Dear Friend,

My name's Rosie, and I'm a proud graduate of Oakland public schools. My dad teaches sixth grade science at Melrose Leadership Academy, and my mom is the principal at Glenview Elementary. Oakland teachers are about to go head-to-head with the billionaires who want to keep our schools struggling so they can turn a profit. And they need community support from East Bay DSA members like you.

Friend, I'll be real with you - growing up in Oakland Unified wasn't easy. In sixth grade at Bret Harte Middle School, one of the bathrooms closest to my classes had a sewage backup, and the whole hallway near the cafeteria where we ate smelled like sewage. The water from the fountains there was undrinkable because it had lead in it.

Once I got to Skyline High School, I started to realize there was something bigger going on - with billionaires behind it. When I was fifteen, the School Board, backed by privatizers, wanted to shut down a program that helped Skyline's Polynesian students graduate. My best friend Eta was in the program, and her sister petitioned the School Board not to cut the program, but we lost. What's more, teachers clearly were not being paid enough - we could tell because a Spanish teacher left a few weeks into the year, and the school never replaced her except with a sub. So when I heard about the teachers going on strike, I thought, we have to support this.

A march to support the Oakland teachers' strike in 2019. I’m here with my dad and other teachers.

Friend, the teachers went all-out that year, and so did East Bay DSA members like you. And now we need to do it again. In the face of hundred-degree classrooms with no air conditioning, unmanageable class sizes, and some of the lowest salaries in the whole Bay Area, Oakland teachers are demanding:

• Smaller class sizes: Students, especially the most vulnerable students, do better in small classes.
• More student supports: Students need more librarians, counselors, nurses, social workers, and other supports.
• A living wage for teachers: Oakland public schools are losing teachers due to poor working conditions and some of the lowest salaries in Alameda County. Teachers should be able to afford to live where they teach. 

So where do you come in? No one does strike support like East Bay DSA. The chapter is gearing up to throw down to support the teachers' contract fight, which may very well end up in a strike. That means turning out to the line every day, bringing coffee and food for teachers, providing first aid at marches, hanging up posters in local businesses, and more. 

So stay tuned for emails, calls, and texts from your comrades to plug into strike support. You can even donate to help us buy materials and pay for our phone and text banks. We're for a big fight for our public schools and students like me. We can't do it without you.

In solidarity,

Rosie Marshall
Skyline High School Class of 2022
Berkeley City College Class of 2026

P.S. Want to support students and teachers right now? Donate to East Bay DSA so we can provide signs, first aid, and coffee on the picket line >>