PORTLAND, Ore. — On Tuesday night, Portland teachers rallied outside Portland Public Schools district headquarters. It was the fifth day that members of the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) had been on strike. Their top demands remain higher pay, smaller class sizes, more planning time and better working conditions.
"I just want to go back to my classroom," said Roosevelt High School chemistry teacher Shannon Kittrick. "I want a fair contract and to be back with my students."
"We're here tonight to make sure we send a message to the board of education," said Franklin High School history teacher, Brian Halberg. "That we have support from across the city for a fair and just contract."
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After the rally, teachers filed into the school board meeting. Many in support of striking teachers spoke during the public comment period.
"I am literally the poster child of what happens to teachers who just can't anymore," said Erin Savage, who spent 16 years as a PPS teacher. She said she quit when the issues teachers are currently striking over became too much for her.
"I made my classroom a beautiful space but it was laughable," Savage said. "Often a brick oven with windows that only opened three-inch cracks, I taught barefoot to feel cooler. In the winter, knee-length down jackets were the norm. I would use an air canister to blow rat poop off keyboards and desks because we weren't even provided disinfecting wipes at that time."
District officials said during mediation Tuesday, both sides made progress around the issue of planning time for teachers but not over wages or class size caps. PAT President Angela Bonilla noted a different kind of breakthrough: multiple PPS school board members were present during Tuesday's negotiations.
"Today, because of the board members at the bargaining table for the first time in about 10 months, I felt like we finally had a breakthrough at the table," Bonilla said. "It is unfortunate that we had to wait until 40,000 students were out of school and 3,700 educators were on picket lines for us to see that breakthrough."
Earlier Tuesday, school board member Julia Brimm-Edwards argued that board members have always been engaged and present during mediation sessions.
"We are working hard to get a settlement that is fair to teachers and is within our fixed budget," said Brimm-Edwards.
With negotiations poised to continue Wednesday, Savage left board members with something to think about.
"You have already lost me," Savage said. "Please don't also lose them."