The Oregon Education Association (OEA) is the statewide teachers’ union in Oregon. It is affiliated with the National Education Association and exerts its significant political power in the state to advance liberal interests and Democratic Party policy priorities. ¹

The OEA has been especially active in efforts to block access to educational choice options such as charter schools and private-school choice programs that would compete with the prevailing government-run public education system, as well as efforts to make teachers more accountable for student outcomes. ^{2 3}

Leadership and Membership

The Oregon Education Association is the primary statewide teachers’ union in Oregon and is affiliated with the National Education Association. Its president is Reed Scott-Schwalbach, who had been a high school Spanish teacher in Gresham, Oregon. ⁴

The OEA represents roughly 41,000 employees of public school systems and community colleges in Oregon. ⁵ A 2022 analysis of the OEA’s public filings by the right-of-center Freedom Foundation found that after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME decision, the percentage of eligible school employees who were dues-paying members of the union had fallen from 85.7 percent in 2020-2021 to 81.19 percent in 2021-2022. ⁶

Policy Advocacy

The Oregon Education Association promotes pro-public employee union policies in Oregon and at the federal level, as well as broadly left-of-center and Democratic Policy priorities in the state. ^{7 8}

In 2023, the OEA took credit for legislative “victories” that included a requirement that community colleges offer dental and vision benefits to part-time faculty, changes to the way part-time community college faculty’s hours are calculated, changes to the teacher licensing system that make it easier for credentialed teachers in other states to receive an Oregon certification, increased scholarships for prospective teachers, funding for free school breakfasts and lunches in an additional 200 schools, a $700 million increase in Oregon’s public education budget, $300 million in additional funding for the state’s higher education financial aid program and a $120 million appropriation for early literacy programs “from birth through grade 3.” ⁹

The OEA also took credit for preventing passage of 12 bills that would have created or expanded educational choice programs such as charter schools or private-school choice programs. It supported passage of Oregon HB 2002, which created a legal “right” to an abortion for Oregon residents, and also included a requirement that the state’s Medicaid program and health insurers doing business in the state provide coverage for “gender-affirming” treatments. ¹⁰

Opposition to Education Choice in Oregon

The OEA is deeply opposed to the creation and operation of public charter schools, which often operate without unionized employees, as well as other efforts to increase educational choice for parents and students. In 2022, OEA president Reed Scott-Schwalbach filed suit as an Oregon voter, rather than in her OEA role, against Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D) in an attempt to get an educational choice constitutional amendment stricken from the statewide ballot over technical issues with its wording. ¹¹

The case eventually went to the Oregon Supreme Court, which unanimously declined to reject the ballot measure and instead directed the Attorney General to revise the ballot language to include language about potential financial impacts, as well as address other technical issues. ¹² The measure, titled “Oregon Right of Parents to Choose Public School Based on Residency Amendment,” may appear on the November, 2024 ballot. ¹³ It would create a “schools of choice” system that would allow parents to send their children to any public school in the state, with first priority going to residents within the school’s immediate attendance zone and second priority going to students within the same school district. A lottery system would be used to fill schools to capacity. ¹⁴

The OEA also opposes another potential 2024 ballot measure that would create a statewide school choice account voucher system. ¹⁵

Political Activities

The Oregon Education Association actively attempts to influence elections in Oregon through donations and advocacy. It does so directly, through its OEA-PAC political action committee, and through funding third-party organizations that share its priorities. ¹⁶

The OEA is a member and supporter of the “Defend Oregon” coalition of left-of-center organizations that takes active stances on ballot proposals before state voters. ¹⁷ It donated a reported $5.3 million in cash and $17,000 in in-kind services to Defend Oregon in 2008, when a ballot measure that would have tied teacher pay to performance rather than seniority was rejected by voters. ^{18 19} That same year, the OEA’s parent National Education Association also donated more than $3 million to Defend Oregon. ²⁰ Since 2008, the OEA has donated an additional $1.6 million to Defend Oregon. ²¹

Strikes

2023 Portland Public Schools Strike

In 2023, the Oregon Education Association supported the Portland Association of Teachers in a strike that lasted almost all of November after union members rejected a tentative agreement.  ²²

