PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Association of Teachers may have recently voted overwhelmingly in favor of the strike that would begin Feb. 20, but not all educators are buying the union’s “woe is us” propaganda.

Kindergarten teacher Barb Andrews told OregonLive.com that if her union goes through with its plan to walk out on students, she won’t be joining them.

“I plan to do what I was hired to do, which is teach,” Andrews told the news site. “If it’s really about the kids, you don’t walk out on them just because of a disagreement.”

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The 16-year teaching veteran also thinks a strike will just poison public relations between the union and the taxpayers “who pay our salaries” and “vote on bond measures.”

From OregoneLive.com: “Andrews said she could not understand making demands of taxpayers who don’t have ‘luxuries’ that union members enjoy, such as raises during a tough economic times and generous health insurance plans.”

While Andrews does sympathize with her union’s call for reducing class sizes, she doesn’t think it’s appropriate to write such limitations into the teachers’ contract, which would hamstring school administrators’ ability to manage their schools effectively.

Nor does she believe that the new teachers’ contract should contain language that makes it overly difficult for school principals to remove ineffective educators from the classrooms.

Andrews agreed with her union that teachers “work really hard” and deserve “fair pay and good benefits,” but she said walking off the job is tantamount to “failing” the kids they’re paid to help.

Andrews isn’t the only Portland teacher who feels this way, but it must have felt like it when she stood up to register her opinion at last week’s strike meeting.

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OregonLive.com reports that only a tiny handful of teachers stood in opposition to the proposed strike. Andrews believes most likeminded teachers didn’t even bother attending the meeting, given that the pro-strike crowd dominates the PAT.

The Portland union may be filled with loud-mouth, left-wing malcontents, but it’s reassuring to know at least some Portland educators are genuine professionals who understand that public education is ultimately about the kids, not the adults.

Our hats are off to you, Ms. Andrews.