In Small-Town Oregon, Teacher Strike Threat and Community Support Stop Bad Proposal

As educators fend off attacks at the federal and state level, they’re also seeing some local wins. From striking for more recess to demanding more nurses and support personnel, teachers across the country have successfully organized for policies that improve children’s school day.

In May, members of the Coquille Educators Association in Oregon challenged the district on a critical decision and won. And they did it in a way that built unity between the union and their small community.

It started when the district superintendent announced a new schedule. As in most elementary schools, fifth-grade classes in the district had operated on a whole-class model: students stayed with one teacher all day except for special classes like art or gym. Now, the superintendent declared, schools would adopt a subject-based schedule as in middle or high school, in which students move from class to class for subject-area studies.

The move meant that teachers would now be working with six classes of students over the day rather than one. Instead of attending to 25 students a day, they’d support 150.

STUDENT NEEDS LEFT OUT

The plan had implications for students too. “The system was being designed without the students in mind,” said Jennifer Raimondo, a special education teacher. Her own students would be especially affected, she said.

Under the whole class model, students rotated activities during elective times. For example, one day they’d go to art, another day to gym. For special education students, the rotation included a day for special services. Because it was part of a rotation, the special services blended in with other activities. “Students didn’t see who was going where, so nobody was ‘the other,’” said Raimondo.

But under the new schedule, these students would get pulled for services during an elective. This would both mark them as special education students and limit their access to electives. “It was an equity issue,” said Raimondo.

The district tried to divide even the handful of teachers who would be affected, inviting some to a meeting to talk about the new schedule, giving them a false sense of control over the decision-making. Union officers were excluded from the meeting.

This divide-and-conquer effort backfired when teachers at the meeting realized that the district had no implementation plan. Teachers would have to create it themselves.

“The district made a compelling case against themselves,” said union president Tyler Lienemann, by calling a listening session in which there was no listening. The superintendent, he said, wouldn’t answer any questions. And he told teachers that they “would need to reapply for jobs since they were moving to subject-based teaching. He ended by asking: ‘Who’s on the bus?’”

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In response, some teachers wanted to stage an immediate sickout, said CEA Vice President Joe Nichols.

COMMUNITY UNITY

Coquille is a town of 4,000, and many teachers grew up there. In such a small town, “Living under a microscope can make it hard for people to stand up and stand out,” said Raimondo.

That changed when the teachers called a town hall, inviting the community in. Some 125 people showed up. “The union answered every question,” said Raimondo. “We didn’t know what they would ask, but we were transparent.” After the meeting, participants went home and sent emails and made phone calls supporting the teachers.

Then on June 3, students walked out in support of their teachers.

In a community where a majority voted for Donald Trump in 2024, one might think that teachers would lack support. But Nichols pulled one quote from the community Facebook page that captured the general sentiment: “I am anti-union, but I am glad the teachers have a lever to pull.”

A STRIKE VOTE

Teachers pulled that lever when 90 percent of them voted to authorize a strike.

The district again tripped itself up when, after the strike vote, they announced that the Future Farmers of America program would be canceled for the summer, since teachers lead many of those activities. Community members were enraged. But teachers knew how important FFA was to this rural community and had already ensured it would continue during a strike.

“This was a wake-up, to have everybody rally together in this way,” reflected Nichols.

The strike threat and community support eventually brought the district to the table. The new agreement includes some of the proposed schedule changes, but also calls for hiring more support personnel. It also requires that schedule changes be subject to union agreement and appeal.