I am a proud parent of a 7-year-old enrolled in Portland Public Schools. I watched my child lose nearly a year of classroom instruction during the pandemic, and now I’m watching helplessly again as this strike drags on. To hear Portland Association of Teachers officials make public comments like “guess what y’all. We are winning,” while my child misses day after day of instruction is a bitter pill to swallow.
The union appears to be poorly prepared throughout this process. They seem to present proposals with inaccurate or missing costs and cannot provide details when pressed by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Insisting that money exists, even when shown otherwise by the state chief financial officer, is a glaring example.
Portland teachers were among the first to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and among the last in the country to return to in-person learning, at grave cost to our kids. Now they have missed weeks of instruction and services over unrealistic fiscal demands from a teachers union more interested in publicity than education. I used to consider myself a strong supporter of public school teachers, but this strike has changed that. My child matters. I wish the district and Portland Association of Teachers felt the same.
Maggie Hodder, Portland
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