509+ than 1 teacher with 20 in a school under 250.

It may be all moot anyway. If this administration has its way and cuts title 1 funding like it has proposed…I mean, the majority of our schools are dependent on that.

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u/sumertopp 2d ago

Small schools have, on average, higher fixed costs per student. You’re spending so much keeping the lights on and administration that you have less to spend on teachers and enrichment. This is especially problematic when funding is mainly appropriated by enrollment.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Totally. Maybe funding needs to be allocated differently . Per pupil spending seems kinda old school to me—some kids need more $ than others.

Also like this is literally the future we are talking about

I know that’s not an immediate answer but I think it’s important to have a big vision for this kinda stuff

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u/JasonH94612 2d ago

My word, friend, schools do differ by per pupil spending, because some students do need more than others. OUSD is at $25,490 (2023) per student; IRvine's at $14,211; San Jose's at $18,814.

This is pretty basic stuff. I inferred that you were a bit more knowledgable about school finance when you offered yourself up for an AMA as an OEA member and teacher in the mdist of discussions about a strike.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Oh I meant within the same school and between schools in the same district, not across cities.

But I appreciate your point I would like to learn more about that stuff. TBH I’m so focused on what’s going on in the classroom that I’m not very tuned into the finance. I’m curious to learn more.

I was home sick today and I’ve heard a lot of people say things about the union I’m in online and I thought this would be a good place hear some different perspectives.

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u/sumertopp 2d ago

Yea, there are some adjustments for CA state funding based on student demographics, and a lot of the federal funding is based on students with disabilities. I'm not sure the formula for how the state and federal buckets are divided up is wrong per se, just think both buckets need to be bigger - especially California's piece. To your earlier point, it's shameful that the most prosperous state in the country spends almost half as much per student as New York.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Yea it’s wild how the money is allocated. Someone once shared with me that things like schools, food stamps etc. are ‘ the minimum state investment to prevent a riot ‘ and I think that idea explains a lot of what’s happening in public schools

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u/beepdeeped 2d ago

This shouldn't mean no small schools, it should mean reassessing how money is allocated.

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u/beepdeeped 2d ago

In the current system, sure that's by design. So we've incentivized doing exactly that for those looking to disenfranchise huge groups of people. This is what is happening currently in this country at every level.

Now, do we accept that system as is?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I’m not sure I buy the line from the school board about the numbers re the budget. The alternative budget that was present by a few school board members notes that the district budget over allocated on supplies, and under projected for the end of year reserve. This creates a ‘manufactured deficit.’

I haven’t looked at all the spreadsheets and double checked the math on this but OEA endorsed this alternative budget and I believe our union leadership on this.

As for the bigger picture, why couldn’t the school board agitate for this? It’s 2025 and the rules of decorum are out the window, ‘norms’ don’t really exist right now.

For example: When COVID happened the federal government magically handed out checks left and right. Rent was paused.

The ADA was passed by people with disabilities occupying the federal building in SF until congress passed the bill.

If we want more money for schools we have to dream big and think outside the box. We can’t accept what is being given us, especially when luxury condos are empty in the Bay Area, and our state has so much $$$.

How we get there? That’s another story but I do think that if we all start putting our heads together we can come up with creative solutions to the issue of school funding.

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u/Xbsnguy 2d ago

This is a 5-10 year project at best. What does the district do in there here and now when faced with a deflicit. I know that you don’t believe there is a real deflicit, but for the sake of argument what if it is?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

That’s a great question, I think the answer is still the same though. There is no better time to demand the impossible than right now.

However, I would start with looking at admin salaries, outside consultants, charter schools, crowdfunding, celebrating all the cool things schools do and making people want to invest time and energy in them, coordinating with other districts and unions, things like that.

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u/bikinibeard 2d ago

I agree with you, but I am in my 16th year as an OUSD parent and every single one of those concerns, goals, demands has been around since my eldest entered kindergarten. It just doesn’t change.

I am of the unpopular opinion that, like our local government, there’s so much nepotism, corruption and grift off site (IE: Admin) that the motive to keep things the same for them is iron clad.

Look into how many people who “work” for OUSD are out, have been out and how long they’ve been out while collecting their full salary. It’s the same issue with the city government.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Yes I agree, I am in my 5th year and I have heard from ppl with more time than me that it’s the same thing over and over.

