Today's OEA Fall/Winter 2018

A PUBLICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE OREGON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

FALL/WINTER 2018 | VOLUME 93 : NUMBER 1

TODAY’S

OEA Eyeing a Ripple Effect Significant salary increases in Washington tempt Oregon educators across the border – though there’s no place quite like home

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE » HELPING NEWLY TRAINED EDUCATORS SUCCEED » OEA FOUNDATION GRANTS » IMPROVING CONDITIONS FOR OUR STUDENTS

You can help the OEA Foundation earn donations just by shopping with your Fred Meyer Rewards Card!

Fred Meyer is donating $2.5 million per year to non-profits in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, based on where their customers tell them to give. Here’s how the program works: • Sign up for the Community Rewards program by linking your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to the OEA Foundation at www.fredmeyer.com/ communityrewards.

You can search for us by our name or by our non-profit number 85681.

• Then, every time you shop and use your Rewards Card, you are helping the OEA Foundation provide children with clothing, shoes, and other basic needs!

• You still earn your Rewards Points, Fuel Points, and Rebates, just as you do today.

• If you do not have a Rewards Card, they are available at the Customer Service desk of any Fred Meyer store.

• For more information, please visit www.fredmeyer.com/ communityrewards.

OEA FOUNDATION

CONTENTS Fall/Winter2018 VOLUME 93 : ISSUE NO. 1

Features

Departments President’s Column

05 / making our voices heard

By John Larson, OEA President

Upcoming

06 / Events for OEA Members Newsflash

07 / campaign to combat chronic absenteeism 09 / nea foundation grants Teaching & Learning

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18

On the Cover

In-Depth

24 / Eyeing a Ripple Effect

16 / stronger together

Significant salary increases in Washington tempt Oregon educators across the border — though there’s no place quite like home.

By Meg Krugel

Profile

18 / sturdy foundations

One community college instructor is using OEA Foundation grants to improve his students’ education — and strengthening his local association in the process.

By Milana Grant

OEA membership remains robust in the wake of the Janus decision.

By Jenny Smith

30 / hello i'm new

Supporting new educators is crucial for retention, but many school districts lack the funding to do so. OEA is stepping in with a multitude of programs designed to help teachers succeed from the start.

By Milana Grant

10 / improving conditions for our students Politics & You

12 / big wins for public education 13 / looking toward 2019 Inside OEA

14 / take a trip this summer Eye on Equity

15 / oea furthers its work around equity On the Web

34 /#RedforEd

ON THE COVER: In order to afford to continue teaching in Oregon, Lindsay Dance moonlights by teaching a preschool program in the evening at Elmonica Elementary School in Beaverton. PhotO by THOMAS Patterson Credits: Meg Krugel, Thomas Patterson

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Fall/Winter2018 John Larson OEA President

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he opening months of the 2018-19 school year have given me the tremendous opportunity to get out into Oregon schools and visit with the amazing members of the Oregon Education Association. While there are most certainly daunting challenges ahead for the state of public education and the OEA this year, I am continually in awe of the work our members do. OEA members showed up in force at the 13 Disrupted Learning Forums across the state to make their voices heard about the state of overcrowded classrooms, students’ unmet needs around social and emotional learning, and possible solutions to ensure all students have access to a quality public education. I was honored to attend most of these forums and hear from members, and I was proud that we were able to bring the very highest levels of the Oregon Department of Education to speak with our members about the issues that were foremost in their minds.

OEA Vice President Reed Scott-Schwalbach and I have also heard from members during our school visits this fall. Our goal is to make at least 50 personal visits to locals and local schools during the 2018-19 year. So far this year we have met with members in Silver Falls, Salem, Centennial, Yamhill-Carlton, Medford, the Southern Oregon ESD, Gilcrest and Morrow County Schools, with visits already calendared for Brookings, Yoncalla, and Clackamas Community College ACE. During these visits, we get to see firsthand the incredible work happening in classrooms and hear from our members about what they want their union to look like. If you would be willing to host us in your classroom or at a local membership meeting of any type, please contact your local leadership, and we will make arrangements to visit.

The OEA is most definitely a strong voice for educators with the Oregon Department of Education and in the Oregon Legislature, but it is only by hearing from practitioners at every level of education and every job classification that ODE and the Legislature get an authentic picture of what is happening every day, both the

successes and the challenges, in Oregon schools. There are many ways to get involved and make your voice heard. NEA has declared Wednesdays “Wear Red for Ed” day, building on the momentum gained by state affiliates in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, and North Carolina last spring to fully fund education in their states. Your local may have chosen a different day to show solidarity, but regardless, wear red for ed, take a picture, and send it in to the OEA Facebook page. Write a letter to your state representatives and watch for announcements from your leadership teams around local and state actions, including OEA March for our Students on Feb. 18 and OEA Lobby Day on March 25. Organize a team to come to Salem, and we will help you fund the way there. We want to turn out thousands of educators on those days to send a message to our Legislature about the state of public education in Oregon.

Thank you all, for everything you are doing to make certain Oregon students have the education they deserve. No matter how you decide to get involved, those making decisions around public education in Oregon need to hear from the practitioners doing the work day in and day out. They need to hear from you! I could not be prouder to be the President of the OEA and represent the nearly 45,000 educators who make a difference for the future of Oregon.

Thank you for all you do!

— C. John Larson

IT IS ONLY BY HEARING FROM PRACTITIONERS AT EVERY LEVEL OF EDUCATION AND EVERY JOB CLASSIFICATION THAT ODE AND THE LEGISLATURE GET AN AUTHENTIC PICTURE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING EVERY DAY, BOTH THE SUCCESSES AND THE CHALLENGES, IN OREGON SCHOOLS. TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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UPCOMING Fall/Winter2018

TODAY’S

OEA

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE OREGON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION February 1-2, 2019

OEA Aspiring Educator Retreat

FALL/WINTER 2018 VOLUME 93 : ISSUE NO. 1

n What: Come to connect with other young professionals in networking and roles of mutual

support and get a feel for the supports the Oregon Education Association can offer in the early years of your career. Open to all Aspiring Educators (student members) and Early Career Educators (first five years of experience in the profession). n WHERE: Oregon Garden Resort, Silverton, OR n how: Learn more and sign up at www.oregoned.org/eceretreat February 18, 2019

March for Our Students n What: Make your Presidents' Day count and show up for students. Join educators in Salem to

march for education funding on February 18th. It's time to show our lawmakers that our schools need funding now. Let’s march to tell them our students can’t wait. n WHERE: Salem Convention Center, Salem, OR n how: Sign up at www.oregoned.org/rallyforstudents February 23, 2019

OEA Racial Justice and Education Symposium n What: Join OEA and your fellow educators for a deep dive into the role that racial justice

plays in our schools and how you can be an active participant in creating a more equitable learning environment for all students. n WHERE: Salem, OR n how: More details can be found at www.oregoned.org/symposium MARCH 25, 2019

OEA Lobby Day n What: Join OEA members from around the state to meet with legislators and discuss the

realities you face working in our public schools and community colleges. The day begins with a briefing on OEA's top legislative priorities and how to communicate about them with policy makers. n WHERE: Salem, OR n how: More details can be found at www.oregoned.org/lobbyday March 24-26, 2019

Oregon School Employee Wellness Conference What: The annual Oregon School Employee Wellness Conference is a statewide conference that aims to educate, engage and empower educators and school staff to create healthy, resilient school workplaces. The conference has become a trusted source for quality professional development and networking and brings national, state and local experts who share practical information and tools to start and sustain school employee wellness. n WHERE: Bend, OR n how: Find more information at https://oeachoice.com/conference/

OFFICE HEADQUARTERS 6900 SW Atlanta Street Portland, OR 97223 Phone: 503.684.3300 FAX: 503.684.8063 www.oregoned.org PUBLISHERS John Larson, President Jim Fotterw, Executive Director EDITOR Meg Krugel PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Milana Grant CONTRIBUTORS Milana Grant, Jenny Smith, Andrea Shunk, Kelli Horvath, Thomas Patterson To submit a story idea for publication in Today’s OEA magazine, email editor Meg Krugel at meg.krugel@oregoned.org PRINTER Morel Ink, Portland, OR TODAY’S OEA (ISSN #0030-4689) is published two times a year as a benefit of membership by the Oregon Education Association, 6900 SW Atlanta Street, Portland OR 97223-2513. Non-member subscription rate is $10 per year. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR.

n

POSTMASTER Send address corrections to: Oregon Education Association Membership Processing 6900 SW Atlanta Street Portland, OR 97223-2513 DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Francesca Genovese-Finch

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

Newsflash Student-led credit union offers unique CTE opportunity

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aPine High School has partnered with Mid Oregon Credit Union to open a bank branch inside the school, exclusively for students and educators. Business teacher and OEA member Jeff Baisch is excited about the ability to cultivate financial literacy outside of the classroom while also allowing students to gain valuable career training.

