Today's OEA Fall/Winter 2019

A PUBLICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE OREGON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

TODAY’S

OEA TRIBAL HISTORY IN SCHOOLS AT LAST

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

» SILVER LININGS FOR SILVER FALLS » SUMMER PURSUITS » BIG DREAMS, SMALL BUDGETS FALL/WINTER 2019 | VOLUME 94 : NUMBER 1

Use your everyday purchases on amazon.com to support students in need!

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As a registered charity with AmazonSmile, the Oregon Education Association Foundation will use 100 percent of all contributions to ensure students come to school ready to learn.

Signing up is simple.

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Go to: smile. amazon.com

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Sign in to your amazon. com account

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In the field “pick your own charitable organization” type in “Oregon Education Association Foundation”

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For more on the OEA Foundation, go to: www.oregoned.org/ OEAFoundation

OEA FOUNDATION

Contents VOLUME 94 . ISSUE NO. 1

Features

Departments PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

05 / Historic Investments, Historic Times

By John Larson, OEA President

UPCOMING

06 / Events for OEA Members

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08

ON THE COVER

20 / Tribal history in schools at last

Senate Bill 13, also known as Tribal History / Shared History, directs the Oregon Department of Education to create a K-12 curriculum focused on educating students about federally recognized tribes in Oregon.

By April Campbell and Katherine Watkins

IN-DEPTH

26 / Silver Linings for Silver Falls

A small but mighty local takes a dark past and turns it on its heels — winning arbitrations, school board elections, and a better future for its students and educators.

By Meg Krugel

30 / summer Pursuits

Summer is a time to recharge for educators across the country, but the ways they find to do so run the gamut from more work to lots of play and everything in between.

By Amy Korst

34 / Big dreams, small budgets

Educator Empowerment Grants are giving educators an opportunity to make significant impacts in their classrooms and communities.

By Milana Grant

EDNEWS

08 / "we want a future" 10 / a groundswell of union power GREAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS

12 / Educator Empowerment Academy EYE ON EQUITY 16 / SPARKS Retreats

Provide Brave Spaces to engage in Equity ON THE WEB

38 / OEA website Gets a New Face!

ON THE COVER: Katherine Watkins implements the new SB 13 Indigenous curriculum in her Beaverton-area middle school classroom. PhotO by THOMAS Patterson Credits: Thomas Patterson

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President’s Message John Larson OEA President

OEA President John Larson welcomes Keri Pilgrim-Ricker, Oregon's Teacher of the Year, to the stage to deliver the keynote address at OEA's 2019 Summer Conference in Bend, Ore.

O

n the heels of the great victory of the Student Success Act, I fully anticipated my Fall Today's OEA welcome column to be focused on the continued fight for revenue in the form of a ballot measure. In mid-July, however, Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce announced they were dropping their campaign to refer the measure to the ballot, and for the first time in my 30-year career, I am not engaged in a campaign to raise revenue for schools.

It is exciting to know we will soon see $2 billion flow into our school system to alleviate the chronic underfunding that has plagued generations of Oregon students. While we know that $2 billion cannot erase 30 years of disinvestment, it will take some time to let re-investment take hold in our schools. At that time we must be ready to identify the gaps in funding that will most certainly still exist and mount a new campaign for education funding in Oregon.

This investment in our schools is historic; it goes a long way to help fund the schools we have. As we look to the future, however, it is incumbent upon our union to begin to delineate between the

schools we have and the schools we need. And educators need to be on the forefront of defining what schools that serve all students look like. We must envision what it would look like for students of color, LGBTQ+ students and economically disadvantaged students to have what they need to thrive in our schools. We must recognize the social and emotional needs of the next generation of students and create a system that addresses these needs. We must work within our communities with parents, community based organizations, and with our students to really listen to how Oregonians are being impacted by their school experience and work to make it better.

On May 8, 2019, Oregon educators across the state banded together to say enough is enough. Fund our schools. And people listened. As we see our May actions begin to fade in the rear view mirror, our union must look forward to a new day and continue the fight to make Oregon schools the schools our students deserve.

Thank you for all you do for students in this great state!

AS WE LOOK TO THE FUTURE, IT IS INCUMBENT UPON OUR UNION TO BEGIN TO DELINEATE BETWEEN THE SCHOOLS WE HAVE AND THE SCHOOLS WE NEED. Credit: Meg Krugel

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Upcoming Fall/Winter 2019

TODAY’S

OEA

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE OREGON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION November 15-16, 2019

OCESP Conference

FALL/WINTER 2019 VOLUME 94 : ISSUE NO. 1

Salem, Oregon The OEA OCESP Fall Conference is a professional development opportunity for Education Support Professionals in Oregon. The goal of this conference is to enhance the skills and knowledge of OEA ESP members by providing professional development that is relevant to the work we do every day. Visit oregoned.org/events/ocespconference for more information and to register.

November 18-22, 2019

American Education Week Nationwide Each year, American Education Week celebrates and honors individuals who are making a difference in public education. Our Education Support Professionals and Substitute Educators are crucial to ensuring that every child receives a quality education, and they deserve to be recognized for their work! Check out nea.org/grants/19823.htm to view the calendar of events, and to find planning resources to celebrate the educators in your life!

January 10, 2020

OEA Equity Sparks Training Lincoln City, Oregon The OEA Sparks event is intended for OEA Members of Color and active equity champions.

Spend time with colleagues engaged in equity affinity groups to build community, strengthen skills, explore equity hot topics, network and have fun! The event is targeted to members of color, because recruiting and retaining educators of color and educators who are equity champions is a critical need in every Oregon classroom. Enrollment will be capped at 30 participants. Go to oregoned.org/events/equity-sparks-training-1 to register!

January 31-February 1, 2020

Winter Recharge: OEA's Early Career and Aspiring Educator Retreat Newport, Oregon OEA's New and Aspiring Educator Retreat connects early career educators (ECEs) and aspiring educators through networking and professional development with OEA colleagues. The event is intended for Aspiring Educators (students moving into the profession) as well as educators in their first five years of the profession. Visit www.oregoned.org/WinterRecharge to learn more about how to attend.

March 6-7, 2020

OEA-PAC Convention Portland, Oregon OEA-PAC works to elect pro-public education candidates to public office. At the 2020 PAC Convention, OEA-PAC members will vote to endorse candidates at the state and federal levels.

More information coming to oregoned.org/PACconvention.

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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 CONTRIBUTORS Erin Whitlock, Teresa Ferrer, Jenny Smith, 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 four times a year (October, February, April and June) 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

EdNews Broken promises from the U.S. Department of Education leave educators in the lurch

T

he Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, enacted by the United States Congress in 2007, was designed to reduce the burden of student loan debt for anyone who chose a career as a public servant for at least 10 years after graduation.

In 2017, thousands of eligible borrowers were blindsided by the U.S. Department of Education under the leadership of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos when their applications for loan forgiveness were rejected. They had met the requirements, but due to unclear verification processing rules and other minute technicalities, they would now be on the hook for the remainder of their student loan balances. Educators make up a vast majority of the applicants.

Due to public outcries of negligence in the Department of Educator, the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) was created to allow those who had met the qualifications to resubmit their requests.

In the program’s first year, only 1 percent of loan-forgiveness requests were approved. Only $27 million of the $700 million approved by Congress for PSLF was

Students protest the rising cost of tuition outside the Oregon State Capitol earlier this year.

IN THE PROGRAM’S FIRST YEAR, ONLY 1 PERCENT OF LOANFORGIVENESS REQUESTS WERE APPROVED. ONLY $27 MILLION OF THE $700 MILLION APPROVED

BY CONGRESS FOR PSLF WAS DISBURSED BETWEEN MAY 2018 AND MAY 2019. disbursed between May 2018 and May 2019.

In September, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici held a roundtable discussion for educators to share their concerns and

frustrations with the program, in hopes of finding possible legislative solutions to this nationwide crisis.

Several OEA members were in attendance, and were able to provide personal testimonies about how the failed implementation of the program is costing educators and making it difficult to attract and retain talented, passionate young educators.

Over half of all college graduates carry some student loan debt, with the average debt amounting to $30,000. This statistic disproportionately affects women, who make up two-thirds of all college graduates with student loan debt.

Congresswoman Bonamici has been a champion on this issue and continues to fight for educators and other public servants to get the loan relief they were promised.

READY, SET, GROW! » Did you know? OEA offers a wide range of learning opportunities for members to increase their knowledge and skills across a variety of content areas — virtually! OEA professional learning is developed and led by active members working in schools and classrooms across the state. These learning opportunities are offered to active members as a benefit of your union membership. Check out our new Professional Learning site to see upcoming opportunities to grow you practice, through your union! Go to: grow.oregoned.org.

Credits: Meg Krugel

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EdNews IMPROVEMENTS ON CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM » For the first time in many years, according to ODE, the number of chronically absent students (those who miss 10 percent of the school year or more) did not increase during the 2018-19 school year. Oregon high schools showed a modest decrease in the overall rate of half a percent. ODE officials say that more districts are breaking down barriers to regular attendance for their students, such as transportation and access to hygiene services. Some districts received grant funding through the state for these types of services, and as more funding from the Student Success Act is made available, there's hope that the number of students who show up regularly for class will increase.

