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OAKLAND — Oakland teachers, school counselors and nurses who have gone payless since beginning a strike six weekdays ago received encouraging words from union representatives Thursday who said they’re in the final stretch of negotiations.

“We are on day six and we are making movement, I’m asking you to stay strong on the lines, we are almost there,” Oakland Education Association first vice president Ismael Armendariz told more than 1,000 teachers and supporters at a rally Thursday.

The average teacher in Oakland — making $63,149 — has lost $2,037 in wages for missing six of the 186 working days in a school year.

School psychologist Jennifer Hughes, who works part time at Grass Valley and Kaiser elementary schools, said she believes the financial hit will be worth it in the long-run.

“I feel like now we’re in it, you can’t leave a party early,” Hughes said in an interview. “I’ve committed to six days, I’m committed until it’s over.”

Hughes was among the more than 1,000 people who rallied at Frank Ogawa Plaza on Thursday afternoon, then marched along 14th Street and onto Clay Street to congregate in front of the Elihu M. Harris State Office Building where contract talks were taking place. At one point, they entered and filled the building’s lobby.

Teachers on strike aren’t guaranteed financial help from their union, the Oakland Education Association. After a 26-day strike in 1996, the union started collecting $10 a year from members for its “membership assistance fund,” said Trish Gorham, who used to be its president and now manages that fund. Members who have financial hardships can apply for $500, $1,000 or $1,500 grants from the fund, and a committee decides who gets them.

There’s about $700,000 in that fund right now, Gorham said. Union members can apply for grants by providing documentation of their financial obligations and confirmation from their school’s “picket captain” — who takes attendance of teachers on strike — that they were on the picket lines.

Gorham said the grants will help, but obviously won’t completely reimburse teachers on strike.

“They are sacrificing for the kids, they are willing to take this hit for the future,” Gorham said.

Teachers are paid once a month, and the lost wages will be apparent in next month’s paycheck, district officials said.

But if long hours spent at the bargaining table are an indication of progress, there might be some light at the end of the tunnel.

Contract talks over the past two days have extended into the early morning hours with the help of elected officials such as state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. Wednesday’s bargaining session lasted from until about 5 a.m. Thursday, union officials said. The bargaining teams returned to the table later Thursday, and were still negotiating late in the day.

Neither the district nor the union has said why recent sessions are lasting so long, as opposed to earlier in the strike when sessions tended to quickly break off, including after one hour last Sunday.

In a news release issued Thursday morning, the Oakland Education Association said talks were “bringing some progress.”

The district upped its offer Monday to an 8 percent raise over three school years and a 2 percent bonus for the 2017-2018 school year.

“Collectively, we could end this strike now. We look forward to receiving a new proposal from OEA and remain hopeful that we will reach an agreement soon,” the statement read.

The union initially sought a 12 percent raise over three years and has not indicated whether its demand has since changed. It also is seeking smaller class sizes and wants the district to hire more support staff such as nurses and librarians. The district’s previous offer addressed class sizes and support staff but fell short of the union’s demands.

Oakland Unified has maintained that it would like to offer teacher more, but its budget crisis prevents that. The district faces a budget shortfall that will reach an estimated $56 million by the 2020-21 school year if no big cuts are made, and its finances are being scrutinized by the Alameda County Office of Education, as well as the state — which the district still owes more than $30 million to for a loan it obtained after going into receivership in 2003.

The school board was scheduled to vote Wednesday on cutting $21.75 million from the 2019-20 budget in part to reduce that shortfall and also to cover for anticipated pay raises. But after teachers formed a picket line outside of La Escuelita Elementary School where the school board was supposed to vote, trustees canceled the meeting because they feared for their safety in crossing the picket line.

The meeting has since been rescheduled to 2 p.m. Friday.

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Boston-area teen, parents charged over party that forced delay of in-person classes Oakland Education Association vice president Chaz Garcia said the picketers would never hurt someone who crossed the picket line.

Meanwhile, in a show of support, a group of Oakland charter school teachers released a statement saying that on Friday they intend to call for an “immediate stop” to charter school growth in Oakland. Charter schools have been partly blamed for the school district’s financial problems because they have enrolled many the city’s students, thus reducing the amount of state funding that otherwise would go to the district.

“We need to invest in the students who are now attending Oakland charters, instead of growing beyond our capacity to deliver quality education,” said Trish Liguori, who teaches a newcomer program at Leadership Public Schools Oakland R&D. “We’re calling for a moratorium on the expansion of new charters in Oakland – because it makes no sense to open up new schools while shutting down others.”