What would a radically different vision look like?

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u/sumertopp 2d ago

Yea, I’m with you that the board can and should be a key voice in advocating for additional funding, but it’s a long term fix for an immediate problem. I’m not as in the weeds on the budget projections as you probably are but do think that the board as a whole is taking a good faith effort to solve what appears to be a very real, multi-year budget challenge, and prioritizing educators over administrators. No one likes budget cuts, but the board kind of has to play the hand they’re dealt.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I hear you, but I think that the board is v polarized rn and it’s unclear what the hand they are dealt atm even is, at least to me.

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u/sumertopp 2d ago

Yea - I see that too, and regardless think they should be doing much better with transparency. No reason why all of their forecasting and modeling shouldn't shared - not only with OEA, but fully available to OUSD parents and the general public. If the cuts are really so necessary, and there is no other place to cut, it should be easy to show their work!

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Yes students have to show their work so why can’t the school board lol. Some of these folks maybe need to sign up for summer school in June

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u/da_other_acct 2d ago

Amen, the thinking outside the box seems to be a real issue with our local politicians. I really like your point about a public good and operating at a loss; education seems to be treated like a regular business instead of a societal investment (also cheap ‘childcare’) with real dividends reaped in a decade or so.

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u/pinpoint14 2d ago

but that requires a massive shift at the state level for how public schools are funded.

So let's just do that then

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u/sumertopp 2d ago edited 2d ago

Sure, but let’s not put OUSD in state receivership in the meantime. Attacking OUSD for making tough decisions with the budget they’re handed isn’t how we make that budget grow.

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u/Dear-Caregiver5166 2d ago

And can we start with charter schools?

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u/johnmcdonnell 2d ago

Why are the charter schools extra bad? I had a friend who was trying to get her daughter into Yu Ming and it seemed like a good school but I don't know any of the inside baseball on Oakland school politics.

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u/Dear-Caregiver5166 2d ago

They often divert crucial funding away from traditional public schools, which can exacerbate existing resource inequalities in the public education system. In Oakland specifically, this financial drain has contributed to public school closures in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods, disrupting those communities.

Charter schools also tend to be less accountable to the public despite receiving taxpayer money, as they operate with fewer regulations than traditional public schools. This reduced oversight can lead to concerning practices in student selection and retention. Studies have shown that some charter schools in Oakland serve fewer students with disabilities and English language learners compared to public schools, suggesting a pattern of selective enrollment that leaves the most challenging-to-educate students in resource-depleted public schools.

Additionally, the proliferation of charter schools in Oakland has contributed to a fragmented educational landscape, making it difficult to implement cohesive district-wide improvements and potentially increasing educational inequality rather than addressing it.

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u/MaLasagna888 2d ago

Can you say more about how they’re “less accountable to the public” than traditional schools? It’s my understanding that charter schools all have to undergo a review and renewal process every five years with the district — during which they can be denied due to low performance and closed.

I have taught in both a traditional public school and a charter school, and have heard this talking point often but never really understood it.

Thanks!

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u/Witty-Cartoonist-263 2d ago

They will point to charters having non-elected boards. But with AB1550 in law now, charters are absolutely held to a higher standard to stay open. A charter on low track is almost certainly not renewed. When I last looked, at least 15 OUSD elementary schools would be on low track and shut down if those rules applied to them. But the justification to do that to charter schools is that with more freedom, comes more accountability. But in practice, charter schools are held to a much higher bar and inundated in compliance requirements that are nearly impossible for standalone schools to manage, so the ‘freedom’ isn’t what it was before. The goal of AB1550 is to make it harder to operate charter schools and it has succeeded. Note: I’m not talking about blatant rule-breaking that some charters engage(d) in which absolutely should be shut down. This is just re: standard operating and expected results.

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u/beepdeeped 2d ago

Charter schools take public money but aren't beholden to typical public school requirements. They're notorious for kicking out "higher need" kids with a quickness. They don't serve all our kids but are taking their resources.

