A few words on what these first weeks as City Council Vice President look like. To sign up for regular updates from my office, head over here. To contact my office directly or read past newsletters, click here.

From the beginning of this campaign, Teacher Tiffany has been clear and committed about the issues she’ll fight for: affordable housing, community safety, safe streets for commuters, climate justice, economic justice, and above all else, dignity as a basic human right. We’d like to acknowledge all the people and organizations who share those values and are standing with Teacher Tiffany in her race for Portland City Council District 3. 

Over a dozen labor unions representing educators, mail carriers, iron workers, teamsters, laborers, and other working people from across the city. Environmental groups like The Sierra Club of Oregon, Sunrise Movement PDX, and the Jane Fonda Climate PAC. Social justice organizations including Mom’s Demand Action, Basic Rights Oregon, APANO Action Fund, Latino Network Action Fund, and Imagine Black. Local and state elected officials including current and former city commissioners and Oregon state representatives. And most importantly, teachers, librarians, small business owners, clergy, social justice advocates, activists, parents, and neighbors — 200+ community members like you — from across District 3.

We are honored and grateful to have the support and trust of such a diverse coalition of Portlanders all committed to a shared vision for the city we love: a safe, connected, housed city where everyone can thrive.

With two weeks left until election day, please consider joining us for the final push to send Teacher Tiffany to City Hall as a Portland City Councilor for District 3!

Click here to view the full list of endorsements from organizations, elected officials, and community members!

Click here to volunteer to come canvass or phone bank with Teacher Tiffany!

Click here to donate to the Teacher Tiffany for the People campaign!

“Koyama Lane is not only empathetic, she’s curious, collaborative, and outgoing. Those are traits that will be essential to ensure the city’s new Council listens to and reflects the needs of constituents and that our new governing system truly works to serve Portlanders.

We think Koyama Lane is someone who can hold herself and others accountable, while building coalitions that will help move our city forward.”

Yesterday I got the news that I have officially qualified for the November ballot to run for Portland City Council District 3. A couple of weeks ago I went to City Hall in the middle of the day to file my paperwork. The process itself is easy–you answer a few questions on a form and pay a fee and hand your papers into the person behind the glass at the City Auditor’s office. There is a big map of Portland’s City Council districts in the room and it was fun to see this new vision of the city up close, not thinking of it as new borders and divisions, but imagining more full representation for people in all parts of the city.

The process was so efficient that I found myself with extra time and took a minute to stand in the center of City Hall. It was surprisingly emotional. I thought about my grandparents, who were forced into camps at Gila River, Arizona and Topaz, Utah, in an act that changed the trajectory of their lives. Japanese American incarceration divided families, destroyed communities and livelihoods, and left deep scars on generations of my people. It’s why my mother didn’t teach me Japanese and why my grandparents didn’t talk about their childhood and adolescence as I was growing up.

This history is a huge part of why I am running to be the first Asian American member of Portland City Council. It’s not that representation fixes everything. But I know that my community is not the only one that has been failed by a public policy. Past injustices shape many of our present realities, but they don’t have to dictate the future. I am called to this work because I know we can build a city that guarantees a dignified existence for all of its residents. I want a city where everyone can put down roots and build a community that flourishes over generations.  I’m so proud to officially be on the ballot and look forward to representing District 3 on the Portland City Council.

Running for city office is a step that would have been impossible for many of my family members, and I do not take that lightly. I’m so grateful to everyone who has donated or knocked a door to help me get into office. Can you donate $25 today or text five friends to contribute? If you have donated, can you hit the maximum of $350? And please, please sign up to come knock doors this summer! We’ve knocked almost 2,000 so far, and we have a long way to go. It is a really, truly, genuinely fun way to get outside and get to know people in our district, and it’s one of the best ways to get me to City Hall in November.

Thank you for coming with me.

Love,
Teacher Tiffany

I’m still buzzing from an amazing campaign field launch yesterday! My community showed up in a magical way. We ate, danced, laughed, and knocked just under 1000 doors! I’m feeling so excited and energized about this campaign, especially knowing how many neighbors and volunteers and friends, both new and old, have shown support.

The day was extra special because it came just after I got the news that I am officially endorsed by my union, the Portland Association of Teachers. My union siblings have taught me so much about organizing, leading, and solidarity, and I am so proud to have their support as I embark on this campaign journey. I would not be called to this work without my union behind me.

On that note, endorsement season has definitely gotten underway! So far I’ve been so lucky to have gotten the early support of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Ironworkers 29, Laborers 483, the National Association of Letter Carriers 82, Next Up Action Fund, and Portland DSA. I am also incredibly grateful to local leaders Carmen Rubio, Lesly Muñoz, Hoa Nguyen, Shannon Jones Isadore, Willy Chotzen, and Chalice Savage for their endorsements. It means so much to know I have earned the trust of these strong leaders in our community.

If you would like to receive regular campaign updates, please sign up here! Let’s knock some doors together this summer!

As this year winds to a close, I’ve been thinking a lot about community. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been solo with my kiddos while my husband is in New Zealand, finally getting to see where his little brother has lived and taught for six years. This change in our routine has reminded me how important it is to lean on community. Friends and neighbors have been helping with school pick-up and drop-off, taking my kids for playdates, bringing meals, and just stopping by to hang out.

Building community feels good. Last week, PAT held a winter celebration potluck to bring together teachers, students, and families, and to mark our hard work during this wild year. In my classroom, community looks like third graders forming a “Supporting Our Unsheltered Neighbors Club” and collecting warm socks and blankets for BeaconPDX’s winter drive. In our Sunnyside neighborhood, it looks like a neighbor collecting household items for the many resettled Afghan families who are starting over in Portland. If you have items to contribute to either of these efforts, please drop a line to info@teachertiffanyforthepeople.com and I’ll connect you. We can do so much when we do it together. 