“Our Hawk Branch will provide on-site job experience, connections to classroom content, and hands-on learning for our students,” Baisch says.

Two student tellers will operate the branch during lunch breaks, performing deposits and withdrawals and creating new accounts.

The branch will even offer a “Hawks Checking” account — a free checking account with debit card — to students to help them learn about financial independence and responsibility.

Students have to go through an intensive teller training with Mid Oregon Credit Union before they are eligible to work in the student branch. Kyle Frick, Mid Oregon’s VP of Marketing, says that student-run banks have been operating for decades, but the Hawk branch will be the credit union’s first one ever.

“We’re excited to bring this pilot program to La Pine High School and appreciate the support and relationships we are building with students and staff,” Frick says.

Credits: pexels.com

ODE hopes to remove some of the barriers to good attendance — especially for low-income students.

ODE LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO COMBAT CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM

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fter the passing of House Bill 4002 in 2016, the Oregon Department of Education was tasked with finding a solution to one of the fastest-growing problems facing Oregon educators. Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student missing more than 10 days in any given school year, and it affects almost 20 percent of Oregon students.

The “Every Day Matters” program provides resources such as attendance trackers, advertising materials, PSA recordings, and educator toolkits to help schools and community members work together to ensure that all students are showing up ready to learn. Through state, district, and community efforts, ODE hopes to remove some of the barriers to good attendance — especially low-income students, who tend to be most affected by chronic absenteeism. Visit www.every-day-matters.org to learn more.

OEA Choice Trust Now Offering Mini Grants

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ew this year! The OEA Choice Trust Mini Grant program supports established school employee wellness programs with funding of up to $5,000 to be used to promote school employee health, well-being and resilience using the OEA Choice Trust Framework of Proven Strategies and Best Practices as a guide. Mini Grant Awards are meant to boost the current efforts of your

school's program or help you develop and implement new parts of your program.

To be eligible for the grant, your district, community college or ESD must have an active employee wellness program that is open to all employees. The first grant cycle application period runs Jan. 1, 2019 – Feb. 15, 2019. Go to oeachoice.com/mini-grants/ for more information about the process.

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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Newsflash NOMINATE YOURSELF! » During the 2019 Legislative Session, OEA will select one Featured Educator and their powerful story per day to share with lawmakers. These stories — your stories — make a huge impact. Become a featured educator at: www.oregoned.org/featured-educator.

Governor Brown hits the ground running to improve Oregon’s schools

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iding the high of a fresh reelection, Kate Brown is wasting no time outlining her goals to bring Oregon’s public education system out of a slump. Her vision for a “cradle to career” education model includes more state funding for high-quality pre-schools, class size reduction for grades K-3, giving students a full 180day school year, and creating more equitable learning environments. She is also focused on vastly increasing Oregon’s abysmal graduation rates. Her goal is to bring the statewide average from 77% to 85% by 2025.

Governor Brown concedes that more funding will be necessary to make real improvements but hopes to collaborate with all stakeholders before making funding decisions. She plans to use data collected by the Joint Committee on Student Success, which has been holding public educator forums across the state this year, to make specific investments in the areas of greatest concern. The Committee will release a report of their key findings in December.

Anna Williams, D, District 52 Oregon House of Representatives

Record numbers of educators campaigned for office in 2018 U.S. Midterm Elections

1194 Democrats

585

Republicans

#outofmypocket

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s funding for public education continues to be slashed, educators continue to try to do more with less. To provide their students with the kind of education they deserve, teachers are spending hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars of their own money to purchase school supplies, classroom materials, and various tools that they need to do their jobs effectively.

NEA and the Red for Ed movement want to find out just how much teachers are spending this year. You can visit http://neatoday.org/ redfored/outofmypocket/ to add your own story and watch the live tracker as it adds up the expenses. You can also share photos of your supply purchases on social media using #outofmypocket.

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

Chris Gorsek, D, District 49 Oregon House of Representatives

Courtney Neron, D, District 26 Oregon House of Representatives

Susan McLain, D, District 29 Oregon House of Representatives

1779 Educators ran for State House or Senate

56%

290

of candidates were women

State legislative seats flipped to pro-public education majorities

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Educators elected to Oregon House

Newsflash INTERESTED? » Have you recently become involved in your union? Consider applying for OEA's Emerging Leaders program - designed to enchance and build upon the skills of members who show interest in growing their leadership capacity. www.oregoned.org/EmergingLeaders

Clackamas Community College unveils state-of-theart manufacturing building

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ctober 5th is National Manufacturing Day, which made it the perfect date for the grand opening of the Industrial Technology Center, CCC’s brand new career technical education building. Over 40,000 square feet of workshops and classrooms with top-of-the-line equipment will give the college plenty of space to expand their career tech programs.

The community was invited to come check out the new space and program leaders spoke to prospective students about the ever-increasing demand for skilled manufacturing. "The demand for employees in machining, welding and renewable energy is extremely high right now," Mike Mattson, chair of the college's manufacturing technology department, said. Students between the ages of 17 and 19 can apply to be part of CCC’s TechHire grant program, which provides them with internships and work placements, giving them a pathway to a living-wage career.

UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT WINS MAYORAL ELECTION Credits: Clackamas Community College, pexels.com

NEA Foundation Learning and Leadership Grants

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ave you ever missed an opportunity for professional development because of the cost? The NEA Foundation wants to help!

You can apply for up to $5,000 to fund professional learning to help improve your practice as an educator as well as student learning. There are applications for individuals or groups, and special preference is given to applications from

E

ighteen-year-old Ben Simons has just made history as the youngest mayor the city of Yoncalla has ever had. Simons is a student and volunteer firefighter who was appointed to City Council in 2018. He ran against two other local candidates for the mayoral seat and sealed a win with 41 percent of the vote.

education support professionals, who often don’t have as many opportunities for paid professional development.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, three times per year, and the next deadline is in February 2019.

Check out www.neafoundation.org and click “For Educators” to learn more about Learning and Leadership grants and to access tutorials that will make the application process a snap!

Simons was born and raised in the area and graduated as valedictorian of Yoncalla High School in June of this year. As a leader, he plans to help support small business growth and create better infrastructure for his town. Yoncalla is located in north Douglas County and has a population of just over 1,000.

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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Teaching & Learning

IMPROVING CONDITIONS FOR OUR STUDENTS OEA’s Disrupted Learning Forums Lead to Solutions, Change

BY ANDREA SHUNK / Policy & Practice Strategist, OEA Center for Great Public Schools

"I

t’s like putting a Band-Aid on a tourniquet.” That is how one educator in Klamath Falls described efforts to address disrupted learning in schools.

Disrupted learning – caused when challenging student behavior affects all students’ abilities to learn — has become a top issue for Oregon Education Association members over the past two years.

Efforts to provide classroom support are falling short. Educators and students are increasingly frustrated with what feels like futile attempts to improve circumstances.

This feeling was expressed repeatedly by participants in the 13 disrupted learning forums that OEA hosted across the state this past spring and fall.

As an organization, OEA is deeply committed to the success of each and every student, and every one of our members work hard every day to support all students. But room clears, students unable to regulate their emotions, larger class sizes, and fewer supports are making it all the more difficult to reach their goal — making meaningful connections with every student, every day.

Through these forums, OEA hopes to bring awareness to the realities of the classroom by helping policy makers connect with the lived experiences of educators and to know disrupted learning is far from an isolated event, but something all educators — regardless of zip code — are experiencing.

OEA extended an invitation to ODE Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Colt Gill and Chief Education Officer Lindsey Capps to attend the forums and they accepted. One of these key decision makers for Oregon education was present at each of the forums. Some local legislators attended events in their regions.

These policy makers expressed gratitude to members for sharing their stories 10

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

ROOM CLEARS, STUDENTS UNABLE TO REGULATE THEIR EMOTIONS, LARGER CLASS SIZES, AND FEWER SUPPORTS ARE MAKING IT ALL THE MORE DIFFICULT TO REACH THEIR GOAL — MAKING MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS WITH EVERY STUDENT, EVERY DAY.

and helping them to see the realities of classrooms across the state.