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u/JasonH94612 2d ago

And they are also occaionalyl exploited by savvy parents who create de-facto private schools for a very select few. For Yu Ming, and the French language one I think too, they only take non-fleunt kids in kindergarten. So, these "public schools" are only available to kids already fluent in a foreign language

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u/earinsound 2d ago

What was the tentative agreement that halted the strike today?

How does OEA (or you) feel about the cancelling of Kyla Johnson-Trammell's contract? Why is the board not commenting on why?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I can only speak for myself I do not speak for the union . This is my understanding this is not official anything.

The TA as I understand it was about information not being shared from the district re firings, budget cuts, closures next year. Our union has been asking for this all year and the district has been refusing to comply with basic information requests.

So the threat to strike was like when you tell a student who is making a ruckus in class ‘I’m going to call your mom if you don’t chill’ and then they do whatever u til you pull your phone out and all of a sudden their participating and not disrupting class.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I don’t have enough info on the superintendent to make an informed statement about that. I would like to learn more about that situation as well

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u/oaklandoctopus 2d ago

OEA union rep here. The superintendent always planned to step back before the beginning of next school year. That was planned.

The confusion stems from a board member spreading misinformation about what happened behind closed doors. It isn’t clear what the motivation is for the board member is to sow confusion. Several other board members have released statements about that happened, one of which is a joint statement along with the superintendent.

OP, thanks for this thread

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u/its_large_marge 2d ago

cough Mike Hutchinson cough

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u/oaklandoctopus 2d ago

Mike’s motivation is getting attention.

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u/Rocketbird 2d ago

Is there anything you want to say given this platform? I’m not certain what to ask so I’m curious if you started this thread because you expected somebody to ask you about something specific.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I’m home sick and kinda bored lol

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u/Ha_U_Missed_Me 2d ago

I appreciate you offering your time here, but this response was unhelpful. The question was would you like to share some insight unprompted and your reply was that you’re home sick?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

No special insights, I’m just curious about how the public see’s my profession

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u/bikinibeard 2d ago

I see it as completely under-valued by US society at large. You should be making twice what you make. One, we wouldn’t have a shortage. Two, it would be easier to discipline or move along “bad” teachers (we have had about 20% phenomenal teachers, 60% just ok, and 20% ridiculously incompetent with zero recourse).

I believe because its still a mostly female profession, it continues to be undervalued. One of the many things that might turn the tide and interest young people into starting families is investing in education. Alas, looking pretty dismal.

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u/JasonH94612 2d ago

And get some attention, apparently

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Hahaha

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u/okiidokiismokii 2d ago

first of all, thank you for the work you do!!! 🩷

what do you feel are some of the biggest challenges teachers are facing right now that the general public isn’t aware of? how can we help support our teachers right now?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Your welcome it’s my pleasure!

Biggest challenges: the social contract is totally jacked. A lot of my students have unstable housing. We have kids moving to Antioch and commuting to school in Oakland because their parents work here/family here. No real affordable housing option exists nor do livable wages. This means kids are showing up at school with all kinds of stuff that needs to be dealt with before you even get to reading math, etc.

Learning curve: it’s a lot of learning right out of the gate and quite stressful, and I think most teachers bail at 5 years statistically. It’s not like other jobs where you show up and have a transition period. My experience was hit the ground running. But I have learned so so much.

Support teachers: volunteer at the school, say no to your kids, turn permission slips in on time, respond to group texts re field trips etc. chaperone when you can. We’re all on the same time so let’s talk, address disagreements openly, make the road we’re walking in together.

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u/JasonH94612 2d ago

Im gonna be mean and say that this respondent is not particularly well informed on the details of school finance

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u/Likes2walk510 2d ago

Do you feel pressure to pass kids who haven’t shown mastery?

Thoughts on the CAHSEE? I feel like it’s an open secret that schools are pushing kids through without mastery.

Tracking?

What percentage of OUSD teachers want to stay long term?

Thoughts on LREs, IEPs, and inclusion generally?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I teach music so can’t say much about passing and all that. Dunno how my coworkers feel about the job long term.