In my classroom we have been holding our annual reading of Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen by Debbi Michiko Florence, a Japanese American author who we hosted at Sunnyside and Richmond last year. Students learn about Mochitsuki, the ceremony for making mochi, and Japanese American traditions at the beginning of a new year. Earlier this month, I took my own kids to the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) holiday party, where we decorated cookies, got to meet an Asian Santa, and felt the joy of being with—wait for it—community. 

Campaign-wise, I’ve started setting aside a chunk of each week to do “call time,” which has been a surprisingly fun, only kind-of awkward way to connect with friends and catch them up on the City Council race. I am enjoying Oregon Labor Candidate School (teachers also sometimes go to school!), and I’m preparing a mini presentation on the PATCO strike of 1981 for my cohort. I was accepted into the next Emerge campaign school cohort, and will start that in January.

In other news, like families all over Portland, I tried, and failed, to get my kids into Rec and Park swim lessons. I also took my kids to Great Wolf Lodge, aka Vegas for children, which was possibly the most fun they’ve ever had. Then yesterday I stayed home with my youngest, who was sick, and thought a lot about what it means to support families. I thought about parents who work, whether out at jobs, or at home taking care of kids and elders. I thought about grandparents and aunties and neighbors who step up when needed. I can’t wait to get to work next year supporting families and building community in Portland.

I’m wishing you a peaceful, joyful holiday season. Let’s get together in the new year.

[image: Members of the Portland JACL board take a photo with Santa Claus at the holiday party. Photo by Rich Iwasaki.]

We did it! After nearly four weeks of a historic strike, Portland Public School teachers secured a contract that genuinely improves the lives of teachers and the learning conditions of our students. I was proud to represent PAT on the picket lines and in these local and national news stories about the strike.

We have all experienced so many emotions this month, from joy at seeing thousands of families and kids out on the streets to show support, to frustration at the back-and-forth email blasts and competing narratives, to extreme fatigue at figuring out what our kids were going to do from one day to the next. I’m a PPS educator and a proud PAT member, but I’m a parent before anything else–a PPS parent. My family was also holding the anxiety and stress and uncertainty that accompanies any transformative labor action, but especially one that involves our precious kids. There is a lot of emotion to process around this strike, beyond the excitement of negotiating a great contract and the relief of returning to school.

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with my fellow educators and the families we serve was the honor of a lifetime. Now, as we move forward with a contract in place, we create the blueprint for how to take the wins of the strike and turn them into more wins, more investment in our schools and our city and our people. That’s the promise that I am making as your candidate for Portland City Council in District 3.

This month I prioritized standing with my PAT family on the picket lines over campaigning. I’m feeling so much joy at being back in my classroom with my students, and so much conviction about getting to work on the next phase of my campaign as we enter 2024. Can we count on you to become a sustaining donor and chip in $20 per month?

Thank you for all your support.

Love and solidarity,

Teacher Tiffany

The historic Portland Teachers’ Strike is officially in its third week. This has been the most intense, challenging, terrifying, clarifying, invigorating experience of my professional life.  My fellow teachers and I have been blown away by the depth of solidarity we have seen from PPS parents and kids. PPS parents are juggling work and childcare and living with a lot of stress and uncertainty as we head toward the holiday season, and PPS kids are missing their friends and classrooms and routines.  And yet every day PPS families are joining us on Portland streets to get loud in support of better class sizes and safe buildings.  They are contributing delicious breakfasts and hot coffee to our picket lines and collecting gift cards for teachers worried about lost paychecks.  They are emailing PPS to demand that leadership come back to the table with something real.  I will never forget the solidarity and love our community has shown us, or the support teachers have shown each other in this moment. I know that we are going to win.  

I have been honored to represent PAT in a few different media venues. I spoke with Fox 12 about PPS suddenly being broke when it comes to teachers and classrooms. I was interviewed by OPB about planning time, rats and mold. I went onstage at the Newmark Theater and told Jon Lovett of Lovett or Leave it and Pod Save America about what we’re fighting for.  You can see more media appearances, and learn more about the strike, here: Teacher Tiffany in the Media

Thank you all for your support during this transformational moment in Portland’s history. 

You may have heard the news: Yesterday, 99% of Portland teachers voted to authorize a strike. For me, this is an incredibly proud and personal moment, the culmination of years of organizing to advocate for better conditions in our schools. Kids and families in our community deserve better, and it’s been so inspiring to watch teachers, parents, kids and fellow school professionals in my community stand up to fight for it.  

Last week, hundreds of teachers and school personnel gathered with parents, students, and other community supporters at a school board meeting in show of community solidarity for strike-ready teachers.

Last week, the Portland Mercury published a great feature on what teachers are asking for, which discusses one of the issues I am most passionate about—the fact that many Portland teachers, especially those just starting out, can no longer afford to live in the communities where they teach. This is a problem that extends far beyond education, but it hits especially close to home right now. “Workforce housing”—housing that is affordable for middle-income workers like police officers, firefighters, teachers, health care workers, and retail clerks—is something I plan to focus on if elected to City Council. 

I have been amazed and overwhelmed by the community support for the issues that the union has centered in their bargaining platform—from improved teacher pay to help teachers live where they work and help schools attract and retain amazing educators; to smaller class sizes and healthier buildings that center kids’ learning; to enhanced behavioral health supports for students in crisis. 

“The core thing is that this is about the kids. We can’t afford not to center them and invest in them.” —Tiffany Koyama Lane, Portland Mercury

Read the full Portland Mercury article.  

There is still time for the district to offer a contract that addresses our most important demands, and I hope they will. But if they don’t, we are ready.