“WE WANT A FUTURE” Oregon Students Join

T

he lunch bell hadn’t yet rung on Friday, Sept. 20 — yet the halls at Lincoln High School in Portland were nearly empty. It wasn’t just another Friday.

On this day, from Terry Shrunk Plaza in Downtown Portland to Ashland Plaza in Southern Oregon, student activists across the state powerfully took to the streets for the national Climate Strike, demanding action on climate change.

It’s estimated that 20,000 students and community supporters flooded the streets in Downtown Portland — while other rallies, in Salem, Eugene, Medford and beyond — drew impressive crowds.

In Ashland, about 1,000 people gathered at Ashland Plaza to welcome students who had walked out of their middle and high school classes that Friday morning.

Student activists across the state have their eyes on a prize: they want lawmakers in Salem and in local governments to adopt a Green New Deal, phasing out fossil fuel infrastructure and investing in renewable energy.

In their walkout, Oregon students joined a global movement propelled by Greta Thunberg, a teen from Sweden, who led tens of thousands of student protestors in New York City that same day.

In the days leading up to the Climate Strike, Portland Public Schools issued letters to parents, saying that students could get an “excused absence” for participating in the protest, so long as families communicated with schools about what their students were doing.

For more on the Global Climate Strike, check out resources here: globalclimatestrike.net.

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EdNews NEA FOUNDATION GRANTS SUPPORT EDUCATOR-LED INNOVATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM AND BEYOND » Did you know that your OEA membership grants you access to The NEA Foundation grant programs? You can apply for funding to cover classroom materials through the Student Success Grant program, funding for professional development and mentorship through the Learning and Leadership Grant program, and even funding for education-abroad experiences through the Global Learning Fellowship program. These funds are available to any OEA member, and NEA’s professional grant writing team is available to help you through the process. Check it out: www.neafoundation.org/foreducators.

Global Climate Strike

Approximately 20,000 Oregonians, a majority of whom were students, joined a worldwide call for environmental awareness, marching through downtown Portland as part of the Global Climate Strike. Above: Ellen Brown, 6, of Rigler Elementary School, gets a birdseye view of the march on her mom Debbie’s shoulders.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

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EdNews STREAMLINING PROCESSES FOR MANDATORY REPORTERS » The Oregon Child Abuse Hotline’s mission is to receive reports of child abuse and provide excellent customer service with equitable and consistent decision making to ensure safety for Oregon’s children. Hotline screeners are accessible to educators 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-855-503-SAFE (7233). Need to learn more about your role as a mandatory reporter? You’ll find Mandatory Reporter guides in both English and Spanish formats: https://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ABUSE/Pages/mandatory_ report.aspx

SEIU members rally at Portland State University in the days leading up to the union's win of a historic contract for Higher Ed classified staff.

A GROUNDSWELL OF UNION POWER

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t’s a great time to be a union member in Oregon. On the heels of our successful statewide walkout to put more money in schools, union members across the state are standing together to win better contracts and working conditions. And they’re winning.

SEIU 503-represented workers at Oregon’s higher education institutions just won their best contract in over a decade after nearly going on strike at the end of September.

Classified workers stood together in the face of disrespectful management offers for months. More than 4,500 members held rallies, marches, and solidarity actions as negotiations proceeded — they stood together in union and won a historic contract.

“This is a win for the 4,500 workers who dedicate their lives to Oregon universities,” said Melissa Unger, Executive Director of SEIU Local 503. “Workers stuck together to demand a contract that respects the critical role they play in supporting our students and

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“THIS IS A WIN FOR THE 4,500 WORKERS WHO DEDICATE THEIR LIVES TO OREGON UNIVERSITIES.” Melissa Unger, executive director of SEIU Local 503

keeping our campuses running. Together, we fought back take-aways proposed by management on wages, health care, steps, and personal days, and won higher wages for all workers. This hard-fought victory is a testament to the strength and solidarity of Oregon’s front-line university workers.”

Workers at Fred Meyer negotiated for more than 15 months to get a fair contract, narrowly avoiding strike with a settlement the same weekend that higher educator

workers were successful. UFCW 555-represented workers discovered that Fred Meyer systematically placed women on the lower of their two salary schedules.

This resulted in an intense pay disparity among men and women — female workers make on average $3.50/hour less than male employees. Grocery workers worked hard to build solidarity and strength among membership for their union bargaining team and it paid off.

At Fred Meyer, employees dealt with coercive actions against the union throughout negotiations, including forced one-on-one meetings and posting job listings to hire scabs. The union took a stand and called for a boycott. Just a week later they had a contract.

Oregonians need our unions now more than ever, and the victories in September make it clear: when we stand together, we win.

EdNews CONFRONTING WHITE NATIONALISM IN SCHOOLS » Americans across the country are consistently reporting rising rates of white nationalism and other bigoted extremism. Because schools are hubs of our communities, they have become battlegrounds for extremist organizing and recruitment sites for white nationalist groups targeting young people. In a new toolkit, the Western States Center shares strategies to counter white nationalist organizing through sample scenarios that schools frequently encounter. The toolkit offers advice for parents, students, teachers, school administrators, and the wider community. Request your copy of the toolkit: www.westernstatescenter.org/schools.

Educators and other public servants sue to protect PERS benefits

S

enate Bill 1049, signed by Governor Brown into law in June, was a massive blow to Oregon’s public employees.

The law creates a reduction in retirement benefits, to the tune of 2-15 percent, for current public employees who are part of the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS), in order to pay down the $27 billion unfunded liability created by the 2008 recession. Educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other public servants were outraged that their retirements are, once again, in jeopardy.

Nine public employees have filed a lawsuit with the Oregon State Supreme Court, including one OEA member, arguing that Senate Bill 1049 is unconstitutional and unfairly targets current employees in order to cover employer pension obligations to retired employees. Furthermore, they claim that the bill creates a breach of contract for thousands of unionized public employees across the state.

The plaintiffs are represented by Bennett Hartman, Attorneys at Law LLP, the same firm that challenged similar retirement cuts for public employees in 2005 and 2015. “The plaintiffs and all PERS members accepted a job in good faith for a salary and benefits package, did the work they promised to do, and planned their futures based on the package they agreed to accept,” says Aruna Masih, lead attorney for the case.

The lawsuit will be heard by the Supreme Court of Oregon, which has twice ruled in against public employee contract violations.

OEA will provide updates to the legal proceedings as they become available.

Credits: Elvyss Argueta

New legislation sets out to feed millions of hungry college students

T

he U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report in early 2019 that painted a grim picture of campus life for many low-income students. According to the report, over one-third of low-income students are food insecure, meaning they do not have reliable access to nutrition on a daily basis, and 31 percent of students experiencing food insecurity are first-generation college attendees.

Without one of their most basic needs met, these students are at a much higher risk of dropping out before graduating.

Many students do not meet the strict qualifications of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but legislation introduced this week by Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA) and co-sponsored by Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer (among over 40 others), would expand SNAP benefits to students by amending the requirements to include “attending an institution of higher education.”

The Enhanced Access to SNAP Act (EATS Act) would give much-needed relief to millions of students who experience food insecurity every day, allowing them to focus on their studies.

“Across the United States, many college students are skipping meals while others are going whole days without eating because they lack the means to support themselves,” said Congressman Gomez.

“These students — many of whom are from low-income families and have worked tirelessly for their higher education — deserve access to basic necessities like healthy meals without having to choose between going hungry and compromising their academic standings. Through the passage of the EATS Act, we can help lighten the financial burden college students have to bear, help them prioritize their academic success, and make the ‘starving college student’ stereotype a thing of the past.”

Over

one third of low-income students are food insecure.

31%

of students experiencing food insecurity are firstgeneration college attendees.

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Great Public Schools

Educator Empowerment Academy Be a part of the Disruptive Learning solution

BY ERIN WHITLOCK / Consultant, OEA Center for Great Public Schools

Erin O'Brien of the Cascade UniServ team explores the Empowerment Principles during the first gathering of the Educator Empowerment Academy.

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o you have students who have experienced trauma, need mental health support, or need behavior support? Do you have everything you need to keep your students engaged in a culturally responsive and sustainable way? Have you seen student or staff burnout on the rise?

The Oregon Education Association spent the last 18 months listening to 12

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member needs regarding the Disrupted Learning crisis in our schools. We heard from thousands of members who want and need more support in solving these issues locally, and from these conversations created a report with 10 actions essential to helping solve this complicated issue (Read more here: https://www.oregoned.org/ standing-up-for-you/disrupted-learning).

At the same time, members were asked

to help identify solutions to this crisis that they thought would be meaningful and relevant. Through this feedback, OEA created the Educator Empowerment Academy. As one Academy participant, Judy Tacchini from Bethel School District, says, “I am completely committed to helping be part of the solution when it comes to disrupted learning in Oregon.

