"On Friday, January 7 of 2022, 500 teachers called out sick in a protest that they dubbed a 'sickout.'"
- Jackson evans, 8th grade
On Friday, January 7 of 2022, 500 teachers called out sick in a protest that they dubbed a “sickout.” The protest was meant to pressure OUSD to improve their COVID safety measures.The lack of staff from the sickout forced closures of 12 schools and impacted over 8,000 students.
As part of the sickout, OUSD teachers and staff drove past the Oakland Unified headquarters with signs on their cars, protesting in a car caravan. In response to this, OUSD said they are sending KN95 masks to students and teachers and are also distributing rapid tests to families.
Teachers have said that the main goal of the sickout is to pressure OUSD into addressing their safety concerns. Teachers have previously protested, back in October of 2020, for the same reason of safety concerns with Covid.
With the new Omicron variant and Covid surges, school is becoming a lot more difficult for teachers and students alike.
(Sorry this was so short, but there wasn’t too much to write about here and I physically cannot extend the length of sentences).
As part of the sickout, OUSD teachers and staff drove past the Oakland Unified headquarters with signs on their cars, protesting in a car caravan. In response to this, OUSD said they are sending KN95 masks to students and teachers and are also distributing rapid tests to families.
Teachers have said that the main goal of the sickout is to pressure OUSD into addressing their safety concerns. Teachers have previously protested, back in October of 2020, for the same reason of safety concerns with Covid.
With the new Omicron variant and Covid surges, school is becoming a lot more difficult for teachers and students alike.
(Sorry this was so short, but there wasn’t too much to write about here and I physically cannot extend the length of sentences).