The CTA-led “We Can’t Wait” campaign in the Bay Area got started with a rally in Oakland’s downtown Oscar Grant Plaza onTuesday, February 4. Near-constant and occasionally heavy rain had an impact on attendance. By my very rough estimate, 150 educators attended, in contingents from Oakland (OEA), Berkeley (BFT), Richmond and West Contra Costa County (UTR), and San Francisco (UESF). Also present were classified staff represented by these unions and by SEIU, at least a few non-educator unions, and perhaps one or two passersby.

What is the “We Can’t Wait” campaign? A collaboration of sorts among eleven (or is it thirty?) California educators unions, mostly in CTA, including most of the state’s largest locals. There are three demands: better compensation, fully-staffed schools, and “stability” for our students (which appears to mean opposing school closures).

An uncountable number of speakers did their best to rally the wet crowd, decrying the insufficient compensation, unaffordable housing, announced layoffs, threats of school closures, insufficient support for struggling students, and the increasing number of educators moving and/or leaving the profession. Many stressed the need for better funding of public education from the state; others called out individual districts for hiding and/or mismanaging money. Among the speakers were several union presidents, a parent, a couple teachers, two school board members, a handful of students, and Barbara Lee (now an Oakland mayoral candidate).

No one talked about the need for quality healthcare and improved living conditions for students, though Barbara Lee did note the unacceptable number of unhoused students. There was only a smattering of mostly indirect criticism of the Democratic Party, which of course is most directly responsible for the inadequate level of funding for education, healthcare, housing, etc. I had a conversation with a member of one union’s leadership in which they asked me to stop advocating for CalCare (Medicare for all in California), so as to not dampen enthusiasm.

There were a few reports of the rally in EdSource along with mainstream media, which somehow neglected to state that “We Can’t Wait” is focusing its attention on the state, rather than upon our respective districts,Did CTA’s PR fail or is such a message just unpalatable, or whether we’ve already been sold out.

WCW is right about cooperation to pressure the state, but there are many reasons to be prepared for a campaign that only holds rallies and issues press releases, without much involvement by the members or much effect on the contracts locals sign. 1) The CTA officials and the local leaders are the same people (or chosen successors of) who have for decades followed a model of “collaboration” with districts and uncritical support of neoliberal Democrats 2) WCW is unapologetically top-down, with narrowly defined demands pre-set by these leaders 3) Strategy is either being withheld from rank and file, or maybe not yet determined: will there be anything beyond shared rallies – in particular, job actions? 4) No communications platform for rank and file to discuss issues and strategies.

The rain stopped shortly before the rally ended, and a rainbow was observed by drenched stragglers (see attached photo). Although it was still overcast and vision was poor, I felt certain that I caught a momentary glimpse of the far end of the rainbow, where a slightly larger crowd than ours, consisting of California’s 167+ billionaires, were sipping tropical drinks on a sunny beach around an enormous pot of gold. Governor Newsom, Tony Thurmond, and Berkeley/Richmond’s Assemblyperson Buffy Wicks were there too, providing security.