Oakland plan makes teachers compete for their jobs OAKLAND Jobs at 3 failing schools may open to competition

Rodney Brown, a teacher at Castlemont high school for the past six years speaks to fellow Oakland Education Association members and Oakland teachers during a rally in front of Fremont high school on Wednesday March 28, 2012, in Oakland, Ca. The Oakland Unified School District wants teachers at three struggling schools to reapply for their jobs. less Rodney Brown, a teacher at Castlemont high school for the past six years speaks to fellow Oakland Education Association members and Oakland teachers during a rally in front of Fremont high school on Wednesday ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Oakland plan makes teachers compete for their jobs 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

As part of a radical plan to reform three failing high schools in Oakland, current teachers who want to stay will have to compete for their jobs with outside applicants.

They also will have to agree to work nearly a month more each year, but the deal comes with a bigger paycheck.

The plan, which takes advantage of a small clause in the labor contract, skirts teacher seniority rights and is the latest attempt by a school district to get highly trained and reform-minded teachers in front of the most struggling students even if it means defying labor union doctrine.

In San Francisco this month, district officials skipped over less-senior teachers in 14 struggling schools when handing out pink slips.

In Los Angeles, a legal settlement last year allowed the district to spread layoffs more evenly across schools rather than rely solely on seniority. Several state legislatures across the country have banned the use of seniority in teacher layoffs.

Teacher unions see these moves as an affront to a sacred tenet of worker rights.

In Oakland on Thursday, the teachers union demanded the district rescind its plan for McClymonds, Fremont and Castlemont high schools and has filed an unfair labor practice complaint.

The superintendent is attempting to abuse a clause in the contract that allows the district to set different work requirements for "teachers on special assignment," union leaders said. It's a power struggle that will take veteran and committed teachers away from their students, said Betty Olson-Jones, president of the Oakland Education Association.

"This is really a slap in the face to our students," Olson-Jones said. "It's saying it doesn't matter who your teacher is."

Official disagrees

District officials disagreed.

The plan isn't meant to purge the schools of teachers, but to ensure that every teacher assigned to them is committed to the hard work it will take to help struggling students succeed, Superintendent Tony Smith said.

"The kids in those schools need support, and the teachers need additional time and support to work with these kids," Smith said.

His plan would eliminate teaching positions at the three schools and replace them all with teachers designated as being on special assignment.

Those hired would be required to work an extra 18 days during the students' summer break. They'd receive an additional $5,100 on average.

The district has made it clear that those who don't want the extra workload need not apply.

By Friday afternoon, more than 100 teachers had applied for the estimated 60 positions available. Forty-five of the applications were from teachers currently at the three high schools, district officials said. The deadline for applying was 11:55 p.m. Friday.

Teachers currently at the schools who decided not to apply but wish to remain in the district will be assigned to another district school.

Earlier this week, several teachers at the schools said they wouldn't apply.

Among them was Castlemont English teacher Rodney Brown, who has been at the school six years.

"My staying at Castlemont would only be as a classroom teacher not some made-up position," he said. "I'll teach at another Oakland school."

Fremont special education teacher Moss Hahn said he also would not apply for personal and professional reasons.

He said the schools don't need new teachers; they need to restore funding for librarians, security, art, music, dance and alternative languages like French.

The superintendent's initiative "seems like a questionable remedy at best and may turn out to be a disgraceful experiment," he said.

The plan does not require approval by the school board, but its seven members could intervene, requiring the superintendent to sit down at the bargaining table with union leaders to hash out a compromise, said board member Noel Gallo.

Gallo said the board will probably raise that possibility at a future meeting.

"I think what we have right now is a great deal of division," he said. "I need to be able to reach out and work with our teachers."

Yet, the status quo hasn't worked at McClymonds, Fremont and Castlemont high schools, where test scores consistently fall among the lowest of the low in the state and where less than half the students end up with a diploma, Smith said.

First attempt

As far as Smith knows, no one has ever tried a plan like his before.

"It's aggressive and different, and it's contractual," he said. "Is Oakland satisfied with what we've got? Because what we've got is from what we've done."

At a recent teacher union rally outside Fremont High School to protest the superintendent's plan, ninth-grader Clinton Brand stood with a few of his teachers.

He wasn't clear on all the details of the changes coming to his school, but he didn't like the sound of it.

"I love all my teachers," the 14-year-old said. "I don't like having to get to know new people."