Telling Your Story

The OEA forums were designed to give members a chance to speak about their experiences in schools and classrooms.

Participants heard from OEA President John Larson and state officials, but mostly engaged in small group conversations with other participants. Legislators, ODE staff, and other policy makers listened in to their stories as they talked.

At the forums and online, OEA asked members to answer four questions: n In your classroom, school, or district, what are barriers to ensuring all students can learn in a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment? n What changes could be made to overcome those barriers in your classroom, school, or district? n What support do you need or does your classroom, school, or district need to implement those ideas? n What innovations or successes do you know about that could inform changes

across Oregon?

Educators have not held back in expressing their concerns and their ideas to improve conditions for students.

“There is little support for students with big behaviors,” wrote one educator in a comment indicative of themes members have expressed all the forums. More students experiencing trauma in their lives, fewer resources including qualified adults in schools, and limited mental health support compound the problem.

Educators easily named numerous changes Oregon could make to improve circumstances. Some of the proposed ideas were quick solutions like allowing more flexible seating for students. Some ideas will take longer to realize, like increasing access to preschool. A primary change repeated across forums is that we need more adults in schools – licensed teachers, counselors, educational assistants, and most of all, mental health providers.

Another need is smaller class sizes coupled with more spaces for students to calm down, take a break, or get extra help.

OEA held forums in: n Albany n Klamath Falls n Southeast Portland n Corvallis n Astoria n Beaverton n Hermiston n The Dalles n Coos Bay n Redmond n Medford n Salem n Eugene For members who could not attend a forum, OEA provided an online survey where members could answer the same four forum questions.

Now, OEA is completing a summative report of the forums distilling member

Teaching & Learning OEA DISRUPTED LEARNING FORUMS

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Astoria

^

Hermiston ^

The Dalles

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BeavertonSoutheast Portland ^

y Salem ^

Corvallis Albany ^

MEMBER RESOURCES

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Redmond

^

Eugene

OEA has resources members can access right now to learn more about student trauma, adverse childhood experiences, and restorative practices. Here are a few to access today:

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Coos Bay

n Trauma Informed Care ^

Medford

resources from the OEA Center for Great Public Schools at www. oregoned.org/stay-informed/ trauma-informed-care

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Klamath Falls

responses into overarching themes and proposing policy and program proposals.

OEA will publish this report no later than January 2019. Members can watch our OEA website or our social media feed for the report.

More than 575 members, Oregon legislators, community members, and even students attended the forums, and nearly 1,300 educators who could not attend the forums answered an electronic survey.

Additional Oregon Efforts

OEA’s forums complement other actions and efforts in the state to provide and support safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments for all students. In spring 2018, Deputy Superintendent Gill convened the “Oregon Safe and Effective Schools for ALL students Advisory Committee.”

That committee (see Spring 2018 Today’s OEA article) published a report in June 2018 outlining nine specific recommendations. These include increased professional learning, colocating mental health services in schools, and engaging student and family voice among others.

The Oregon Legislature also formed the Joint Committee on Student Success.

This committee spent time in school communities across the state to listen to community concerns and visit successful programs. This committee will publish a final report before the 2019 Oregon legislative session.

Lastly, the Confederation of School Administrators (COSA) brought together more than 200 education partners, non-profits, educators, school leaders, and others from March-August 2018 to discuss how to increase access to early childhood education, recruit a highquality workforce, and support students’ emotional well-being. That group’s work will result in policy proposals next year.

As these policy proposals take shape, we know OEA members will continue to do their best to support all students in their classrooms. Members shared hundreds of innovations, success stories, strategies, and professional learning ideas that they and their colleagues are trying.

From quiet corners to calming spaces, books and websites, social emotional lessons and mindfulness ­­— educators are relentless in working to help all students succeed.

Thank you to all the members who shared their experiences with us and stay tuned for more to come.

n Trauma-Informed Pedagogy

micro-credential: www.oregoned. org/microcredentials n Professional learning

opportunities in Oregon: www. oregoned.org/PD n Trauma Informed Oregon

website: traumainformedoregon. org n Trauma Sensitive

Schools Framework: traumasensitiveschools.org n edCommunities: Social platform

at mynea360.org with groups dedicated to restorative justice, social/emotional learning, K-12 counselors and more. n Can’t find something? Email us

at oea-gps@oregoned.org.

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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Politics & You Beaverton EA members canvass for Governor Kate Brown’s campaign this fall.

BIG WINS FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

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he 2018 election cycle has come to an end, and the OEA-PAC and politically active members across the state helped ensure that record numbers of voters turned out to support educator-recommended candidates who pledged to fix our school funding crisis and invest in our students. This included sending OEA members to represent educators in Salem in several districts across Oregon. OEA PAC endorsed the successful campaigns of State Representatives Paul Evans, Susan McLain, Chris Gorsek, and Representative-elect Courtney Neron.

Educators also talked to thousands of Oregon voters about the importance of passing local bonds and levies, and reminded them to vote their values on statewide ballot measures affecting everything from affordable housing to immigration and racial profiling.

OEA members played a critical role in November to make sure voters understood the importance of supporting students, supporting schools, and upholding Oregon values—and the hard work paid off!

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

Here are some of the top highlights from November’s election: n Governor Kate Brown won re-election n State House: pro-public education

majority elected n State Senate: pro-public education

majority elected STATEWIDE BALLOT MEASURES: n Measure 102—passed (OEA endorsed Yes vote) n Measure 103—failed

(OEA endorsed No vote) n Measure 104—failed

(OEA endorsed No vote) n Measure 105—failed

(OEA endorsed No vote) n Measure 106—failed

(OEA endorsed No vote) November’s election made it clear that Oregon voters stand with students and educators. Governor Brown and pro-public

education candidates across the state won their elections by focusing on education and committing to support students, fully fund our schools, lower class sizes, and have educators’ backs. Voters agreed with educators to support a statewide affordable housing ballot measure, and to reject ballot measures that would have had negative consequences for people of color, immigrants, women, and our democracy.

They passed local measures to support our schools in a majority of districts across the state with local options on the ballot, including North Clackamas, Oregon City, Astoria, Warrenton-Hammond, Jackson County, Eugene, Sweet Home, and TigardTualatin school districts.

The election is over, but our work has only just begun. November’s results give educators an unprecedented opportunity to work closely with elected officials to ensure they can deliver on their promises to support education and increase school funding in 2019 by making meaningful, long-overdue revenue reforms.

Politics & You 2019 OEA/NEA POSITIONS OPEN FOR NOMINATION & ELECTION

Governor Brown’s Recommended Budget Prioritizes Education

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n late November, Gov. Kate Brown released her recommended state budget and investment plan for the 2019-2021 biennium.

The Governor has recommended stable funding to retain current services in K-12 education, with a base budget of $8.972 billion. Brown’s proposed community college base budget is $543 million, which represents a 4.7 percent cut. However, Brown has recommended $2 billion additional investment in education, which would result in significant budget increases in pre-K through higher education budgets.

Following the release of the recommended budget, OEA President John Larson praised the Governor’s budget for moving the pendulum forward for Oregon’s public schools — but reiterated that our schools will require further investments in order to truly thrive.

“We are glad to see the Governor has set the K-12 current service level budget at $8.972 billion dollars and has proposed an additional $2 billion investment. These minimum budget levels for Oregon public schools means that our students won’t face cuts to existing services or larger class sizes than they have now, but it is not enough.

Simply holding the line will not give our students what they need to be successful.”

These base budgets lay the groundwork for conversations about increasing school funding in the upcoming legislative session. Propublic education supermajorities in both chambers of the Oregon legislature make funding increases more likely. Voters resoundingly elected these officials earlier this month on a tide of campaigns focused on increasing school funding, demonstrating clear public support and urgency for improving Oregon’s public education system.

“We know that Oregon has one of the shortest school years in the nation, one of the largest average class sizes, and graduation rates that must be improved due to decades of threadbare budgets and cuts,” Larson says.

“Obviously, the status quo defined by these base budgets is unacceptable, as the Governor has made clear with her proposed investment package.

‘Governor Brown has recommended an additional investment of $2 billion into education to give our students what they need to be successful. Educators will continue to advocate for our students in the legislature and in our communities around the state to ensure funding is finally increased this year. These recommendations are a meaningful start.”