I have been fortunate enough to travel

Above left: Anna Posthumus, a Hillsboro educator and member of Washington County UniServ's team participates in the October Empowerment Academy training.

Above right: The first Academy gathering allowed cross-collaboration between teams around the state. Here, members from Central EA, North Clackamas EA, and Greater Albany EA prepare belief statements for a gallery walk.

around the country and attend many workshops on student trauma and the impact this has on our learning environments. As my practice continues to grow and improve, my biggest desire is to continue learning about trauma informed practices and to make necessary shifts in my teaching to reach every learner in my classroom.” In the Academy, OEA will support Tacchini in doing just that!

What is it?

All around Oregon, union leaders submitted teams of members, just like you, who will be participating in our year-long journey. The Educator Empowerment Academy is designed to build knowledge and skills to support teams as they collectively tackle a problem of practice around disrupted learning. Teams will come together with other educators during Learning Sessions, or convenings, and will be working with a variety of people from across the state who are solving similar problems around disrupted learning.

In between convenings, teams will have access to an OEA member-leader who has been trained as an Empowerment Coach to support learning and implementation of each team’s action plan, ultimately leading to teams finding a variety of improvements that work for them. Teams will deepen their understanding of the principles of improvement and learn ways to operationalize equity throughout the Empowerment Process.

Credits: Meg Krugel

What is the Empowerment Process?

The OEA Educator Empowerment Academy will engage participants in an OEA-designed Empowerment Process.

The Empowerment Process prioritizes three core sets of guiding principles (human-centered design, communitybased organizing, and improvement science principles - see next two pages) that will prepare Academy participants to empower themselves and the most important people in their system to collectively solve tough problems of practice.

The work we will do in the Academy will provide a clear way for teams all around Oregon to take action on the crisis of disrupted learning by focusing on problems that are relevant and impactful to their students, educator colleagues, and families and communities — honoring individualized and local context to find what really works.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact your local president, UniServ Council, or OEA at oea-gps@oregoned.org.

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T

he OEA Educator Empowerment Academy will engage participants in an OEA-designed Empowerment Process. The Empowerment Process prioritizes three core sets of guiding principles, each described below, that will prepare Academy participants to empower themselves and the most important people in their system to collectively solve tough problems of practice.

HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN PRINCIPLES To be human-centered means that your process prioritizes the perspectives and experiences of the people you’re designing with and for (not to). Some key principles include:  Have empathy for humans in your system. Caring about who people are and attempting to walk in their shoes is an important first step in any process that puts humans first.

 Engage people who are most-impacted by the issue to solve the issue. Share power, share authority, and share the table — further, use power and privilege to build tables where they once did not exist.

 Design potential solutions with people in mind — every step of the way, ask humans in your system what they think, what they like, and what could be improved as solutions are designed.

Nathan Breeden, Eastern Oregon UniServ's Empowerment Coach and his teammate Holli Leavitt, also from Eastern Oregon.

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Great Public Schools

COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES Activism is an individual pursuit when one person takes an action to make a difference. Community-based organizing is the process of people coming together to address issues that matter to them. Some key principles include:  Organizing > Activism: Activism is an individual pursuit when one person takes an action to make a difference. This is a great thing… but organizing is greater because organizing gets other people to take action, to work together, and to build a collective movement that can make a significant and long-term difference.  Organizing is about relationships. To organize people, you need to know them.

You need to know who they are, what they care about, what they are willing to do, and how to get in touch with them.

They also need to know you. They need to know you are sincere, competent, and that you care about them.

 Meet people where they are, not where you want them to be. What do they know? What do they care about? What do they hope for and what do they fear?

You find this out through a combination of empathy and listening. Listen for the chance to meet people where they are and make a real difference, whether by helping them move or joining in a cause they care about.  Diverse and inclusive coalitions are stronger, and building that takes work.Community-based organizing is founded on the premise that we are more effective when we work together across our differences to make a difference. That if we want to go fast, we go alone; but if we want to go farther, we go together. Diverse coalitions bring new ideas, perspectives, and lived experiences, which further enriches the possibility of finding solutions that work.

IMPROVEMENT SCIENCE PRINCIPLES Improvement science recognizes that there is a wealth of knowledge individual practitioners hold that could be shared with others in a way that helps us learn together, more deeply and more quickly. If we start with a practitioner-driven problem or need, and take into consideration all the local context that might require adaptation, those educator-driven solutions will be better for students and the education system. Some key principles include:  Make the work problem-specific and human-centered. It starts with a single question: “What specifically is the problem we are trying to solve?” It enlivens a co-development orientation: engage key participants early and often.

 See the system that produces the current outcomes. It is hard to improve what you do not fully understand. Explore how local conditions impact outcomes so those systems can be changed.

 Accelerate improvements through networked communities. Embrace the wisdom of crowds. We can accomplish more together than even the best of us can accomplish alone.

 Adopt an improvement-cycle approach to trying out possible solutions. Engage in rapid cycles of Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) to learn fast, fail fast, and improve quickly. That failures may occur is not the problem; that we fail to learn from them is.

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Eye on Equity

SPARKS Retreats Provide Brave Spaces to Engage in Equity Work The importance of affinity groups — especially for people of color — has never been clearer

BY TERESA FERRER / Consultant, OEA Center for Great Public Schools

K

elsey Blackwell, an activist, writer and dancer, penned a beautiful article titled “Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People.” In her writing, Blackwell figuratively inserted “breathing” throughout her powerful and sometimes painful piece. Why? Because it takes deep breathing to talk about equitable space as a person of color.

She writes, “Even if white people can’t access an embodied understanding of why PoC (People of Color) spaces are needed, they can still cultivate genuine compassion for our experience of needing them, and they can trust our voices enough to support these spaces. If the presence of spaces for people of color engenders discomfort, insecurity, or anger, I hope those emotions will be seen as an opportunity to look deeper within oneself to ask why.”

OEA has been on an intense and sustained internal and external exploration of equity, examining our underlying and perpetuating beliefs and practices that lead us away from living and thriving in an authentic, non-constructed world — a pluralistic world.

This authentic pluralistic world, however, is often overshadowed, marginalized and made invisible/ inconceivable by a society that instead centers everything (including institutions, knowledge, values and ways of doing) around one dominant culture. OEA courageously pursued and won a national grant to grow our work to deconstruct that paradigm and reconstruct an equitable one.

As an organization, OEA’s equity journey has been expertly guided by the Center for Equity and Inclusion — yet, it’s been made powerful and meaningful by the OEA 16

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The first cohort of SPARKS retreat participants gathered together this summer to build affinity spaces for OEA members of color. Retreats are scheduled throughout this year and can be found on OEA's online event calendar: www.oregoned.org/events.

members who are living, breathing equity champions every day.

These members have been blazing an equity trail in their classrooms, communities and locals far in advance of OEA’s work. And these champions represent all races, creeds, genders, sexual orientations, abilities and intersectionalities.

So, if equity work requires everyone, why do we need PoC spaces? What if we reframe that question so that we are instead asking: "Given our present society and the historical foundation for that society, what do equity champions

need?" How can we best support the skills and heart of everyone to do that work collectively, if we do not meet the needs of individuals?

OEA believes these are the important questions and everyone has their part, both together and individually, to authentically join in solidarity to do this work.

The OEA Equity SPARKS retreats are focused on members of color so that we can create a safe and empowering space within the union environment to continue to do the collective work of equity.

In this revamped retreat setting, members are invited to join a small group Credits: Teresa Ferrer

Eye on Equity

of 30 or less, at a destination spot where they can choose a grounding topic to focus on and engage in deep, healing, empowering and fun collegial growth together. Another obvious goal of the retreats is to connect our members of color to their union and help them build a wider community of support and leadership that expands to other areas of the state. The grant will allow OEA to conduct four to five of these retreats for the next three years.

Our hope is that it will be sustained and grow so that OEA members of color are leading in their union and beyond.

Consider these obvious facts: the latest Oregon Educator Equity Report reveals that while 39.9 percent of our Oregon students are currently identified as culturally and linguistically diverse, only 11.2 percent of Oregon teachers are culturally and linguistically diverse (10.4 percent of Oregon teachers are identified as culturally diverse). This, in a way, is cause for celebration — for over three decades, we have long failed to bring the number of diverse Oregon teachers past single digit percentages. But it does not come close to closing the gap or representing an authentic pluralistic society in our schools and, therefore, in our union.

What does this say to our students…to all students?

Are we checking off quota boxes to feel good about ourselves or are we working to change why our schools and profession looks like this? The challenge is not only in finding and hiring diverse teachers but in retaining them and building school environments that critically deconstruct non-equitable narratives and protocols and construct equitable, inviting and enriching pluralistic environments for students, staff and community members.

