Today's OEA Spring/Summer 2021

A PUBLICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE OREGON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

TODAY’S

OEA BIPOC and Early Career Educators pursue National Board Certification through a unique grant opportunity

EQUITY IN ACCOMPLISHED TEACHING

SPRING/SUMMER 2021 | VOLUME 95 : NUMBER 2

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 UL987.

• 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 VOLUME 95 . ISSUE NO. 2

Features

15 School counselor Brinda Narayan-Wold, a member of OEA’s mediator program, meets with her intern Quinn Williams, left, and Eugene 4J TOSA Caleb Salmond, right, who helps coordinate school counselors in the district.

On the Cover

Feature

24 / well-served

20 / second chances

A New National Board Certified Teaching grant, geared at BIPOC and Early Career Educators, is ensuring equity in high quality teaching across Oregon.

By Meg Krugel

In-Depth

15 / Mediating from the Heart

OEA’s Mediation Network provides peer-to-peer support in navigating conflicts through holistic ways.

By Peter Bauer

An intense mobilizing effort by the union saves the Department of Corrections contract at Blue Mountain Community College.

By Milana Grant

Profile

30 / leaving — and Living — a Legacy

As she steps away from the Oregon Legislature, Rep. Margaret Doherty ends a long career of pro-union and pro-education advocacy.

By Meg Krugel

ON THE COVER: Puilan Cheng, math teacher at Woodburn High School, is a member of a new cohort of BIPOC educators who are participating in the National Board opportunity grant. PhotO by THOMAS Patterson Credits: Thomas Patterson

TODAY’S OEA | SPRING/SUMMER 2021

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TODAY’S

Contents VOLUME 95 . ISSUE NO. 2

Departments

OEA

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE OREGON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION SPRING/SUMMER 2021 VOLUME 95 : ISSUE NO. 2 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 Fotter, Executive Director EDITOR Meg Krugel PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Milana Grant

President’s Column

05 / looking back and moving forward

By John Larson, OEA President

EdNews

07 / CDC Reports Vast Majority of Educators, Childcare Providers at Least Partially Vaccinated 09/ Statewide School Nurse Shortage Exacerbated by COVID-19 Pandemic Politics & You

10 / Historic Virtual Legislative Session Presents Multitude Of Challenges Teaching & Learning

12 / Safety, Above all Else Opinion

33 / Moving Toward an Opt-In Model for Standardized Tests 4

TODAY’S OEA | SPRING/SUMMER 2021

CONTRIBUTORS Milana Grant, Andrea Shunk, Rylee Ahnen, Teresa Ferrer, Laurie Wimmer, Peter Bauer, 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 (October and May) as a benefit of membership ($6.50 of dues) 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. POSTMASTER Send address corrections to: Oregon Education Association Membership Processing 6900 SW Atlanta Street Portland, OR 97223-2513 DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Francesca Genovese-Finch

President’s Message John Larson OEA President

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hen I first assumed office as OEA Vice President in 2015, I reflected that fall would be the first since I was in Pre-School (which I did twice) that I would not be returning to school. Now, six years later, as my term of office as OEA President, expires, I am excited at the prospect of returning to my teaching role in the fall of 2021. It is not lost on me, however, that the world of education to which I am returning is not the same as the one I left. So much has happened since 2015, and I am so proud of OEA members and the role we have played in increasing funding for education, addressing social and emotional learning, advocating for inclusive practices for all students, and protecting the safety of members’ working and students’ learning conditions.

Through our work on disrupted learning and eventually the Student Success Act, as a union we have accomplished so much over the past six years. I started teaching in 1990 and have been involved in OEA-supported school funding campaigns my entire career. In 2019, I was heartened to see that it looked like we were finally going to have a system that had adequate funding, and though “adequate” isn’t a word I would use to describe the kind of funding our students truly need to be successful, $1 billion per year dedicated to PK-12 education was a good start. We were in the midst of advocating for similar investments in higher education when the pandemic hit, and everything ground to something of a halt. Much of the final two years of my term of office has been spent working to ensure OEA members had the tools to do their jobs safely and students had the ability to learn in a safe environment. While this work has been rewarding, I don’t think any of us thought this would be the next step after the Student Success Act. The killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many others over the past year accelerated the work OEA had already been doing on racial and social justice. OEA has leaned into

Leveraging OEA's capacity to lead the work on equity and inclusion for Oregon's students and educators has been a hallmark of John Larson's presidency.

this work and strives to make a safe learning environment for all our students.

I am strengthened every day when I hear of the amazing work educators do across the state of Oregon, and though I am proud of all we’ve accomplished, there is so much that is still unfinished. We had only scratched the surface on addressing the issues of social and emotional learning before the pandemic hit, and the pandemic has only served to exacerbate the issue. The Student Success Act dollars have yet to be fully realized, but what we know is the need for school funding remains critical. We continue to make strides in social and racial justice, but the road behind us is minute when compared to the road ahead of us.

We are at a critical juncture in OEA. Outside forces continue to assail educators from all sides, but the greatest danger I see to our collective power as I prepare to resume my teaching career comes from within. On most issues surrounding education, OEA has been a strong, united front. Over the past months, the decisions surrounding whether to return to in-person instruction has divided our membership and caused a number of rifts. As I depart, I want to remind us all that what unites us is far greater than what divides us. We are truly stronger together than apart.

C. John Larson

I AM STRENGTHENED EVERY DAY WHEN I HEAR OF THE AMAZING WORK EDUCATORS DO ACROSS THE STATE OF OREGON, AND THOUGH I AM PROUD OF ALL WE’VE ACCOMPLISHED, THERE IS SO MUCH THAT IS STILL UNFINISHED. Credit: Reed Scott-Schwalbach

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EdNews CDC Reports Vast Majority of Educators, Childcare Providers at Least Partially Vaccinated

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n March 8, President Biden directed all states to prioritize vaccination efforts to K-12 educators and childcare workers. He also announced that a federal pharmacy program would be immediately available to them.

Already, 34 states had extended vaccine eligibility to educators at that time, but the directive opened up appointments for millions more.

According to the CDC tracking data, the pharmacy program has administered over two million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to educators and childcare workers. In total, nearly 80 of this group has received at least one shot. As many of the nation’s schools have begun to resume inperson learning, state and federal health officials have been counting on this increased effort to keep schools open. CDC Director Rochelle says it’s working. “Our push to ensure that teachers, school staff, and child care workers were vaccinated during March has paid off and paved the way for safer in-person learning,” she says.

In a survey of members, OEA's Social Studies Task Force found that there has been a 60 percent decline in social studies instruction time.

Oregon Civics Education at the Forefront this Session

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EA and the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators have taken opposition with Senate Bill 513, which would require all high school students to take .5 credit of civics education in order to graduate, beginning in 2026. While OEA supports prioritizing civics instruction, this particular Bill would create an unfunded mandate.

The OEA Social Studies Task Force believes requiring just a single semester of Civics instruction would lead to a less

thorough understanding of the subject.

Currently, Civics education is embedded in the Oregon Social Studies Standards in grades K-12. A recent survey by OEA's Task Force finds that 80 percent of social studies teachers believe they do not have enough time to effectively teach the standards.

OEA supports Senate Bill 702, which will create a task force to review Social Studies standards in Oregon schools by enlisting the help of educators with expertise in the subject, who will then propose ideas to fill the gaps in instructional areas.

TSPC UPDATE! » COVID PDU reductions are currently in place until July 1, 2021. If you are renewing a license between March 23, 2020 and July 1, 2021, there is a reduction of the total number of Professional Development Units (PDUs) that must be completed in order to renew your license.

If you are renewing a three-year license (Preliminary, Legacy or Limited) AND are renewing within the time range above, you will owe 38 PDUs. If you are renewing a five year license (Professional, Teacher Leader) AND are renewing within the time range above, you will owe 88 PDUs. If you are renewing OUTSIDE of this time range, you will owe the usual amount of PDUs according to your license (3-year license owes 75 PDUs and 5-year license owes 125 PDUs). If you have questions about this or other licensure issues, please contact Teresa Ferrer at teresa.ferrer@oregoned.org.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

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EdNews NORTH SALEM HIGH SCHOOL TO OFFER INTERNATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED ENRICHMENT PROGRAM » Next year, students at North Salem High School will be able to take a full schedule of classes that will be worth college credit upon completion. The school has become the second in the district to receive International Baccalaureate (IB) program authorization, and is one of only about 1,000 schools to offer the program nationwide. English teacher Mike Simental is excited about the built-in equity aspect of the curriculum. “It’s automatically going to encourage the teacher to bring in diverse perspectives,” he says.