T

he following positions are open for nomination for the 2019 elections:

Key numbers $8.972 billion Proposed base budget for K-12 education $543 million Proposed base budget for community college. This represents a 4.7 percent cut. $2 billion Recommended additional investment in education.

Mark your calendars for two important days in Salem this Session! n February 18 – President’s Day March for Our Students n March 25 – OEA Lobby Day

Credit: Lindsay Dance

ELECTED AT OEA RA: n OEA President: 1 position for a 2- year term n OEA Vice President: 1 position for a 2-year term n NEA Director: 1 position for a 3-yr term (term begins September 1, 2019) n Education Support Professional Director: 1 position for a 3-yr term n Ethnic Minority Director: 1 position for a 3-yr term ELECTED BY MAIL BALLOT: State Delegates to the NEA RA: 13 positions: n Region I: 4 positions for a 3-year term; n Region II: 4 positions for a 3-year term; n Region III: 3 positions for a 3-year term.

(The number of delegates per region may be adjusted as the number of members within the region dictates as indicated by the January-February NEA membership report.)

OEA Board of Directors: 3-year term (01a) Southern Oregon UniServ Council (06) South Coast UniServ Council (08) Eastern Oregon UniServ Council (10b) Portland Association of Teachers (12) Columbia River UniServ Council (15a) Beaverton UniServ Council (19) Klamath-Lake UniServ Council (20a) Metro SE UniServ Council (21) Douglas County UniServ Council (30a) Community College UniServ Council 2-year term (20b) Metro SE UniServ Council 1-year term (11) Chintimini UniServ Council (16) Mid-Valley UniServ Council (26b) 3Valley UniServ Council

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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Inside OEA

TAKE A TRIP THIS SUMMER Adventures (and a possible tax deduction) await!

BY RAY JOHNSON / OEA-Retired Member

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re you looking for a great adventure, a possible tax deduction and wonderful items to take back to your classroom? Be sure to check out OEA-Retired’s sponsored trips for the summer of 2019.

These two trips can be taken individually, or as a combined trip, as they are scheduled end-to-end. Specifically scheduled with active members in mind, the first one, British Landscapes will savor the scenic wonders of Britain, as you journey through England, Scotland and Wales.

The tour will pass through sleepy villages with sheep wandering the grassy hillsides, lakes set amidst mountains that inspired centuries of literature, and cities thriving with arts and culture – these are the landscapes of Britain. Sleep in a historic castle. Enjoy medieval York and its historic Minster. Soak up the pastoral landscapes of the Cotswolds. Walk in the footsteps of William Shakespeare and enjoy dinner at Hall’s Croft, a 400-year-old Shakespearean family home. Explore London and Edinburgh. Personalize your tour with a choice of included excursions in Stratford and Edinburgh. And, finally, experience the wonder of Stonehenge.

Details: June 15-24, 2019 — 10 days — 12 meals — $3,999 — deposit of $500, plus $315 insurance.

The second one, Shades of Ireland, will experience the magic charm of the Emerald Isle from vibrant and history-filled Dublin, across rolling green hills to the dramatic coast. Live like royalty during an overnight stay on the grounds of a castle. Visit Waterford, Ireland’s oldest city, where you’ll have the opportunity to visit the House of Waterford Crystal. Choose from a selection of Killarney’s best restaurants with our Diner’s Choice program. See the Atlantic from the stunning 700-foot Cliffs of Moher.

Experience the world-famous beauty of the Ring of Kerry. See sheepdogs in action on a 14

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

Broadway tower is located in the English county of Worcestershire, at the secondhighest point of the Cotswolds.

working farm. Explore Dublin with a local guide—either by foot or on a panoramic city tour—it’s your choice! See beautiful Killarney from your seat on an Irish jaunting car.

Journey to historic Blarney Castle, lean back and kiss its famous stone!

Details: June 24-July 6 — 13 days — 17 meals — $4,599 — deposit of $500, plus $315 insurance.

Other details include: n All trips are organized by 100-year old Collette, OEA-Retired’s travel agency partner.

n Total cost is per person, double occupancy and includes airfare from Portland, rooms, guides, transfers and most meals. n Each trip allows time for exploring on your own. n Cancellation with refund is allowed up to 24 hours prior to departure, less insurance cost. n For each trip, extra days can be added, either at the beginning or at the end.

For more information and/or a brochure, contact Nancy Lewis at 503-6397050 or nancyjolewis@gmail.com.

Eye on Equity

OEA FURTHERS ITS WORK AROUND EQUITY Social justice and equity are priorities for our members - and for our union, too

BY OEA'S EQUITY COMMITTEE

A

ccording to the 2018 Oregon Educator Equity Report, 37.6 percent of Oregon students are ethnically diverse, while only 9.9 percent of Oregon employed teachers are white. OEA staff and membership also reflect this sociological imbalance. The social, organizational and individual culture in our state, our schools and our organization has long been centered and framed around practices and systems that reflect a dominant culture mindset that does not meet the needs of a diverse society. In fact, this dominant culture institutionalizes exclusive rights and disparities and will continue to perpetuate itself unless interrupted by persistent transformative work around racial justice.

To that end, last year OEA began an intentional journey to address equity and racial justice, with an eye toward transformative reflection, systems change, culturally responsive growth and inclusion, authentic community partner coalition-building and social activism. This school year, OEA leaders have recommitted to applying an equity lens to every action we take as an organization.

Our equity efforts are not only comprehensive but scaffolded to include every aspect of our work and every level of our organization. Our design and intentionality is meant to operationalize our commitment to equity and continually move us forward, so that we are no longer operating without a strong equity lens and social justice heartbeat. The Center for Equity and Inclusion, an organization designed to advance equity and inclusion through holistic and structural supports, has assisted OEA in launching our efforts in cultural change.

OEA’s goal is to redesign ourselves and the way that we work with each other and our community partners so that we can be an authentic part of the transformative change needed in our professions, state and Credits: Craig Archer

37.3%

Percentage of Oregon students that are ethnically diverse

9.9%

Percentage of Oregon employed teachers that are ethnically diverse 2018 Oregon Educator Equity Report

society. Oregon Communities of Color are independently engaged in several education initiatives and are uniquely close to the impact of education disparities in our classrooms and schools.

An Imperative Project

OEA and NEA members have long driven the message that equity and inclusion need to be embedded into all aspects of our union work and the organization that represents them and their profession.

Our members in Oregon have been the first innovators of equity initiatives that have been community and student-based. However, we have been largely unsuccessful at stemming the continuing disparities of our educator workforce, disparate student outcomes and engagement of members of color. Recent attrition data from the 2018 Oregon Educators Equity Report reveal that, after five years, 41.1 percent of Oregon educators leave the profession with the highest percentage of attrition held by minority males.

The issue of ethnic diversity is also present in OEA Governance, including representation at the NEA and OEA annual meetings. In fact, until OEA began our organizational equity efforts in a comprehensive way, we had only a handful of minority members serving on the board of directors, and leadership at both the local and state

levels was overwhelmingly white. Today, however, OEA has begun aggressively taking data (and requiring demographic data be taken for all events, committees, cabinets, staff and other aspects of our work), and we are strategically targeting inclusion efforts across the entire organization, including our staff demographics (which have dramatically diversified since we started transforming our recruiting, hiring and retention practices).

A common theme that is reported in our Equity, Diversity and Social Justice Hearings, EMAC Pre-Conferences and in OEA’s 2017-18 Engage project is that our members identify social justice and equity as priorities in their organization and are seeking not only tools to effectively work in a culturally proficient way but also voice and opportunities to advance as equity champions. They flock to affinity group opportunities that OEA provides but want greater and more continuous ways to connect and become stronger. Any organizational efforts that are deeply embedded in the needs and desires of our members are the ones we should prioritize and sustain.

Through this important ongoing work, OEA members have an opportunity to engage in authentic conversations that center their perspectives, so that we can become credible partners in creating solutions. The OEA Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee, the OEA Human and Civil Rights Committee and OEA Ethnic Minority Affairs Director will be central in this transformation and, along with early career members and members of color, will be supported to grow as equity champions and thought partners.

We are eager to hear your feedback as we continue this journey as an organization — reach out to us: webadmin@oregoned.org with your thoughts, questions, or interest in participating in our equity work.

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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STRONGER

Together OEA Membership Remains Robust in the Wake of the Janus Decision

By Jenny Smith

F

or years the threat of an extreme, anti-worker Supreme Court case, that ultimately became Janus vs.

