Oakland teachers rallied on Tuesday to send a message to the Oakland Unified School District about their contract negotiations.

These teachers have been working without a contract since July 2017.

They hope their demands will be met during the state-assisted mediation which will be held on Wednesday.

A Bret Harte Middle School teacher, Keith Brown, says right now there are 44 teacher vacancies and worries that number will continue to increase.

“Right now we have a shortage of teachers because of the cost of living,” Brown says. “We need more money to live here.”

Some teachers have part time jobs on the side in order to make ends meet.

The Oakland Unified School District has no comment at this time.

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