I start from this fundamental principle: All children have the right to go to school. And this leads me to a second principle: Closed schools are harmful to children.
During the pandemic, the Portland teachers union played a significant role in keeping schools closed. According to an Oregonian/OregonLive story at the time, even after teachers were prioritized for vaccination in January 2021, union leaders “opposed the district’s reopening timeline, claiming white and affluent families will be best poised to send their children back to school” and that reopening would shift resources from students of color and low-income households who may have wanted to continue remote schooling. For the record, my children are part-Native American and we were desperate for a return to in-person instruction in 2021. The union did not speak for us.
Even so, I reject the union’s reasoning because it represents a weaponization of schools. The governor, Portland Public Schools and the teachers union’s first priority should have been to reopen schools as soon as possible. Don’t use equity as an excuse to keep schools closed!
In this strike, schools were weaponized once again. Teachers had valid demands, but schools should not have been closed to achieve what teachers wanted. The union could have used other mechanisms (like shutting down bridges or mobilizing parents) to achieve the teachers’ demands. This strike was bitter, prolonged and should not have happened in the first place. If students’ best interests were truly the top priority, the schools would have stayed open, period.
Kara Shane Colley, Portland
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