AFSCME, loomed over the heads of public employee unions around the country. On June 27, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that might have been devastating. Five months later, however, the Oregon Education Association is stronger and more connected than ever.

While teachers, firefighters, homecare workers and other public servants are no stranger to these anti-union attacks, the new national landscape in which cases like Janus have garnered high-powered political support threatened to challenge public sector unions like never before.

There is no denying that this decision was a blow to public employee unions, making it more difficult for educators to come together to advocate for themselves. Educators around the state were concerned – what would this mean for us? For our students?

Increased enthusiasm

It turns out that being a part of the union has always been and continues to be important to educators. Around the state, educators, leaders, and OEA staff are reporting renewed enthusiasm for the union this year. Instead of drops in membership, many OEA locals have actually reported growth.

Membership rolls have swelled since the Janus decision because educators see value in their union membership and are choosing to remain or become a part of their local association. Members who have historically not been engaged with the association are volunteering to be building representatives, 16

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

joining bargaining teams, attending union events, and connecting with each other. On the North Coast, at least nine local associations have 100 percent membership. From Astoria to Scappoose, every single educator has chosen to be a union member. This trend continues around the statewide organization — OEA has seen increased membership this school year all around Oregon.

While even the most conservative estimates projected OEA would lose a percentage of our membership after the Janus decision, the number of new members who have signed up this year have more than made up the balance. Nearly 600 former fee-payers have become members, and over 90 percent of all eligible educators in the state are active OEA members. Several new locals are in the process of affiliating with OEA, another marker of this increased excitement and commitment to unionism.

The value of membership is clear; in states where more public employees remain members of the union, salaries are higher for all employees because the union has the power to negotiate from a position of strength.

Getting organized

Unprecedented organizing efforts within our union over the last two years have resulted in tens of thousands of one-on-one conversations, connecting members with each other in locals across the state. Educators have stepped up to protect themselves, their colleagues, and retain their power and voice. As individuals, we have a limited impact on decisions that are made in our districts. Coming together as members of a strong union is the best way to have a seat

at the table to fight for students and good working conditions.

Through these ongoing listening sessions — called “Engage events” — members of local associations are able to share their priorities and ideas to help our organization best serve them. In school buildings, community college campuses, bus barns, cafeterias, and district offices, educators are discussing improvements that should be made to students’ learning conditions, educators’ working conditions, and funding for public education. One-on-one conversations provide opportunity to share what the union is working on and for members to give input.

Continued attacks

Our membership remains strong in the wake of the Janus decision, but that hasn’t stopped anti-union groups from their mission to break us down and silence us. Since the beginning of this school year, OEA members have been subject to misleading and harassing communications from the Freedom Foundation and other anti-union

OEA Organizer Sara Whelan, right, and Astoria educators conduct an Engage project at an Astoria Elementary School. Statewide, the Engage project's organizing efforts have been central to OEA's member retention and growth.

organizations at their homes and in their work emails.

Their strategy to weaken educator unions is transparent — anti-union groups work constantly to weaken and limit workers' rights. They've even said that their goal is to "destroy unions." The Freedom Foundation says that dropping your union membership will save you money, but without a strong union, no one will be there to advocate to improve your salary and benefits. In the long term, your union dues pay off over and over — in states with weakened unions, educators earn far less money each year, and have bare bones retirement plans, and funding for services to students is minimal.

These efforts haven’t tricked Oregon educators. Educators know union dues allow the union to effectively negotiate with school districts and community colleges to secure salary, benefits, and working conditions.

When more members choose to be a part of the union, we can achieve stronger contracts.

Anti-union organizations say educators are overpaid and don't work enough, but they have never set foot in our classrooms or Credits: Meg Krugel

91%

of eligible educators are active members

582

former fee payers joined as active OEA members

school buildings and have no idea who we are or how committed we are to the work we do.

What lies ahead

Though it seems we have overcome the threat to our collective voice and power, we now must use our strength as we fight to improve public education. There are still many hurdles to face, and educators around the country are prepared to take drastic measures to ensure that students are given the education experience they deserve.

Beginning in February of 2018, educators in West Virginia, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Kentucky walked out

of their classrooms in protest of the abysmal conditions in which they and their students were expected to teach and learn. Photos of crumbling walls and ceilings, 30-year-old textbooks, and broken desks made a splash on the internet for months. Hundreds of stories were told by educators working two — or more — jobs just to be able to afford to live, while still bankrolling their own classroom supplies.

These well-publicized strikes became the cornerstone of the #RedforEd movement, which began a nationwide calldown for better public education funding. No longer were educators content to stand by as their budgets were slashed, salaries frozen, and benefits diminished. Of the five major statewide walkouts, each ended with a pay increase, increased school funding, or both.

Oregon is no stranger to budget cuts. Decades of underfunding have left our public schools with too few teachers and support staff, unsafe working conditions, and stagnant pay. Our classrooms are sometimes so full that students don’t even have a proper place to sit. Educators spend so much time managing behavior that they can’t even do their jobs. Many have considered moving or commuting over the border to Washington state, where educators just won a big pay increase and an injection of funding for their schools.

Educators in Oregon are facing a great opportunity to change the tides for our public school system. Governor Kate Brown has made education funding a major priority, and in this year’s election OEA helped to elect more pro-public education legislators than ever before. We’ve also got the power of our united voice, tested and fortified by the challenges we have faced this year. We are a group of dedicated educators, 45,000 strong, and together we can build a greater future for ourselves and our students. 2019 will be a critical year for school funding in Oregon; it’s time to use our strength to give our students the resources they deserve. n TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

17

One community college instructor is using OEA Foundation grants to improve the quality of his students’ education — and strengthening his local association in the process

STURDY FOUNDATIONS

BY MILANA GRANT

R

ows of open stalls with bright red plastic blinds; giant yellow pulleys suspended from the warehouse ceilings; more wires and plugs than the average person sees in their lifetime. It’s a feast for the eyes inside the welding shop at Clackamas Community College, but to welding instructor John Phelps, it’s just another day in the classroom.

The shop is quiet. Fall term won’t start for another two weeks, but Phelps is already trying to figure out how he can squeeze a few more students into his classes. He hates to turn anyone away if they want to be there, and he’s found some creative ways to build makeshift workspaces to accommodate the extra bodies. With an enormous nationwide shortage in the labor force of skilled tradespeople, not a single person who graduates from one of these programs isn’t going to find work. “It’s all I’ve heard for my entire welding career...we can’t fill the need fast enough. Even if they hired every single person that came into a program, we’d be short,” Phelps says.

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

John Phelps is a welding instructor at Clackamas Community College and has become a strong advocate for the OEA Foundation.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

19

John Phelps, front, with his colleagues Casey Sims, a counselor, and Mark Houser and Russ Peterson, from CCC's automotive repair program.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics agrees.

According to their projections, Oregon will need to fill over 20,000 welding positions between 2016 and 2026. Oregon legislators are taking steps to build more robust opportunities and interest in Career Technical Education (CTE) at the middle and high school levels in hopes that more young people will choose to enter skilled trades programs after they graduate. Governor Kate Brown released plans for the Future Ready Oregon program in February 2018, which will prioritize funding for CTE programs and provide work-based learning opportunities for students at the high school level.

This plan is part of the holistic cradle-to-career education model that Brown has been cultivating in her efforts to improve Oregon’s public education system as a whole.

By removing as many barriers as possible to allow students to choose a career that 20

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

doesn’t require a four-year degree, and still provides a living wage, Brown aims to increase Oregonian’s access to quality jobs, and support local industry needs One of the largest barriers to students entering trade programs across the state is, of course, money. While community colleges are vastly more affordable than four-year universities, they are not immune to the constantly increasing costs of higher education. The average statewide cost per credit hour for an in-district student is nearly $100, not including fees and supplies.

In 2015, the Oregon state legislature passed a bill to fund the Oregon Promise Grant, which allows students who have graduated or passed a GED test within the last six months to receive state funding, in addition to any other financial aid for which they qualify, if they enroll at any Oregon community college. This has brought the

cost of education down dramatically for students fresh out of high school, but according to the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, nearly twothirds of students attending community college in Oregon are age 22 or older. For students enrolled in CTE programs, the average age is much higher.

For students in John Phelps’ welding programs at Clackamas Community College, the impact of the increased tuition and lack of resources for older students means that attaining the education they need to provide a better life for their families is getting harder. PELL grants and other financial aid options might cover the cost of tuition, but that only gets his students a seat in class. To be fully prepared to learn on the first day, they need to have practical gear, like jackets, welding hoods, gloves, and safety glasses. It doesn’t seem like much,

Credits: Thomas Patterson

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

21

but for some students, it can mean the difference between staying in the program or dropping out.