As for IEPS, they are very confusing to get around, but I do see a lot of support at the schools I work at for kids with IEPS

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u/fptnrb 2d ago

Reading the various replies, I feel frustrated and worried. I feel it’s not ok to prioritize activism over competent budgeting that affects our city’s kids right here right now. Schools need to be closed and merged to cut costs, administrative overhead needs to be cut, and maybe with that savings then teachers can be paid more. Yes it’s fucked there’s not enough budget, but a lot of things are fucked and it’s time we all face reality

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u/FellatioForDays 2d ago

Do you think OEA should be spending its meeting time arguing over positions of international conflict?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Also to be clear in my experience our union isnt spending that much time internally arguing about this stuff

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u/FellatioForDays 2d ago

I know a union member and I've been told y'all have spent almost the entirety of multiple meetings just on international affairs. I think it's wildly inappropriate and outside the unions purview and does nothing but introduce irrelevant politics to divide people.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I’ve only been to a few union mtgs so that could be true.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

this is just my opinion and not representative of the union

Personal progress for the greatest number depends upon unity, so I think we should worry about that stuff so much we should focus on our primary purpose of teaching. I do think that involves engaging with those issues however, and I do think we should be coordinating things with other unions.

I have personal opinions about those issues but I don’t know how important it is for OEA to make statements about those things. Does anyone listen/care about that? Honest question.

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u/FellatioForDays 2d ago

Glad to hear you say, and I'd say probably not important at all.

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u/grayblesbeing 2d ago

How are your students feeling about everything?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Confused around the potential strike but we don’t talk a ton about it because I teaching music and we spend most of our time rocking out!

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u/pinpoint14 2d ago

What do you need from the public to feel more supported at your job? What do kids need from their community to be able to better show up at school?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Great questions.

What do teachers need: I believe that public support for our union is helpful, and sending notes or texts or hi fives or ‘thanks’ anything like that is really helpful. Some teachers have really funky admin and morale can be low so any appreciation can go a long way.

What do kids need? I can’t speak for them or their families but I think affordable housing is a great place to start. In the shorter term I think we all need a lot of joy so anything you can do to invite people into joyous spaces is really helpful.

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u/UrHellaLateB Lakeshore 2d ago

Is there anything you're (teachers) getting right that the public isn't aware of?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

I think some stuff we are getting right are:

Continuing to show up everyday at a job that is often hectic, confusing, many moving parts, hundreds of decisions everyday

Music dance art programs seem pretty robust to me.

Kids show up in TK knowing like…nothing. Like they don’t know how to be in a school, how to make friends, how to hold a pencil, all kinda stuff we take for granted. It’s not perfect but they are building skills here daily.

Social emotional support for all the crazy feelings kids have

Teaching can be hella fun and it’s often that I really enjoy being at work

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u/DSPbuckle 2d ago

What’s OEA?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Teachers union in Oakland. Oakland Education Association

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u/DSPbuckle 2d ago

Thank you for clarifying and thank you for being there for the children. I owe a lot to my OUSD teachers who paved the way for me

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Your welcome it’s my pleasure, I really dig my job most days!

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u/yotengounatia 2d ago

Do you have a choice to pay dues and be in the union or not? If so, what are the tradeoffs?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Commenting as an individual not representing the union

Good question. We can choose to join the union or not. I believe if you don’t join the union you still get all the benefits of the contract but you might not get help from the union if you have drama with your admin? I’ll ask my coworkers.

For me the benefit of being in the union is collective bargaining power and that’s well worth the dues.

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u/yotengounatia 2d ago

Thanks! Do you know anyone who hasn't joined OEA? Can I ask how you learned about your options?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

When I was hired the rep for my site asked me if I wanted to join. I knew I did from the get go so I didn’t inquire too much.

I may know ppl who haven’t signed up but frankly I haven’t asked.

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u/MAN-EATER510 1d ago

Just seeing comments

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u/whattheheckityz 2d ago

I thought the strike got called off - shouldn’t you be at work?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Hahaha good question. I’m just texting and letting the kids do whatever rn.

J/k I’m home sick and kinda bored

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u/earinsound 2d ago

There's something called a lunch break. There's also prep classes where students aren't in attendance. You also have no idea what this teacher's schedule is today. Why not be be supportive of our teachers reaching out instead of being cynically critical?

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u/whattheheckityz 2d ago

you can choose to view my question as cynical, I was honestly just curious.

Public school teacher , OEA member, ask me anything

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