‘The union kept my electricity on’: Why Kaitlyn Davidson became an OSEA activist
By Kaitlyn Davidson
I’ve been a bus driver since 2021, and this has also been my first job in education. Before that, I had a job delivering auto parts. I joined the union, pretty automatically, when I was hired because I thought, “Why not?” But the meaning of my union came home to me last year when I had some financial problems. I was talking to my supervisor about them, and my supervisor asked me, “Have you talked to your union president?” She brought my union president, April Biancone, into the room, and April said, “We can help you keep your lights on.”
Some people may say, “What does my union do for me?” I have two kids, and the union kept my electricity on. Other people have tough things happen, and the union also helps them. The union has your back in a way that you don’t understand until you need the union to have your back. So I support my union, and I got involved. I’m now an executive board member and bargaining team member for OSEA Chapter 71, which represents classified employees in North Clackamas schools.
Another way I’m active is by participating in OSEA Legislation Education Day. We learn about what bills we’re trying to get passed, and we go to the state Capitol for two days to share our stories with legislators, to show them why the legislation matters.
One proposed bill, which was my hill to die on during the legislative session and will remain my hill to die on until it’s honored by every district, was Senate Bill 756. It allows any school district staff member, including classified staff, who work with special education students to have access to a student’s individualized education plan. While the bill passed, many districts are dragging their heels on implementing the new law, and full implementation may take time.
That bill meant a lot to me from a collegial point of view. For example, I have a friend who’s a paraeducator. She deserves to have IEP rights and to be at IEP meetings. Knowing the challenges and needs that a child is experiencing helps us best serve children and also helps us stay safe as employees.
But this bill mattered personally, too. I have two children, one on an IEP, one younger on an IFSP (individualized family service plan). I choose to have classified employees in my parent meetings. They’re the people who spend the most time with my kids. They should have a say in how best to educate my kids.
I’m active in my union because I just feel having a union gives everyone more of a chance. I’m here for everybody getting a step up.
Classified employees are irreplaceable — every single one of us — as members of the school team. A bus driver is a referee, a peacekeeper, a therapist. Sometimes we are there in a child’s day when they most need kindness.
For example, during my first week of training as a driver, everyone was warning the transportation staff about one particular student. One administrator said, “Keep your eye on him.” This child got on the bus, and he was just a kindergartner! He said to me, “You’re sitting in my seat,” and I said, “Thank you so much for being honest with me, that I’m in your seat. Would you be willing to sit in another seat, just for today?” He did, and when he got off the bus, he gave me a big hug. This was the kid who was described as being a hard case. It broke my heart.
Because of our union, I have a voice in my job. I have a voice in my state Capitol. And I have a voice for my students.
Kaitlyn Davidson is a standby bus driver and dispatcher/router in the North Clackamas School District in Oregon.
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