“The cost of education, unfortunately, doesn’t get smaller. It continues to get more and more expensive, and when we’re able to help a student overcome a financial hardship, they can get focused on why they’re here and what they’re trying to learn,” says Phelps.

Phelps learned about the OEA Foundation grants a few years ago, after a fellow colleague and OEA member spoke at a faculty association meeting. After listening to her experience with the process, and how much it had helped the students on her caseload, Phelps decided taking time to apply for the grant was worth it if it could help his students with some of their financial burden and be prepared for class.

As it turns out, the application process to get an OEA Foundation grant is fairly simple. “I went through the process, and it was not very challenging at all, so this last year, I just decided that I wanted to help as many people as I could, and that’s kind of where it started,” says Phelps.  Phelps has become a champion of the grant program on campus. His enthusiasm for helping his students has caught the eye of many of his colleagues. Counselor and former local president Casey Sims has seen the impact that these small-scale grants have had on Phelps’ students in terms of transforming their education - and their mindset.

“There are intangible benefits other than the functionality of the tools. There’s a sense of pride in having your own tools...

Some people might take their tools home and show them to family members...and it fosters a sense of success,” says Sims.

In the Community Center, Sims is responsible for connecting students with

resources to help them succeed in school and beyond, but it can be hard to identify students who need help unless they ask.

“One of the things that John does really well is build relationships with his students, really deeply and authentically, and he then elicits information about what would be helpful to them, so people don’t have to feel like they’re at the end of the road before we can consider something like this,” says Sims.

Sims served as the President of the CCC Faculty Association last year, and his hope for the future is to create a sense of community in his local. “One of the important things I want to do this year is demystify the application process because it’s not so difficult...and every OEA member has access to it,” says Sims.

In the community college setting, it is easy to become siloed into your own building or department. John Phelps has been able to build stronger connections with his fellow faculty members because of his experience with the OEA Foundation grants.

He has become a go-to person for other educators who have questions about the process, and has been asked to speak about his experience with them at faculty meetings.

Phelps has also begun working with his colleagues in the Automotive and Collision Repair Center to find out if there are overlapping needs that he can help students meet so that they are able to make their grant dollars stretch as far as possible.

Welding is a huge piece of the auto repair curriculum, and many of the students who are enrolled in his classes are also part of the 18-month Automotive and Collision Repair certification program.

Over the last two years, he has helped nearly 30 of his students to get the supplies they need, and he has gone as far as working out a deal with a local industrial supply company to build a custom package for students so that they can get the basics and stay within the $100.00 limit of the OEA

Foundation grant.

The impact of having all their classroom materials notwithstanding, Phelps has discovered that receiving an OEA Foundation grant has an even greater impact on the confidence of his students. “I’ve noticed over this last year, going through the steps of applying for this grant, that it’s almost like a gateway or a stepping stone for students to feel like ‘I can apply for scholarships, and I can apply for other grants’. In the CTE world, it tends to be very challenging to get [students] to apply and access funds and benefits...this is the first step,” says Phelps.

Phelps says that one of his greatest rewards an educator has been the phone calls and emails from former students, thanking him for helping them get the tools they needed to get a well-paid job.

He has even had some of them come back and talk to incoming classes about the program and how wonderful it was to have the help of the OEA Foundation grants. Phelps hopes that seeing other success stories will encourage more of his students to come to him to find out how they can get help too.

Last year, for the first time in OEA Foundation history, a community college reached the maximum annual grant amount. Can you guess which school it was? John Phelps’ dedication to helping his students has prompted OEA Foundation to make some changes to their guidelines for community colleges this year.

OEA Foundation receives hundreds of applications every year, but a very small number of those come from community college educators. Because of the diverse needs and greater number of students on community college campuses, the OEA Foundation Board voted this year to expand the maximum annual total grant amount for community colleges from $2,000 to $5,000 , and to extend the end of the grant year from June 1 to July 15th. n

To learn how you can start helping your students succeed, visit www.oregoned.org/oea-foundation.

If you have any questions about the application process or guidelines, call 503-495-2164.

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

Phelps’ dedication to helping his students succeed in school and beyond has made him a leader in the career technical education programs at CCC.

TODAY’S OEA | FALL 2018

23

Eyeing a Ripple

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

Effect

Significant salary increases in Washington tempt Oregon educators across the border – though there’s no place quite like home BY MEG KRUGEL

Credits: Thomas Patterson

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

25

Before the sun rises on weekdays,

Keith Gebers hops into his car and traverses the Washington-Oregon border from his home in Kennewick, Wash. to Umatilla High School, where he works as a business teacher. He’s been doing the 23-minute commute for the last 23 years of his career.

It’s a quick breeze into the tiny community of Umatilla where the roads are wide open and there’s just one stoplight in town.

Why does he choose to cross the state line? When he began teaching in 1995, Gebers applied to jobs in Richland, Wash., Connell, Wash., and in Umatilla, Ore. Umatilla School District was the first employer to call him back with an offer. Now close to teaching three generations-worth of students there, Gebers can’t imagine teaching anywhere else. At least for now.

“I think about when I’m ready to retire, maybe doing the ‘retiree hire.’ I can get my 30 years in here and then go to Washington and finish up my career,” he says. Financially, Gebers’ plan makes tremendous sense.

As a result of Washington state’s 2012 Supreme Court McCleary decision and effective bargaining by their local unions, Washington educators are currently earning, on average, 20 percent more than their peers in Oregon.

What Went Down in Washington

In the McCleary Decision, the Supreme Court ordered the state of Washington to fully fund K-12 public schools as required by Article IX of the Washington Constitution: "It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex."

In McCleary, the Supreme Court ruled that the Legislature had failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation to 1.1 million students enrolled in Washington public schools. Two years later, the Court found the state in contempt for its failure to establish a plan for fully funding K-12 public education by Sept. 1, 2018. The Legislature failed to provide a plan, and the Supreme Court responded by fining the 26

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

state $100,000 a day. By the time the 2018 Legislative session had drawn to a close, Washington lawmakers had increased state funding for public schools by billions, including $2 billion going toward educator salaries in the 2018-19 school year.

The dedicated work of Washington Education Association members to improve their quality of life was years in the making ­— but members are finally seeing their efforts come to fruition. WEA members in dozens of school districts across the state have negotiated double-digit percentage pay raises this school year. “It's going to take hard work. It's going to take courage.

It's going to take organizing. But we must

negotiate fair salaries for all WEA members,” said Shannon McCann, President of the Federal Way Education Association and a WEA Board member in the days following the passage of the state’s education budget.

Gebers sees the vast pay differential between Washington and Oregon even in his own family. His brother teaches in Kennewick and earns a base salary of $90,000 — plus overload pay, which equals $3.50 for every student over the set class load of 25 kids. All told, his brother’s salary amounts to around $112,000 — while Gebers, who has more than two decades worth of experience teaching, earns around $69,000 for the same type of work and similar years in the classroom.

Opening spread: Even though he lives in Kennewick, Wash., Keith Gebers has taught at Umatilla High School for two decades. He keeps photos he receives from former students on his classroom wall; "They're a big reason for why I love teaching here," he said. "I still get pictures of them for their weddings, engagements, baby showers, military uniforms, etc... The wall is a perfect example of why I stay. It reminds me of the lives I've worked with, [students] who mean a great deal to me."

For her second job, teacher Lindsay Dance moonlights by working with three-year-olds two evenings a week at Elmonica Elementary School in Beaverton.

For Gebers, though, teaching in Umatilla is about more than just the money.

He’s passionate about the community and knows that loyalty to the students means a great deal to them and their families. Since he first began teaching in Umatilla, he's watched many colleagues exit the community to teach in Washington. To combat the trickle-out, Umatilla has launched a teacher pathway program to encourage local students to pursue an education degree and return to teach in the community. “In order to grow and retain these homegrown teachers, we really need to offer salaries that are comparable to what they could make 30 minutes down the road,” Gebers says.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

Paulette Selman’s commute is similar to Gebers’ — although she’s driving in the opposite direction. Each day, she commutes from her home in North Portland to Ogden Elementary in Vancouver, Wash., where she works as a School Psychologist. She took the job four years ago after her former employer, Tigard-Tualatin School District, opted to condense her position — combining a 1.0 FTE Counselor position with a .75 FTE School Psychologist role. “I loved what I was doing, but it wasn’t sustainable for too long,” she says. “I’d never really thought of working in Washington, but I had a friend who worked for Vancouver Public Schools, and I decided to apply.”