We cannot begin to elaborate all the ways that educators of color must navigate systems, people or the profession to be able to thrive and work to improve conditions for all students. Nor can we elaborate on the generational trauma, fatigue and physical damage that 18

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THE LATEST OREGON EDUCATOR EQUITY REPORT REVEALS THAT WHILE 39.9 PERCENT OF OUR OREGON STUDENTS ARE CURRENTLY IDENTIFIED AS CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE, ONLY 11.2 PERCENT OF OREGON TEACHERS ARE CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE (10.4 PERCENT OF OREGON TEACHERS ARE IDENTIFIED AS CULTURALLY DIVERSE). ... IT DOES NOT COME CLOSE TO CLOSING THE GAP OR REPRESENTING AN AUTHENTIC PLURALISTIC SOCIETY… IN OR OUTSIDE OF THE OEA.

educators of color pay to be in this system and work for positive changes. Many of these educators, outside of their own families, have little opportunity to sit in affinity with others who are experiencing those same things... and to breathe.

Equity work has often been constructed with a privilege-centered approach, where awareness of the problems of inequity lie squarely on the deconstruction of pain and the cause of the pain. This has been at great emotional cost to every person of color engaged in the work and has failed

to allow white allies to fully comprehend the importance of breaking down inequity looks like, especially by those who benefit from it.

There is growing awareness that the next generation of equity work must hold a place for affinity groups, to strengthen the skills and hearts of both people of color and white allies in becoming equity activists.

Affinity group learning for white allies can support collective resolve and strengthen awareness and avoidance of the prevailing equity detours that can trap them time and time again. It can also sharpen their skills in being present and open as an ally.

It is true that, in this society, people of color and white allies have their own unique and separate work to do and need healing and sustenance to do it. It is also simultaneously true that, collectively and as equal partners, all equity activists can harness their separate learning and move forward stronger together.

As Kelsey Blackwell was breathing her way through her brilliant article, she referred to the effects of our false society as “plaque that covered your being at birth—in its stickiness are challenges to your worth, intelligence, and humanity” and that being in a safe affinity space is “an important way to begin chipping away at this buildup” and allows us to “temporarily, leave that sticky inheritance at the door.”

That is true for all of us, regardless of our race or ethnicity. That is our separate but necessary work — to get a deep cleaning, so to speak.

We do this challenging and important work so that together we can finally turn a corner in building a new inheritance for all our precious students. It is way past time and as author Arundhati Roy writes, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

To learn more about SPARKS retreat opportunities and to work in affinity groups with fellow OEA members commited to equity, contact oea-gps@oregoned.org.

Credits: Teresa Ferrer

_ The Equity Spark retreat provided such a refreshing and re-energizing opportunity for educators of color from all over Oregon to SPEAK FREELY (without worry or self editing) and connect on a deeper level in a beautiful and peaceful setting. I felt completely supported by old and newly made friends, and feel ready to return back to work with a renewed passion for promoting equity within my building, in my department, in my district, and across the state. I cannot stress the importance of attending to my fellow teachers of color!

Equity Spark retreats provide a profound and invigorating space to dive into equity work no matter where one is on their journey. I deeply appreciate the opportunity for self reflection and I find myself using what I learned about myself to support how I walk through the world daily in the skin that I'm in, as an individual and alongside others.

— THERESA JUDD JUST

— ANGELA VARGAS

The Equity SPARKS has provided my space and opportunity to connect with people of color, speak freely without worry about adjustment, learn new strategies for students and teachers, and a lot more. The SPARKS is like a reset button in my heart to keep me going and keep me balanced. Thank you for this space over the summer; I am refreshed, more relaxed, and full of energy for another challenging year to come.

— PUILAN CHENG

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2019

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TRIBAL HISTORY in

SCHOOLS at last

Katherine Watkins, a humanities teacher in Beaverton, gains support from new state legislation to deliver culturally responsive Indigenous curriclum to her middle school students.

PHOTO BY THOMAS PATTERSON

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BY APRIL CAMPBELL, INDIAN EDUCATION ADVISOR, OREGON DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

D

ecades of hard work by grassroots activists, native educators, state agencies, tribes, and legislators is paying off with the long awaited introduction of a Native American curriculum into Oregon’s schools this year. Senate Bill 13, also known as Tribal History / Shared History, directs the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to create a K-12 curriculum focused on educating students about federally recognized tribes in Oregon.

“This is Oregon’s history, and it’s important for all our students to learn, but it will be especially amazing for our native students to finally see themselves reflected in the classroom in ways that acknowledge their tribe’s history and current contributions to society,” says Angie Morrill, Program Director for Title VI Indian Education at Portland Public Schools (PPS).

Morrill, a member of the Klamath Tribe, grew up in Portland in the 1980s and attended Jefferson High School. The Klamath Tribe was terminated with the federal Indian policies of the 1950s and wasn’t restored until 1986 — which means she essentially grew up as a member of a tribe that, by federal standards, didn’t exist.

“When I was in school, there was no framework to understand the tribes in Oregon. I would go to the library and all I could find was history about the Klamaths and Modocs, and a war that happened in 1872,” she says. “It was like we didn’t exist, like we were walking ghosts.”

When Morrill was 21, the Klamath tribe was restored. Because she didn’t learn about her tribe’s history in school, all she had were family stories until she pursued her PhD in ethnic studies.

That will all change for Oregon’s current and future students.

Senate Bill 13

Through Senate Bill 13, ODE was directed to develop Native American curriculum which districts will then be required to implement. Lesson plans will 22

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be made available to teachers as early as October 2019, with implementation starting in January 2020. ODE has created 45 lessons for grades 4th, 8th, and 10th — and training will be available to help guide teachers in teaching Tribal History / Shared History. The legislation requires lesson plans across multiple areas of studies, including science, math, English language arts, PE/health, and social studies.

Before this new curriculum was developed, Oregon had been missing a critical opportunity to fully leverage the strengths, assets, and contributions our Native Americans bring to their communities. The lack of an accurate and complete curriculum may contribute to the persistent achievement and opportunity gaps between Native American students and other students.

Additionally, legislation required ODE to make resources available to the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon to create individual, tribally-specific, placebased curriculum that Oregon teachers can embed into their classrooms. The state is fortunate that each of our nine tribal nations is developing their own curriculum which can supplement ODE’s required Tribal History / Shared History curriculum.

Mercedes Jones, a Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde curriculum specialist says that the Grand Ronde lessons include both tribal history and current events — and that it will continuously update with time.

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s curriculum is comprehensive, including not just lesson plans, but also questions for discussion and different ideas for classroom activities.

“We’ll have lessons on our native language for example, something that a group of elders kept going throughout the Grand Ronde history of being terminated and restored… and then we’ll also have lessons about the tribe’s current contributions, which is so important because it gives context. It shows that the tribes aren’t extinct, like the dinosaurs,”

Jones says.

“Through professional development trainings, we hope to show teachers that they can embed this curriculum into what they’re already teaching,” says Jones. “So instead of thinking of it as adding another layer to their teaching, it’s there not to be added on top but instead to enhance what they’re already doing.”

“When I was going through elementary, middle and high school, we never learned about Oregon’s tribes. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I started learning more,” says Jones. “I recently had a daughter and I am really excited that she will grow up differently, and will be able to see herself in the classroom now. It won’t just be plain text book, it’s real life content.”

“I have a son and he earned his GED, but he really struggled,” says Morrill. “There’s a focus right now on our native and black students, because they are falling under our watch; they’re really struggling.”

One of the hopes with this new curriculum is to demonstrate that learning about tribal nations and Native Americans is important for all students.

Each nation has a distinct origin story, worldview, and timeline of their history and contemporary context. However, much of that information has been presented to the general American public from a non-Native perspective, filled with clichés, misconceptions, and falsehoods.

Additionally, it is a hope that Native American students will appreciate seeing themselves in the curriculum and thus be able to better connect to their education.

The creation of Tribal History / Shared History was possible through the contributions and expertise of tribal representatives, ODE staff, Native American educators, Education Northwest, and countless other partners.

Editors Note: This article has been reprinted with permission from www.myoregon. gov, the news service website of the State of Oregon.

PERSPECTIVE

BY KATHERINE WATKINS

Katherine Watkins hopes the new curriculum helps her students find their own history in the sharing of more Native American experiences, as it has done for her, an Indigenous educator of 21 years.

TRIBAL HISTORY comes to class The wood-carving of a Plains Indian chief with a feathered headdress, situated at the school’s entrance and aging in Oregon’s elements, told me everything I needed to know the moment I drove up to the school.

I decided to give the school the benefit of the doubt.

I joined them in efforts to share multicultural literature, as the hiring principal requested, yet I had no idea what was in store. That year, the resistance I received from the student body about Native American literature and cultural clips suffocated any hope that I could make a difference. No matter how hard I tried, students shared rude commentary with no shame, and peers laughed in support.

