The Oregon Legislature believes that education is “a major civilizing influence on the development of a humane, responsible, and informed citizenry.” Accordingly, Oregon has levied fines on those individuals who threaten the quality and consistency of education in the state.
Parents are required to ensure that their children maintain “regular attendance at a public full-time school during the entire school term.” Until 2021, failing to do so risked fines up to $500.
In Oregon, public education is funded primarily through income tax. Those who fail to pay income taxes that serve as the financial basis of public education are also subject to fines.
Certainly, teachers’ union strikes that intentionally bar children from the classroom pose a significant barrier to quality education. If parents and taxpayers could face legal penalties for disrupting public education, why shouldn’t teachers’ unions?
37 states and Washington, D.C. prohibit teachers from striking. Teachers’ unions who initiate strikes in Nevada, for example, are fined $50,000 for each day that students are unable to attend school. In Maryland, unions who authorize a strike are immediately removed as the district’s exclusive representative.
Oregon should follow the lead of Nevada and Maryland’s anti-strike legislation, both of which punish disruptive unions while protecting teachers.
It is unacceptable for teachers’ unions to utilize students as political pawns in the name of collective bargaining. For the sake of parents, teachers, and especially students, Oregon must consider teachers’ union strikes for what they are – disruptive, self-serving walkouts that place already struggling students last.
Jason Dudash
Dudash is the Northwest Director of the Freedom Foundation.
To read more letters to the editor, go to oregonlive.com/opinion.