Oakland Unified struggles to fill teacher, staff jobs as it reopens for 1st day of school

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Students returned to the classroom Monday for the first day of the 2022-23 school year at Oakland Unified School District. It is a year parents are hoping can feel a little more comfortable following the previous two years.

"I am little apprehensive given the part year," said Simonia Clifton, a parent of a child at Grass Valley Elementary. "I have my faith in Grass Valley this will be an awesome year."

However, OUSD is in need of dozens of new teachers. They are being hit by the nationwide teaching shortage.

"Right now we have around 40 teacher openings across the district," said John Sasaki, OUSD Communications Director. "It is not as bad as others and most of the vacant roles are being filled by substitutes."

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New guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that parents avoid using weighted swaddles and blankets on sleeping babies, among other recommendations.

The district is trying many methods to entice teachers to work at OUSD. Sasaki said they are stepping up efforts to advertise openings on social media, and incentivize them to work at the district.

"We have a good benefits package, and we want teachers here," Sasaki said. "Anybody that comes to us, we will have a lot of interaction with them making sure they have all the information they need."

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Other districts in the Bay Area are also dealing with shortages. This leads to a smaller applicant pool with other districts.

"I wouldn't say we are in competition with other districts," Sasaki said. "We do want teachers to work for us. We think this is the best opportunity."

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