Teachers in Portland, Oregon, walked off the job on Wednesday after expressing concerns regarding class sizes, salaries, and a lack of resources.
The strike shuttered schools for roughly 45,000 students in the state's largest city. The teachers argued that their salaries have not kept up with inflation. The development is the latest sign of a growing organized labor movement in the United States. This year, thousands of workers in various sectors took to the picket lines.
Oregon Teachers Go on Strike
A special education teacher at Kellogg Middle School, Sarah Trapido, said that kids deserve more than teachers who are exhausted and "at the end of their ropes." In a statement, the Portland Association of Teachers said that the strike was the first-ever teachers' movement in the school district.
The union, representing more than 4,000 educators, has been bargaining with the district for several months for a new contract after the previous agreement expired in June. On the other hand, Portland Public Schools said it does not have the money to meet the union's demands, as per ABC News.
In June, Oregon lawmakers approved a record $10.2 billion K-12 budget for the next two years, but school district representatives said that the funding was still insufficient. On Wednesday, Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said that funding has not kept pace with the needs of students or educators.
Guerrero argued that they strive to offer compensation that attracts and retains talent. However, he noted that, unlike a private organization, they do not have record profits that they can tap into to provide much higher compensation.
The teachers' strike has caused schools to close and there is currently no classroom or online instruction amid the movement. The superintendent said the district will meet with the union and a state mediator on Friday to discuss the concerns.
Higher Salaries and Other Demands
The union has argued that students' emotional and academic needs have skyrocketed since the coronavirus pandemic and that employees are under strain and undersupported. The president of the union, Angela Bonilla, said they are on strike not just for themselves but also for their students, according to the New York Times.
She also described crowded classrooms that do not have enough desks, teachers who are working up to 20 hours a week unpaid to keep up with workloads, and schools that are overwhelmed by students' mental health challenges.
Currently, the average salary for a teacher in Portland is $87,000, slightly higher than the area median income for a single person and below the median income for a family of four. Portland Public Schools offered 4.5% raises for the first year and 3% for subsequent contract years. The union asks for 8.5% in the first year and 6% and 5% in subsequent years.
Some argued that despite Portland Public Schools' statements regarding funding, it should have nearly $100 million in reserves. Furthermore, Oregon's state budget has more than enough surplus funding that residents are about to get a "tax kicker" rebate that could go up to thousands of dollars each, said Oregon Live.
