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Bailey Thompson<\/strong> | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n Rising early, joining together and donning red shirts, Oregon educators in Portland, Salem, Eugene, Medford, Bend and Klamath Falls made a statement on May 8, 2019. With thousands of teachers, students and community members going out into their neighborhoods throughout the state, their message was clear: pass the Student Success Act. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Student Success Act is a bill that is designed to start making up for the disinvestment in education that began in the early nineties with Measure 5. It would reduce class sizes, it would provide mental health care, it would provide pre-k funding \u2014 it would really do a lot to change our schools and to start to get them back to where they belong,\u201d said Ben Gorman, English teacher at Central High School. \u201cIt\u2019s not the end of the road \u2026 but this is a real excellent start for our students and what they need.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n On the day of the walkout, a large number of Central School District teachers got up early to stand outside CHS, then go to a larger event in Salem and finally come back to CHS at the end of the day. Community members honked continually in support for those holding signs.<\/span><\/p>\n As of May 8, this piece of legislation had passed through the Oregon House of Representatives; however, on May 13, it passed through the Oregon Senate, as well.<\/span><\/p>\n When speaking about the motivation for this school walk-out, Gorman shared the sentiment that had led many teachers to protest.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo often teachers are just so exhausted by a very difficult job, and they say to themselves, \u2018I need to focus on my own kids, and I can\u2019t focus on politics of how to support my kids,\u2019\u201d said Gorman. \u201cBut we\u2019ve gotten to the point where teachers are saying, \u2018Enough is enough. I can\u2019t possibly do this.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n After educators had protested in a similar way on President\u2019s Day without any reaction from the legislature, Central Education Association President and math teacher Laura Waight described the shift that took place.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe conversation began to transition to \u2018how do we get the legislators\u2019 attention?\u2019 And the only way: shut it down,\u201d said Waight. \u201cShut it down and show them that we\u2019re willing to take an unpaid day to show them how serious we are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While some people may be opposed to the Student Success Act for fear of their taxes raising, Gorman shared why this fear is unfounded.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things you\u2019ll hear is \u2018this is going to be a tax increase on the people in our state,\u2019 and that\u2019s just false. In fact, if it passes, this will be a tax cut for your average Oregonian,\u201d said Gorman. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat the Student Success Act has done, which is historic in Oregon, is to ask corporations that make a million dollars or more in the state of Oregon for a small tax on that money,\u201d added Waight. \u201cThe same corporations which were against something like this (with bills in the past) are now for it \u2014 Nike, Powell\u2019s, HP, and some other big Oregon companies are now saying, \u2018please tax us because we see the result of having underfunded schools.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In the end, both Waight and Gorman asserted that support for students is something that should be a universal goal \u2014 not something considered partisan \u2014 even if you believe it should be done another way, as approximately 25% of teachers in the district do.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t say that standing on the street corner or going to Salem is going to change anything, but what we do know for sure is that if we continue not to do anything, then nothing will change,\u201d said Waight. \u201cWe have to change the game.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/files\/2019\/05\/Protest1-1024x950.jpg\")
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