Thousands gather for walkout to support Oregon education

About 25,000 teachers, students and supporters rallied and marched through downtown Portland Wednesday as part of the statewide teacher walkout demanding increased funding for Oregon schools.

The long-planned protests led nearly two dozen of Oregon’s 198 school districts – most in the Portland area -- to close for the day. Along with the Portland rally, education advocates held events in Eugene, Medford, Bend, Klamath Falls and at the state Capitol that attracted thousands more.

Most districts that closed, including Portland Public Schools, will add another day at the end of the academic calendar to meet state classroom hour requirements. Some other districts that remained open scheduled after-school community meetings to answer questions about state funding.

It had appeared last week that teachers gathering in Salem on Wednesday might witness Gov. Kate Brown signing a new corporate tax package, which would funnel as much as $2 billion into education programs for children school-age and younger. However, Senate Republicans have been hiding out since Monday morning, denying Democrats the quorum needed for a vote.

It remains unclear when the Senate vote will happen.

Oregon Senate Republicans who’ve fled the state Capitol for two days have made it clear they object to Democrats’ multibillion-dollar business tax plan to fund education.

For the second day on Wednesday, Oregon Senate Republicans denied Democrats the quorum necessary to conduct business, including a scheduled floor vote on a multibillion dollar business tax. The tax plan, which would fund early childhood education and public schools, is Democrats' top priority this legislative session.

“Teachers don’t step out of the classroom lightly,” said Keri Pilgrim Ricker, a teacher at Eugene’s Churchill High School who marched with as many as 3,000 other teachers through Salem before flooding the Capitol rotunda. “We’re doing it for an honorable purpose.

“This is a state of emergency for Oregon schools,” said Ricker, who is also Oregon’s current teacher of the year. “And only collective voice is going to change the state of education in our state.”

Uncertainty on the funding bill vote helped fuel the Portland protest as supporters flocked to Waterfront Park by car, light rail and even by boat. After a short rally with state and national teacher’s union officials and education leaders, the swarm wearing “Red for Ed” shirts took to the streets beating drums and chanting, “Fund our schools!” Another popular call-out: “I asked for a counselor, you gave me a cop. The school to prison pipeline has to stop."

Watch the full march here.

As she prepared to march, Beaumont Middle School teacher Iris Love said Oregon’s lack of funding makes it more difficult for educators to teach. They don’t have the supports to address issues students bring in from outside the classroom, she said, such as missing breakfast.

And, by the time they are starting to process the curriculum, she said, “the bell has rung.”

Supporters, including a bunch of young children, are lining up behind a big red banner, “Fund our future" and preparing to march. A march organized by teachers meant there was much guidance -- the kids at the front were led in practice chanting and warned “no running, please. And, be careful not to trip over the sign.”

At around 12:17 p.m., the march began with a drum line leading the way. Unfortunately, a hundred or so marchers took a wrong turn early on, leaving the park and veering up Southwest Columbia. Organizers worked to get them back on the route moving north toward Taylor Street.

Hillsboro School District parent Jorge Cisneros said he came out with his son to advocate for sweeping changes to the public school system.

“What they are doing is not working,” he said. “The more I read, the more it got me into it. I wanted to mobilize.”

Wilma Rodriguez, who teaches at a Beaverton Spanish immersion charter school, said large class sizes are the key issue facing her school today.

“It’s hard for me,” she says, to teach a different language and curriculum to so many students at once.

John Larson, a Hermiston teacher and president of the Oregon Education Association, said that the crowd along the Willamette River totaled more than 20,000. His teacher union tweeted, “You think this is a crowd?” with a picture of the gathering taken from the Hawthorne Bridge. “You should see our classrooms.”

Brisa Servin-Gonzalez, Antonio Servin-Gonzalez and Isabel Mora, who volunteer or work for Wilkes Elementary in the Reynolds School District said they attended the rally to advocate for extra support in classrooms and school libraries. “Students miss out on learning opportunities when schools can’t afford full-time librarians,” says Servin-Gonzalez, a library media assistant.

The march made a .9-mile loop through downtown Portland, going up Southwest Taylor Street to Third Avenue and down Columbia back to Waterfront Park. As the first marchers returned to the park, as Brett Bigham -- aka “Mr. B” if you’re 10 -- a special education teacher and the 2014 Oregon teacher of the year tweeted: “I was in the front of the march -- we just finished only to find so many teachers showed they were still leaving the park to march. Teachers have completely encircled downtown!”

It was a younger voice, however, that seemed to best capture the intended message of the day.

Jefferson High School junior and slam poet Joneyo Prom, who goes by Jolly Wrapper, took the stage during the teacher rally and electrified the Portland crowd.

“I’m no statistic on a chart. I’m no GPA that you can hold against me if it’s low and hold against others if it’s high…

“I’m no voice you can use when you have nothing left to say."

Oregonian staff writers Molly Young, Eder Campuzano and Chris Lehman contributed to this report.

Here’s the list of metro-area districts that closed on Wednesday:

Clackamas County

Gladstone School District

Lake Oswego School District

North Clackamas School District

Oregon City School District

Riverdale School District

West Linn-Wilsonville School District

Multnomah County

David Douglas School District

Gresham-Barlow School District

Parkrose School District

Portland Public Schools

Reynolds School District

Washington County

Beaverton School District

Forest Grove School District

Hillsboro School District

Tigard-Tualatin School District