Reed ScottSchwalbach is elected OEA's new President at the 2021 virtual OEA-RA.

OEA MEMBERS ELECT NEW LEADERS, FOCUS ON EQUITY AT 2021 RA

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his year’s Representative Assembly looked much different from previous years, but OEA members persevered through technical challenges to elect a new President, Vice President, and ESP Director, as well as pass 26 New Business Items.

Reed Scott-Schwalbach, who has served as OEA’s Vice President for the past four years, will replace John Larson as President beginning in July 2021. Enrique Farrera, Academic Advisor at Clackamas Community College and longtime NEA Director, was elected OEA Vice President. Samantha Piers-Vanderploeg, instructor at Mt. Hood Community College, has been tapped to serve as the OEA ESP Director.

It was clear that educational equity was a key issue for delegates this year, as twothirds of all New Business Items passed had a focus on racial equity and social justice.

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TODAY’S OEA | SPRING/SUMMER 2021

“IT’S AN HONOR TO SERVE OREGON STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS WITH THE ADVOCACY AND SUPPORT WORK WE DO AS A UNION EVERY DAY.” Reed Scott-Schwalbach OEA President-Elect, term beginning July 2021

As OEA furthers our commitment as an organization to create sustainable equity in our schools, we welcome the passion and dedication that our members have for this fight. All new NBIs can be found at www. oregoned.org/ra.

McMinnville kindergarten readiness program gains national acclaim

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ince 2014, McMinnville School district has participated in a nationwide program called Ready! For Kindergarten, which provides helpful instruction and highquality education materials to parents of children from ages 0-5. Three times per year, parents are invited to a seminar, offered in English and Spanish, where they learn how to foster learning through play and interaction with their young children. The district has seen the program pay dividends.

Students whose families participate in the program are able to identify 25-52 percent more letter names and sounds than non-participating students. For Latino students, the numbers grow to 33-59 percent.

These results have earned McMinnville School District a 2021 Magna Award, which honors their commitment to removing barriers to educational equity for their students.

EdNews REGIONAL EDUCATOR NETWORKS (RENS) » There are many regional opportunities for educators across Oregon as part of the RENs funded by the Educator Advancement Council. The Educator Advancement Council (EAC) was created as a public-nonprofit partnership through state statute to significantly improve professional supports for Oregon's public educators. The council launched 10 Regional Educator Networks (RENs) across Oregon. The RENs facilitate a process that centers the voices of educators to operationalize meaningful, systemic changes to improve recruitment, retention, and professional learning. To find a REN in your community, go to: oregoned.org/regional-educator-networks.

Statewide School Nurse Shortage Exacerbated by COVID-19 Pandemic

Biden Administration Issues Title IX Memo Protecting Transgender Student Rights

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he Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Biden has reversed course on one of the most controversial decisions of the previous administration. A DOJ memorandum, which was delivered to Civil Rights Directors of all federal agencies on March 26, states that under Title IX, students must be protected from discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity. This is a departure from the guidance issued just two months earlier by the former department leadership, which only allowed protections against discrimination based on “biological sex, male or female”.

The directive was announced just as many states have begun introducing laws to limit the protections of transgender youth this year, such as Arkansas’ ban on genderaffirming medical treatment.

The Biden administration has also taken steps to protect transgender school athletes by withdrawing previously-filed federal court briefs that attacked transgenderinclusive policies in some states’ school sports programs.

Credits: Left: Rylee Ahnen; Right: Thomas Patterson

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he return to in-person learning across the state has been a challenge for all school employees, but the change has been an almost insurmountable task to Oregon’s school nurse population. Their duty to the health and safety of their students and fellow educators is made next to impossible due to the fact that there are so few of them. As of 2020, there are over 4,500 students for every one school nurse. Last year, the number of Oregon school districts with no nursing staff was 61.

The problem is decades old. In 2009, the Oregon Legislature directed districts to meet a goal of a 1:750 school nurse-tostudent ratio by 2020, but without funding, the mandate stalled.

It is currently up to individual districts to budget for nursing staff, but as class sizes continue to grow and student mental health needs are increasing rapidly, many districts have had to make the difficult decision to hire more classroom educators, support staff, and mental health specialists.

Tanya Martin, a school nurse in Springfield, says that without dedicated funding to support investment in more school nursing staff, the gap will continue to widen. “I would like to see something mandated that has funding behind it so that districts can do it,” she says, “And it might not be the 1 to 750 (ratio) right away, but even a step in the right direction would be helpful.”

There are over

4,500

students for every one school nurse as of 2020

61

The number of Oregon school districts with no nursing staff as of last year.

EOU Offers Trauma-Informed Teaching Certification

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s the pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the lives of students and families, causing increased mental health crises and financial strain, Eastern Oregon University is offering educators a better way to deliver support through their Trauma in Educational Communities Certificate.

The certification is acknowledged by the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, the only traumainformed education program in the state

to receive this recognition, and teachers who complete the program qualify for a specialization on their teaching license.

Educators can take this continuing education program online and complete it in one year. The program is designed to create more equitable classroom environments, helping to decrease disciplinary measures and absenteeism, and increase academic achievement.

To learn more about the program, visit www.eou.edu/bridge-academy.

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Politics & You

Historic Virtual Legislative Session Presents Multitude Of Challenges

BY LAURIE WIMMER / OEA Government Relations Consultant

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ne of the most noteworthy impacts in this historic year of coping with COVID-19 in Oregon has been the absence of armies of public policy advocates, legislative staffers, and other employees in Oregon’s iconic art deco state capitol.

The 81st Legislative Assembly, now at the halfway mark, has been conducted entirely online, with the presence of legislators and a skeleton staff only, safely distanced, allowed in the building. Even so, two cases of infection have stalled work in the House.

All committee hearings, work sessions, and floor sessions are accessed through Teams or on the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) platforms, and all communication outside of committee and floor sessions are accomplished through Zoom, Teams, phone calls, or emails. The tradition of pulling legislators off the chamber floor to count votes or pitch an idea, as well as quick hallway conversations for the same purposes, have evaporated from the public-contact playbook.

Despite this, OEA’s lobby team has worked diligently and creatively to ensure that education policy and budgets reflect the values of our 41,000 members. Key to our work has been an emphasis on meaningful equity-related policy. Advancing our members’ agenda has been challenged by the sheer volume of work, as the 60-member House of Representatives and 30-member Senate consider 2,465 bills and resolutions in a five-month session dominated by four topics: COVID-19, wildfires, racial equity, and economic recovery.

Some highlights of OEA member priorities include the following:

K-12 and Community College Funding

In mid-March, the budget-writing cochairs of Ways and Means released their “framework” budget for the coming two-year

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TODAY’S OEA | SPRING/SUMMER 2021

$9.1 billion

The amount proposed for the State School Fund budget. In reality, $9.6 billion is the amount needed to fund Oregon's 197 school districts and 19 educational service districts.

$673 million

The amount proposed for the Support Fund for Oregon's community colleges. A true current-service level funding request, continuing programs into the next biennium without cuts, is $703 million.

biennium. Characterized as a starting point, this budget fails to fund either K-12 or community colleges adequately.

The K-12 “State School Fund” is the flexible, locally allocated operations budget that forms most of the resources school districts use to run schools. To do that without cuts in the next two school years, $9.6 billion is the budget that Oregon’s 197 school districts and 19 education service districts (ESDs) need. Instead, the co-chairs proposed a $9.1 billion State School Fund budget, though it held harmless two grant programs — the Student Investment Account in the Student Success Act and the High School Success Act (Measure 98) — which are earmarked grant funds, not operational resources. The $500 million difference between what is proposed and what our students need is equivalent to losing half of K-12’s share of the newly created Student Success Act. Community colleges were also disappointed by the co-chairs’ framework.

