Parents Fuming as Portland Teachers Strike Shuts Down Schools

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Portland, Ore. teachers are in the third week of a strike, which hasn’t garnered much support at home. The school district gave a boost to the cause of the striking teachers’ union by announcing in advance that it would not hire temps but instead would hold children hostage, by declaring that all schools would be closed. You understand they’re doing this for the kids.

Portland, the largest district in the state, has between 44,000 and 49,000. The district is unsure and says it’s not sure due to the constant decline in population following its COVID-19 disastrous performance.

Even in Portland, where many parents are joining teachers at the picket lines and “the struggle”, their passion is not shared.

A Portland parent created a Change.org campaign to reopen the school as long as bargaining is ongoing. Eric Happel has collected 372 signatures on his petition. He claims that “students can’t wait any longer” and are still trying to catch up with where they were before the pandemic closures. Recent reports also show alarmingly rising rates of chronic absenteeism. The cancellation of sports and the suspension of art and music performances are just a few examples.

This disaster is being led by the same union who was the last to return to classroom learning after COVID. Oregon teachers have not been hampered by being last. No one is fired for poor performance.

The schooling under COVID has been so bad that Democrats, who have been paid off by powerful teachers’ unions, passed a bill to lower graduation standards. These standards are so low that they make the word “dumb” look like a dirty word. How bad is the educational performance of Oregon? It’s terrible — just below Arkansas and getting worse. The Democrats have just extended lower standards by another five years.

One parent complained to Willamette Week about its one-sided coverage of the strike and wondered where the money for more teacher pay came from.

Your article is not balanced.

Although most people would agree that they would like to see more teachers, better classrooms, and better pay for teachers, these goals cannot be seen in isolation. It is important to put the situation into the right context.

Portlanders pay the highest tax rates in the country unless you live in Manhattan or make more than $23 million per year. Parents who had the highest tax obligations faced a school district that was the last one in the nation to return to classroom learning. This was a disaster for children especially those who come from low-income families.

Teachers who previously refused to return to face-to-face learning are now sending children home midway through the school year.

Portland Public Schools has one of the highest per-student funding levels in the country. Nonpartisan watchdogs have found that education results are incredibly low.

It is easy to assign blame, but it is intellectually dishonest to pretend that teachers did not play a major role in this situation.

Justin S.

The teachers who picket resemble Antifa more than adults.

This exchange is from a Twitter/X user, who was covering the picketing and found himself met by a professional interrupter and a cowbell clanger in order to drown out any questions or general incivility.

Students, like revolutionaries, are supporting their teachers, who want more money and smaller classes. They also want less responsibility.

Portland teachers are best at organizing protests

They organized parties last week, during the first week of a work strike.

Reporter Shane Kavanaugh is one of many parents who teach their children life skills.

Teachers claim that the district has $200 million lying around waiting to be used for a raise. The district denies it.

On Thursday, union members who had paid for insurance began to lose it and now must pay COBRA extension.

As I have said before, the public school teachers’ unions continue to commit crimes against children.

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