OAKLAND, Calif. (KCBS RADIO) – As the fifth day of the teachers' strike in Oakland endures, some parents have opened "strike schools" for students to stand in solidarity with their educators.
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An impromptu music class in Dimond Park is just one of the volunteer-based school sessions available amid the Oakland walkout.
"(There's) an increasing need of parents who can no longer take off of work," explained Anna Beliel, organizer of the music site. "They need some place for their kids to go and they also want to stand in solidarity and don't want to send their kids to school."
Beliel's daughter has autism and attends Manzanita SEED Elementary. "We just wanted to stand in solidarity, but we needed a place that was, maybe, safer for my daughter and kids with sensory issues," she explained. "That's what it started as."
Enthusiasm for the solidarity school picked up quickly. "It actually grew to be much bigger than I first — I first thought it was going to be just a couple parents in my daughter's class, but we had 43 kids today," Beliel said.
The children are playing games, solving puzzles and making crafts. "All the activities and those types of things, it all comes from me," she added.
Parent Nate Landry told KCBS Radio there are six strike schools in the city. "This is a way to build and strengthen solidarity for the strike," he said.
There's still no end in sight for the walkout, which continues to impact over 30,000 families. Both sides, the Oakland Unified School District and Oakland educators, remain unwilling to give in on demands outside of teacher pay and working conditions.
Teacher Charity Balona told KCBS Radio they are fighting for better school facilities.
"The heater has been broken for 10 years. 10 years," she emphasized. "It's about more than compensation."
The OUSD school year is scheduled to end on May 25. With only 11 days left in the calendar year, each day that the strike continues is paramount.
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