Earlier this month, 95 percent of Oakland teachers voted to authorize a strike, meaning they could follow their LA counterparts within days. Educators in Oakland have been working without a contract since July 2017, and are demanding a 12 percent pay increase over three years. The school district has offered a five percent pay hike, but says with its $30 million deficit, it can’t afford to stretch beyond that. A state-appointed panel is set to issue a non-binding fact-finding report on Friday, and a strike date is likely to be set soon thereafter.
As the prospect of a strike grows more real, a separate issue is flaring up in Oakland, involving the nearly 60 Teach for America corps members who work in Oakland public schools. Teach for America has told its members they can go on strike, but warned they could lose their federal grant funding if they do. One popular incentive of joining Teach for America is the opportunity to earn AmeriCorps awards, thousands of dollars which can go towards things like paying off student loans or paying for future degrees. While not all Teach for America participants are eligible, most are, and take on the two-year teaching commitment with an understanding that they could earn up to $10,000 to offset debt or future educational costs.
With the possible Oakland strike looming, Teach for America leadership has pointed to a federal law that says AmeriCorps members cannot go on strike during time they would otherwise be earning AmeriCorps money. (Other prohibited activities include participating in partisan political events, and attempting to influence legislation.)
Teach for America, which recruits mostly elite college graduates and places them in low-income urban and rural schools for two years, has long been a controversial organization.
Some veteran teachers resent TFA recruits and feel they degrade the profession by entering schools with often little more than a five-week summer training course. Some parents and community members are wary of the organization for its close ties to charter schools, and because it sends inexperienced young people into schools for short stints. Teach for America maintains their recruits serve in areas with teaching slots that would be otherwise difficult to fill, that the recruits have demonstrated their success in the classroom, and that many in TFA stay in education for longer than two years.
Hundreds of alumni across the country responded to TFA’s message on Oakland by accusing it of forcing its educators to cross the picket line or forego necessary funds. “This financial leverage being used to pressure teachers is unethical, disproportionately affects lower income corps members, results in diminishing the power of union labor, and is contrary to Teach For America’s stated goals of improving educational outcomes for all students by preparing teachers to build strong relationships with their school communities, become exemplary members of the teaching profession, and advocate for educational equity,” they wrote in a recent letter.
The TFA alumni point to AmeriCorps’s own FAQs, which say that the program’s rules “do not address the issue of whether a member may cross the picket line during a strike” and that each participating organization “must make the decision, on the basis of all the facts, while ensuring (1) that the member is not engaging in any prohibited activities, and (2) the member’s safety.”
The alums also noted in their letter that other Oakland AmeriCorps programs are planning alternative assignments for their participants in the event of the strike, so they can avoid crossing the picket line. “We must acknowledge that showing up to work during a strike is not a neutral act,” they wrote.
Teach for America spokesperson Jack Hardy told the Associated Press that the group does not have a position on the strike or organizing. “Our corps members, we stand behind them, we stand beside them,” he said. “Our goal is to help them be successful.”
An AmeriCorps spokesperson told the Associated Press that while striking is prohibited, it’s up to Teach for America to decide how to handle the picket lines.
On Tuesday, following a meeting with the regional leadership of Teach for America Bay Area, the alumni wrote a follow-up letter demanding that the organization cover any lost funds for teachers who “temporarily unenroll” in AmeriCorps to stand in strike solidarity. The alumni say Teach for America owes this to its members, as the organization did not explicitly inform applicants of how their acceptance of AmeriCorps funding could limit their ability to participate in labor actions. Making up the cost of any lost funds “would show seriously that it recognizes corps members’ obligation to stand in solidarity with their colleagues, school community, and advocates for fully funding public education,” they wrote.
For the long term, the alumni urged TFA to reconsider its relationship with AmeriCorps, and acknowledge that in maintaining its relationship, the organization is recruiting educators who could “effectively serv[e] as scabs during a strike.” If Teach for America opts to keep the relationship going, the alumni said the organization must make clear “during the application process, matriculation, and first year of service”the broader context, or else they’re “effectively participating in union busting.”
The alumni organizing this effort are well-aware of the controversy that shrouds Teach for America, and urged the leadership to use its well-known political clout in this moment. “Not doing this,” they said, “runs the risk of further alienating the teachers and communities of this country, many of whom (to put it bluntly) are already skeptical of Teach for America’s motives and commitment to educational justice.”