I had to teach the required text I Heard The Owl Call My Name, which they considered an indigenous text, despite it being written by a white woman. It was a nightmare sharing secondary sources from actual Native Americans. The students never shied away from sharing their bigotry. These students loved their Indian mascot, so my supplementary materials on indigenious history irritated them profusely. It was all too much, too overwhelming. Students fought me with every new resource in order to return to their comfort zone, rather than working through their discomfort. I learned a lot about Oregon from this small town high school, so close to Portland, but so far from reality.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

Tribal History / Shared History The new curriculum honors and has been created each of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes, including: The Burns Paiute Tribe Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians n Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon n Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians n Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation n Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs n Coquille Indian Tribe n Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians n Klamath Tribes. n n

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Oregon needed Senate Bill 13 (SB13), now known as Tribal History/Shared History, decades ago. Thankfully, we no longer have to wait. Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes of Oregon worked long and hard to ensure that our Oregon students will receive an accurate and authentic education that covers the Native American experience in Oregon, including tribal history, sovereignty issues, culture, socioeconomic experiences, and more.

Implementation of SB13 begins January 2020 with nine essential understandings, which lay the foundation for Oregon students to learn about local Native Americans who survived atrocities while maintaining their strength, resilience, beauty and determination.

As an Indigenous educator of 21 years, it is a huge relief to see our state head in this direction. This summer, I attended OEA’s Committee on Racial Equity (CORE) Pre-Conference on Tribal History/Shared History to learn about SB13. I was blown away at the presentation by Dr. Leilani Sabzalian, an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies in Education at the University of Oregon.

Staff from ODE’s Indian Education Office, Education Northwest and OEA also shared information and resources about how the Essential Understandings can be used in the classroom. I left the training no longer feeling lost in doing this crucial work, and the lesson plans the tribes have offered so far are impressive.

As I begin my first year of teaching middle school humanities, my students will not only learn the canon curriculum, they will also identify the nine federally recognized tribes of Oregon and learn these “Essential Understandings” of Native Americans in Oregon. Here are a few of my takeaways on each Essential Understanding, and how I plan to introduce them to my students.

Essential Understanding 1: Since Time Immemorial is important because public education has influenced students to believe that Native American history did not begin until the colonizers came. Most tribes rely on oral historical accounts; 24

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2019

The new lesson plans delivered across Oregon classrooms will focus on students learning from Indigenous voices from Oregon's nine federally recognized tribes.

therefore, videos and guest speakers will be a valued resource.

Essential Understanding 2: Sovereignty will show students that indigenous functioned on their own authority pre-colonization and still have sovereignty as tribes interact with counties, states, federal government and other tribes.

Essential Understanding 3: History is going to be exciting as the nine tribes have collected and are willing to share

fascinating stories that are unique.

There are examples of curriculum on the Senate Bill 13: Tribal History/Shared History site. Some lesson plans have been developed with more to come. It is such a relief because we know the resources are authentic and are approved by regional tribes. Our children need to know about all the steps our state took to coerce assimilation when annihilation failed — and these lesson plans will center the voices of Native Americans, moving away from teaching about Indigenous people to learning from Indigenous voices.

will be just as important as the experiences of other cultures featured in class.

Preconceived notions will minimize as students gain the knowledge to understand that Native Americans are not ghosts and are very much alive, contributing to all facets of American life.

Essential Understanding 7: Language will finally open doors for students to learn from regional native speakers without state certification standards keeping indigenous educators from the classroom. As students have the opportunity to learn Spanish, French and German, options for indigenous language courses will become available.

Considering schools were the leading cause in destroying all indigenous languages, this is a solid beginning towards restoration.

Essential Understanding 8: Treaties with the United States will finally shed light on the deception and dispossession indigenous people have endured to exist as a sovereign nation. As America has intimidated and forced agreements upon Native Americans, students will learn the importance of social justice.

Essential Understanding 9: Genocide, Federal Policy and Laws will show the other side of the American Dream that required the Discovery Doctrine, Manifest Destiny, massacres and forced relocations to create America. They will learn of the loss and brutality that happened.

Essential Understanding 4: Tribal Government will finally show students how laws are created, passed and enforced to preserve tribal strength, sovereignty and safety. It should be studied with the same importance given to other government practices. History classes rarely go into depth about tribal law. Students learn about states rights and the federal government, but the third type of government practiced in the United States rarely, if ever, shows up adequately in class. Absence of recognition, alone, gives students the message that it either does not exist or does not matter.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

Essential Understanding 5: Identity will show that indigenous people are not one dimensional. There is no umbrella term to easily define what is a Native American. In the face of a society that tries to determine “Indianness” by blood quantum, appearances, practices and beliefs, teaching that Native Americans are too diverse to be simply summed up is pivotal.

Essential Understanding 6: Lifeways will ensure that the traditions, language and culture of Oregon’s indigenous people

With the same intensity used to teach democracy and imperialism, Oregon’s tribal history can be given the same attention. Public education perpetuated racism towards Native Americans as they stole indigenous children to coerce assimilation in residential schools that practiced “Kill the Indian, and save the man.”

It only makes sense that the very institution that played a part in tearing down Native Americans amends their past actions with the Essential Understandings that will give educators honest teaching materials to begin Oregon’s healing.

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atypical crowd has gathered in the choir room at Silverton High School.

More than 100 educators­— and a handful of their children — squeeze in on the classroom’s builtin risers, creating a sea of red t-shirts. At the front of the room sits a long conference table, with two distinctive rows of chairs flanking each side of the table.

It’s late afternoon in September, and though it’s a choir room, there are no sounds of music here on this particular day. Instead — a single, clear speaking voice rings out.

Definitive and strong, it’s the voice of Michelle Stadeli, the local president of Silver Falls Education Association, as she reads a statement prepared by the union to kick off the fourth bargaining session — an open session to the public — between Silver Falls EA and the district’s bargaining team: “What we have prepared is based on listening sessions, surveys, and union-wide discussions of recent, documented events in this district. It is difficult to present these issues and be met with the response that these things do not happen here. They do. The fact that they do is evidenced by the fact that, since we began this process, there are four new faces on your side of the table...”

As Stadeli finishes the union’s statement, the team begins negotiations. That evening, ten of the members in the audience stand to give powerful testimony about the local’s lower pay in comparison to neighboring districts. To see 100 members of Silver Falls EA deeply engrossed in a bargaining session is almost surreal. Two years ago, involvement in the union was dismal. The local of around 200 people struggled to get even five or 10 members at a union meeting. Some of the schools in the local couldn’t recruit a single Building Representative to serve. As Stadeli tells it, at the time there was a culture of retaliation so pervasive from District upper management, educators dared not speak up or out about employee concerns.

Silver Linings for Silver Falls

An

A Dark History

This feeling of fear was really cemented during the 2017-18 school year, when two members who taught college-level writing at Silverton High School were sent letters of reprimand for tough grading procedures 26

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2019

A small but mighty local takes a dark past and turns it on its heels — ­ winning arbitrations, school board elections, and a better future for its students and educators

BY MEG KRUGEL

that some parents deemed unfair. The teachers, who were hired in 2014 and 2015, were co-teachers of an advanced writing course for “highly motivated and capable students” wanting to earn college credit, according to a complaint filed with Oregon’s Employment Relations Board in the Winter of 2018. The situation quickly spiraled from there – parent complaints led to an open investigation into the pair’s grading practices, leading building administrators to send a letter of reprimand about the educators to the Oregon Teacher and Standards Practices Commission (TSPC). Through it all, the teachers and their union maintained that their expectations fit the class description as a college-level course.

With the support of their union, the members filed a grievance, asking that the letters to TSPC be rescinded. At the time, Shari Read, a high school science teacher,

was serving as the lone Building Rep for Silver Falls EA at Silverton High School, and represented these two members during the grievance period. “It was a really difficult time, but I did my best. I was the only one in the position and was going to meetings every day. The good thing is that people were starting to become aware of what was going on and there was real concern about members in our building,” Read says, explaining that the ‘hush-hush’ culture of years past was starting to crumble. “We started having union meetings immediately following our faculty meetings. It showed [administrators] that ‘we’re standing together, and we’re not going to take this anymore.’ I think that was a real turning point for us.”

Yet at the end of that school year, both teachers were involuntarily transferred to lower-grade schools. The case moved to arbitration, and after a careful review of

More than 100 members of Silver Falls EA wait with anticipation before the bargaining session begins.

administrator emails, a teaching evaluation, and motives spurring the involuntary transfer, the arbitrator ruled in the members’ favor, stating that the teachers had been penalized for formally disputing the actions of their principal – giving credence to any inner rumblings of a retaliatory culture in the district. “(After the grievances were filed) the relationship between them changed so dramatically that it established a pattern by the school district of animus and intent to retaliate,” the arbitrator wrote in his 39-page decision. In the end, both members opted to leave the district permanently.

During this time, a probationary teacher at one of the district’s most rural elementary schools stepped up to take the helm as President of Silver Falls EA. Crystal Freer’s presidency as a probationary teacher felt both unprecedented and courageous, says Credit: Meg Krugel

Stadeli, who was serving as a Building Representative at Silverton Middle School at the time.

“Our previous President had been in the position for four years and when she stepped away, there was nobody who wanted to pick up that mantle. And then, Crystal Freer – a second-year probationary teacher – just stepped in when nobody else was willing. It was through her courage, and the courage of the two high school teachers, that the culture of our local really started to shift,” Stadeli says.

But the transition, of course, wasn’t easy.