A true current-service level funding request, continuing programs into the next biennium without cuts, is $703 million in the Support

Fund. The co-chairs have proposed just $673 million, which fails to compensate for revenues lost to pandemic-related attrition.

Class Size and Caseloads as a Mandatory Subject of Bargaining

Making its fourth appearance before the Legislature is a toppriority OEA bill to ensure that our members have the right to discuss class size and caseloads at the bargaining table as a part of our advocacy for members and their students. A bipartisan effort to move SB 580 across the finish line has added momentum this year.

Part-time Faculty Health Care

Also facing tough sledding — a theme for OEA this session — is another bill we’ve requested several times. Part-time faculty who work full-time at several institutions but who still do not have access to health insurance would be covered by SB 551. Ironically, the fate of this bill may be in the hands of a physician legislator, who has not agreed to support this essential protection for higher education contingent faculty. Member advocacy and action opportunities will emerge in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Limiting For-Profit Virtual School Enrollments

Five bill and two amendments to legislation seek to lift the cap on transfers to forprofit online schools. Currently, more than 20,000 students have enrolled in virtual schools statewide. These programs have poor records when it comes to educational quality, diversity, and transparency. For every

Politics & You half-percent that the cap is lifted, school districts lose $59 million. OEA has worked since June of 2020 to stymie efforts to expand enrollments at these outfits, run as charter schools by out-of-state corporations.

Gun Violence Prevention Bills

OEA has fought for more than 20 years to make our schools and communities safer from gun violence. As a part of a coalition of advocates for sensible firearm laws, we have championed three bills this session: n SB 554, which would enable school districts and other public places to ban concealed weapons on their properties; n HB 2510, which would establish a securestorage requirement for all firearms; and n HB 2543, which closes what is known as the “Charleston Loophole”. In Oregon, though a background check is required before a firearm may be transferred to a buyer, that requirement expires if it cannot be accomplished in three days, allowing the purchaser to take possession of a weapon without the completed check.

This loophole was named for the Charleston, South Carolina tragedy in which nine people were murdered by a young man who obtained his gun this way. All three bills are still alive and in process.

Improved Standardized Testing Climate

OEA has championed a suite of bills on testing, relating to waivers, audits, meaningful accountability indicators, improving parental opt-out rights, and ending the essential skills exam. Members have articulately weighed in on these proposals, helping legislators to see that evaluation of students, schools, and the education system itself is best achieved through qualitative measures, and not high-stakes tests emanating from a bygone era’s corporate reforms. HB 3338 and SB 602 are just two examples of OEA legislation to address these topics.

Various Equity Initiatives

As founding members of the Fair Shot Coalition, which has brought innovations to several recent sessions, OEA is centering equity policy in its legislative portfolio. Racial justice is at the core of this agenda. HB 3230 would provide legal counsel to immigrants Credits: Meg Krugel

facing court proceedings and would create a system managed by and for immigrants. HB 3265 would strengthen our sanctuary laws to keep the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from communicating with law enforcement and make courthouses safe spaces for immigrants facing civil court.

HB 2002 is a public safety reform bill that includes funding to train law enforcement agencies in restorative justice. Proposals at the intersection of economic and racial justice that are moving through the legislature with bipartisan support are Child Care for All (HB 3073) and a bill to help low-income Oregonians with healthy-home rehabilitation (HB 2842).

Another concept concerns the way education resources are distributed in the K-12 State School Fund. The distribution method in use since 1991, which considers uncontrollable district cost factors in a mathematical equalization formula, has underestimated the educational costs of students navigating poverty. OEA has proposed in HB 2501 to double the formula factor to better support our low-income students. That bill, along with other proposals to change the formula, is currently lodged in a work group that is considering whether to amend OEA’s bill or refer it back to committee for passage.

Finally, OEA has brought forward HB 3354, a bill designed to create an alternative to the Pearson-owned EdTPA (Education Teacher Performance Assessment) licensure exam for aspiring educators. Understood to exhibit bias against non-native English speakers or aspiring educators from outside the dominant culture, this test presents a barrier to entry, especially when its high costs are also factored in. To diversify its teaching profession, Oregon’s educator preparation programs will, with this bill, be able to offer alternative pathways for demonstrating proficiency.

This is just a sampling of more than 1,000 bills OEA is working on in this difficult virtual lawmaking process. For more information on any bill, contact your OEA Lobby Team at OEA-gr@oregoned.org.

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Teaching & Learning

Safety, Above all Else Key Take-Aways in the Ready Schools, Safe Learners (RSSL) Plan

BY ANDREA SHUNK / OEA Education Policy & Practice Strategist

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his spring, many Oregon students and school staff are returning to school buildings after a year of remote and distance learning. This return brings excitement and “first-day” jitters and pictures for many but also comes with concern about safety. Oregon educators want schools to be safe for families, students, and all school staff.

“Ready Schools, Safe Learners” (RSSL) from the Oregon Department of Education outlines the many requirements and recommendations for schools to be healthy and safe. We’ve learned during this global pandemic that all activities come with some risk. However, schools can greatly minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19 by following “Ready Schools, Safe Learners," teaching

students how to be safe at school, and working collaboratively to address safety concerns.

RSSL contains more than 160 requirements and has been updated several times in the 2020-21 school year as we learn more about how the virus spreads, what safety measures work best, and learn from the experiences of schools that expanded in-person instruction early. In this article, we will outline the top safety recommendations that when layered together, do the most to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There are many more resources available through ODE, the CDC, and both NEA and OEA. We encourage members to explore those resources. You can also reach out to OEA with questions at oea-gps@oregoned.org.

Face Coverings All school staff and all students in kindergarten and up must wear a face covering at school at all times.

This requirement extends for all outdoor activities like recess or learning outside. A face covering is a cloth, polypropylene, paper or other face covering that covers the nose and mouth. Students and staff can bring and wear their own coverings from home, and the school must also provide face coverings for students and staff who need or request one.

Face shields are not preferred but can be worn in conjunction with a mask.

Additionally, some staff might only wear a face shield for a short period of time for specific kinds of instruction such as language instruction or one-on-one and group work led by speech language pathologists.

Students can also remove face coverings during mealtimes but schools should add additional safety measures during these times such as increasing the physical distance between students, moving mealtimes outdoors when possible, and ensuring good hand hygiene before and after meals.

A very limited number of students will need accommodations based on a disability. ODE has provided supplemental guidance on this issue. Most students will successfully be able to wear face coverings.

Schools can require that students who refuse to wear a face covering receive instruction though Comprehensive Distance Learning when that decision is values-based.

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Teaching & Learning Hand Washing and Hygiene

In addition to face coverings, hand hygiene is a crucial layer of protection to reduce transmission.

Students and school staff should regularly wash their hands or use hand sanitizer. Hand washing with soap and water should last for 20 seconds, or about as long as it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. An alcohol-based hand sanitizer with 60-95% alcohol is also acceptable.

School districts must provide access to handwashing stations with soap and/or hand sanitizer throughout the building.

Hand hygiene should occur often but specifically at these points: n When entering the school building at the start of the day n Before and after meal breaks n After using the restroom n After recess n Before using a shared resource like school supplies or books

Entry Screening

Entry screening is not required by the CDC but can provide an important check in with students each day and sets the tone as students enter the building reminding students that even though they have returned to school, we haven’t returned to “normal” yet.

Credits: iStockphoto.com

Physical Distancing

Maintaining physical distance from others is another key safety measure.

Recently, the CDC changed guidance for schools to allow for three feet of distance between students, though six feet is still recommended as the highest level of safety. However, adults must still maintain six feet of distance from students and from one another.

Planning for physical distancing can present a challenge in schools especially when classrooms were designed for much closer contact and when we know strategies like small groups and partner work can improve instruction. School staff should work with their union leaders and school administrators to plan for physical distancing. Some local unions have negotiated for specific physical distancing requirements.

Classrooms can only accommodate as many students as can fit while maintaining the appropriate physical distance from each other, while maintaining space for school staff, and leaving room to maneuver safely in the classroom.

This often means classrooms have reduced capacity.

