A planned one-day strike by teachers in Oakland is now being called off after a last-minute deal was announced by the teachers' union.

The deal, just announced around noon Wednesday, per KRON4, restores cuts that the district was planning which would have impacted the jobs of more than 120 experienced high school teachers in the district’s “most difficult-to-staff” schools. The union, the Oakland Education Association (OEA), says it was crucial that these teachers not be lost to cuts, especiallya at these three high schools — Castlemont, Fremont, and McClymonds.

The deal with the district also reportedly protects funding for site-based substitute teachers at these and other schools.

"This outcome reflects the power of educators standing together against cuts harmful to our goal of retaining experienced teachers in Oakland’s hardest-to-staff classrooms,” said OEA President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer in a statement. “We fought to protect consistency and stability for Oakland students supported by the dedicated teachers who serve them every day."

The union says that the district had been withholding information from them about planned cuts, which is partly why members voted to authorize a one-day strike on Thursday — something that many parents of Oakland schoolchildren were hoping to avoid. As one parent, David Reiman, told KTVU, "We support the teachers, and we support the union, but we only like them to strike as a last resort. This does not seem like a last resort."

Oakland Unified School District board member Mike Hutchinson pushed back on the idea that it had withheld any information from OEA, telling KTVU Tuesday that all the information had been made available.

"All of our budget and financial information is public information," Hutchinson told the station. "OEA has filed 30 requests for information over the last few months, and all of those but two have been filled. The two most recent ones are still in the process."

Still, the union held its ground.

"Moving forward, we urge the district to include the Oakland Education Association as a true partner in shaping decisions that impact our schools, students, and their families,” added Taiz-Rancifer. "That means ensuring that we are working together on budget decisions that are transparent and responsible, and for leadership that values educators, families, and students as essential voices in creating a stable, thriving future for Oakland’s public schools."

Tensions between the teachers union, the school board, and the district have been running high in recent months. And, reportedly pro-union members of the school board voted to oust the district's longtime, popular superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell without explanation last week. The move, allegedly, has to do with Johnson-Trammell supporting proposed school closures, which the district may need to do anyway due to declining enrollment and a $70 million budget deficit.

Oakland teachers have gone on strike four times in the last six years, including a seven-day strike at the end of the school year in 2023.

Top image: Photo by Brooke Anderson via Facebook