Once Freer took on the role of President, she experienced a stark change in her working conditions at the hands of district leadership – which many in the union saw as unnecessary retaliation. By the end of that school year in 2018, Freer made the decision to pursue a teaching career in another district.

Stadeli, who’d been teaching in the district since 2011, had just one year of Building Rep experience under her belt. But, having come from a family with deep ties to Silverton that spanned several generations, she decided it was her turn to run for President - albeit sooner than she ever expected.

“One of the things that I wrestled with in making that decision was the knowledge that the past two people who had been in the role of President were no longer working in our district. I knew it was a big risk,” Stadeli says. “But, I also felt like I had a couple of areas of protection. One was the fact that I’m homegrown – I’m well-known in the community. And, I have a solid reputation – I’ve always been well-respected by my peers, administrators, my students and parents.”

For Stadeli, a middle school social studies teacher, the risk was worth taking. “I felt TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2019

27

like somebody had to do it – and that was me. This is my home, this is the district I’ve been a part of since I was a young kid. It’s really important to me that things function well and that people are treated well here. I wanted to make change for the better.”

A Turning Point

Following an uncontested run (and win), Stadeli and a new Silver Falls EA Executive Team (including members Frank Petrik as Vice President, Nancy Miller as Secretary, and Angi Miller as Treasurer) got right to work in repairing the harm that had been done from the upper management in the District office. The union’s fight on behalf of the two high school teachers had galvanized the membership base at the high school in new and unprecedented ways.

When Read decided to end her long stint as Building Rep at Silverton High School, she told her colleagues that “somebody needed to step up and be brave” to take on the title. The staff answered in force. Based on membership numbers, the building ideally would have had five or six building reps for the next year. According to Read, seven or eight members volunteered to serve.

“For the first time that I can ever remember, we had to have a vote for Building Rep. Our people really stepped up to the plate,” Read says.

Over the summer of 2018, Stadeli and the Executive Team met often – laying out goals for the coming year. “We wanted communication to be an important part of our practice with our members, with administration, the School Board, and the community.

We talked about transparency being really important – we knew that we were going to have tough conversations. We wanted to work as a collective – always putting multiple sets of eyes and ears on conversations that were going on.”

The local association had been told early on by the then-Superintendent, Andy Ballando, that they were not allowed to communicate directly with school board members without looping him in. “From the beginning, we didn’t feel like that was a healthy situation,” Stadeli says. “It felt very much like the Superintendent was in control of the school board, rather than the 28

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2019

school board having some oversight of the Superintendent. We knew that the School Board elections coming up that year were going to be really important for us as a local. We weren’t going to be able to make a lot of these foundational changes with the dynamic that was in place.”

And so, a union who just one or two years ago could scarcely cobble enough members together to fill a conference table was now diving headfirst into organizing to ‘flip’ the school board in their favor. There were four seats up in the May 2019 primary – two of

"We talked about transparency being really important – we knew that we were going to have tough conversations. We wanted to work as a collective."

— MICHELLE STADELI

those candidates running unopposed. For the seats that were contested elections, Silver Falls EA organized a candidate forum with questions posed by members of the community. The local made endorsements for four candidates, and in the weeks leading up to the election, members canvassed and phone banked on their behalf. “We didn’t donate money, but we had a lot of people power standing behind them,” Stadeli says. On election day, three of the Association’s four endorsed candidates were elected to the Board. “It’s been really good so far,” she says of the flip.

Finding Common Ground

On the heels of a major political success for the union, the local moved into a season of bargaining over the summer of 2019.

The Executive Team maintained a commitment to open and transparent communication with its members. “We ascribed to the OEA playbook – we were just really diligent about putting systems in place for

our members so that they felt like they had a voice in their union,” Stadeli says. “We started with surveys and collecting personal email addresses. We learned that our members had really strong opinions about bargaining topics.” Chief among her members’ concerns were class size, conditions of facilities, and comparable pay scales to neighboring districts. “Those were the issues that really got people out of their classrooms and into our meetings – and there, they could see they weren’t alone. Other people in their buildings were feeling similarly. That sense of coming together as a collective was really empowering,” she says.

Walking through this experience as a young union leader has coalesced well with her position as a social studies teacher, as Stadeli guides her students in understanding social reform movements spanning the last two centuries. She remembers teaching about education reform around the same time that thousands of educators descended on the State Capitol last February for the March for Our Students on President’s Day. “I was able to talk with my kids about why we were doing that March… that it wasn’t about politics, it was just about getting better funding for their education. It was about advocating for them,” she says.

Opening the Bargain Up

Read, having since moved on from her Building Rep role, now supports the bargaining team in new ways – helping photograph events and attending bargaining sessions. “If it weren’t for those two gentlemen,” she says of the members she represented three years ago, “we wouldn’t be here. They were brave. And if they could do what they did, we can certainly be brave and stand up to demand respect.” The open bargaining format allows members across the district to do just that.

The local is using the outcomes over the past year as justification for some of their top issues, namely language changes.

“When there is generic language in a contract, a lot of it is left up to interpretation. We know that when something is left to interpretation, it’s usually up to the district to decide what that ends up looking like,” Stadeli says, pointing to the

Michelle Stadeli, center, delivers a powerful message to the District's negotiations team, sitting on the opposite side of the table, as a kick-off to the September bargaining session.

arbitration cases and other testimonies given by members who were feeling fearful on the job, for one reason or another. “We felt very strongly that some significant language changes were needed because of our members’ experiences.”

Once again, upheaval was underfoot.

Midway through the summer bargaining sessions, Ballando resigned his post as District Superintendent without notice.

Dan Busch, who’d been hired as Assistant Superintendent just a few months earlier, quickly moved into Acting Superintendent and chair of the District’s bargaining team.

“Dan is someone that I have felt has been really good to work with – he came in from outside our district and was kind of handed a hornet’s nest,” Stadeli says of the transfer in leadership.

On July 23, the two sides met for their first bargaining session with Busch as Superintendent. Stadeli recounts how Credits: Meg Krugel

that session had a completely different tone than every session prior – everybody around the table participated in the discussion, and though they didn’t’ make a lot of headway (the District had four new bargaining team members at that session who needed to come up to speed on the process), the union’s team felt optimistic as they moved toward the August negotiation date.

Yet, when it arrived, the August bargaining session left the Silver Falls EA negotiations team scratching their heads. The culture of collaboration had all but vanished in a month’s time. “The tone from the district was entirely different – it was like they came out ready to play hardball, and that felt disrespectful to our team,” Stadeli says. After caucusing, the union made the decision to recess until they could return to the table with their members back at work and available to attend the session.

And that brings us back to last month, when the local showed up en masse for the first negotiation of the 2019-20 school year. The opening remarks of the union’s team set the tone for a return to the type of session they saw in July, one in which the conversation is productive and all parties are heard. By the end of the evening, the teams reached agreements on several of the union’s priority proposals – with promises that they’d pick back up in October.

The session left the local’s bargaining team feeling energized – and better yet – truly supported by their members. It’s a feeling that’s been a long time coming – a slow stitching up of the deep wounds caused over the last few years. “We don’t know when or how this is going to end,” Stadeli says. “But I think that’s OK. The progress we’ve made – for our members and for our students – is really what’s worth highlighting.”

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S ummer Pursuits

By Amy Korst

“School’s out for summer!” is an oft-heard rallying cry heard as students stream out the doors after the final bell rings each June. They are off to their various endeavors, and after a few final days to button up classrooms, scour cafeterias and file those final attendance slips away, so are educators.

Summer is a time to recharge for educators across the country, but the ways they find to do so run the gamut from more work to lots of play and everything in between. Some teachers lock their classroom doors only to head right back to school themselves, like Erin Beard, who is pursuing her doctorate degree through the University of Oregon.

Others, like Matt Bell, seek out mountains to climb for adrenaline-fueled adventures. Still others take on a second job, either to make ends meet or to save some extra money for goals like traveling and retirement.

Some take students on trips or travel internationally with family and friends. Some, like Megan Fitzgerald, travel south to the Mexican border to volunteer for a cause they believe in. All squeeze every last drop out of summer, knowing as all educators do that very soon, the back-to-school bell will sound again, and long, lazy summer days turn back into full-time work weeks filled with the labor and love that is the education profession.

“I think our nine months of the year is pretty compressed,” says Beard, who teaches social studies at Hedrick Middle School in Medford. “We’re doing twelve months of work in nine. There’s no way anyone can get truly prepped in the hours we are supposed to be in the school building. So it’s a tradeoff, but it’s not time off.”

Erin Beard

Beard has been juggling doctorate degree coursework with her teaching career since 2017. She teaches eighth grade social studies at Hedrick Middle School. The coursework is online, which allows her to take classes at the University of Oregon while living in Medford. Specifically, she’s enrolled in the educational methodology, policy, and leadership department. By the end of the 2019-2020 school year, after successful defense of her dissertation, Beard will have earned her doctorate of education (EdD) degree.

