Oakland school district lays off hundreds of workers to balance $100M deficit

"We are very disappointed to see the OUSD board vote to approve over 400 layoffs that will do nothing but destabilize our schools. Especially when there are 250 classrooms without permanent educators and nearly 400 educators leaving the district every year."

"With our current situation, we would not have the funds to pay our current staff next year if we maintained every single staff person. We needed to, first of all, stop the bleeding, then find out where we are and work diligently to make decisions about our priorities for next year."

"Many of the eliminated positions were funded through one-time federal funding following the COVID-19 pandemic. But the sunsetting of those funds has forced the district's hand, which she framed as an inevitability with rising health care and pension expenses, combined with state and federal cuts."

Oakland Unified School District's board voted 5-2 to eliminate 421 positions and reduce 144 others to address a $102 million budget deficit. The cuts follow a teachers union authorization for a strike. Many eliminated positions were funded through temporary COVID-19 federal relief that has expired. Superintendent Denise Saddler cited rising healthcare and pension costs alongside state and federal funding cuts as necessitating the reductions. Schools experiencing enrollment declines face the largest workforce reductions, with Castlemont High School losing seven positions. The union expressed disappointment, noting 250 classrooms lack permanent educators and nearly 400 educators leave annually. The district must notify affected employees by March 15.

Read at The Mercury News