OPB’s First Look: Why schools turn to furloughs

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Good morning, Northwest.

Several Oregon school districts have furlough days or unpaid, non-work days for staff to balance tight budgets — and Portland Public Schools could be the latest to approve them.

OPB’s Elizabeth Miller starts today’s newsletter explaining why school districts turn to furloughs over other measures.

In other news, large demonstrations against President Trump and his policies took place across the state and region over the weekend. We have reports from Portland, La Grande, Vancouver and more.

Here’s your First Look at Monday’s news.

—Bradley W. Parks

FILE - A mostly empty hallways after students go to first period at Kellogg Middle School in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 1, 2021.
*Elizabeth Miller / OPB*

Furlough days: They’re not just for Portland schools

Portland Public Schools and the union supporting its teachers came to an agreement over the weekend to prevent layoffs in a midyear budget crisis: four furlough days.

For students, that means three fewer days of school and a quicker end to the school year than previously expected. The fourth furlough day is Memorial Day, which will go from being a paid holiday for staff to an unpaid one.

This is in addition to PPS central administration taking five furlough days and the superintendent taking six.

The PPS school board will vote on the furlough days for teachers at a board meeting tomorrow. If the board approves the plan, PPS will join at least three other Oregon school districts that have approved furlough days for staff this school year. (Elizabeth Miller)

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Undated photo of JORY Restaurant staff during service at The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, Ore.
*Courtesy of The Allison Inn & Spa*

3 things to know this morning

The James Beard Foundation is slated to announce award finalists tomorrow, with winners crowned during the live awards ceremony on June 15, 2026. (Riley Martinez)
Opponents of the much-debated 9.9% tax on Washington state households with incomes above $1 million a year are honing legal and electoral strategies to invalidate and repeal legislation that Gov. Bob Ferguson is expected to sign today. (Jerry Cornfield)
For the third time since President Donald Trump returned to office, protesters turned out Saturday for “No Kings” rallies throughout the nation, including across the Pacific Northwest. (Conrad Wilson and Troy Brynelson)

Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian immigrant who changed Portland, Part 2

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35:29

In this week’s episode of “The Evergreen,” OPB producers Nora Colie and Dan Evans join us to tell the story of how white supremacy grew in Portland and how young people fought to push neo-Nazis out of the city after the murder of Mulugeta Seraw. (Mia Estrada, Dan Evans, Nora Colie and Jenn Chávez)

Listen

Jessalyn Ayars attaches a high-tech collar to a trapped bobcat, March 5, 2026.
*Roman Battaglia/JPR*

Headlines from around the Northwest

Oregon researchers document a new risk of fentanyl use: life-threatening burns (Amelia Templeton)
Oregon researchers discover ‘ideal glass’ — mathematically (April Ehrlich)
Despite some child care cuts, Washington lawmakers expand access to free preschool (Mitch Borden)
Why Oregon scientists are tracking bobcats to save fishers (Roman Battaglia)
Camara has 23 for the Trail Blazers in 123-88 rout of the Wizards (Anne M. Peterson)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

How the wide adoption of inflatable animal costumes has helped define ICE protests in Portland
War in Iran is affecting Oregon farmers as oil and fertilizer prices rise

Doug Lowell flips through a limited edition "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare at his book store on March 25, 2026, in Portland, Ore.
*Saskia Hatvany / OPB*

Portland book shop owner believes in downtown and connecting young people through literature

A bookstore called Kid Hermes the Trickster opened just over a month ago near the park blocks in downtown Portland.

The store is just over 800 square feet, and two stories tall — packed with roughly 1,700 books, many of which are from Doug Lowell’s personal library.

The collection spans science fiction to poetry to Lowell’s extensive collection of photo books, and many titles are rare, signed or first edition. A few shelves on the second floor are marked “Colleen’s,” featuring books personally recommended by Lowell’s wife.

Lowell got the idea to open a book shop just eight months ago. One of the reasons the 70-year-old cites for opening the shop: He didn’t want his kids to have to take on his extensive book collection after he died. (Malya Fass)