A Decades-Long Effort Building Oregon Politics

What’s an active and engaged OEA member to do when they’ve finished serving their time in school? OEA Retired, of course.

With 2,100 members, OEA Retired, founded more than 35 years ago, is a great way for our wisest and most experienced elders to stay involved in helping make schools and education better for everyone, while providing our retirees with rewarding social, professional, and political outlets. OEA Retired members are eligible to join and participate as full voting members of the OEA PAC.

Ray Johnson has been an OEA-Retired member for 26 years, almost as long as he taught High School Math, mostly in Forest Grove. We caught up with him at the OEA PAC Convention.

“Over the years, the group has grown in size and gotten much more involved in different issues around education, but also social and economic and racial justice. We have a very highly functioning board, and lots of committees, and therefore lots of opportunities to get involved. And we also have quite a few activities, including some book clubs, which is nice.”

But what Johnson really wanted to talk about was the work of the PAC.

“I was an OEA PAC member long before I knew anything about being retired,” he says, smiling.  “I've just always been involved politically, because I know how important it is. Because politicians make all kinds of decisions. And I always wanted to be part of that decision making.”

“You can see how many candidates come here to listen to our stories and concerns, and to answer our questions and address our priorities, and often to make commitments of support.  They want our endorsement, and they should. Because we're a 42,000 member organization, and yes, we have some money,” he said. And then he couldn’t resist adding, “though you should write that we’d have more money if more OEA members joined the PAC for just $5 per month.”

“But also, these candidates know that our endorsement is powerful because everybody here, and a whole lot of members who aren’t here, will share that endorsement with their families, with people they know. Research shows that the best way to get a vote is to have a trusted friend or family member make that recommendation.  And, as educators, our members are trusted in their families and in their communities.”

Johnson strongly believes that educators need to be engaged in the political process, and that it’s about more than school funding.

“A lot of what legislative bodies do has an impact on education. When you're in the classroom, you are in control. But you're not in control of the funding, and you're not in control of the services their families need, or homelessness, etc., which all impact our kids in that building every day.  And so, if we want to have better classrooms, we've got to be involved with the people that make decisions about what happens in our schools and our communities.”

But educators as we know are social creatures, and for Johnson, coming to the PAC convention is a great way to renew old friendships and build new ones.

“When I walk in here, in addition to the retirees, I know I’m going to see 20 people I know who are still in the classroom. It's kind of coalescing and bringing everybody together to share all of these concerns and ideas and goals and wishes, and to make new friends, so that rather than simply an organization on paper, we're an organization of people that actually communicate with one another.”

After decades of engagement, questioning and choosing candidates, discussing issues with other OEA PAC members, Ray Johnson still wants to be in the room. In fact, he mostly wouldn’t miss it.

“I was here when it started in 1978, and though I can't say that I've been to every single one, if I've missed any, it probably was maybe two or three. In fact, I thought I was going to miss this one because I was considering going on a trip to South America. But that didn't work out. So here I am, having a good time.”