IMPENDING TEACHERS UNION STRIKE IN PORTLAND

There’s a looming threat to the education of the nearly 50,000 students in Oregon’s largest school district: a teachers union strike at Portland Public Schools may be imminent. The threat comes from continued failed contract negotiations between the school district and its biggest teachers union, the Portland Association of Teachers. 

Due to this failure, the union’s nearly 4,500 members have been teaching without a work contract with the district since June. Although negotiations have been ongoing for several months, there are no obvious signs of resolution. 

The prolonged impasse has made a strike look increasingly likely. If one were to occur, it would be the first strike in district history. A walkout could begin as early as Oct. 23, according to the district and the president of the Portland Association of Teachers, Angela Bonilla. 

Where does the disagreement stem from? According to Bonilla, the union has three important demands the district refuses to meet: a salary increase, more teacher planning time, and smaller class sizes. 

The union argues that the teachers’ salaries are growing too slowly, having not kept pace with breakneck inflation in recent years. That, combined with teachers’ infamously low wages are making it difficult for numerous educators to meet the cost of living in the Portland metropolitan area. 

Inside the classrooms, the district and its teachers are divided on how much planning time teachers need. The teachers are demanding an increase in their paid planning time, up from their current 320 minutes per week to 440 minutes. 

According to the union, more planning time will help alleviate teachers’ workloads while allowing them to better prepare to help their students. For the same reason, the teachers also are pushing to decrease class sizes. 

“[PPS has] had extremely large class sizes, which leads to extreme increases in workload,” Bonilla said on an Oregon Public Broadcasting interview. “I’m hearing of kindergarten classes, in some schools, of 28 students. I talked to an educator at Lincoln [High School]. They have 185 students across six periods. So those aren’t conditions students can learn under and are extremely difficult for educators to prepare for.” 

On the other side, the district has indicated that the union has been uncompromising during negotiations. In September, officials released an official statement criticizing the union for formally declaring an impasse despite providing no response to the district’s latest proposal and offering no counter-proposal. 

Many Portland parents are understandably concerned about the impact of a teacher strike, especially coming off the far-reaching learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. PPS has already stated that in the event of a strike, it will have no choice but to shut down schools. 

What is next? Two more mediation sessions are scheduled between the district and the Portland Association of Teachers, on Oct. 11 and 17. Both sides have reiterated multiple times their hope to avoid a strike and to work towards the best interest of their students.