Member Testimony
Chair Graber, Vice Chairs Munoz and Sharpe, and members of the committee. For the record, I'm Dana Lovejoy. I serve as the President of Greater Albany Education Association and I'm here to support House Bill 4011 and to offer perspective from someone who has personally negotiated class size with our district.
GAEA represents 555 educators who wholeheartedly believe that manageable class size and caseloads are not luxuries. They are foundational to student success and staff safety. In Albany, this was not a secondary issue.
It was central to our negotiations. Yet when we brought forward proposals to address class size, the district refused to engage. We were told directly that class size was permissive, subject to bargaining, and that management would not discuss it at the table.
In other words, the very issue our members identified as urgent for student learning and safety was declared off limits. After 150 days of bargaining with safety and workload concerns unresolved, our educators made the difficult decision to go on strike. A strike is not taken lightly.
It disrupts families, students, and communities, but it brought attention to the dire situation of our schools. A situation that could have been addressed much earlier if class size had been a mandatory subject of bargaining. It should not take a strike for a district to recognize educator frustration or student need.
Once the district agreed to seriously engage on class size, we were able to make meaningful progress. Through negotiations, we secured a $500,000 class size fund to hire additional teachers and aids where they were needed most. When given a real voice, educators did what we always do.
We found creative, practical solutions within the resources available. We did not seek to bankrupt the district. We worked collaboratively to target funds where they would have the greatest impact on students.
We are asking for the opportunity to have those conversations in good faith from the bargaining, from the beginning, not after months of stalemate, not after months, not after community disruption, and not after a strike. If class size had been a mandatory subject of bargaining from day one, our community may have avoided the hardship it experienced. We now have proof that local solutions are possible when districts and educators are required to engage.
Educators bring firsthand knowledge of what is happening in classrooms every single day. We must be trusted to have a real voice in shaping the conditions that directly affect student learning and safety. I urge you to support House Bill 4011 and the dash one amendment.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you.
