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To stem the tide of teachers exiting the Oakland Unified School District, the union is asking for a 12 percent raise over three years, smaller class sizes and more support staff, including nurses, counselors and librarians.

The school district is offering a 5 percent raise, retroactive to when the union's contract expired in July 2017.

The union is also asking for a promise from the school district not to close any schools.

The union and the school district began bargaining on a new contract in December 2016. But after 30 negotiating sessions encompassing 200 hours of bargaining, an impasse was declared on May 18, 2018. Both sides agreed to mediation but that failed to break the stalemate.

A state-appointed arbitrator assigned to look into the labor standoff submitted a fact-finding report over the weekend that said the school district can't afford to give the teachers a 12 percent pay hike over three years. The arbitrator, according to the report, recommended giving the teachers a 6 percent raise retroactive to the 2017-2018 school year and continue negotiations on future pay raises.

The arbitrator's report also showed an 18.7 percent annual teacher turnover rate in the school district.

\"This is well above the state average,\" the report said. \"Also, the retention is even worse at some high-needs schools, with West Oakland Middle School retaining only 9.1 percent of its teachers over a nine-year period.\"

Shannon Brandon, a science teacher in Oakland, said she and other educators are prepared to strike for as long as it takes to get a fair deal.

\"We are here to send a message that things aren't OK,\" Brandon told KGO-TV. \"And they haven't been OK for a very long time.\"

The Oakland teachers' job action was launched as West Virginia teachers returned to class Thursday after striking for two days over an omnibus education bill they say was retaliatory for their nine-day strike a year ago this week.

The West Virginia teachers called off their strike after the state House of Delegates voted to indefinitely table the bill, which would have established the first charter schools in the state and provided parents vouchers for private schools.

Last year's West Virginia strike ignited the wave of teachers strikes in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona and most recently Los Angeles and Denver.

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