Update: Oakland Unified confirms teachers' strike is on for Thursday
OAKLAND – While officials said some progress was made at the negotiating table, on Wednesday evening they advised parents to plan on teachers with the Oakland Unified School District hitting the picket line Thursday.
"After seven long days and nights of bargaining, the Oakland Education Association (OEA) has decided to go ahead with their planned strike starting tomorrow, Thursday, May 4," the statement that was sent to parents by district officials read.
The district's statement said officials didn't know how long the strike would last, but that officials "continue to bargain with OEA in an effort to reach an agreement."
"The end of the school year is always filled with milestone events for our students, so we want to ensure regular school resumes as soon as possible," the statement added.
More than 3,000 teachers and staffers will strike Thursday morning as parents scramble to make contingency plans if their children are impacted.
The strike will affect 34,000 students in the district. The Oakland Education Association announced its plan to strike on Monday.
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The district is proposing that every teacher get a raise in the range of at least 13% to as much as 22 percent. Raises will also be provided for the district's nurses, counselors and psychologists.
The teachers' union says the negotiations are focused on more than just money. They want smaller class sizes, counselors at every school and better classroom conditions with air filtration and climate control.
Most of the parents KPIX talked with said they support the teachers, but don't want them to strike.
Debra Moore's daughter Chisom is a first grader at Garfield Elementary in Oakland. She said she knows what a strike means for many parents, including her.
"I would actually have to end up looking for some other form of child care. I honestly don't know what I would do," Moor said.
"We're all going to stay home, yeah. There's nothing I can do but just stay home with them," said OUSD parent Latoya Harrison.
Some schools have notified parents that administrators will be on site if they want to send their kids to school, but no instruction will be provided.
According to the California Deptartment of Education, the average starting salary for a teacher in the state is just over $51,000 a year. In Oakland, which has a higher cost of living compared to the state average, the average starting salary is $46,500 a year.
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That figure is less than the starting salary in both San Jose and San Francisco. Those two cities have similar costs of living, but start teachers at $66,000 or $68,000 a year respectively.
AC Transit announced on Wednesday that most of the agency's supplementary bus line services to schools will operate if the scheduled teacher strike takes place. However, transit officials said there will be some canceled or detoured service to Montera Middle and Skyline High Schools if the teachers union and the district are unable to reach an agreement.
More information on the possible AC Transit bus impacts is available on the agency's website.
While negotiations are ongoing, the district said "we believe a deal with our teachers' union is within reach" Wednesday afternoon. A source close to the negotiations said Wednesday evening that teachers were waiting for a counter offer from the district and were willing to stay all night to reach a deal and avert a strike.
Katie Nielsen contributed to this story.