Written by: Hannah Field | News Editor
For some — if not most — kids, dressing up on Halloween, overindulging in candy and having school canceled the next day is a dream come true. Portland students found themselves in the same situation and, at first, it was fun — until the teachers’ strike began to threaten their summer and winter breaks.
Eighty-one schools in the district have not had a school day since Nov. 1, when teachers first walked out of classrooms. Since then, it has almost been a month of no school for the Portland school district. Thanksgiving break is expected to end Nov. 27 — with school days planned to continue as usual. However, it is uncertain whether or not the Portland teachers’ demands will be met by that date — a process that includes an agreement between the Oregon school district and the union.
It is required for Oregon students to reach a certain amount of instructional time in the classroom based on grade per year. Due to the strike, students have not met that requirement, and therefore, Portland is heavily considering extending the school year into the summer until the required hours are met — as long as the other vacations in the year do not provide the proper amount of days.
Teachers had multiple reasons for rallying. As listed by the Portland Association of Teacher’s website, it is for the students as much as the teachers.
“Our students deserve more one-on-one attention from dedicated and well-qualified educators … they deserve small classroom sizes and meaningful instruction and assessment.”
On the website, they have three goals listed. In summary, they are as follows: all needs and interests for students and educators should be dutifully met, education spaces should be safe, clean, well-maintained and fully staffed and, lastly, educators need better salaries as well as teams. Staff should have training and teams who are well educated in social issues, such as forms of prejudice and bias, to better serve the student population in Portland.
The website goes as far as to publish bargaining updates as the discussion continues. The petition initiated by the Portland Association of Teachers reportedly has over 7,000 signatures — but the petition itself does not showcase the number.
The Nov. 20 bargaining update summarizes a 24-hour meeting the Portland Public Schools team and Portland Association of Teachers had discussing the agreement. A settlement was reportedly met from both sides’ bargaining teams with good benefits and proper adjustments that the PAT desired – just before the PPS bargaining team returned to inform the PAT that the PPS board rejected the settlement — the settlement agreed upon by their own team.
“To have the deal pulled after working so hard, and making tough compromises to win on our key issues, was incredibly frustrating,” said the PAT.
The post goes as far as to say that the PPS has been posting proposals that are “…out of date and out of context.”
In a different update, the PAT’s update states, “This crisis of their own making unnecessarily prolongs the strike, and demonstrates the inability of district leadership to govern Oregon’s largest school district.”
However, multiple topics of interest, presented by the PAT, were acknowledged by PPS — such as class size, parent involvement, expanded overage pay, more planning time and planning days, adjusted cost of living adjustments, added mental health staff and safer education facilities. Seventeen articles in the contract were agreed upon by both sides, but three more remain, as well as two appendices.
If both parties sign all articles, it will then be reviewed and then a comprehensive, tentative agreement would be signed. Union members would then vote to ratify the contract, validating it.
The PAT reported with hopeful spirits that big wins were secured in that discussion, and they are waiting on the PPS to consider approving the deal they laid out for them.
PPS has already made moves on cutting winter break short for Portland students — Dec. 18–22 a full school week starting two days before Christmas Eve.
Portland Public Schools Board Chair Gary Hollands’ car was struck by vandalism, with the word “SHAME” written on three sides of the vehicle in spray paint. Beyond that, leaflets and papers were stuck to the car, broadcasting messages about funding classrooms and giving students the classrooms they deserve.
The Portland Association of Teachers condemned this act and vandalism as a whole.
As tension continues to rise between both sides, it remains that over 40,000 students have been out of school since the beginning of November.
Students remain the objective of the strike according to both teams. Students may continue to be out of school until Portland Public Schools meet the demands of the Portland Association of Teachers, who have made it very clear that they will continue to gather at the picket lines until all their demands are met.
Update: Both sides have come to an agreement concluding with higher wages for teachers, soft cap sizes on classrooms and extended prep time per week. Breaks for students have been pushed back a few days for the purpose of making up the 11 lost school days.
Contact the author at howlnews@mail.wou.edu
