PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Wednesday marked a historic day as Portland Public Schools teachers began striking for the first time. That means no school for more than 45,000 students in the district.
The strike follows consecutive days and weeks of bargaining where the Portland Association of Teachers and the school district could not come to an agreement. The union finally announced Tuesday night they would be striking starting Wednesday morning.
Over 4,500 teachers are represented by the Portland Association of Teachers.
Both district officials and teachers said Tuesday night that they have what’s best for students at the top of their minds.
Dr. Renard Adams with Portland Public Schools said that since they both care about the student’s well-being, they formally asked the teachers not to strike.
“Whatever else we disagree about, we agree that students must be at the center of our decisions,” said Adams. “In that spirit, we have formally asked PAT’s bargaining team to not strike tomorrow.”
However, Tiny Lamanna, a teacher in the district, said that she thinks parents are seeing the same deficits in the district that teachers are and how it’s impacting the students.
“I think parents really know that their kids need the things we say they need,” said Lamanna. “They’re seeing the same deficits that we’re seeing in the school system.”
The district will be alerting parents daily about whether or not school will be canceled the following day.