Labor

Follow the money: OUSD projected staffing cuts

The Oakland Unified School District is set to cut $85 million from its budget next year.  Inevitably, this will include some cuts to staffing.  The infographic above reflects the projected staffing cuts in the Oakland Unified School District for the 2010-2011 school year. Staffing cuts in the district are allocated based on the idea of “Full Time Equivalencies” or FTEs. One FTE is the equivalent cost of one full-time job, but it does not necessarily make up an individual position….

Boom at the port: Demand for the California almond means business

While the Port of Oakland’s activities may not be able to show whether the recession is over, or when it will end, it reveals a lot about the nature of the local and regional economies. Inside each shipping container lies a story about Northern California and its relationship with the rest of the world. Take the story of the almonds.

Teachers strike Thursday, return to bargaining next week

A majority of Oakland’s 2,339 teachers and 38,826 students were expected to be out today due to the strike but district spokesperson Troy Flint said he didn’t expect to have final numbers until Monday. Teachers’ complaint is that they have not received a raise since 2003, and despite two years of contract negotiations with the district, will not be offered a raise for the 2010-2011 school year either.

Oakland teachers strike Thursday; school still in session

A majority of the Oakland Unified School District’s close to 2,400 teachers are expected to participate in a one day strike Thursday. School will be in session anyway. Though the district began hiring “emergency temporary teachers” close to a month ago, only 300 such teachers have been cleared to work tomorrow, according to OUSD spokesperson Troy Flint.

Lawyers offer pro bono work to former GA recipients

Alameda County’s looming budget crisis led the county to cut off about 2,400 people from the county’s General Assistance fund, or GA, a safety net cash program provided to indigent adults without dependent children who have little or no savings and no source of income. Teague Briscoe, a staff attorney at the Homeless Action Center, has engineered a pilot program called GA Mass Defense to help people get their funds restored.

How will the new federal loan reforms affect local college students?

Jurena Storm is back in school at age 35 and said the recent legislation supporting student loan reform is “a relief.” A student at College of Alameda, Storm told her story Tuesday at an Organizing For America press conference held at Laney College to highlight the local impact of the student loan reforms signed into law by President Obama last month.