There are a lot of times in a typical school day that present challenges to maintaining physical distance like passing times, the beginning and end of the school day, and any time students stand in line. Some ideas to maintain distance during these times include: n

Creating one-way traffic signs and reminders in hallways

n

Using markings on the floor for students to stand on when they might wait in line, similar to what you might see at your local grocery store

n

Staggering passing times to reduce the number of students in school hallways at any time

In Oregon, elementary school students must be screened each day as they enter the building. Many schools have developed a short set of questions they ask students each day, like “How is your head?” or “Do you have a cough today?”

Screening does not include checking student temperatures and school staff should continue to informally monitor students throughout the day to look for new symptoms. At middle and high school, students can “selfscreen” at home but again, school staff should keep their eyes out for any developing symptoms.

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Teaching & Learning Isolation and Quarantine

If a staff member or student does develop symptoms of COVID-19 during the school day, they should immediately go to the designated isolation area. Each school must identify an isolation area away from other students until they are able to go home.

RSSL includes information for a variety of infection or possible infection scenarios that detail how long a staff member or student must quarantine and what conditions must be met before they return to school. This resource also includes communication templates and outlines who needs to be contacted in the event of an exposure to COVID-19.

An exposure is defined as an individual who has close contact (less than 6 feet) for longer than 15 cumulative minutes in a day with a person who has COVID-19. School districts as employers are required to notify staff when they have a close contact. You may also work in a building where there is a confirmed case, but you might not have had a close contact with that person. In those cases, you should be notified that there is a case in your school but that you are not affected.

Vaccinations

All school staff in Oregon are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

OEA encourages all members to take advantage of this eligibility. To learn more about where to find the vaccine, visit (https://covidvaccine.oregon. gov/).

Additional Resources

Preventing the spread of COVID-19 requires many layers of safety.

No one safety measure will work on its own.

By combining safety measures, we can all do our part to minimize the risk in schools. OEA members can also educate themselves about Oregon’s safety requirements and recommendations. This knowledge helps OEA member be better advocates for students, families, and all school staff.

Read this article at todaysoea.org to find additional resources online to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

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g n i t a i d e C M m fro Heart the n ediatioides M s ’ A v OE rk pro ort Netwoo-peer suppfl icts peer-t igating conways in navgh holistic throu

Credits: iStockphoto.com

onflict is a natural part of human experience and something educators face daily with their colleagues and the students they serve. Conflict will usually escalate when a person's values, needs, interests, or aspects of their identity are perceived as being threatened, challenged, or undermined. In these situations, people often become defensive and want to protect themselves by taking action to maintain a sense of dignity.

In the past, OEA members

By Peter Bauer, experiencing conflict in OEA Union School the workplace might have attempted to file a complaint with a supervisor or a Human Resources Manager. This is like taking a case to court and asking someone else to make a judgement. A person might present their best evidence only to receive a ruling that they either didn’t anticipate or that has negative long-term consequences. Others have gone directly to the union and attempted to file a grievance against a fellow union member. Because grievances are filed when an employer is violating the contract, this solution does not resolve in the best interest of the member’s needs.

Over time, it has become apparent that a network for peer-to-peer problem solvers is needed to help resolve issues at the job site. The most common types of complaints that are brought forward fall into three general categories: communication, decision-making, and professionalism. The OEA Mediation Network was developed in the Fall of 2019 to address these issues by providing confidential, non-judgmental mediation and conflict resolution services to OEA members.

Nineteen members from across Oregon were accepted into the first cohort of

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mediators and represent job classification from early childhood to community college faculty, Education Service Professionals (ESP), ESD Specialists and K-12 classroom teachers. The goal of this network is to match people in conflict with mediators who have similar backgrounds and experiences. These mediators completed a 32-hour certification course and attend monthly meetings to practice their skills.

When people are experiencing conflict in the workplace, it can be hard to know how to begin resolving the issue. Suzie Spencer, a mediator and alternative high school teacher from Salem, suggests that people who are experiencing conflict should start by trying to have a private conversation with the other person first, if they feel safe to do so. “Be vulnerable with your feelings and be open to hearing the other person’s perspective. If that doesn’t solve the problem, seeking help from peer mediation is a much better option than having stress and animosity in the workplace and passing those negative feelings on to our students.”

Benefits of Mediation The goal of the OEA Mediation Network is to help union members resolve conflicts at the lowest level, improve and increase communication between colleagues, and facilitate dialogue to mend relationships.

A mediator facilitates communications, promotes understanding, and helps parties collaboratively problem-solve the issues that matter to them.

There are several benefits to pursuing conflict resolution through OEA. Mediation services are free to OEA members as a benefit of membership. In addition to mediation between co-workers, OEA also offers Conflict Coaching to help people work with a neutral third party to problem solve ways to resolve an issue on their own. This process is less formal than mediation and allows people to address issues they are facing.

One of the most important parts of mediation is that the process is confidential. All parties, including mediators, sign a confidentiality agreement 16

TODAY’S OEA | SPRING/SUMMER 2021

ct onfli c d a ho h eir w e s l h peop resolve t their eye d e s her more itnes that “I w one anot h a way es were ture l with ict in suc heir smi hole pos vel t confl lighter, d their was that le s were ective, an ed. It w that wa ess.” x conn ore rela eparationtion proc gene, u got mthentic r he media l counselor from NE etwork n of au during t elementary schtohoe OEA Mediatio ld, an er of made memb an-Wo Naray Brinda

and

in order to facilitate an open and honest process. The content of meetings and agreements is not shared with anyone other than the parties in mediation.

Additionally, mediation is a completely voluntary process for all parties.

Healing and maintaining relationships are at the heart of this work. Mediation seeks to resolve conflict with solutions that work for all parties by inviting people to collaboratively problem solve and co-create a solution that will work for everyone. It allows people to work through difficult experiences and improve relationships with their colleagues.

Mediation Makes a Difference Brinda Narayan-Wold is an elementary school counselor from Eugene, and member of the OEA Mediation Network who has seen the positive impact of mediation. “The union values its members, and when the union recommends members to approach mediation, it is with care and high regard of each member. If a problem goes to a supervisor, it might feel hierarchical and clinical. Through mediation, there is hope that the issue will be resolved. The truth is, when educators can resolve their conflict collaboratively,

McCornack Elementary School counselor Brinda Narayan-Wold is a trained member of OEA’s Mediation program.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

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How to Begin the Mediation Process To begin the process, call 541.743.4154 or email mediation@oregoned.org. An OEA staff member will take a short description of your issue, explain the mediation process, and confirm that all parties are interested in moving forward with mediation. Because this is a voluntary process, Conflict Coaching is an option in situations where one person decides they are not interested in participating. If the issue presented is not appropriate for mediation, we will refer you to other resources who can best meet your needs.

When everyone has confirmed their

interest in participating, we will assign comediators to work with you, share an intake form to briefly understand what you have experienced, and have everyone involved sign an agreement to mediate which includes a confidentiality agreement. After these steps have been completed, the co-mediators will schedule a 30–60 minute conversation with each person to better understand their point of view and begin to help each person explore their own curiosity to generate their own resolutions and outcomes.

Once all parties have met with the

co-mediators, they will schedule a mediation session at a convenient time for everyone involved, and will host the session via Zoom.

Return to in-person mediation will return when it is safe. To the extent possible, these mediations should take place outside of the contract day. We can accommodate special requests on a case-by-case basis.

The co-mediators begin by establishing communication guidelines to provide a safe space for open dialogue. During the session, each person will have an opportunity to share their point of view, describe how they were personally impacted, and begin generating potential solutions.

The co-mediators will encourage all parties to think about possible solutions and design agreements that will meet the needs of everyone moving forward.

If a resolution is reached, the co-mediators will help write the specifics of the agreement and will provide each party with a written copy.

The mediation process generally takes 2-5 weeks from start to finish. There are several factors that impact this time frame: the number of people involved, the complexity of the issue, the amount of preparation needed, and the coordination of the schedules of all parties and co-mediators. We try to move forward as quickly as scheduling permits us to help people begin to resolve the conflict before it escalates further.

it frees them up to give their best work to their students.”

The mediation process itself can be incredibly powerful, even as the process is unfolding. Narayan-Wold says “I witnessed people who had conflict with one another resolve their conflict in such a way that their eyes were lighter, their smiles were more connective, and their whole posture got more relaxed. It was that level of authentic reparation that was made during the mediation process.”