At that point, the money wasn’t the biggest draw. “The attraction was that the district wasn’t as big as PPS [Portland Public Schools]. There were changes happening in Vancouver across a lot buildings, and school psychologists were becoming part of a system-wide change. Psychologists were part of things like PBIS [Positive Behavior Intervention & Supports], Response to Intervention, and making improvements school-wide. That was attractive to me,” Selman says.

Two years ago, Selman realized that there wasn’t a representative for school psychologists within her local association, the Vancouver Education Association (VEA).

“There was this huge gap — our psychologist group was spending a lot of time trying to make things different in our district, but I realized nobody from that group was actually going to our union meetings. So, I started to go and got to know VEA’s leadership more.”

Since taking that initial step, Selman has lobbied on behalf of fellow school psychologists at the State Capitol in Olympia and attended the WEA Representative Assembly, where she represented all of Vancouver’s Educational Staff Associates (ESAs) — a category of educator identified in Washington that includes School Psychologists, Speech Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Nurses and Counselors. At the RA last year, Selman learned more about the impacts that McCleary would have in the year to follow.

With the additional revenue coming from the Legislature, VEA’s Bargaining Team began meeting this past June to bargain adjustments to the salary schedule. Selman brought language to the team that also asked for big changes to ESAs’ caseloads (going from an average of 1,200 students down to 600). Selman and her colleagues nervously waited for updates from their TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

27

bargaining team on Facebook all summer.

The first day of school was set for Aug. 29, 2018 — but with the bargain still open and educators’ salaries still on the table — VEA members voted to strike, meaning the school year would not begin as planned. “The day we actually voted to not open the school year was so exciting, just in terms of the energy that people were feeling — we really are going to stand together on this and stand for what we think is the appropriate salary increase,” Selman remembers. VEA members were not alone — educators across all of SW Washington were in a similar position. More than 6,000 educators in eight different school districts (Longview, Evergreen, Washougal, Vancouver, Camas, Hockinson, Ridgefield and Battleground School Districts) were collectively on strike at the same time. According to WEA staff, approximately 1,600 of those educators live in Oregon.

“We were out for four days, and on that fourth day, we had a union membership meeting and voted to accept the proposal, which meant we could go back to work the very next day,” Selman says. The Vancouver deal included a 12.5 percent salary increase for all employees and passed with 93 percent approval from the membership.

The support from the community was tremendous during that period, Selman says — hundreds of parents signed an affidavit stating they supported the actions of VEA members and that their students were not being irreparably harmed by the strike.

How did the experience impact Selman?

“Well, I’m getting paid more. I can see that, for sure. And as a psychologist group, we did get a better case load cap — they lowered it to 950 students. It’s a move in the right direction where we have not seen movement

for years,” she says. Beyond that, the strike was empowering in ways Selman didn’t initially expect. “The teachers I work with are really passionate people and go above and beyond for our students. To stand outside and choose not to open the school year was so inspiring because I know how passionate this group is. It was so amazing to see this group saying, ‘we are worth it.’”

The actions of Washington educators — that collective spirit and hope for a better future — have been replicated in droves across the country, from South Carolina to Arizona to West Virginia. This year, teachers and education support professionals have united under a collective movement known as Red for Ed. It’s vision is simple: educators are working around the clock to make a difference in the lives of their students and are standing up to lawmakers to ask for better pay and school funding. Fueled and organized by the 3.3 million members of the National Education Association, and supported by communities across the U.S., Red for Ed has the potential to create systemic, lasting change for our schools.

The Effects on Oregon

Two years ago, Spanish teacher Lindsay Dance was nearing the end of her probationary period as a first-year teacher in the Beaverton School District. She remembers receiving warning of a layoff notice just a few months after Measure 97 failed, when school districts were left grappling for the revenue needed to maintain current educator staffing levels across Oregon.

“In March that year, I got a notice that said ‘Congrats on finishing your probationary year. Due to funding, you’re not guaranteed a job in the district next year,’” Dance says. She

attended a meeting hosted by the Beaverton School District’s HR staff and they told her to prepare herself for a layoff. Thankfully, the layoff that year didn’t come to fruition (nor did the potential layoff notice she received last Spring, for the second time in a row) and Dance has been able to maintain her position as the Spanish teacher at West Tualatin View Elementary School where she’s now been teaching for three years.

After that first layoff notice, Dance began researching what it would take to become licensed to teach in Washington and even attended a group interview for teaching positions in Vancouver. She didn’t want to leave her school, but as a young teacher just starting out in her career, she knew the option to transfer might be necessary at some point.

West Tualatin View Elementary is one of the few International Baccalaureate (IB) elementary schools in the state, and one of the IB requirements is to offer Spanish language classes to all students, which gives Dance a sense of job security — since the school must provide Spanish classes to maintain its IB accreditation. But with the rising cost of living in Portland, Dance has had to take on a second job teaching a preschool program for migrant children in the district. “I work two jobs, and I work in the summer for some supplemental income. It’s hard to save on the one income.

If there’s any big expense that comes up, the second income is necessary. Last year I had to pay $2,000 in car repair costs, and that was my preschool teaching money for three months,” she says.

She hopes that what happened in Washington will soon ripple across the border and that Oregon lawmakers will choose to invest in education in a similar way. The future is

By the numbers SALARY COMPARISONS

BA MIN

BA MAX

MA MIN

MA MAX

MAX MAX

Average Oregon

$38,643

$56,858

$43,080

$68,919

$74,837

Average Washington

$49,022

$57,131

$58,373

$83,994

$94,067

Difference

$10,379

$273

$15,294

$15,074

$19,231

% Difference

26.86%

0.48%

35.50%

21.87%

25.70%

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

Skye Hanna works on recognizing sightwords with a small group of kindergarten students. Hanna spends money out of her own pocket every month to outfit her classroom and provide her students the tools they need to learn.

bright now in the world post-Election Day, with a Democratic supermajority in Oregon and a re-elected Governor who has committed to prioritizing education funding. Part of Gov. Kate Brown’s campaign promise included salary increases for all Oregon educators, and maintaining retirement security for public employees: "These are hard-working people. They give the best years of their lives to our kids. We want the most dedicated and determined people entering the profession, not people who can't find any other job," Gov. Brown has said.

Why the Union Matters

For Skye Hanna, an early-career Kindergarten teacher at Rosa Parks Elementary in North Portland, the union is key to her commitment to teaching. Though she struggles to afford her one-bedroom Portland apartment on her teacher salary, she also can’t imagine leaving her job for one that’s not part of a union.

Credits: Meg Krugel

It all goes back to Christmas day 2015, when Hanna had a seizure and collapsed in her home. She was rushed to the emergency room, where it was discovered she had a cancerous brain tumor. “I was able to use sick leave days from the union bank because I was off of work for four months, and then came back for half days, probably earlier than I should have. The health insurance was more than adequate. I love the union and will never leave it ­— I’d be scared to leave it. I had brain cancer, and they took care of me during that time — and they continue to have my back,” Hanna says.

Like Dance, Hanna takes on second jobs when and where she can — babysitting, pouring wine at the Blues Fest during the summer, and tutoring. Her student loans from both her Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s program total around $400 a month. The temptation to look for jobs in Washington is there, no doubt, although she loves teaching at Rosa Parks. The school recently transitioned to

a year-round school schedule, which has been an incredible change for her students and their learning. “I would love to stay at Rosa Parks — it’s a beautiful school. I have about 22 students and there are more than 20 languages spoken here. The year-round schedule means we don’t have to come back and re-teach a lot of things because it’s been three months since they were in class,” she says. “I love my students and think they’re amazing, so smart, and are all going to go to college someday,” she says.

Dance thinks about what it’d be like to work a different job, too — one that might pay a little better — but without a doubt, she’d miss her students. What keeps her coming back to the classroom? “It’s the kids, and the passion I have for educating them. Even though they drive me bonkers — there’s always at least one thing that happens every single day that makes up for it… that leaves me totally inspired at the end of the day,” she says. n TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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Y HELLO

w e n I'm Supporting new educators is crucial for retention, but many school districts lack the funding to do so.

OEA is stepping in with programs designed to help educators succeed from the start.

ou’re new to education, or maybe just new to the district.

