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Blocks and blocks of teachers, families and union supporters marched west across the Burnside Bridge at a Portland Association of Teachers rally on a frosty Saturday morning. A band played Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” just before PAT president Angela Bonilla stood in the back of a pickup truck to lead the crowd in a chant of “Union power!”
“Our kids don’t deserve the bare minimum; they deserve everything,” Bonilla said during her speech. “And we will not stop fighting until we can give them the schools that they deserve.”
PAT and Portland Public Schools have been bargaining for about nine months, Bonilla said. Portland teachers have been working without a contract since June. The chief sticking points are smaller class sizes, more planning time each week, and increased wages. The last bargaining session will be Oct. 31. The strike is set to begin Nov. 1.
“If Wednesday comes without a deal that is good enough for our students, we are going to win on our picket lines,” Bonilla said to cheers.
In a statement last week, Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero outlined the district’s position: “PPS supports a sustainable settlement that honors our educators, focuses on student learning, and avoids school closures. Our bargaining team remains committed to staying at the bargaining table for as long as necessary to arrive at a fair, sustainable contract.”
Although the majority of the crowd consisted of teachers wearing blue PAT shirts and “Ready to Strike” buttons, supportive families also arrived at the PAT headquarters on Northeast 8th Avenue at 9 am with handmade signs. One of the main topics of conversation before the march began was what parents will do for childcare if a strike takes place.
“We wing it, essentially, is the answer,” said Claire McClory, a mother of two students at Bridlemile Elementary in Southwest Portland. McClory and her family marched for a livable wage for teachers and better school buildings. Bridlemile was forced to close for two days in January for emergency repairs to its gas supply line and heating unit. One of PAT’s bargaining points is for classrooms to maintain a temperature between 60 and 90 degrees.
McClory expects to do informal child care swaps with other neighborhood families who are in the same situation. She and her husband both work from home and already have laptops poised for more “educational screen time” for their children, McClory said.
The school district sent surveys to families last week to determine which children will need Chromebooks in the event of a strike. The email tempered families’ expectations: “Please note that the materials provided centrally by PPS are supplemental and not created by your student’s classroom teacher.” Devices will go home in student backpacks Oct. 31 if there is no new contract by then.
Serena Primm has a second-grader at Chief Joseph Elementary in North Portland. Her Arbor Lodge community has organized a parent-led child care cooperative to help families weather the strike. She and her wife both work full time and plan to also rely on grandparents for child care help.
“We’re hoping it doesn’t last forever because the district has to do the right thing,” Primm says. “But this is a pro-union town and we are a pro-union family so as long as it takes we will do what we’ve got to do.”