Lee Hamilton is a retired elementary school counselor and professional mediator specializing in divorce mediation who helps co-mediate cases as OEA mediators are gaining field experience.

“The most important thing in mediation is that people get to be heard. When they are truly heard, it takes the fight out of a situation. When they feel heard, they are willing to hear the other person and is a huge key to mediation. Curiosity is also key- not only for mediators, but to help each participant be curious about the other person. There are often a lot of assumptions in conflict, and we try to replace that with curiosity.”

“The mediation process gives people a chance to slow down and hear deeper issues that they may have been unaware of,” says Joyce Rosenau, veteran educator and local leader from Reynolds Education Association. “Assumptions may be brought

to light. Then the real conflict can be addressed which can lead to a better working relationship, rather than dealing with one small conflict at a time.”

Combining curiosity with collaboration is what moves a mediation forward.

Huck Wilken is a STEM teacher from Portland who has seen this in action. “I’m continually inspired by getting teachers back to collaboration, where their kids are getting better education. That’s what I find really motivating- when teachers are working well together, the results are amazing. And when they’re not, the students feel it. Mediation helps educators get back to working together, not just side by side.” n

Turning to the union for support during conflict and working with fellow union members to co-create solutions that work for everyone make us truly stronger together. To learn more about the OEA Mediation Network, please visit us at oregoned.org/mediation.

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SECOND CHANCES AN INTENSE MOBILIZING EFFORT BY THE UNION SAVES THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS CONTRACT AT BLUE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

BY MILANA GRANT

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ete Hernberg became the President of Blue Mountain Community College Faculty Association just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down campuses across the state in March 2020. The bargaining team had just reached a contract agreement with the college, and Hernberg says he didn’t anticipate any major labor issues on the horizon. He never could have expected the year that would follow.

Classes shifted abruptly into online formats the week of March 16, which happened to be finals week for Blue Mountain students and educators. During Spring Break, instructors scrambled to adapt their courses to a distance-learning model. Everyone at the college felt the strain of such a hasty change to their daily routines, but none more than the members of the Corrections Education Program. As prisons statewide became hotbeds for COVID-19 outbreaks, communitybased programs were placed on hold. Corrections instructors were effectively locked out of their jobs for several months. Fortunately, Blue Mountain faculty have strong retrenchment language in their contracts, which allowed them to be paid during this involuntary shutdown of their program. It was when they returned to work months later, at the height of the pandemic, that things took a troubling turn.

In August, Blue Mountain Community College administrators alerted Hernberg that meetings between the college and the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) had begun regarding the renewal of their contract to provide Adult Basic Education (ABE) and GED courses to three of the prisons in the region. Six Oregon community colleges have been contracted to provide adult education programs to Oregon’s 14 correctional institutions for over 20 years, and much longer in some cases. Blue Mountain has been working with adults in custody (AIC) at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Facility since 1985.

“We knew that the contract was due to expire at the end of January 2021, but the last couple of negotiations had been pretty straightforward, so we sort of expected it would be a relatively simple contract renewal,” Hernberg says.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT On September 30, DOC Director Colette Peters issued a letter to the Oregon Community College Association (OCCA), detailing the new requirements for the colleges to continue providing education services to Oregon’s correctional facilities. The agency was facing budget cuts as a result of the pandemic, and the $16.4 million spent each biennium to contract the work to professional educators was too great a cost. In the letter, Peters called out the agency’s need to standardize education programming hours for all colleges, offer year-round education, and significant program budget cuts. If the requirements were not met in their entirety, the DOC had a plan in place to bring ABE and GED programs in-house, at a potential cost savings of $3.4 million. In the letter, Peters states that “the requirements are not negotiable. We are not looking at this as the start of negotiations but as a final offer to the colleges before DOC moves forward with bringing education in house.”

Credits: Left: Blue Mountain Community College; Right: Heather Goldblatt

Corrections instructor Heather Goldblatt knows how important Corrections programs are to her at-risk students.

The approach was a departure from the collaborative process that college leaders had come to expect from their contract negotiations with the DOC. Hernberg says that the requirements were never designed to be met by colleges. “The claim that they wanted to have a consistent program across the state, on its face, seems totally reasonable, but it just wasn't practical. Once you start to understand how these prisons work you realize that each one of these institutions runs very differently. You may have high security environments where you have very strict limits in terms of the extent to which the adults in custody can even be in the same room with one another, versus other environments where they have a lot more freedom,” he says.

The DOC’s budget plan showed another motive for pulling the plug on their contracts with the colleges. With expected future budget cuts on the horizon, the agency was focused on “establishing positions for qualified staff to go into in the event their positions are impacted by future layoffs.” OCCA leaders expressed concern with the idea that prison guards were considered “qualified” to provide educational services to AIC. They also claimed that the increasingly unreasonable demands of the DOC demonstrated no genuine desire on their part to negotiate a new contract with the colleges, yet they submitted a proposal that made substantial concessions toward meeting the DOC’s requirements. The proposal was rejected on October 16. It was clear that the decision to take these programs in-house had been made before any discussions on the matter had ever happened.

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Heather Goldblatt works with students in the adult corrections program at Chemeketa Community College.

SHUCKING BEST PRACTICES Heather Goldblatt found out in October that she would not have a job after January 31, 2021. She had been a corrections instructor at Chemeketa Community College for four years, and the news came as a devastating blow. Goldblatt’s career as an educator has been spent working in alternative education, and she knows how important these programs are to at-risk students, especially adults.

“I have a heart to work with underserved people and I know from experience that sometimes when someone is incarcerated, they're really hungry for change and they’re receptive. I feel like a lot of meaningful work can happen in those programs because you know they're going to show up and you can work to build those relationships,” she says.

She knew that any ABE or GED program provided by the DOC would not provide the same level of educational support that can be offered by professional educators. Oregon is consistently in the top five states nationwide for the number of GED completions, in no small part thanks to the six correctional education programs offered by community colleges around the state. Around 70 correctional educators are responsible for upwards of 20 percent of all GEDs earned in Oregon. Goldblatt saw the DOC’s move as a major regression for an agency that is already in need of serious reform.

“When community-based professional educators come in, we bring best practices. We bring equitable approaches, we bring antiracist practices, and these students aren’t going to get that from an 22

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institution that is so antiquated and hierarchical. We need more community-based programs in prisons, not fewer.”

ALL HANDS ON DECK The loss of the DOC contract would result in layoffs for 13 fulltime and 3 part-time corrections instructors at Blue Mountain Community College, over 20 percent of the faculty association. As President, Hernberg took swift action on behalf of his members, crediting the open relationship between the union and institutional leadership for the ability to move quickly. “Because they were letting us know what was happening right away, that made it possible to mobilize our advocacy so quickly,” he says.

His first move was to notify OEA. He contacted his UniServ consultant, Brett Nair, who immediately sounded the alarm with OEA’s Government Relations team. Louis DeSitter, an OEA lobbyist, worked quickly to create an action plan that Hernberg could use to mobilize his membership. DeSitter also began making calls to schedule Hernberg and other community college members from around the state to give public testimony before the Senate Committee for Education, as well as the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC).

Hernberg began sending weekly emails urging members to write to their local legislators and the governor, to sign petitions, to provide written testimony at hearings, and engage in any kind of

“I HAVE A HEART TO WORK WITH UNDERSERVED PEOPLE AND I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE THAT SOMETIMES WHEN SOMEONE IS INCARCERATED, THEY'RE REALLY HUNGRY FOR CHANGE AND THEY’RE RECEPTIVE. I FEEL LIKE A LOT OF MEANINGFUL WORK CAN HAPPEN IN THOSE PROGRAMS, BECAUSE YOU KNOW THEY'RE GOING TO SHOW UP AND YOU CAN WORK TO BUILD THOSE RELATIONSHIPS.” HEATHER GOLDBLATT, corrections instructor advocacy on this issue that they could. He says that his members and the entire Blue Mountain Community College staff showed unwavering support of their colleagues, noting that some of the correction program’s most vocal advocates were the classified union members.

