OAKLAND (KCBS Radio) -- The Oakland Unified School District expected faculty members to return to work on Monday after their ratification of a new contract, but simmering discontent remained.
Members of the Oakland Education Association ratified a deal running through the 2020-2021 school year with 58% voting "yes". A separate vote on a contract for the 2017-2018 school year received 64% support.
Taken together, the contracts provide an 11 percent pay raise spread over four years, plus a one-time 3 percent bonus.
While Oakland Education Association president Keith Brown issued a statement reading in part, "we look forward to being in our classrooms again," word spread Monday morning that some teachers would stage a sick-out to protest the agreement. Dissident teachers circulated a flyer and posted social media messages calling for a morning rally and march to OUSD headquarters.
Some staff members returning to work after the seven day walkout faced uncertainty. At Oakland High School, cafeteria supervisor Gail Berryman said, "we're not going to be able to use some of the things that we had in the refrigerator." Berryman said the cafeteria got little use during the strike because student attendance was so low.
