Officials Say Oakland Teachers’ Strike Costs District Nearly $1 Million A Day |

The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) says the teachers’ strike costs the district nearly $1 million a day.

This estimate is based on the number of students in class, according to the San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday.

The district has more than 36,000 students.

But only 6 percent have reportedly showed up to classes, according to CBS SF BayArea.

OUSD also reportedly spent $300 a day on substitute teachers, KCBSRadio political reporter Doug Sovern tweeted Feb. 20.

The total loss would be $5 million if estimates remain the same as teachers continue to strike for the fifth day Wednesday.

“Our numbers show the impact that the student absences are having on the district in support of our teachers,” OUSD superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said, the Chronicle reported.

Teachers went on the picket lines Thursday to protest what they believe are unlivable salaries in a city where the median monthly rent price is a little more than $3,000 and the median housing value price is $735,000. OUSD entry-level teachers earn around $47,000 a year.

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The Oakland Educators Association (OEA), the district’s teacher union, asked for a 12 percent raise over a period of three years.

The district has kept its 8.5 percent raise over four years offer, however, according to the Chronicle.

“OUSD has well-documented financial limitations,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said, according to the Chronicle. “It’s a fact that this district has seen declining enrollment, lost money as it relates to charter schools and dealt with a structural deficit for years.”

The district has suffered financially for some time. California loaned OUSD $100 million in emergency funds after accumulating a $37 million deficit in 2003. OUSD also managed to get into a $30 million deficit in 2017, the Chronicle reported.

OUSD spends money on providing free dinners for students, dental clinics for needy children and laundry-related utilities for struggling families, according to CNN.

The first day of the strike saw 85 percent of OEA members and 2,500 supporters. OEA claims the second and third day saw 96 percent of its members on the picket lines. Day two had 4,000 supporters while day three increased to 4,500 supporters.

Oakland, like other Bay Area and Silicon Valley cities in California, struggle with increasing living costs due to tech companies. San Francisco is planning to create more than 100 housing units for teachers on school district owned property, according to an April 2018 news release from the city and county of San Francisco.

OEA and OUSD did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.