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After two weeks of teachers striking, emotions run high, and our inbox is overflowing. What follows are three letters we received from Portland parents in response to our story plumbing the feelings of other Portland parents.
TAKING THE HEAT
Thank you for putting voice to our feelings [”Rage Against the Machine,” WW, Nov. 8]. With a senior at home wondering how to complete college applications and an eighth grader going stir crazy, we feel this deeply. The lackadaisical tone of the negotiations so far is, frankly, infuriating. That the mediator thought that a few days of other work should come before resolving this strike says plenty.
I see that one of the teachers’ demands is to keep the classrooms between 60° and 90°—and that the district is balking? I have a proposal that combines equity with cost savings: set the district office thermostats to the same range.
Matt B.
Northeast Portland
TAX BIG AND CLOSE SCHOOLS?
I’m sorry but your article was not at all balanced.
While most would agree that we all would like more teachers, better facilities, and for those teachers to be better paid, those goals cannot be viewed in a vacuum. We need to look at the situation in the proper context.
Portland residents pay the highest taxes in the entire country; unless you happen to live in Manhattan and make over $23 million a year. Meanwhile, parents who have the highest tax obligations in the country were faced with a school district that was the last in the entire country to go back to in-person learning. Every ounce of research has shown this was disastrous for children, particularly those from lower-income households.
Now the same teachers who refused to go back to in-person learning have sent children home in the middle of the school year.
Portland Public Schools is one of the best-funded school districts on a per-student basis in the entire country. Meanwhile, education results have been incredibly poor when measured by nonpartisan watchdogs.
There is plenty of blame to go around; however, acting as if teachers haven’t played a significant part in this situation is intellectually dishonest.
Justin S.
Northwest Portland
BOTH SIDES VEX PARENTS
I read your piece covering PPS parent sentiment, and it’s disappointing that three similar perspectives were collected. There’s a general fear of criticizing PAT’s leadership and tactics because everyone supports teachers and wants them to be compensated fairly. Still, you wouldn’t have to look far to find parents equally frustrated by both sides’ leadership.
With the state CFO now assigned to get everyone on the same page about the district’s finances, I wonder if PAT will amend its primary talking point that “the money is there.” Of course, they won’t, because it would expose that a core pillar of PAT’s argument is based on either (a) an inability to decipher the budget or (b) a willful misrepresentation of data to garner support and justify this strike. The fact is, an impasse was always inevitable due to the fiscal realities. PPS and PAT could have negotiated in earnest over the summer and avoided inflicting this damage on children and families. But they didn’t. And their prolonged refusal to engage meaningfully—and in good faith—will create wounds in our community that will take years to heal.
What a shame. What a sham.
T.S.
Southeast Portland
Letters to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words.
Submit to: P.O. Box 10770, Portland, OR 97296
Email: mzusman@wweek.com