Dear Friend,
My name's Mayra Alvarado. I teach
fifth grade in Spanish at Manzanita Seed Elementary, which is a dual
language school in East Oakland. I'm writing to ask you
to contribute
to East Bay DSA because your support has been
critical to improving the working conditions for teachers like
me.
Friend, I love my students so much,
but teaching in Oakland's underfunded schools is a daily struggle.
I've had classes of over thirty students, which means I
can't give students the individual attention they need.
Plus, Oakland teachers make much
lower wages than other teachers in Alameda County. I know teachers who
live crowded together in studio apartments. I know other teachers who
live far, far away so they can work here. I tried
living by myself last year. Rent and bills were over $2,000 a month,
and I couldn't figure out a way to make it work on my salary, so I
decided to move back in with my parents.?
I'm a professional with my master's
who has been teaching for eight years. I should be able to live on my
own in the city where I work. But billionaires and
their stooges on the School Board have another agenda. They want to
keep public schools underfunded and teachers underpaid so they can
privatize public education.
If we don't fight back, this disrespect is just going to continue -
and students and teachers will pay the price. East
Bay DSA is going all-in to support the teachers - pitch in to help us
fight these billionaire attacks >>
The school district is telling us that they need to close
Black and Brown schools in order to pay us enough to live in Oakland.
It's just a bunch of B.S. They say that the money's not there, but we know money's there
because they pay their top administrators plush six-figure salaries.
The least they can do is pay teachers a living wage.
I went on strike in 2019. And it's
looking possible that we might have to go on strike again because our
district doesn't take us seriously at the bargaining table.
When we went on strike in 2019,
East Bay DSA was right there with us on the picket line every day at
6am. Going on strike is very hard for teachers like me,
but community partners like East Bay DSA help make it possible. That's
what inspired me to become a member myself. We don't want to have to strike, but I know
that if it comes down to it again that you will have our
backs.
Pitch
in to support East Bay DSA to campaign for us
teachers as we fight for decent salaries >>?
This fight comes down to the
community against a few wealthy privatizers who want to close public
schools so they can profit. I hope you will stand with us as we take
on these powerful ruling-class interests.
In solidarity,?
Mayra Alvarado
Fifth Grade Teacher, Manzanita Seed
Elementary
Oakland Education Association member
