PORTLAND, Ore. — Among the loud voices calling for change in the classrooms are teachers at Portland’s only Russian immersion elementary program. There are just a handful of these Russian immersion programs in the country. One is at Kelly Elementary in Southeast Portland.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the students who like to be fully bilingual,” said kindergarten teacher Elena Dudareva.
But things like unmanageable class sizes and not enough teachers are getting in the way of that unique opportunity.
“Class size should not be any more than 20; even 20 is top because we teach in two languages, and workload is much more than the regular classroom,” Dudareva said.
Yulia Brooks teaches second grade and needs an assistant. She has 30 students in her class.
Brooks said she has to rush her lesson plans and only spends nine to ten minutes a day with each student, “which is not enough if you are talking about high-quality education.”
This as an influx of young Ukrainian refugees have joined the program, making her job that much harder.
“They came with no skills in any language. They don’t know their alphabet in either language. … It tells you that I have very different levels in my classrooms,” Brooks said.
“Children come with PTSD and trauma, and we would love to welcome them, but they say there’s no more room in our classes,” added Dudareva.
These teachers first brought these concerns to the district seven years ago. Nevertheless, they said the district continues to cut teachers, and so plan to strike until they reach some sort of agreement.
KGW reached out to the district for comment but has not heard back yet.