“I've never in my life written to a politician and I found myself writing to them constantly,” he says, “Some of our members actually developed real relationships with these leaders as well.”

With growing concern for the fate of her students, and her own job on the line, Goldblatt went to her union for help. Chemeketa’s faculty association leaders were aware of the situation, but didn't have the granular knowledge about the corrections programs to counter the false arguments being made by the DOC. Goldblatt was well-versed in the particulars, so she became a major resource for Chemeketa’s advocacy efforts. She did her part by writing letters to her local lawmakers and to the members of the Senate and House Education Committee. She was surprised to find that they actually sent responses. “They thanked me and said that they knew about the situation and that they were totally supportive,” she says.

Meanwhile, Hernberg was preparing to give public testimony before the HECC. When the day finally came, he learned that he had an ally on the commission. Enrique Farrera, another OEA member who works at Chemeketa Community College, is a non-voting member of HECC. “I don't know if you've ever given public testimony, but the normal effect is that the committee just listens politely and nods and then they move on and nothing happens,” says Hernberg. That wasn’t going to be the case this time. With Farrera's support, the HECC took action by contacting the Governor’s office as well as the DOC to demand that the lines of communication between the agency and the colleges be resumed.

The issue caught the attention of Senator Bill Hansell (R-Athena), who penned a letter to Governor Kate Brown urging her to step in to salvage the relationship between the DOC and the OCCA, and Credits: Heather Goldblatt

Senator Michael Dembrow (D-Portland), once a professor at Portland Community College and who now serves as the chair of the Senate Committee on Education. The two lawmakers were able to organize a meeting between the agency and college leaders, finally creating a path to negotiation in what had become an inhospitable situation.

MOVING FORWARD In mid-November, the two parties reached a tentative agreement. The colleges conceded to many of the DOC’s requirements, including substantial cuts to their budgets and increased service hours.

Blue Mountain Community College took the biggest hit. Between 40-50% of their program budget was cut. In the past, their contract with the DOC has been a significant chunk of the agency’s budget for adult basic education programs, but the college also provides a much wider scope of services than the other institutions in the OCCA. AIC who are under the age of 21 are protected by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which means that prisons are required to provide special education to those who are eligible. BMCC has been providing a full range of special education diagnostics and services to the three prisons it serves. The loss of nearly half of their budget would mean that the college would either have to lay off most of the correctional education instructors and provide much fewer services or end the program altogether.

Senators Dembrow and Hansell stepped in to make sure that didn’t happen. Included in the budget reconciliation bill passed on April 8, 2021 (HB 5042), was an additional $542,000 for BMCC’s Corrections Education Program. “BMCC is doing fantastic work to help those in our correctional institutions gain the life skills they need to reduce recidivism and transition back into the workforce,” Hansell says, “BMCC is a value to our community and this is yet another example of an important program they provide. Working with Sen. Michael Dembrow I am very pleased to have secured funding for their Corrections Education Program.”

The funding wasn’t quite enough to save the jobs of all program staff. “In the end we lost our three part time faculty members and one full-time faculty member, but the risk that we were facing was that the whole program would go away and everyone would be laid off,’ says Hernberg. While it wasn’t an ideal solution, he says that the mitigated losses are still worth celebrating.

Though Goldblatt is grateful that her job is safe, she knows that the fight isn’t over. “It’s obviously great that we get to keep our program running, but the DOC is totally laying groundwork so that at the end of our new two-year contract, they're going to be ready. The work is not done,” she says.

Hernberg says he will be ready to fight again, knowing he has the support of his membership and the full weight of OEA behind him.

“As hard as it was to go through the whole process, this is why we have a union. When people's jobs are on the line and you're fighting to preserve your members’ livelihoods, you know that you're right where you're supposed to be.” n TODAY’S OEA | SPRING/SUMMER 2021

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E S L L E

D E RV

A New National Board Certified Teaching grant, geared at BIPOC and Early Career Educators, is ensuring equity in high quality teaching across Oregon

BY MEG KRUGEL

Puilan Cheng High School Math Teacher, Woodburn 2021 NBCT BIPOC Cohort Grantee

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here’s something special about the students who sit in the back of the room.

At least for Puilan Cheng, those students remind her of her own story.

When she immigrated to the US as a high-schooler from China, Cheng dreaded the idea of being called on. The language barrier felt overwhelming — she would try to hide in the back of the room, hoping her teacher would look past her.

Now, as a teacher in Woodburn, where many of her students are from predominantly Spanish or Russian-speaking homes, Cheng connects to their experiences. Though they come from different language and cultural backgrounds, she understands what it’s like to be a student in a system that hasn’t always been designed with ESOL students (English for Speakers of Other Languages) in mind.

Cheng is setting out on a journey to change that.

“I can relate to their stories. I didn’t want to be asked a question because I might feel embarrassed. I was that person. But as a teacher, I believe learning should come with joy. It should not be painful,” she says.

Through a new opportunity grant she’s received from OEA geared specifically to BIPOC and Early Career educators, Cheng is in her first year of pursuing the National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) program — a national endeavor to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teaching through a practice-heavy certification process. She’s been interested in the program for years, having first heard about it when she was a teacher in Florida about ten years ago. The cost of the program was prohibitive – around $5,000 at the

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A right triangle of sunlight frames Woodburn High School math teacher Puilan Cheng, who is on a journey to pursue National Board Teacher Certification to improve the effectiveness of her teaching.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

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time, self-funded. (The cost in Oregon is now $1,900 for the four components, plus a $75 registration fee). Now, five years into her teaching career in Woodburn, Cheng was able to apply for a BIPOC grant to have the cost of the NBCT program paid for by her union.

“I said to myself, ‘Puilan, you have no excuses. You have to take the opportunity and go through the process.’ That’s one of my driving forces - because I received the grant. In terms of the inspiration, it’s mainly my curiosity about the National Board process and that journey. And also… how can I [use it to] improve my teaching skills and increase student learning, and meet their needs?”

For Cheng, serving her students in culturally appropriate ways seems to be the ultimate motivator. She’s currently pursuing Component One of the 4-part NBCT program, which focuses on her knowledge and content of her subject area (math). She studies calculus, geometry, algebra and linear math in the evenings at home. “I’ve always been good with numbers. My husband will ask me, ‘do you really want to do math at home in the evening?’ And the answer is yes. And then he’ll say, ‘there’s something wrong with you…’” Cheng erupts into laughter, before offering a sound piece of teaching advice: “If you’re really passionate about something, then it’s not work. And I’m really passionate about math, so it’s not really work for me.”

She next plans to tackle Component Four — assessment. “I’m really looking at what I want my students to learn and [how I] meet their needs and provide the opportunity for them to grow and learn.

I look at things like: did I differentiate my instruction properly so that I can help my struggling student, my IEP student, and my ESOL 26

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“That’s one of those things that gets me thinking as I’m going through this process. Yes… I know I am a good teacher. But am I an effective teacher?”

Puilan Cheng student? Now, every time I create an assessment, I can look at it like a checklist. Did I cover every student, or do I have an alternative way for them to share with me what they learn or what I can assist them with?” Cheng says every educator, whether or not they pursue National Board Certification, would benefit from the principles embedded in this component.

For Cheng, the motivation to pursue National Board Certification stems from a deep desire to serve her students in the most effective way possible. “That’s one of those things that gets me thinking as I’m going through this process. Yes… I know I am a good teacher. But am I an effective teacher?” she says.

She uses the example of her language background as a learning tool. “I do have a heavy accent, and I know my instruction needs to be written down or made into a poster. I need to give extra time and repeat myself frequently. Those are the things that I know [are] very essential for my students, and also how I, myself, learn,” Cheng says.

“I see how I learned English, when I was in high school and first

Dannika White, an Early Career Educator at Pine Ridge Elementary in Bend, teaches her students in their outdoor classroom as a COVID-19 precautionary measure. The new environment has inspired additional opportunities for engaging her students in their hands-on learning.

came to this country and didn’t know any of the alphabet. How did I learn? That’s pretty much how I reflected about how my students will need me to help them. I do see the connection between me being a BIPOC teacher and connecting to my students who aren’t native speakers of English.”