You don’t know anyone in your

building and you’re coming in for your new employee orientation. You’ve just been handed a giant stack of papers — your contract, your health insurance information, a district handbook — and after an hour of listening to a speed-read explanation of each print-out and signing on the dotted line, you’re heading off to your first day. Good luck.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Early career educators have it rough.

If you’re lucky, your school district has some kind of mentorship program and you might have a veteran educator to help answer the mountain of questions you’ll undoubtedly have about....well, everything.

If you’re not so lucky, your first year might feel like trying to swim against a tidal wave.

You might even start to question your decision to become an educator at all. Many do.

While the actual numbers tend to vary quite a bit, some 50 percent of all new educators leave the profession within the first five years. That’s a staggering number, although perhaps not surprising for those who are still reeling from their first year. Without support, it can seem nearly impossible to make it through, and burnout can happen extremely fast. In order to retain new educators, a level of support that school districts sometimes can’t provide is necessary. When schools are fighting for every dollar, it can be difficult to find funding to maintain a program that fills this need.

By Milana Grant

Opportunity to empower

As an organization, OEA strives to provide a multitude of supports to new educators, yet many new OEA members are either unfamiliar with all of the things their union does, or they don’t see their union as a resource that can help them meet their professional learning goals. New educators are already so overwhelmed at the start of their first year; an invite to a union meeting can seem like just one more thing on their plate. One council has found an innovative way to connect early career educators with quality professional 30

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

While the actual numbers tend to vary quite a bit, some 50 percent of all new educators leave the profession within the first five years.

That’s a staggering number, although perhaps not surprising for those who are still reeling from their first year.

At left: Peg Cornell discusses the challenges facing new educators with a new OEA member at the 2016 Chintimini Early Career Educator Retreat.

Below: Laura Waight (L) and Peg Cornell (R).

development while also creating space to engage individual members with their local and statewide association.

In 2016, the Chintimini UniServ Council was selected to receive an OEA grant to host their inaugural Early Career Educator Retreat (CECER). Their idea was to attract new educators by holding an overnight event somewhere picturesque, and giving them a professional learning experience that was designed just for them. It was held at the Oregon Garden in the spring of 2016, so educators were nearing the end of their first school year, and 27 new members had the opportunity to attend. During the planning phase, attendees were asked what they really wanted from their professional development experience, and their suggestions were used to shape the training sessions. New members were able to address some of their most pressing questions and Credits: Robert Parrish, Amy Picard

concerns about their jobs.

Laura Waight was one of those members.

“The thing that was really interesting and compelling to me about going was that I was asked ‘What do you want? What do you want to know about your career? What questions do you have?” And lo and behold, the things that I asked for were there. That was a big deal for me,” Waight says. She was a second-year teacher who had just moved into the Central School District. Waight says CECER made her feel heard and valued as a new educator, and the things that she learned that first year were invaluable. “It highlighted some aspects of our career that we really hadn’t thought about, like ‘When I read my contract, do I really understand what it’s saying, or how do I access student loan forgiveness? What is the history of the union, and what is my place in it?’ All of these things were revealed to

me, and I thought it was really great.”

Waight had been tapped for the role of Vice President of Central Education Association, but she never planned to become the local President. Attending the retreat in 2016 changed her mind. “Honestly, it was at the retreat that I thought ‘I can do this. I think I can. I think I can see myself in that place’. I felt that connected and that supported,” she says. Waight is sure that she would not have taken on the responsibility of leading her association had she not been involved with CECER. She has been able to attend the event the last two years as local President with groups of new educators from her district.

Building communities

2018 marked the third year of CECER, and those who have been lucky to attend in leadership roles have marveled TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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at the impact the retreat has had on their members — and on themselves as leaders.

Peg Cornell, who has been President of Corvallis Education Association for several years, says that the event has helped her to not only encourage new members to get involved with their local union, but she has been able to build more meaningful relationships with them as well. “Even the ones who maybe don’t have a formal leadership role, they are now people in their building that I know, and we have that shared experience. I can reach out to them, and I know we have that relationship already.”

Cornell says that the retreat challenges a lot of preconceived ideas that new members might have about their union.

New educators have the chance to connect with other people who value education and learning, and they begin to see the 32

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

union as a tool to help them improve their professional practice. “It puts the union in a different light. We talk about things like extreme student behaviors, and the brain research behind it...engagement and classroom management strategies, and self-care,” she says New members also get the feeling that they are part of a larger community of people who are all going through the same struggles as new educators. “When you hear the questions that people are asking, you realize that they have the same kinds of questions you have. It helps you realize you’re not alone,” Cornell says.

While a retreat can’t solve all the challenges facing new educators, it certainly helps them build relationships that will give them a place to turn when they are feeling the pressure of their career.

Adding value

Laura Waight says that there is no doubt that CECER has been a valuable tool in helping her to connect with new hires in her district — even those who aren’t necessarily interested in becoming part of the association at first. “There was a [nonmember] that heard about the retreat; she said ‘I’d really like to go,’ and I said ‘I’m really glad you’re interested, but you’ve got to be a member,’ and she said ‘Well, sign me up.’ She had previously been resistant to membership,” says Waight.

Waight believes that in the wake of a new, voluntary-membership world, unions need to make sure that members see the value in their dues dollars and offer them solutions to their greatest professional

At left: The Oregon Garden Resort in Silverton, Oregon.

Below: Groups of early career educators and leaders gather at the 2018 CECER to build relationships and learn how to cope with the stress of being a new teacher.

needs. “We have to be more of a service organization, we have to think about it in terms of ‘what service can we provide?’

And this is a huge one. Taking care of new educators is a huge unmet need, and if the union can be part of meeting that need, it’s better for all of us.”

Peg Cornell agrees that providing a catered experience for new educators has had a great impact on the perceived value of membership for her new members. CECER is now a hot commodity that people want to be a part of. “The first time we did this, we were scrambling to find people to come.

This last year, I couldn’t bring all the new Corvallis educators who wanted to come.”

As a leader who has been in the education profession for many years, Cornell has seen plenty of new educator programs come and go. She hopes that Chintimini Credits: Oregon Garden, Robert Parrish

Council will be able to continue to provide this retreat long into the future; “Trying to find that perfect mentoring model has been sometimes a challenge; I really appreciate the commitment to our new hires.”

Keeping the torch lit

CECER has been funded since 2016 through a variety of grants from OEA, along with funding from Chintimini Council. This year, the retreat was made possible through a program operated by OEA’s Center for Great Public Schools. The Educator Empowerment Grant (previously called the Professional Practice Organizing Grant) is specifically designed to allow local associations and councils to provide professional learning opportunities to their members. Locals or councils can

receive up to $5,000 to fund professional practice enhancement projects.

To those who might be fearful of applying for the grant, Peg Cornell has a message: “Don’t be intimidated to try this out.” Cornell worked closely with Amy Picard, an OEA staff member, to complete the application and planning of the retreat.

There is an Amy out there for any local or council who needs help throughout the process. Reach out to your local president or your UniServ office; they will be happy to connect you with someone who can help you build the right professional learning opportunity for your local or council.

Find out more about the Educator Empowerment Grant and read summaries of completed professional learning projects at https://www.oregoned.org/ member-resources/grants. n TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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ON THE WEB Fall/Winter2018 » www.oregoned.org

#RedforEd

C

lassrooms full to bursting, learning materials and furniture in desperate need of replacement, not enough staff for a growing student population, lack of proper mental health support. These things do not add up to the education experience our students deserve. This year, educators are making a statement to our leaders:

we’ve had enough of this.

Educators are no longer able to stay silent. With statewide walkouts in West Virginia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Kentucky, they have shown their readiness to fight for the kind of public schools that our students and our educators deserve.

The National Education Association wants to amplify the voices of educators who are out there in the trenches, doing their best with fewer and fewer resources. The Red for Ed page on NEAToday.org was designed to give educators a place to find resources, read news on Red for Ed actions around the country, share their stories, and pledge to stand up for betterfunded schools.

Watch as educators from all corners of the United States share stories about why they love working in schools, and why advocating for their students and their fellow educators is so vitally important. Find out what Red for Ed means to them, and then find out what you can do to support the movement!

You can get involved by sharing your stories on Twitter using #RedforEd, or helping NEA calculate just how much educators are spending on classroom supplies with the Out of My Pocket project. Your stories may be featured on the Red for Ed page! There are also lots of shareable social media graphics that you can use to show your support for better school funding. Visit www.neatoday.org/redfored to learn more.

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2018

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