Posted on 09/06/2023 10:45:07 AM PDT by Red Badger
Teachers in Portland, Ore., are on track to strike if their school district refuses to provide subsidized housing for poor public school students and lobby for expanded rent control, an approach that has led to school shutdowns in other liberal cities as powerful teachers' unions pursue left-wing priorities.
After months of negotiations with Portland Public Schools, the Portland Association of Teachers on August 22 warned its members they "may be heading towards a strike," citing the district's failure to agree on a "transformative contract." Included in the impasse is a union proposal to create a district-led subsidized housing initiative, which would see the district identify land it owns that it could "convert" into Section 8 housing for local families. The union is also pushing its district to "actively lobby and advocate for" expanded rent control laws in Portland, union documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show.
The union's effort to secure such policies through its labor contract reflects a broader push from teachers' unions across the country to use their power to enact left-wing initiatives. In 2019, unionized teachers in Chicago closed schools to achieve so-called common good measures, including subsidized housing. Then-mayor Lori Lightfoot, a progressive Democrat, blasted the move, arguing that the union's collective bargaining agreement "is not the appropriate place for the city to legislate its affordable housing policy." Unionized teachers in Oakland, Calif., followed suit earlier this summer, and after initial pushback, the Oakland Unified School District agreed to pursue district-led subsidized housing and other liberal policies.
Neither Portland Public Schools nor the Portland Association of Teachers returned requests for comment.
The union has negotiated a new contract with its district for nearly a year, but the two sides remain deadlocked, and Portland's school year could come to a screeching halt as a result. District teachers went back to school earlier this week, but their arrival coincided with an August 29 message from union president Angela Bonilla to "prepare for a strike." Two days later, the union announced that a "potential strike" remains on the table.
"We will not accept the status quo," Bonilla said in her message. "There are and will be a ton of rumors floating around about a possible strike and other topics concerning our bargaining timelines. ... You will all be the first to know if we are going on strike."
Should the union succeed in its push for subsidized housing, the district would have six months to identify and approve 10 vacant or unused district-owned "land parcels" that could be converted into subsidized housing. The district would also be required to create a "Community Housing Task Force" filled with union representatives to facilitate the housing initiative.
In addition to the housing proposal, Portland teachers are seeking to expand climate justice education for students and make it harder to unassign transgender teachers, which typically occurs due to incompetence, disciplinary issues, or school closures. The agreement also pushes to end all standardized testing not required by the state and seeks to exert more union control over the teacher evaluation process.
State law prohibits a formal strike from taking place until October, but teachers already began protesting at the end of the 2022-23 school year through organized walkouts. "Our students can’t wait," Bonilla told local outlet KOIN News in June after the last collective bargaining agreement ended. "We have had immense need for our communities since before COVID, closures and distance learning."
Ping!.................
I hope they shut it down
Considering the crap they teach in government schools, the kids would be better off if they shut down.
This is hilarious. I cannot wait to see how this plays out.
I totally agree with the idea of subsidized housing for poor kids to help them go to school.
JUST MAKE THE UNION MEMBERS PAY FOR IT OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKETS!!!!!!!!
I bet my idea is DOA. Screw the Teacher’s Union!!!!
I’ve lived in two neighborhoods with subsidized housing. Guess which were the problem neighbors. Yep. Problems included having a relative who just got out of prison staying with them. (One raped his teenage niece. The other was a robber. Since he had no car, he started with the house next door and worked his way down the street, house by house. Then, he robbed the other next-door neighbor, a black sheriff who caught the black robber and (according to the robber’s brother) “beat the f&%^king snot out of him.”) Other problem neighbors got on the HOA board and initiated lawsuits because if you have thirty or forty thousand dollars that’s a lot of power. The money was supposed to be used to repave the road. But it was so much more fun to sue everyone who was not in subsidized housing.
Teachers want EVERYTHING for NOTHING ,LOL
Shut the district down and give parents vouchers representing each student’s share of 100% of the public financing from the locality, the state and the federal gubernaught.
Given that we could train a real teacher (not an eddikator) in around one year of a REAL college, get rid of those worthless eddikashon major t*rds, and hire some retired teachers (who actually knew things). We can then slowly transition the children from idiocy to excellence as we dispose (in every definition one can think of) of the woke joke crowd.
The union is pushing socialism not teachers employee “rights”.
The teachers unions thinks they are the masters and we are their slaves.
It is a great racket if you can get away with it.
Unfortunately for Portland teachers most of the slaves escaped.
These teachers’ unions are totally out of control
Cut their salaries to cover the subsidy checks.
These teachers’ unions are totally IN control of $ () R () $...........
They should fire all the teachers
Serious.
now that remote learning and learning via Zoom has been established.
Why can’t they essentially do a centralized, best of the best teaching model?
One teacher for thousands of students. the best English, math, science etc.
Have inline or centralized tests.
And actually INCREASE the level of teaching learning. While also closing down and elimitating staff? And dramatically reducing overhead?
Keep the sports and communal facilities only for Gym, Sports, Science labs, Music etc.
These idiots opened the flood gates.
And l though the latest UAW demands were audacious. They are demanding the school system to provide housing and act as liberal activists. Portland is a circus
So the teachers are planning to go on strike related to political issues and decisions that have nothing to do with their jobs or benefits? Good one.
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