Albany teachers to hold first strike vote in 40 years

ALBANY Ore. (KPTV) - Teachers with the Greater Albany Public School District will hold their first strike vote in 40 years next week, the Greater Albany Education Association announced Friday.

The strike authorization vote will begin Oct. 24, and run through Oct. 29, and is the first strike vote by Greater Albany Public School teachers since 1987.

Teachers in the Greater Albany Education Association have been in contract negotiations with GAPS for eight months, but the union says they have been unable to reach an agreement with the district over "essential school safety protections." The union also said the district has been unwilling to "raise student support standards that lag other districts in Oregon."

The Greater Albany Education Association represents 600 teachers in Albany and is an affiliate of the Oregon Education Association.

In the union's written statement, Jenn Stadstad, a physical education teacher at Calapooia Middle School who has taught for the district for 26 years, is quoted as saying their students deserve better.

"The severe understaffing of our classrooms by the District, including their failure to properly resource and support students with serious behavioral needs, has created a crisis environment that has made school violence a daily occurrence in our district," Stadstad said. "I'm voting to strike because every student deserves to be safe when they leave for school in the morning."

According to the union, while the district has a 13% budget surplus, GAPS has failed to give students with specialized behavioral needs or Individual Education Programs (IEPs) the same level of support that nearly every other district in the state provides.

FOX 12 has reached out to the Greater Albany Public School District for comment and will update the story when they respond.