“Because of my work with the OEA Center for Great Public Schools, I’m really passionate abut classroom assessment, so my dissertation is about how I could design a professional development experience where classroom assessment and traumainformed practice and equity are all merged into one professional development experience,” she says.

Balancing full-time classes with a full-time teaching career while raising three kids is no easy feat, though Beard says she’s lucky to have supportive family surrounding her. The grind doesn’t end in the summer, though the load lightens a bit when school vacation gets underway. This has allowed Beard to intensely focus on her studies during the summer months.

And this June, when she’s earned her degree and school is truly out for the summer? Beard has her eyes on her EdD prize, but knows she will enjoy some well-earned time off with her family.

Parker McKinley McKinley teaches sixth grade and coaches high school baseball in La Grande.

In his spare time, he owns and operates We Paint La Grande, a company he started with a family friend about 20 years ago.

While McKinley devotes about 10-15 hours a week to the paint business during the school year, the operation really ramps up each summer.

We Paint La Grande has three fulltime, year-round employees, but in the summertime, McKinley hires six to eight

high school student athletes to work for the company, too.

“We feel like there’s a lot of different ways we can impact kids in a positive way,” McKinley says about why he and his business partner go out of their way to hire and train students. “We’re helping teach them a trade, which we are so in desperate need of in all parts of Oregon and the northwest.”

Sports are a passion for McKinley, who makes sure to build student schedules

Credits: Matt Bell, Megan Fitzgerald, Sunriver Resort and Wikimedia Commons

around athletic schedules for student workers who are interested in continuing to grow as athletes during the summer.

One of the reasons he decided to start a business, in fact, is because it allows his family, which includes his wife and four kids, the freedom to participate in extracurriculars and sports. In fact, he credits his wife with being the main reason he is able to juggle so many responsibilities, calling her his “teammate in every way.”

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Janelle Rebick

Matt Bell

Bell spends his school year teaching social studies at Wood Middle School in Wilsonville, but as if wrangling young adolescents isn’t enough of an adventure, he spends his summers climbing mountains and traveling, sometimes with students in tow.

This summer, Bell climbed a number of mountains in the Pacific Northwest, including Mt. Olympus, Mt. Washington and Mt. Rainier, as well as Three Fingered Jack, South Early Winter Spire and Liberty Bell Mountain. He also made a trip to Wyoming to climb Grand Teton and Wolf’s Head, which he calls the highlight of his summer.

“I definitely like being out in nature and the views, the camaraderie with people (and sometimes the solitude from people); the physical challenge, the mental challenge and the group aspect as well,” he says.

Bell got involved in mountain climbing in 2001 when he took a beginning mountain climbing course with the Mazamas, a mountaineering organization based in Portland. Since then, he has climbed a number of other mountains including Mt. Hood and has completed both the intermediate and advanced mountain climbing courses with the Mazamas.

Summers off allow Bell the chance to climb and focus on his own interests outside of school.

“I usually do three or four mountains (each summer), but based on taking that [advanced] class, I did a lot more to really dial in those skills,” Bell says about the climbing he did this past summer.

But that’s not all. Bell also took a group of students to Peru through EF Educational Tours. Bell says he started planning this trip nearly two years ago, so families would have a chance to save and plan for international travel. A whirlwind of activities were crammed into nine days, including visiting Lima, Cuzco, Incan ruins, and Machu Picchu.

“I’m definitely a go-go-go person and so I like having a teacher’s schedule from that standpoint. There’s not too much flexibility during the school year, but there’s a lot of flexibility in the summer,” he says.

To top it off, Bell even found some time to squeeze in professional development in the form of a curriculum camp offered by his district.

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2019

Rebick, a fourth-generation teacher, has spent 22 years in education. While she currently serves as a full-time release local president of the Bend Education Association, she will return to teaching elementary school next fall.

In spite of her veteran teacher status, Rebick says that her circumstances as a single mom, a homeowner, and someone saving for retirement necessitate her taking a second job during the summer. For two summers running, she has worked as a concierge at Sunriver Resort, crediting her childhood education experience as one of her keys to success in this position.

“It’s really just making people have a great experience, and sharing ideas and telling them what to do and what’s available in the area and talking about the local monuments that are around,” she says, describing her summer work. Rebick says she originally applied for a front desk job, but when the interview panel learned that she was a Bend local, they snapped her up for the concierge position.

While her summer job isn’t as mentally fatiguing as teaching, Rebick says it is frustrating to have to work to make ends meet, especially when she lives a modest lifestyle that doesn’t facilitate extravagance or elaborate vacations.

“There’s still such a sense of, ‘Oh, you guys get summers off and you guys have an easy job and you guys are already paid plenty,’ but when you look at the reality of it and how many hours you put in, no, we’re really not,” she says.

Rebick is hopeful she won’t have to work next summer and can get back to hiking, kayaking and camping in the Bend area, things her summer work has left little time for.

“The summertime is meant to be that recharge piece,” she says.

Megan Fitzgerald Fitzgerald, who teaches second grade at Fern Hill Elementary School in Forest Grove, spent two weeks this summer in Laredo, Texas volunteering at the La Frontera Shelter run by Catholic Charities. Prior to beginning her teaching career in the United States, Fitzgerald received a Fulbright grant that allowed her to teach for a year in Mexico City, an experience she describes as “really beautiful.”

This formative experience has allowed Fitzgerald to connect deeply with her Hispanic students, which ultimately led her to seek an opportunity to help with the border crisis during her summer break.

“With everything in the news lately, I just wanted to do something. I felt helpless about everything I was seeing and my students and their families had been getting more and more nervous and anxious about everything that was going on. So I went and researched different shelters and organizations that were doing direct work on the border, because I had heard all these stories of people coming out of detention centers that were just in really, really bad shape and they needed just about everything,” she says.

Shelter employees said they needed all the help they could get, so Fitzgerald spent two weeks witnessing the harrowing experiences of asylum seekers firsthand. She spent between 1012 hours a day helping with the 250 people a day who came into the shelter seeking various necessities, everything from food and clothes to access to a phone to help navigating the bus system to get them to waiting family members.

“They were in a really rough state,” she says, describing asylum seekers as they entered the shelter. “They had just been released from detention centers so when they got to the border, they would surrender to border patrol and make their claim for asylum and then they would be processed in the detention centers for who knows how long. They would have come into those places after having been on their journey for months at a time, so a lot of them had nothing except the clothes on their back,” Fitzgerald says.

In the end, whether educators find themselves at work or at play during the summer months, they all agree that teaching is hard work that comes with a heavy toll. Summer break brings with it a muchneeded chance to relax and recharge.

“We don’t teach for the money, we really don’t,” McKinley says. “There’s so much stress in teaching and the stakes are so high and the kids need so much. It’s a difficult time to be a teacher. It’s demanding and it can be really stressful … but on

“They had been walking in the desert, they had faced really traumatic experiences, violence and robbery and every kind of horrible thing you can imagine. So when they’re finally released from the detention centers — and those again were a whole other series of traumatic experiences — they were brought by border patrol to one of the local shelters and just dropped off.”

Fitzgerald recounts how the work she did at the border was emotionally draining on account of the conditions faced by refugees in detention centers. Some people came to the shelter in immediate need of hospitalization, and she recalls a baby who had been in the same diaper for a week and a half.

“They’re not being treated like human beings,” she says.

Some counselors came to work with the refugees and Fitzgerald recalls a group session in which refugees were allowed to talk about how they were feeling. “The major emotion they felt was guilt, like they were terrible parents. They felt like, ‘Why would I put my child through this, I didn’t know, I thought I was bringing them someplace good, I thought I was bringing them to a better life.’ ” Fitzgerald was, at first, tasked with helping sort clothes and donations but soon was placed in an intake position.

“The shelter director explained it to us and said we were the first friendly face they would see, we were the first person to smile and say welcome and treat them like a human being,” she says. “It was very, very emotional.”

that same note, I don’t know of any more rewarding careers than what we do.”

Beard echoes McKinley’s sentiments, noting that “the reality of the classroom is we’re learning more about the impact of trauma and life on human beings, both kids and adults, and it’s an emotionally hard labor job. We’re not just content specialists - we are making sure our humans are intact, and that’s exhausting work. I think the summer is an important time for teachers to reset and recharge to be able to come back

Credits: Matt Bell, Dave White/Sunriver Resorts and Megan Fitzgerald

and juggle a more than full-time job taking care of humans — the kids and the adults.”

How did you spend your summer as an educator? We’re always interested in learning our members’ stories! Connect with us on Facebook and tell us about your experiences.

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Educator Empowerment Grants are giving educators an opportunity to make significant impacts in their classrooms and communities.

Big Dreams

Small Budgets

By MILANA GRANT

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2019

Multiplying Successes

When Elizabeth Strausbaugh, a middle school math teacher from Sherwood, found out that the two middle schools in the district would be condensed into one by the 2020-21 school year, she sought out an opportunity to bring the math teams from both schools together to start building a bridge. “I was trying to find some sort of PD (professional development) that would be useful so we could all have some general vocabulary as we joined into one school,” she explains. Strausbaugh had attended a professional development seminar given by a renowned mathematics education professor at Stanford University the previous year, which focused on helping students to rewire their negative mindsets about math. She had been so impacted by the wealth of skills and strategies she’d gained at the conference, she concluded that it would be highly beneficial for more math teachers from the two middle schools to access this training.