The union demanded an additional $243 million in compensation and benefits, while the district had offered $107 million. ²³ At the time, the starting salary for a Portland teacher was roughly $50,000 a year, with the average annual salary for a teacher in the district reaching more than $80,000. ²⁴ Portland Public Schools officials calculated that under its offer to implement a 10.9 percent cost of living adjustment over three years, 60 percent of teachers would earn more than $90,000 a year and 40 percent would earn more than $100,000. ²⁵ The teachers also wanted 440 minutes of “planning time” for teachers per week, a two-hour expansion over the district’s existing 320-minute policy. ²⁶

The strike lasted three weeks and resulted in an estimated $175 million in additional wages and benefits for teachers over the contract’s life that school district leaders said would largely come from cuts to other areas of the district’s budget. ²⁷

The union had originally demanded a “hard cap” on class sizes that would limit all classes to 25 students at a time, which school district leaders said would require hiring more than 500 new full-time equivalent employees and add at least $65 million to the district’s costs. ²⁸ The eventual contract did not include those caps, which had been framed as a matter of student achievement by union representatives, but it did include compensation bonuses for teachers whose classes exceeded their target sizes. ²⁹

One Portland school board member described it as “a contract that we cannot afford,” and a poll taken after the strike ended found that it had damaged the public perception of both the teachers’ union and the school district. ^{30 31}

2024 Salem-Keizer Public Schools Strike

In 2024, teachers in the Salem Keizer Education Association declared an impasse with the Salem-Keizer Public Schools and scheduled an April strike date at the state’s second-largest public school system. ³²

2008 OEA Employee Strike

In September 2008, the OEA’s own workers went out on strike against the union after OEA leadership attempted to have workers pay a larger percentage of their health care costs, increase their workloads, and limit their comp time and retirement benefits. ³³ The striking OEA workers were members of the Oregon Professional Staff Organization, and included the OEA’s chief lobbyist and communications team. ³⁴

