Richmond Elementary PE teacher Kelli Kellogg talks with students during a march in support of the Portland teachers strike on Nov. 7, 2023.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB
Two months ago, PE teacher Kelli Kellogg wondered what it would be like to be a union organizer. Contract negotiations between her school district and her union were tense, but at that point, a strike felt like a long shot. Portland Public Schools had never had a teachers strike before. So, she signed up as one of four union reps at her school, Richmond Elementary in Southeast Portland.
“I thought I was signing up to learn how to write down grievances and… meet with the principal regarding teacher needs,” Kellogg said. “That’s what I thought I was signing up for.”
Instead, she’s now organizing daily protests and marches for hundreds of people.
“It’s a busy day,” she said.
As the Portland Association of Teachers stretches through its second week of canceled classes, Kellogg and other striking teachers are getting used to a whole new way of life.
Portland Public School students support their striking teachers this past week.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB
On a recent morning outside Richmond Elementary, Kellogg and other organizers assembled hundreds of teachers, students and parents on a march through the neighborhood. They chanted in Spanish and English about strike issues like teacher pay, class size and mold in the buildings.
A band played as kids carried placards with messages like: “We Love Teachers” and “I miss school.”
Most of the teachers OPB consulted did not expect the strike to last this long. But they said they remain committed.
Kellogg compares marching and picket line life to camping in Portland’s ever-changing weather.
“I come out with a backpack. I have a raincoat. I have a puffy coat. I have a sun hat. I have a hat that’s cozy,” she said. “You don’t have room for an umbrella because you have a sign and you have a tambourine.”
Kellogg’s day used to revolve around class schedules, but now she follows union recommendations and clocks-in at 7:45 a.m. — the same time she’d usually show up to teach. Then, she’s outside all morning organizing marches and protests.
There’s a break for lunch and then in the afternoon there’s usually a larger rally, often somewhere centrally-located.
“Out here, doing this, I have not heard any negative (comments),” she said. “I mean people are honking a lot which I think is in support.”
Like every other teacher on strike, Kellogg isn’t getting paid by the school district, though teachers are eligible for daily stipends of $120 per day for help on the strike.
After 12 years on the job Kellogg earns about $70,000 a year. At the end of the month, she anticipates missing her first paycheck.
“I am becoming more and more worried. And I’m canceling things right now,” she said.
She canceled her mental health therapy. She’s a little embarrassed to admit that she’s behind on paying for the health care, largely because of changes in her insurance coverage from the district.
But Kellogg said she’s better off than at least one of her colleagues, who’s worried about making rent this month.
All in all, Kellogg said life on the picket line is all-consuming.
“I would say ‘exhausting’ because you want to bring the excitement and passion for what you’re here for. And it feels good to be saying: ‘This is what we need,’ and standing up for what you believe in. But the flip side is that, we’re not in school with students, which is where we would like to be,” Kellogg said.
Teacher Katia Fleischman and her daughter Vera march in support of the Portland Public School strike on Nov. 7, 2023.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB
As the morning’s march begins, another teacher Katia Fleischman took the hand of her second grade daughter, Vera, and joined the flow. Fleischman works at nearby Kelly Elementary and hasn’t missed a day on the picket line.
“It’s stressful,” she said. “There’s a little push from everyone.”
She said the strike means that her family no longer goes out to eat and they make a lot of soup.
Like thousands of students across Portland Public Schools, Fleischman’s daughter hasn’t been in class since the strike started. Instead, Vera’s learning about life from the picket line.
“She is learning a little bit more bravery, a little bit more of a chance to speak out. I feel like in the classroom she just hasn’t been pushed for that,” said Fleischman.
“Her class is 30 students in a classroom and I feel like she doesn’t get the time and attention that she’s getting right now.”
As the strike continues, families like Fleischman’s and Kellogg’s are learning how to cope. And it could be a while. So far there is little sign either side is close to making the concessions needed to reach agreement.
Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) hold a rally outside of the Portland Public Schools district office in Portland, Nov. 7, 2023, calling on the district to help bridge the gap at the bargaining table.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB