Teachers in Portland, Oregon, walked off the job Wednesday for the first day of a strike that closed schools for about 45,000 students in Oregon’s largest city.
Concerns over large class sizes, wages not keeping up with inflation and a lack of resources prompted the strike, one of the latest signs of a growing organized labor movement in the US that has seen thousands of workers in various sectors take part in picket lines this year.
“Our kids deserve more than teachers who are really exhausted and at the end of their rope,” said Sarah Trapido, a special education teacher at Kellogg Middle School who picketed Wednesday morning.
The Portland Teachers Association, which represents more than 4,000 educators, said it was the first teacher strike in the school district.
The union has been negotiating with the district for months to secure a new contract after the previous one expired in June.
Portland Public Schools says it doesn’t have the money to meet union demands.
Teachers and their supporters hold signs, chant and rally a crowd with bullhorns on the first day of a teachers’ strike in Portland, Ore., on Nov. 1, 2023. AP
Oregon lawmakers in June approved a record $10.2 billion K-12 budget for the next two years, but school district representatives say that’s not enough.
“The funding is not aligned with the needs of our students, nor our educators,” Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero told reporters Wednesday. “We strive to offer attractive compensation and retain talent. But unlike private organizations, we don’t have a track record of profits that we can turn to.”
Schools are closed and there are no classrooms or online instruction during the strike.
The Portland Teachers Association said it was the first teacher strike in the school district. AP
Guerrero said the district is scheduled to meet with the union and state mediator on Friday.
Teachers held signs, chanted and rallied the crowd with bullhorns outside Kellogg Middle School on Wednesday morning as passing cars honked their horns in support.
Educators say they feel overwhelmed by their workload and what they describe as a lack of support in the classroom.
Portland Public Schools Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero holds a news conference on the first day of a teacher strike in Portland, Ore., on Nov. 1, 2023.AP
Trapido said he often works during his lunch break and continues once he gets home until 8 or 9 p.m. She often relies on volunteers to help her students.
“He came in and I was just like, ‘Thank goodness,'” Trapido said.
With the help of volunteers, she said, she can help a child go to the bathroom, get herself a drink of water — which she might not drink all day — or help a group she doesn’t have the opportunity to work with.
Teachers hold signs and chant in front of a high school during the first day of their strike in Portland, Ore. on November 1, 2023. AP
Katarina Juarez, an eighth-grade language arts teacher at Kellogg Middle, said she often stays at school until 7 p.m. to complete her work.
Doctors had suggested he quit because his job had taken a toll on his physical health, he said.
“I feel like I’m letting them down if I don’t spend that time,” she said. “But I really put myself and my family at risk in the process.”
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Mike Bauer, a union representative and special education teacher at Cleveland High School, said teachers were stressed about the strike but felt it was the right way to support their students.
He said that smaller class sizes would lighten the workload of educators and help them give students more individual attention if they are struggling.
The question of pay — especially for teachers just starting their careers — has also been raised because of the rising cost of living in Portland, he said.
The annual base salary in the district starts at about $50,000.
“I’ve seen a lot of people quit within their first five years,” said Bauer, who has taught in Portland for nearly two decades. “At the end of the day, we need teachers.”
The union has proposed a pay rise of about 20% over three years.
The district, meanwhile, has proposed about half that.
The union’s demands also include more daily and weekly planning time for teachers to prepare lessons, especially for those in elementary schools, and limit class sizes to certain thresholds lower than what the district has proposed in some instances.
The district said the union’s proposal would create hundreds of millions of dollars in additional expenses and result in possible staff cuts.
Schools are closed and there are no classrooms or online instruction during the teacher strike. AP
It also cited declining enrollment as a financial concern — the district has lost nearly 3,000 students since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the 2019-20 school year, state data show.
Almost two weeks ago, the union announced that 99% of teachers voted in favor of labor action, with 93% of its members participating in the vote.
After the union voted to authorize the strike, the district said it wanted to reach a fair settlement.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has urged unions and school districts to reach an agreement and avoid a walkout.
Oregon’s US senator has also weighed in.
“They are underpaid and overworked, and we strongly reaffirm our support for Portland educators who are exercising their right to strike for a fair collective bargaining agreement,” US Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden said in a joint statement Wednesday. “At the same time, we urge leadership from the Portland Teachers Association and Portland Public Schools to continue working in good faith toward an agreement.”
Portland Public Schools Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said the district will meet with the union and state mediators on Friday.AP
Public education has been gripped by a series of high-profile strikes this year.
In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest union of teachers’ aides, cafeteria workers and custodians walked out for three days in March to demand better pay and more staffing, shutting down education for half a million students.
In Oakland, California, unions representing teachers, counselors, librarians and other workers went on strike for more than a week in May.
In addition to common demands like higher wages, it also pushed for “common good” changes, like compensation for Black students and resources for homeless students.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