Herein lies one of the principal goals of the new BIPOC and Early Career Educator cohort, says Michele Oakes, the state lead for Oregon’s NBCT program. “Our goal is to increase the number of National Board Certified Teachers of Color, as well as the number of early career educators who are in their first five years. We’re really trying to think about equity in our accomplished teaching in schools. How are we really supporting all of our kids, and supporting our teachers?” Oakes questions.

In 2017, HB 2763 funneled additional money — around $1.74 million — into Oregon’s NBCT program, reimbursing educators for a portion of the cost of the certification process. And yet, Oregon’s NBCT rate has lagged well behind neighboring states (there are around 300 current National Board Certified Teachers in Oregon, compared to over 1,000 in Washington, as an example).

“The student data out of Washington really reflects the impact that accomplished teaching has on education – so, Oregon is really trying to think about how we can do that with our educators, but especially our BIPOC and Early Career [educators], who have the most barriers. How can we alleviate some of those barriers – financial, time, and support?” Oakes says. “This grant is hopefully one way to do that.”

Credits: Thomas Patterson

Dannika White First Grade Teacher, Bend-LaPine 2021 NBCT Early Career Educator Cohort Grantee

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regon has several districts that have fully embraced the NBCT process ­— offering stipends or bumps on the salary schedule to those who pursue certification.

The Bend-LaPine School District has been especially supportive of teachers who are becoming Board certified. At Pine Ridge Elementary in Bend, a team of teachers is going through NBCT together as part of OEA’s Early Career Educator grant opportunity.

Dannika White is one of three educators in her building who are part of that cohort. The educators returned to their building for hybrid teaching about three months ago, and journeying through the NBCT process together and in-person has been rewarding, especially after the feeling of disconnect over the last year, White says.

“We try to meet with each other once a week and check in and set goals – ‘let’s work on this until we meet next time…’ — having that accountability has been so important,” she says.

White is newer to teaching with her own classroom, but not necessarily new to teaching — she worked as a substitute teacher for nine years while her two kids were very young. She adores teaching first grade now and says the community at Pine Ridge is tight-knit, with parents who want to see their students do well.

As she’s begun the National Board process, she’s been able TODAY’S OEA | SPRING/SUMMER 2021

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to become more reflective about her practice with every student, and how it is differentiated between one student and the next. She is currently pursuing Component Two in the certification process, which is all about differentiation. She points to the experience of one of her ESOL students, who spent a year at home due to COVID-19 speaking little to no English. When he arrived back in the classroom, he lagged far behind his peers in writing. She conferred with his ELL teacher, and they developed a system to support him. He’d tell a story, and White would write where the words would go in the sequence; he’d say one sentence at a time and would be asked to physically touch where to place certain words. There was deep scaffolding going on to support him, but he made steady progress.

At the same time, White was also able to differentiate her instruction for students who were ready to expand on simple writing — building out supporting ideas, opinions, and conclusions as they moved into second-grade level writing skills.

While we often talk about burnout among newer teachers, there’s also an unspoken truth that shapes Early Career Educators’ willingness to pursue certification. “I think our beginning teachers are very hungry for the professional learning and want to think about what they need and what their students need,” says Oakes. She’s been inspired by the response of newer educators who are part of the grant opportunity and says the community of support (even in a Zoom environment) is palpable.

White’s experience reflects this reality — she’s been participating in Bend-LaPine’s PASS program (Professional Advancement and Support Systems) — and the journey into NBCT has been a natural progression.

“The PASS Program already had me reflecting on my practice a ton. My drive home is always me asking myself, ‘what did I do today that I liked? What would I change?’ And now, with National Board, I’m working on putting those thoughts down on paper and reflecting on my own growth, just like my students are.” n

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Learn more

N

ational Board is a voluntary process in which educators analyze and reflect on their teaching practice while holding it against the National Board Professional Teaching Standards.

Teachers spend 1-3 years working on their portfolio that provides evidence of their accomplished teaching. There are 25 certificate areas with varying developmental ranges which allows for most educators to pursue National Board certification as part of their professional learning journey.

NBPTS is developed by teachers for teachers.

To learn more about NBPTS visit: boardcertified teachers.org.

To see upcoming NBCT information sessions offered through OEA, or learn more about the BIPOC and Early Career Educator grant opportunity, visit: oregoned.org/ NBCT.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

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&

LEAVING – LIVING – A LEGACY

As she steps away from the Oregon Legislature, Rep. Margaret Doherty ends a long career of pro-union and pro-education advocacy

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BY MEG KRUGEL hanks to a political groundswell of up-and-coming progressive women who decided to run for office this year, for the first time ever, there are more women serving in the Oregon State House of Representatives in the 2021 Legislative Session than there are men. It’s an inspiring mark of progress toward gender equity in our state government. And yet, the foundation underscoring this moment was laid long before many of these newly elected women took office. For some, the groundwork was set by women legislators who’ve since left office but whose impact remain ever-present in the halls of the Capitol.

Oregonians undeniably owe some of this progress to the firey redheaded teacher and labor advocate from Tigard — Margaret Doherty, who ended her tenure as HD 35 Representative in December of 2020. During her 10-years of service in the Legislature, Doherty fought the good fight to ensure women — particularly those working in education – had a seat at the proverbial table when it came to education policy and legislation.

As a teacher and OEA member, she knew the importance of ensuring educators' voices were heard. Her career in public service and education was extensive, taking her from the classroom, to the bargaining table as a union representative, to the Capitol floor as a State Representative. Through it all, she carried a unique blend of humor and tenacity, an ear always bent to the stories shared by the educators and OEA members she was so proud to represent.

How it Began

In prophetic fashion, Margaret Doherty graduated with her teaching degree in 1973, the same year collective bargaining became law in Oregon. She was first hired as a substitute teacher 30

TODAY’S OEA | SPRING/SUMMER 2021

“I’d come out of Portland State University as an anti-war activist. During my first week of teaching, the President of the North Clackamas Education Association asked me if I’d like to serve as a Building Rep. And I say, said,‘well ‘wellwhat whatdo dothey they do?’ And I was told they fight management, and I said, ‘I can do that.’ ” REP. MARGARET DOHERTY

in Beaverton — but after being asked to cross a picket line and refusing — she found her permanent post at Milwaukie High School, where she taught speech and debate. As a new teacher, she dove headfirst — almost literally – into union work.

“I’d come out of Portland State University as an anti-war activist. During my first week of teaching, the President of the North Clackamas Education Association asked me if I’d like to serve as a Building Rep. And I say, ‘well what do they do?’ And I was told they fight management, and I said, ‘I can do that.’ I didn’t realize until a year or so later that they had a thing called a probationary period, and I was in it that whole time – while I was taking grievances into my Principal,” Doherty remembers.

As a new teacher, she began cutting her teeth in politics, serving on OEA’s Legislative Advisory Council and the OEA-PAC (then called OEA-PIE Board). Doherty wasn’t shy about making the ask — she’d get on the school loudspeaker two minutes after the bell rang at the end of the day, urging her members to chip in $5 to help defeat anti-education ballot measures. By 1983, at age 31, she’d been elected President of the North Clackamas Education Association and was offered a leave of absence to help fight the ballot measure that would later be known as Ballot Measure 5. Soon after, she was offered a six-month internship with OEA to learn the ropes of being a union representative, or UniServ Consultant, as the position was titled.

“My district wouldn’t give me a leave of absence, so I had to quit.

The worst day of my life was the day I had to quit teaching – but it was also one of the better ones, too. Teaching is a phenomenal profession, but it is so constricting.” Doherty admits. Yet it wasn’t the tight schedule or the long nights of grading papers that finally pushed her into a new career path. “After ten-plus years of teaching, one of my students looked at me and said, ‘you don’t smile as much as you used to.’ And it was then that I realized – maybe it was time to go.”

A Steadfast Labor Advocate

When she joined the Oregon Education Association as a UniServ Consultant in 1984, Doherty was assigned to organize a new bargaining unit of classified employees for OEA. From her first successfully negotiated contract in the Bethel School District, up to Lebanon, down to Southern Oregon, and over to the coast – a new faction of classified employees began joining the union, thanks to Doherty and her colleague, Mike Carter. The transition from teaching to the bargaining table wasn’t a big shock to the system.