1. “About OEA.” Oregon Education Association. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://oregoned.org/about-oea.
2. ^[1] “OEA-PAC.” Oregon Education Association. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://oregoned.org/advocating-change/action-center/oea-pac.
3. “2023 Legislative Summary.” Oregon Education Association, June 2023. https://oregoned.org/advocating-for-change/action-center/oea-and-the-legislature/legislative-summary.
4. Krugel, Meg. “Eyes Forward, Hearts Ready.” Today’s OEA, May 2022. https://todaysoea.org/articles/eyes-forward-hearts-ready.
5. “About OEA.” Oregon Education Association. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://oregoned.org/about-oea.
6. “Oregon Teachers’ Union Has Lost 20 Percent of Its Membership.” Freedom Foundation, December 6, 2022. https://www.freedomfoundation.com/oregon/oregon-teachers-union-has-lost-20-percent-of-its-membership-2/.
7. ^[1] “OEA-PAC.” Oregon Education Association. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://oregoned.org/advocating-change/action-center/oea-pac.
8. “2023 Legislative Summary.” Oregon Education Association, June 2023. https://oregoned.org/advocating-for-change/action-center/oea-and-the-legislature/legislative-summary.
9. “2023 Legislative Summary.” Oregon Education Association, June 2023. https://oregoned.org/advocating-for-change/action-center/oea-and-the-legislature/legislative-summary.
10. Nieubuurt, Brian. “HB 2002 Staff Measure Summary.” Oregon Legislature, April 3, 2023. https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Downloads/MeasureAnalysisDocument/77730.
11. Scott-Schwalbach v. Rosenblum, 370 Or. 681, 523 P.3d 113 (Or. 2022) https://casetext.com/case/scott-schwalbach-v-rosenblum-1
12. Scott-Schwalbach v. Rosenblum, 370 Or. 681, 523 P.3d 113 (Or. 2022) https://casetext.com/case/scott-schwalbach-v-rosenblum-1
13. “Oregon Right of Parents to Choose Public School Based on Residency Amendment (2024).” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Oregon_Right_of_Parents_to_Choose_Public_School_Based_on_Residency_Amendment_(2024).
14. Scott-Schwalbach v. Rosenblum, 370 Or. 681, 523 P.3d 113 (Or. 2022) https://casetext.com/case/scott-schwalbach-v-rosenblum-1
15. “2024 Initiative Petitions #5 and #6.” Oregon Secretary of State, May 25, 2022. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/ORSOS/bulletins/3196e19.
16. “OEA-PAC.” Oregon Education Association. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://oregoned.org/advocating-change/action-center/oea-pac.
17. “Defend Oregon.” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Defend_Oregon.
18. ^[1] Author’s calculations from Oregon Secretary of State’s campaign finance disclosure databases at https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/gotoPublicTransactionSearchResults.do?cneSearchButtonName=next&cneSearchFilerCommitteeId=13130&cneSearchContributorTxtSearchType=C&cneSearchFilerCommitteeTxtSearchType=C&srtOrder=asc&by=NAME&cneSearchPageIdx=43
19. “Oregon Measure 60, Performance-Based Teachers Pay Initiative (2008).” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Oregon_Measure_60,_Performance-Based_Teachers_Pay_Initiative_(2008).
20. Author’s calculations from Oregon Secretary of State’s campaign finance disclosure databases at https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/gotoPublicTransactionSearchResults.do?cneSearchButtonName=next&cneSearchFilerCommitteeId=13130&cneSearchContributorTxtSearchType=C&cneSearchFilerCommitteeTxtSearchType=C&srtOrder=asc&by=NAME&cneSearchPageIdx=43
21. Author’s calculations from Oregon Secretary of State’s campaign finance disclosure databases at https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/gotoPublicTransactionSearchResults.do?cneSearchButtonName=next&cneSearchFilerCommitteeId=13130&cneSearchContributorTxtSearchType=C&cneSearchFilerCommitteeTxtSearchType=C&srtOrder=asc&by=NAME&cneSearchPageIdx=43
22. Pate, Natalie. “Union Tensions in Oregon’s 2 Largest School Districts Reach Defining Moments.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, September 27, 2023. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/09/26/oregon-public-school-union-tensions-portland-salem-keizer/.
23. Pate, Natalie. “Portland Public Schools Leaders and Teachers Are Still Far Apart. Here’s Why.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, November 4, 2023. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/11/03/portland-public-schools-teacher-strike-educators-students-oregon/.
24. Pate, Natalie. “Portland Public Schools Leaders and Teachers Are Still Far Apart. Here’s Why.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, November 4, 2023. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/11/03/portland-public-schools-teacher-strike-educators-students-oregon/.
25. Pate, Natalie. “Portland Public Schools Leaders and Teachers Are Still Far Apart. Here’s Why.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, November 4, 2023. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/11/03/portland-public-schools-teacher-strike-educators-students-oregon/.
26. Pate, Natalie. “Portland Public Schools Leaders and Teachers Are Still Far Apart. Here’s Why.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, November 4, 2023. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/11/03/portland-public-schools-teacher-strike-educators-students-oregon/.
27. Pate, Natalie. “What Did Portland Teachers Get from Their Strike?” Oregon Public Broadcasting, December 4, 2023. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/11/29/portland-teachers-get-from-strike-faq/.
28. Pate, Natalie. “Portland Public Schools Leaders and Teachers Are Still Far Apart. Here’s Why.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, November 4, 2023. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/11/03/portland-public-schools-teacher-strike-educators-students-oregon/.
29. Pate, Natalie. “What Did Portland Teachers Get from Their Strike?” Oregon Public Broadcasting, December 4, 2023. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/11/29/portland-teachers-get-from-strike-faq/.
30. Pate, Natalie. “What Did Portland Teachers Get from Their Strike?” Oregon Public Broadcasting, December 4, 2023. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/11/29/portland-teachers-get-from-strike-faq/.
31. Manning, Rob. “Poll Finds Portland Teachers Strike Damaged Public View of School Board, State Leaders.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, February 13, 2024. https://www.opb.org/article/2024/02/13/poll-finds-portland-teachers-strike-damaged-public-view-of-school-board-oregon-leaders/.
32. Loew, Tracy. “Salem-Keizer Public Schools Teachers Stage ‘practice Picket’ as Strike Date Nears.” Statesman Journal, March 7, 2024. https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/education/2024/03/06/salem-keizer-public-schools-teachers-strike/72868636007/.
33. Hammond, Betsy. “Union Workers on Strike — against Union.” The Oregonian, September 15, 2008. https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2008/09/union_workers_on_strike_agains.html.
34. Hammond, Betsy. “Union Workers on Strike — against Union.” The Oregonian, September 15, 2008. https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2008/09/union_workers_on_strike_agains.html.