ALBANY Oregon (KPTV) – Teachers in Albany are preparing for the possibility of going to the picket line Tuesday. The Greater Albany Education Association (GAEA) met with Greater Albany Public Schools (GAPS) district officials Saturday for a day of negotiations. Hundreds of community members gathered for a rally outside the district offices to cheer them on. It was a large crowd that union president Dana Lovejoy said should speak volumes.

“I was overcome with emotion when I came out. The support, it’s amazing,” Lovejoy said. “We felt like maybe this was just our fight, and then to come here and be reminded of the support that we have from our community, it’s pretty powerful.” This gives us a lot of strength to come back and continue to fight this fight.

This is a fight that GAEA says it has been engaged in for more than 9 months. After what the union calls “stalled negotiations,” they voted in favor of a strike that will begin Tuesday if an agreement on a new contract is not reached before then.

“It is important that our schools have the resources they need to serve the students who attend them. We currently have students whose needs are not being met and we are trying to get a contract that will serve every student that walks through our door,” Lovejoy explained.

The union president said the main issue in the contracts was student safety.

“From the beginning, our number one priority has been safety. I know it’s a big umbrella. This includes how to support students on the front lines? How do you support them if they’re in an episode, how do you support them afterwards? And part of those supports include class sizes and having enough staff to serve students,” Lovejoy said.

In response to Saturday’s rally, Greater Albany Public Schools provided the following statement.

“We want to recognize that we have very good professors here at GAPS and appreciate the work they do for our students. We have been actively negotiating in good faith with the union to reach an agreement that supports our teachers and honors our community’s resources. While we are disappointed that a strike will continue, the District remains at the table, ready to work toward a solution that will allow our students to continue learning in a stable environment. Our priority is to ensure a rapid return to normal for our students, and we will continue to do everything we can to reach an agreement that keeps our schools open. -Greater Albany Public Schools

Parents and students also attended the rally to show their support, including Peter Epp, who has two children in the district.

“We are here because we want our teachers to know how much they are trusted, how much they are appreciated and we want to encourage our teachers to do that when they ask for what they need.” And we want to encourage our board and superintendent to better reflect how much we value our teachers,” Epp said.

If an agreement between the district and the union is not reached before Tuesday, some 600 educators are expected to demonstrate on the picket line. Another negotiation session is scheduled for Monday.

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