“I thought if we had more than one person going, we could really have some nice collaboration around the concepts and what they look like in both of our schools,” Credits: iStockphoto.com

"I feel really supported. I think it's amazing that these grants are available. That is a lot of cash to give one school district. It's just one more thing that the union does for us, and it's really great." ­— Elizabeth Strausbaugh, a middle school math teacher from Sherwood

Strausbaugh says. Two teachers from each school were interested in attending, but the two-day seminar would be held at Stanford University in San Francisco, and the cost of attendance was nearly $1,000 per person.

She struck a deal with her district — they would cover the cost of one math teacher to attend the conference if she could secure funding for the other three, and the group would provide a one-day professional development training to the other middle school math teachers once they returned.

Determined to create this opportunity to build a cohesive math department for the following school years, Strausbaugh began seeking ways to make it more financially accessible to herself and her colleagues.

She had heard about OEA’s Educator Empowerment Grant through her local association and decided to reach out to the Center for Great Public Schools to find how out to apply. “Everyone I spoke to when I was submitting the grant was really helpful!” Strausbaugh says. The grant TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2019

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application was very straightforward, and with little in the way of logistics to plan, she was able to complete it in no time. Within a couple of months, she was notified that her application had been approved for funding.

“I feel really supported. I think it’s amazing that these grants are available. That is a lot of cash to give one school district. It’s just one more thing that the union does for us, and it’s really great,” Strausbaugh says.

Since attending the conference last spring, Strausbaugh and her colleagues have implemented many of the concepts and strategies in their classrooms at both middle schools, and their goal of cultivating collaborative relationships ahead of their big merge has been successful. They are now preparing to present what they learned to their fellow math teachers this fall.

Courageous conversations

Gladstone School District’s Equity Council had long been looking for a way to provide meaningful opportunities for training around racial equity to staff. The method they had tried in the past — ­ district-wide professional development days — had not proven to be successful in creating honest and authentic conversations about race and how it affects student learning outcomes.

Siri Carlson, an English teacher at Gladstone High School, has been a member of the Equity Council for the past three years.

She says that moving toward a structured, small group format has made a huge difference in the way that educators in her district respond to the training. With the help of a local diversity and equity consultant, the council has begun offering more intimate training experiences that dive deeply into Oregon’s racial history and it’s relevance in our schools. Carlson was an early recipient of this training. “To see where our education system came from as a result of our history was really eye-opening for me.

I wanted other people to be able to learn about it in a smaller group space to be able to discuss things authentically and openly.”

Because of its impressive impact, the Equity Council hopes to offer small group equity training to as many staff as possible.

However, the training requires a two-day commitment, which means that the district incurs substitute costs with each group that 36

TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2019

"It's worth your time to try for it. If there is anything that you have a vision for that you just don't have the money to go for, which is literally always the case in teaching and education, it's worth a couple of hours to write these grants." ­— Siri Carlson, Gladstone High School English teacher

attends. But Carlson did not want anyone to miss out on the opportunity to receive training. “Being able to have the consultant right there as a resource to help hash out the issues and get some honest answers is so much more impactful than any of the other professional development we’ve done around equity in the past,” she says. “It is our goal to get everyone in the district through this training.”

Luckily, Carlson heard about the OEA Educator Empowerment Grant at a local union meeting. She saw the perfect solution to make equity training more accessible to members in her district.

One meeting with the Assistant Superintendent and a couple of hours hunkered down writing at a coffee shop later, Carlson had a winning grant proposal. The district was provided just over $5,000 to cover the cost of substitutes for the 12 educators who attended the training in May. Though Carlson did not attend, she was able to speak to some of those who did at a recent union meeting. “They raved about how authentic they thought the discussions were. They liked the small group format because it really allowed them to dig into issues and have the time and space that as educators, we never have,” she says.

She also thinks it was a great way to show OEA members that their union supports them in the work they do. “They got to see something tangible that our union is providing to us. Our dues are going toward things like this,” Carlson says.

And to those who might be intimidated by the work involved in writing a grant proposal, Carlson has this to say: “It’s worth your

time to try for it. If there is anything that you have a vision for that you just don’t have the money to go for, which is literally always the case in teaching and education, it’s worth a couple of hours to write these grants.”

Reaching out

With over 65 new hires this school year, many of them new to the teaching profession, Lake Oswego Education Association President David Finkelman knew he needed a way to make meaningful connections with his newest members.

As a local leader, Finkelman had heard about the OEA Educator Empowerment Grant through several avenues, but he finally had found the perfect application for it in his own local. With the help of some OEA staff, he planned a new member mixer event for the week before Spring Break. “The goal of this event was to give new members a stronger understanding of the work of the Association, the ins and outs of working in our particular district, opportunities to discuss how their new job is going, to learn how the association provides support, and to provide contract education,” Finkelman says.

After receiving notice that his grant had been selected for funding, he worked with other leaders in his local and OEA staff to coordinate the logistics of the event. He decided to host it at the OEA headquarters, which he says was a wonderful way to make the connection to their union. “It gave them a chance to meet Robert, our UniServ rep, who most members don’t meet. Being able to put names with faces makes them more comfortable if they do have to reach out to someone in the union.”

Though the turnout was lower than expected, Finkelman says it was worth it for those who did attend. “I think the people that attended really appreciated it. They didn’t know some of the things that we do as a union, and there were pieces of the contract that they didn’t understand that they were able to walk away with better knowledge,” he says, “I saw that people were really happy to be able to get a better understanding of the contract, and to know that we have a contract maintenance chair who really does know it well.”

Even those who did not attend the event this spring were appreciative that their union had taken the time to reach out to them and check in. Finkelman hopes to offer new member events before Winter Break each school year, so that new educators have the opportunity to make connections with trusted and respected members of their school communities. “Ultimately, we want our new members to be as successful as possible and stay in the profession and our district.”

To learn more about OEA’s educator grant programs, visit oregoned.org/ member-resources/professional-practiceresources/grants Credits: Elizabeth Strausbaugh

Using funds from the OEA Educator Empowerment Grant, middle school math teacher Elizabeth Strausbaugh and her colleagues from Sherwood EA attended the Mathematical Mindsets Workshop at Stanford University.

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On the Web » www.oregoned.org

OEA Website Gets a New Face!

I

f you’ve visited www.oregoned.org in the last few weeks, you’ve probably noticed some big changes! We proudly launched a brand new site this fall, complete with a fully-functional calendar interface and a more streamlined, user-friendly platform.

You can easily find events located in your area, and get access to tools and services provided by OEA in a few clicks! Members no longer need to log in to the site to access certain materials, and resources are easily found under the Member Resources tab. For information about politics and legislation, check out the Standing Up for You section.

And if you ever need to contact anyone at OEA, our new-and-improved lookup tool makes it easier than ever to reach the right person. Go ahead, check us out!

Fall Specials through NEA Member Benefits

F

all is here and you’ve finally begun to settle into a routine at work and home, but you’re also noticing some kids are starting to act up and maybe you’ve even noticed you’re struggling to maintain momentum.

Between lesson-planning, grading and parent teacher conferences, you may be feeling a bit maxed out— but the Holidays will be here before you even notice.

Whether you’re looking for ways to start prepping for holiday travel and shopping, or you need tips on retirement planning before Open Enrollment ends, NEAMB.com has tips and advice that will help you make it to Winter Break.

$

n Protecting

n If you’re planning

n Already thinking

n Winter is

yourself and your family is so important we have a new section of our site dedicated to helping you figure out how. Learn how to protect the Moments that Matter, myths about life insurance, and more resources to make sure everyone is taken care of. www. neamb.com/protect

to save time and money by doing holiday shopping online, make sure to find out more about how to do so safely.

During National Cybersecurity Month we’re going to have the information you need to know to make sure you are safe and secure online. Find all this and more at www. neamb.com/finance

about Winter Break? We have the breakdown about what’s new at America’s Theme Parks, as well as incredible deals on cruises for National Plan A Cruise Month. We also have tips and tricks on how to plan hassle-free holiday travel planning. Go to www.neamb. com/travel

coming— make sure your car is ready by checking out our Car Care Checklist. We also have information on the NEA Auto Buying Program, just in time for the end of the model year so that you can get the best possible deal out there. www.neamb. com/car

n Open Enrollment Season is about to end — have you made sure you’re saving everything you need so that you’re able

to enjoy your retirement when that time comes? Run the numbers on our Retirement calculators and read more about how to boost your savings by investing outside of your pension. www.neamb.com/retirement

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TODAY’S OEA | FALL/WINTER 2019

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

Periodicals POSTAGE PAID at Portland OR

OCESP 2019

Conference

Calling Education Support Professionals! www.oregoned.org/OCESPconference

Nov. 15 — Nov. 16 2019 Holiday Inn Salem, OR