“The issues were the same – everyone needed and wanted good representation. They wanted a strong contract. It's just that their job was a little bit different. I wasn't used to hanging around a bus barn all day," she says.

Credit: Jaime Valdez

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Her 25-year career with OEA took her to every corner of the state, working with educators in every professional capacity. From organizing ESP units in Bethel, to representing teachers in Washington County, to bargaining contracts for rural educators outside of The Dalles, Doherty probably saw it all. Some of the stories of that time she says are definitely not fit for print. But, in all of the bargaining she did, she never once had a local go out on strike.

“We came close, but I tried to keep good relationships with school administrators,” she says.

“People don't realize what an unthankful job being in education is. I understood the struggle. When I started teaching, I was making just $8,100 bucks a year. I made more money checking groceries part-time than I did teaching full-time. So, if you can go in and get better working conditions, if you can get better salaries – it makes it worth it,” Doherty says.

She held the post of UniServ Consultant when there were few other women working in labor negotiations. “There were women working in communications… but in fieldwork? Not so much. So we just had to be a little bit tougher, a little bit sneakier. We got stuff done. But there was more than once that I was only woman in the room,” she says.

When she sat down with a member who was having performance issues, she always started with the same basic question: do you love going to work every morning? “If they said ‘no, I really hate it,’ then I would say, ‘you better find another job, because you have to love going to school every day. That’s the kind of profession we’re in.'”

She learned quickly that there was a lot of counseling involved in grievance work, and representing members required a raw honesty and a heavy dose of humor.

What made her successful at it? “Well, I’m 100 percent Irish, to start. And when you’re Irish, you have the ability to tell somebody to go to Hell and have them look forward to the trip. And I’m really good at that,” she laughs.

On to the Capitol

By 2006, Doherty was ready to retire from OEA. But, her career in public service was far from over. She took a quick reprieve and went to floral design school, soon opening up her own florist business.

And then her neighbor – Larry Galizio, who served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2004 to 2009 — announced he was stepping down from HD 35 and asked Doherty if she would be interested in an appointment to the Legislature.

“I thought about it – and knew I had the time to do it. I could afford to do it. And most importantly, I had the education and union background that was, at the time, lacking [in the Legislature]. I knew it was a good fit,” Doherty says. She had to run her first re-election campaign in November of 2010, but without any Republican challengers in a highly Democratic district, her win was decisive.

As a Legislator, Doherty was known for all of the same attributes that made her a good teacher and a strong UniServ consultant – a quick wit, a warm smile, sharp thinking, and an unflinching commitment to public education.

“It was such a breath of fresh air when Margaret entered the 32

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“Margaret Doherty and I were sworn into the Legislature on the same day and I immediately found a friend. We shared an Irish heritage and for a good while sat next to each other on the floor of the House. Margaret is funny, smart and most importantly, 100 percent committed to fighting for working people.”

VAL HOYLE, OREGON COMMISSIONER OF LABOR

Legislature in 2009," remembers State Senator Michael Dembrow.

“Bringing her real-world experience as a teacher into the building was a relief. Bringing her real-world experience as a union organizer and negotiator was equally valuable—she knew how to build coalitions, build relationships, build support, negotiate stubbornly and strategically for the good of her members. On the gloomiest of days on the House floor, Margaret’s quick smile, even quicker jokes and sharp wit unfailingly kept us going."

As she looks back at her time in office, she’s proudest of her work on school nutrition programs. She had three bills that were encompassed in the 2019 passage of the Student Success Act, including the statewide free lunch program and the “Breakfast After the Bell” program, which allows districts with more than 70 percent of students on free-and-reduced-price lunch programs to serve breakfast after class begins. She served as House Education Committee Chair beginning in the 2015 Legislative session up through her retirement in December of 2020.

Notably, Doherty was also responsible for the life-saving decriminalization of Minor in Possession offenses. “I got a call from a constituent, whose son had been underage drinking while in college and was going into alcohol shock. His friends had been afraid to call 911 for fear of being under 21. And as a result, he ended up dying,” Doherty says. Now, thanks to her advocacy on the issue, “if you’re underage drinking, and you do the right thing and call somebody for help, you won’t get an MIP. This can really save a lot of lives.”

In January of 2020, after 10 years of service, Doherty made the bittersweet decision not to run for reelection. In her statement at the time, she said “I think the time is right for me to step aside, allowing someone else to serve this incredible community.” She had no idea last January that the world would shift so dramatically in the months to follow. From a global pandemic that would close the Capitol doors in Salem, to a national assault on the United States Capitol – the 78-year-old Doherty is grateful to be resuming a quieter life at her home in Tigard this year.

She trusts the newly elected legislators (as well as her longtime Democratic colleagues) in the House to take up the pro-public education mantle that she’s left but says there’s always space for more educators to find their place in state government. Offering some parting words of wisdom, she says: “It’s absolutely critical to keep educators’ voices front and center... to put people with classroom experience into office.” n

Opinion

Moving Toward an Opt-In Model for Standardized Tests OEA fights to radically reimagine summative assessments for students in Oregon

BY RYLEE AHNEN OEA Communications Credits: iStockphoto.com

L

ike so many other facets of public education, the COVID-19 pandemic has shined a spotlight onto our national obsession with summative assessments and all of the ways our current system of high stakes standardized testing fails to meet the needs of our students. For years, OEA has worked to lessen the “all-or-nothing” mentality that has so long been associated with student testing in our state – but that work took on additional importance this year when students returning to their classrooms for in-person instruction were looking at losing several days of precious contact time in order to meet testing requirements.

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Opinion

Credit: citizensforpublicschools.org

To try and avert this loss of learning time, OEA offered its support to the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) as they sought a full waiver from federal testing requirements through the US Department of Education. When that waiver request was ultimately rejected, OEA again offered our support to ODE as they applied for and secured an amended partial waiver that allows Oregon to scale back the number and length of exams that students would have to take for state’s summative assessment program this year.

Speaking about state testing waiver in a recent op-ed in the Oregonian, OEA President John Larson said, “While we support ODE’s efforts to give our school districts as much flexibility as possible when it comes to federal and state testing requirements this year, we firmly believe that any amount of time spent on standardized testing this year is time wasted. In the few weeks that our students and educators will have together before the summer we should instead be giving our educators the flexibility to determine and meet the unique needs of each of their students.”

Currently, families in Oregon have the right to “opt-out” their students from 34

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“Let’s finish this most challenging of school years by expanding in-person instruction for our students while providing them with an education that meets their social and emotional needs, not by sticking them back in front of a computer screen so they can complete a meaningless standardized test.”

John Larson, OEA President

standardized testing — a legal right that OEA continues to fight to protect in our state legislature. And while the number of families who utilize this option has continued to grow every year, there are many families who may not know about their rights or may not have the time or energy to complete the necessary paperwork to opt their children out of testing.

In an effort to reduce the number of students taking state tests this year, OEA began working with districts throughout the state and encouraging them to change the current option for participating in assessments from an “opt-out” model to an “opt-in” model.

“Let’s finish this most challenging of school years by expanding in-person instruction for our students while providing them with an education that meets their social and emotional needs, not by sticking them back in front of a computer screen so they can complete a meaningless standardized test,” said Larson.

By switching to an “opt-in” model, rather than an “opt-out” model, every student is instead proactively opted out of testing unless their parents make the request to have their students complete the summative assessment. As of the writing of this story several districts, including Portland Public, Hood River, Ashland, Salem Keizer and more have either followed our recommendation to adopt an “opt-in” model for their testing — or they’ve cancelled their testing for this year altogether.

Beyond the pandemic, your union is committed to continuing this work. We know that the current model of high stakes standardized testing doesn’t actually give us a clear picture of student success or of student need, and we will continue to push for changes both locally and statewide that will give educators the flexibility they need to meet the unique needs of the students in their classrooms. We have an opportunity to create public schools that are better than the “normal” we had before the pandemic, and that includes a radical re-envisioning of what summative assessments look like in Oregon.

The Official Publication of Oregon Education Association

OEA • NEA 6900 S.W. Atlanta Street Portland, OR 97223 tel: (503) 684-3300 fax: (503) 684-8063 www.oregoned.org

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