Teachers take to picket lines in Albany, in district’s first strike in decades

Hundreds of teachers, families and children marched and chanted on sidewalks throughout Albany Tuesday morning, many with red and white signs in hand. It was the first day of the Greater Albany school district’s first strike in nearly 40 years.

Despite ongoing mediation sessions – including one that went until roughly 2 a.m. Tuesday — district officials and leaders of the Greater Albany Education Association have yet to agree on a contract.

The association represents roughly 600 licensed educators, including teachers and counselors, across the mid-Willamette Valley city. According to the state’s latest available data, Greater Albany Public Schools enrolled about 8,780 students in the 2023-24 school year.

Strike participants were scattered Tuesday morning throughout the district’s 21 schools. Picketers held signs that read, “On strike for safe schools,” “GAEA demands great public schools for all,” and “On strike for our students.” One said, “Maestros en huelga,” or “Teachers on strike.”

Participants joined in on common call-response chants like, “What do we want?” “A fair contract.” “When do we want it?” “Now!” They also chanted some phrases that gained attention during the historic Portland teachers strike last year. One in particular stood out: “Hot, cold, rats, mold. This is getting really old!”

The differences at the bargaining table are largely about money and what should be prioritized when spending it. Union educators claim the district has funds it can spend on teachers that it’s withholding, though conversations are taking place across the region about districts not getting enough money from the state.

Union leaders say they’ve presented an alternative economic proposal that bridges the difference between prior management and union packages. But they claim the district has “refused to engage on it.”

District leaders said they’ve responded to every contract article the union has opened, and they’ve had to make staffing and other budget cuts to get to this point already.

“GAPS has a $15 million budget surplus and will be receiving a projected $27 million in state funding just in the next three years,” union leaders said in a press release. “Despite this, the School Board and Superintendent have starved GAPS schools of the resources for their students.

“GAPS is one of the only districts in Oregon that fails to provide one-to-one aide support for students with [Individual Education Programs],” they said, adding that “rampant violations of legally binding IEPs” are a major strike issue for educators.

“Under management’s best economic proposal, GAPS educators would still be the worst paid out of 35 comparable districts,” they argue, “and crisis-level learning conditions for students would be left to continue.”

Union supporters include parents, children and even a few pets

Many participants on the picket lines Tuesday — and even some of the pet dogs who joined — wore red, a symbol across the country for supporting union educators. A Bluey mascot, the spitting image of the cartoon dog, attended as well.

Hannah Mahler and Areli Brambila are both mothers from Lafayette Elementary School who brought their kids to join Tuesday morning.

When asked why they decided to come out, one of Brambila’s older daughters — in a Pokémon T-shirt and holding a Sonic the Hedgehog stuffed animal over her head — said cheerfully, “Support our teachers!”

Brambila expanded on the sentiment, saying she brought her kids to support the safety of the children and to get a “better education.” Both of those reasons referred to class sizes.

“Having a big classroom, it’s just too hard for one teacher,” Brambila said. “Coming from an educator,” she said of herself, “it was really hard. So, having multiple teachers in one classroom, or smaller classrooms, that is fantastic for the teachers, [for] that one one-on-one education.”

Mahler has three children at Lafayette. She said she brought her kids out to show their love for the teachers because they “work so hard” and take such good care of her kids.

“We’ve been there for two years now,” she said, “and every single teacher is so wonderful.”

Hard conversations about ‘hard’ class-size caps

The two sides have been millions of dollars apart in their proposals throughout bargaining. But Superintendent Andy Gardner said they have made some progress.

After the long weekend, he said the district had given counteroffers to address concerns around things like teacher prep time, and they increased their compensation offer.

“We also want our kids in schools,” Gardner told reporters in a press conference Tuesday afternoon. “We believe that many of these schools are the safest place for their kids. They are the place where the kids are fed, the place where the kids need to be during the school year, learning and moving forward.”

Gardner also spoke in favor of his employees.

“We know that the teachers of this district care about the kids. We know that they do a great job,” he said. “When I go to the schools, I see good relationships where adults and kids interact with each other with smiles on their faces, and we want to get that back as soon as possible.”

Class size has been a key sticking point.

Around 11 p.m. on Monday, when talking about student safety, Gardner said the union provided a statement that said, as he told it, “If we do not have a hard cap on class size, that we will go on strike.”

He said the district has provided counteroffers that include an improved process to address class size with teachers, and they have offered a fund of $250,000 that would be set aside specifically to solve those problems. But that does not give the union hard caps.

Portland teachers went into their strike this time last year also wanting “hard caps,” where students would be placed in other classes or schools if their initial class reached its limit. They did not end up getting those in their final settlement but instead established committees to discuss specific classroom situations.

Gardner said the two groups have reached tentative agreements on several things, but they need to understand better from the union why they think a hard cap, rather than other solutions, will address behavior concerns.

“[We’re] not going to break off negotiations,” Gardner said. “We’re going to keep working until we get a deal done.”

Albany educators rally community support

Jess Boland is the instructional coach at Calapooia Middle School. She and other local leaders arrived at their school early Tuesday morning – around 6:30 a.m. – to prepare for a rainy day on the picket lines. They set up a tent across the street to protect signs, personal belongings and other materials.

One of the organizers offered her home down the street for participants to use the restroom since they couldn’t go in the school building, and they would be out all day, picketing before a collective rally that afternoon at South Albany High School.

Calapooia picketers joined three other school groups at a nearby busy intersection — dozens of demonstrators across four corners — looking to garner more attention.

Staff and supporters from Waverly Elementary School had a similar strategy. They chanted and held signs on the sidewalk along the much busier Pacific Blvd.

“A lot of our schools are kind of in our little communities, so it’s nice to get out on those main strips and show our support,” Boland said.

Boland said negotiations have been going on for months, but they haven’t made the kind of progress educators like her want to see.

Boland said they all want to return to their classroom as soon as possible and don’t want to miss the instructional days. But they also want their voices to be heard and their messages received.

To the students, Boland said: “We love you. We’re fighting for you. And we can’t wait to be back as soon as possible.”

Students will remain out of class during the strike, and classified workers will report to work. Gardner said the maintenance crews will take advantage of the opportunity to clean schools and do building repairs while students aren’t there.

The two sides are scheduled for another mediation session on Wednesday.