Embedded Files
11/4/26 - Blog Entry # 3
11/4/26 - Blog Entry # 3
As the President of SEA I'm in a weird spot when talking politics. I of course have my own personal perspectives, then I have the perspectives of an educator and union man. Those usually line up nicely, but as SEA President I also need to represent members whose personal perspectives differ from mine. Luckily, the hope is our membership is more or less aligned on education and labor. With that in mind, I have some thoughts to share about last night's elections. I'll focus on Education and Labor, and my apologies if any of my own perspectives sneak in from time to time.
First off, our only SEA endorsed candidate, Callee Ackland, won her race to be on Springfield City Council! I'm incredibly excited for her perspective to be brought to the board. Her opponent, Jill Cuadros, seems like a nice enough person and it sounds like she does a great job as head of Nutrition Services at 4j, but the movement behind her candidacy was led by the Chamber of Commerce. Callee Ackland had volunteers from Springfield knocking doors, sending text messages and making phone calls. It's a small scale race, but it's proof that the many can outwork the money.
EDUCATION WINS
EDUCATION WINS
OEA endorsed candidates won all over the state. In Springfield, Kori Rodley (mother of one of our members) won District 7. Val Hoyle and Jeff Merkley were also OEA endorsed.
OEA chose not to endorse in the Governor's race. This was to send the governor a message that she is not adequately focusing on education. That said, Drazan was not a champion of public schools. While OEA the organization wanted to send a message to the governor, a majority of OEA members and OEA leadership up in Tigard were hoping Kotek would win. She did, now let's hope she has some answers for education in this state.
James Talarico (TX) was a 6th grade teacher just a few years ago, and is now representing the state of Texas in the United States Senate!
LABOR WINS
LABOR WINS
Sherrod Brown (OH) is one of the most stalwart labor allies in the Senate in modern US history. He lost his seat in Ohio in 2024 after having Crypto companies target him with millions of dollars, but he just came back with a vengeance!
Troy Jackson (ME) is a union organizer who started his political career in the state organizing a logging union to strike. He's joining the US Senate as a freshman. A spontaneous round of the labor classic "Solidarity Forever" broke out at his victory party.
Freshmen entering the House Brian Poindexter (OH), Donavan McKinney (MI) & Claire Valdez (NY) are all labor organizers joining the House, and Darializa Avila Chevalier (NY) is a UAW member.
REPRESENTATION
REPRESENTATION
Keisha Lance-Bottoms (GA) is not just the first Black Woman, but the first Black person and Woman elected governor of Georgia.
Deb Haaland (NM), who already made history being the first Native American woman elected to congress, has just done it again by being the first Native American woman elected as a governor of any state. She won in New Mexico.
Gina Hinojosa (TX) is the first Latina governor of Texas
Byron Donalds (FL) is the first Black governor of Florida, and the first Black Republican elected governor since Reconstruction
Abdul El-Sayed (MI) is the first Muslim elected to the Senate
Peggy Flanagan (MN) is the first Native American woman elected to the Senate
Chris Pappas (NH) is the first (openly) gay man elected to the Senate
OTHER
OTHER
Montana voters approved a ballot measure to ban corporations, nonprofits and labor unions from doing business in the state if they made political contributions. This is a major blow to Citizens United and money in politics! People are talking about bringing this to Oregon, and I would fully support it!
This was a gigantic rebuke of everything going wrong in our country right now. People are done with:
Stupid wars in the Middle East
Wasting taxpayer dollars abroad while infrastructure and services suffer here at home
The hatred and division pushed by the current administration
Fake or bought off politicians (on both sides)
9/14/26 - Blog Entry # 2
9/14/26 - Blog Entry # 2
On Saturday, our friend Lilly St. Angelo, who covers education for The Lookout, wrote an article profiling several of our friends who were laid off, and where they are now. One of the SPS teachers profiled was mentioned as having been laid off "due to budget constraints and a new union contract."
I understand that this is the official explanation for the layoffs last year, but we know there was much more to it than simple budget constraints and the union contract.
Leave aside the fact that the budget was presented and passed with no accounting for a COLA for certified employees, even after there was an amount proposed to the SEA bargaining team that the School Board agreed to, and that there were no preparations for rectifying this budget snafu despite knowing this cliff was approaching.
Leave aside the fact that the district hired 41 new teachers in the summmer, just 4 months before the layoffs.
When the news was delivered that the layoffs would be coming in the middle of the year, and that every last cent that the new contract raised in expenses would be paid in certified FTE, there were several suggestions made to avoid the cuts, or at least postpone them until the end of the year. District leadership was not interested in any of them.
St. Angelo's line in the article is not untrue, but it does leave behind a heap of context that some felt would be helpful to put on record.
As I finish my thoughts, I want to say that I am trying very hard to find balance between correcting the record and building a more positive relationship with new leadership at SPS. I want to reiterate that I am very pleased with our new administration's direction, and do not want to open up old wounds any more than is necessary. However, I need to balance this with my belief in radical transparency. I don't believe shutting away the past in a closet we never open again is useful to us as we move forward. I am a history teacher in my bones, after all. I believe that to see the path ahead of us we need to know where we came from.
In solidarity,
-Brandon Ferguson
9/8/26 - Blog Entry # 1
9/8/26 - Blog Entry # 1
I'm starting this blog for several reasons.
A, because I want to make a distinction between important announcements which will come to you in the weekly updates, and my own personal thoughts.
Two, because sometimes I have the itch to spin a yarn and/or wax philosophically.
D, because sometimes there will be things I want to share that aren't necesarily appropriate for district email, but aren't really private information. As a matter of fact, that's the case for today's entry!
CALLEE ACKLAND RALLY
Local education-related politics are something we will wade into occasionally, but it's usually not appropriate to communicate about such things over district email.
You may or may not have heard that SEA endorsed Callee Ackland for Springfield City Council. You're free to support whoever you'd like, but if you wanted the opinion of the several colleagues who interviewed both candidates, there you are.
Speaking for myself, I really appreciated that Callee got into this fight by advocating against the cuts to the Springfield Library. The Teen program took the brunt of the cuts and I know it was a really important space for so many students, especially A3 and SHS students. Callee would also be the only renter on the council, which I think is a really important voice missing from decisions being made.
Callee asked if we would co-host a rally for her campaign and I happily obliged. All that means for you is that you are welcome to join me to hear from her and have the opportunity to volunteer to help her campaign.
Where: Willamalane Adult Activity Center (215 W C St)
When: 9/19 -11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Canvassing afterward if you're interested!)
How: Register here!
LETTER WRITING EVENT
Have thoughts about education in the state of Oregon? You and me both, friend.
A local advocacy group called ESSN has rented the WOW hall for a collaborative letter writing event. Come meet with other folks concerned about the state of the state's education and write letters to our representatives. The folks in Salem need to know that whatever the answers are, we can't wait. There must be something significant done during this legislative session to address our schools.
Where: WOW Hall
When: 9/20, 11am - 3pm
How: Register here!
JUST SIGN IT SOLIDARITY SCHOOL
Here's another opportunity you may be interested in!
Nike was given a sweatshop sweetheart tax deal years ago that allowed them to skip out on taxes that equal around $66 million a year! Some folks are rallying to encourage Nike to help Oregon solve our budget problem, and pay their garment manufacturers fairly while they're at it.
Where: OEA Office (2815 Coburg Rd, Eugene)
When: 9/26, 11am - 2pm
How: Register here!
Google Sites
Report abuse