Education
Arbitrator Rules OUSD Violated Agreement to Support Students in Distance Learning, Orders Back Pay, Additional Support
In an opinion issued August 13, the arbitrator found that the district violated that M.O.U. by failing to assign the vast majority of substitute teachers who had applied or attempted to apply for those positions.
Oakland educators won a victory when an independent arbitrator ruled that the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) violated a labor agreement last year to assign substitute teachers to provide additional support for students during distance learning.
OEA President Keith Brown.
“This ruling is a great victory for Oakland educators and students,” said OEA President Keith Brown. “The district ignored our many requests during the past school year to honor our agreement to assign the many substitutes who were available to provide one-on-one and small group support for our students of greatest need.
“This award provides some justice for our most vulnerable student populations, especially Black and Brown students, and substitute teachers who were not employed for most of the year,” he said.
Based on an August 2020 Memorandum of Understanding, the district and the teachers’ union, the Oakland Education Association (OEA), established distance-learning conditions, agreeing that substitute teachers would be assigned to support individual and small groups of students who needed additional support in distance learning.
In an opinion issued August 13, the arbitrator found that the district violated that M.O.U. by failing to assign the vast majority of substitute teachers who had applied or attempted to apply for those positions.
He also ruled that the district failed in its obligation to provide the training and technology that substitutes needed to work effectively with students using Zoom and other online educational platforms.
Jon Monat, a member of the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service panel of independent labor arbitrators, issued his opinion following a hearing held in April and briefs submitted in June by OUSD and OEA.
The arbitrator ordered OUSD to issue back pay to substitutes who had asked to be placed in special assignments but were not during the 2020-21 school year. Many of these substitutes remained unemployed due to a relatively low rate of classroom teacher absences during distance learning.
The ruling also ordered the district to continue placing substitutes in these special assignments in the 2021-22 school year for in-person and distance instruction as much as possible. Paying these substitutes may be feasible, considering that OUSD is receiving about $80 million in state and federal funds this school year (and in each of the next two school years) to assist in the reopening of in-person learning.
Judy Greenspan, chair of the union’s Substitute Teacher Caucus, said the ruling “shows the value of organizing and fighting when the school district refuses to respect educators or provide our students with the support they need and deserve. OEA and community members can build on this victory (to) demand measures to maximize safety and quality education in this new school year.”
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