By Aneri Upadhyay
Staff Writer
For years, there have been disputes over fair pay and benefits for teachers around the world. However, in the town of Portland, Oregon, this has recently resulted in a strike, closing public schools.
The strike was due to large class sizes, low salaries and a lack of resources according to AP News. Sarah Trapido, a special education teacher at Kellogg Middle School, is one of the teachers going on strike. She commented on the reasoning behind it as a whole.
“Our kids deserve more than teachers that are absolutely exhausted and at the end of their ropes,” said Trapido.
This is the first ever teachers strike in this school district according to The Portland Association of Teachers. The previous contract for teachers in this district expired in June and negotiations have been going on for months.
Despite the fact that a $10.2 billion K-12 budget for two years was approved in Oregon, it is not enough for school districts, who say that there is not enough money to meet the demands of the strike.
Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero commented on the strike from an administrative perspective.
“Funding has not kept pace with the needs of our students, nor our educators. We strive to offer a compensation that attracts and retains talent,” Guerrero said. “But unlike a private organization, we don’t have record profits we can tap into.”
In the past three years, the union has proposed a 20% salary increase, while the district has proposed around 10%.
As reported by the New York Times, the classroom conditions were not conducive to both the students and teachers. Angela Bonilla, the union’s president, said that there were not enough desks in classrooms, teachers worked 20 hours a week unpaid and that, for schools, it is overwhelming to deal with students' mental health challenges.
There are 45,000 students affected by the strike in Portland’s public school district. There are no classes on Zoom like there were during the pandemic, but there may soon be tutoring for younger kids. As for lunches, Portland Public Schools are letting people pick up meals at certain schools.
As stated by the Portland Association of Teachers, Portland educators need more time for planning. Along with this, they need professional development that addresses implicit bias and racial equity. The salaries need to be high enough for teachers to live in the neighborhoods where their students live and where they currently live.
According to Reuters, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek commented on the strike on Facebook.
Kotek stated, “I encourage both sides to find a resolution that delivers a fair contract for educators, prioritizes more dollars going to the classroom, and keeps students in school."
Although it is unknown how long the strike will last, the union hopes to keep going until their goals are achieved. Until then, you can read more about the College’s branch of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) on the Signal.
Teachers at the College were in the process of negotiating a fair and equitable contract when the state verbally agreed on a new full-time contract on Nov. 3. Teachers are waiting for a written and finalized version but, for now, the agreement is agreed on by word. Although it did not lead to a strike, the teachers at the College fought for the same things the teachers at Portland are currently fighting for.
