The Oakland Unified School District teachers union announced a tentative new contract Friday morning, less than 48 hours after the Board of Education voted to eliminate hundreds of positions to reduce a $102 million budget deficit, avoiding another state takeover.

Following the union’s authorization to strike, the agreement promises double-digit wage increases for educators over the next two years, raises for social workers, special education teachers and early childhood educators, and smaller student-to-counselor ratios. It will now go to both Oakland Education Association members and the school board for ratification.

But any celebration by teachers was muted by the school board’s 5-2 vote Wednesday to cut 421 positions, with an additional 144 positions to be reduced in hours. The district has until March 15 to notify all employees affected.

“We are very disappointed to see the OUSD board vote to approve over 400 layoffs that will do nothing but destabilize our schools. Especially when there are 250 classrooms without permanent educators and nearly 400 educators leaving the district every year,” the union said in a statement Thursday.Even as the school board attempts to ensure its long-term financial solvency, more uncertainty looms for the school district’s future.

Many of the eliminated positions were funded through one-time federal funding following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Superintendent Denise Saddler. But the sunsetting of those funds has forced the district’s hand, which she framed as an inevitability with rising health care and pension expenses, combined with state and federal cuts.

“There are costs,” Saddler said. “With our current situation, we would not have the funds to pay our current staff next year if we maintained every single staff person. … We needed to, first of all, stop the bleeding, then find out where we are and work diligently to make decisions about our priorities for next year.”

Schools with significant declines in enrollment will be hit the hardest by the cuts because funding is directly tied to student numbers. The largest reduction in workforce will affect Castlemont High School, which had seven positions eliminated, according to OUSD documents. With nearly 700 students and a 61% graduation rate, the East Oakland school is the poorest performing school of its size in the district, according to U.S. News and World Report.

“Clearly, a reduction in force of this scale and size will lead to significant and material changes. There will be services that we cannot provide,” said District 5 Board Director Patrice Berry, one of the two “no” votes. “I want to understand how we can fill those gaps. Are we going to absorb some of those services into other functions and roles? Are we going to stop those programs and services?”

Support for special education programs and raising salaries for educators were among the teachers union’s biggest issues in negotiations, which had been stalled for months as the district and union remained far apart on improving salaries.

Recommendations by a state-appointed negotiator to improve salaries and special education programming “at levels much higher than what the district had initially offered,” could not bring an end to the stalemate, according to the union. On Feb. 20, union members authorized a strike.

“By forcing OUSD to invest in creating stability in our classrooms and schools, we are making a historic investment in the future of Oakland. This contract reflects a newfound commitment by the OUSD Superintendent and School Board to prioritize resources toward classrooms,” Oakland Education Association President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer said. “We know our collective power brought us here, and we know our collective power will continue to move OUSD to ensure all our schools are fully staffed by rescinding preliminary layoffs as well.”

But the layoffs, Saddler argued, are necessary to close the district’s deficit and maintain its fiscal independence.

Losing administrative independence is a real threat. The district previously went through financial insolvency in 2003 and required a $100 million emergency loan from the state. Between 2003 and 2009, its finances were controlled by a state trustee.

The district finally threw off the constraints of the state’s control in 2025. A year later, however, it finds itself in a frustrating yet all too familiar space. Board Director Mike Hutchinson criticized his colleagues for not coming up with a plan sooner.

“This is the worst crisis OUSD has ever faced,” Hutchinson said. “Period.”