Dudash

After 10 months of bargaining with Portland Public Schools, the Portland Association of Teachers initiated a first-of-its-kind strike on Nov. 1. The strike, which ended Nov. 25, left 45,000 Oregonian students barred from the classroom.

The Oregon Legislative Assembly believes that education is “a major civilizing influence on the development of a humane, responsible, and informed citizenry.” Accordingly, the state has previously levied fines on those individuals who threaten the quality and consistency of education in the state.

Until 2021, Oregon parents, for example, were required to ensure that their children maintain “regular attendance at a public full-time school during the entire school term.” Parents who failed to do so risked paying fines of up to $500.

In Oregon, public education is funded primarily through income tax. Similar to previous truancy penalties in the state, those who fail to pay income taxes that serve as the financial basis of public education are subject to fines.

Certainly, teachers’ union strikes that intentionally bar children from the classroom indefinitely pose a significant barrier to quality education. If parents and taxpayers could face automatic legal penalties for interrupting public education, why should teachers’ unions be exempt?

Thirty-seven states and Washington, D.C., prohibit teachers from disrupting public education by participating in strikes. Because strike authorization votes are based on a simple majority, strike bans that penalize teachers individually have the potential to punish educators who never wanted to be involved in the first place.

Strike bans in several states take a more effective, union-focused approach. Teachers’ unions that initiate strikes in Nevada, for example, are fined $50,000 for each day students are unable to attend school. In Maryland, teachers’ unions that authorize a strike are immediately removed as the district’s exclusive representative and can no longer participate in automatic payroll deductions for membership dues.

Reportedly, three Republican lawmakers plan to introduce a bill that would ban teachers from striking in Oregon. As both legislative chambers and the governor’s office are controlled by Oregon Education Association-funded Democrats, however, the bill will likely fail on arrival. Nonetheless, Oregon lawmakers should follow the lead of Nevada and Maryland’s anti-strike legislation, both of which punish disruptive unions while protecting teachers.

While teachers are essential professionals who deserve competitive compensation, it is unacceptable for teachers’ unions to utilize students as political pawns in the name of collective bargaining. In a state that allows teachers’ unions to operate virtually unchecked, it’s no surprise that Oregon’s educational system ranks shamefully low among the 50 states.

The Oregon Education Association’s active role in COVID-19 school closures, the extension of suspended graduation requirements in basic skills, and Portland’s return to extended learning loss should illuminate the fact that in Oregon, teachers’ unions care little about student and teacher success.

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.

Editor’s Note

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