Teachers at the Oakland Unified School District are signaling a return to the picket lines, nearly one week after conducting a one-day strike.
One quarter of the union's 2,800 members approved a proposal this week that authorizes union leadership to call for a walkout of no longer than 10 days.
The measure also requires union leadership to seek approval from a council of union representatives before a longer strike could be initiated, the Oakland Tribune reported. The district and union are slated to restart talks today. Last Thursday, nearly 90 percent of the union's teachers participated in a one-day strike.
The union's president, Betty Olson-Jones, told the Tribune that the vote was empowering.
"It gives us a real mandate for what we've been doing: keeping the heat on the district."
The discontent was ignited by a controversial school board vote in April. Without teacher input, the board approved new contracts that stripped instructors of salary raises.
District officials said the vote was necessary because of a $85 million budget shortfall. The salary freeze could help save about $3 million, officials estimated.
Troy Flint, a school district spokesman, told the Tribune:
We don't consider this a doomsday scenario. We're encouraged by the fact that we're returning to the bargaining table, and I think both sides want to avoid a strike.
Although there are roughly 100 school districts statewide where contract talks have stalled over salary disagreements, last week in Oakland was the second walkout by teachers this year. In Orange County, teachers at the Capistrano Unifed School District recently returned to their classrooms after a five-day protest over a permanent, 10 percent pay cut.
The strikes are fueled by a mortgage crisis that has decimated the state's tax revenues and forced severe cuts to the education budget. This year's state budget included $11.6 billion in education cuts.
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