12/14/05
Over 200 Oakland teachers and students rallied in front of the OUSD office this afternoon, after school today in protest to the ruthless union-busting and anti-student practices of State Administrator Randolph Ward. Practically all of the students present were from the civil rights group: Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, & Immigrant Rights And Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), a group who has been leading the student movement for years to demand equal quality education for OUSD and all schools.
"Dr. Ward" has kept the OUSD teachers union (OEA) without a contract for 18 months while all upper level administrators have gotten raises. HE HAS NOW THREATENED TO PLACE ADS IN BAY AREA PAPERS OFFERING UNCREDENTIALED REPLACEMENT WORKERS FOR $300 A DAY TO TEACH OAKLAND STUDENTS IN THE EVENT OF A STRIKE!!! These kinds of threats are not going to help anything, and surely they are not going to lead to any kind of progress in the union negotiating.
So instead of giving teachers their 4% back pay that they lost in 2003, Mr. Ward is threatening to waste OUSD money to pay for scabs as oppoed to investing in the students. As teachers and other union workers know, opening charter schools is a political tactic to weaken and break unions. Anybody with money and a plan can propose a charter school project. Of the 30 charter schools in the area, only 2 of them are satisfactory.
Charter schools are not union shops which means they can hire and fire as they choose, isolating the worker with no rights against the managment. The fight continues to remove Randolph Ward and to get a fair contract for the OEA teachers. Their backs are against the door, they need a contract NOW!