On Thursday, Oakland teachers will hold a one-day strike in the face of layoffs, increasing class sizes, and yet another year without a raise. It’s been two years since the last contract between Oakland Unified School District and the Oakland Education Association expired. For its part, OUSD officials say they recognize the need to pay the city’s public school teachers more, but a raise isn’t possible in the midst of a historic budget disaster. The district’s budget has decreased by nearly 20 percent since the 2008-2009 school year. Troy Flint, OUSD’s spokesman, said the best hope for a raise lies in passing a parcel tax in November. But the teacher’s union isn’t backing the measure because charter schools would also receive a share of the revenue.

Meantime, a new report shows the damage declining state revenue and falling enrollment have done to OUSD’s budget. Between this school year and the next, nearly 10 percent of the employees at OUSD’s campuses will have been let go, including 114 teachers. By comparison, the number of full-time employees in the central office will have been reduced by 17 percent. The combined reductions represent a savings to the general fund of almost $28 million. And there’s still another $10 million that will have to be cut, according to Flint.

School district officials are blunt in stating that the personnel cuts will result in less safe schools, longer delays for maintenance, and far fewer opportunities for teachers to hone their craft with mentors and other opportunities for professional development. In 2007, the last year that OEA members received a raise, OUSD received $6356 per student. Next year, that sum will be $4900.

The strike comes after two years of failed negotiations. Last week, the school district’s governing board voted to impose a contract on teachers that offers no raise, but does make OUSD pay for benefits even as costs increase.

Remarkably, there is some good news from OUSD this week. The school district reports that in the last year, the number of high school students completing the courses that make them eligible for the state’s two university systems has increased by 10 percent. There’s also been a 10 percent increase in students deemed “on track” to graduate, and a 10 percent increase in freshmen with a GPA higher than 2.0.