Portland Classroom Missing One Student for Second Teacher, Parents Say

Parents and Educators Fight for Support in Overcrowded Vietnamese Dual Language Classroom

Parents and educators at Rose City Park Elementary in Portland, Oregon, have been raising concerns about the challenges faced by their first-grade Vietnamese dual language immersion classroom. The situation has sparked a growing call for additional support from the school district.

Last June, parents from the school wrote to leaders at Portland Public Schools, urging them to assign a second teacher to the program. They expressed frustration over the lack of support for the Vietnamese Dual Language Immersion program, warning that continued reductions in staff could lead to its failure.

The class had 32 students planning to return, which put it just outside the school district’s “target class size” of between 16 and 31 students for first grade. District officials have indicated that once a first-grade classroom reaches 32 students, it becomes a priority for an additional teacher, though this is not an automatic trigger.

Despite these concerns, the pleas went unheeded. By the time the school year began, one family had left the program, leaving 31 students in the class, taught by a single teacher who is also a second-language speaker. Parents say the situation could have been avoided if the school district had allowed a waitlisted family to join the program, which would have increased the number to 33 students, comfortably above the target threshold.

Instead, the family interested in transferring received a notice stating there was no space available at their requested school. A follow-up email from Senior Director of Schools Raddy Lurie explained that focus option programs close to new enrollment as of certain dates each year.

Candice Grose, a spokesperson for the district, said that it is standard practice not to allow schools to “add transfer students simply to qualify for additional staffing.” While the district has up to 52 slots per grade in the dual language Vietnamese program, Grose noted that this figure is a planning estimate, not a guaranteed number.

The overcrowded classroom has led to ongoing efforts to get the district to add a second teacher. Parents and the sole teacher have described a chaotic environment, with students struggling to keep up with foundational English language skills, as 50% of the coursework is supposed to be in English.

“It’s really a struggle for (my daughter) and for me to deal with the program with only one teacher,” said parent Hien Vu. “She and I struggle every night with the homework. She’s got a lot of homework from the Vietnamese class. But I haven’t seen any work for the English class, at all.”

Typically, the district hires additional educators for “enrollment rebalancing” in October, but this year, there are no more teachers available in that pool. Raddy Lurie told parents that the budget constraints have limited the ability to add more staff.

The district has already added teachers to both Grant and Lincoln high schools due to high enrollments, while some elementary schools have successfully argued for additional teachers based on academic or safety concerns.

In a crowded classroom, students often feel overwhelmed, competing for attention and support. Chau Vo, the first-grade Vietnamese immersion teacher, has spent hours translating curriculum materials into Vietnamese to accommodate her class. She emphasized that the lack of a second teacher has made it difficult to provide adequate support.

One student in the class has transferred out due to the strain, though his parents have expressed interest in returning if a second teacher is added. The school’s principal, Sheryll Orbase, has promised regular support from various specialists, but parents argue that this is not a substitute for a dedicated teacher.

“Some of the families are thinking about leaving Portland Public Schools or the program,” said parent Caitlin Burkhart. “It’s a really great school, a very sweet community school. But I am feeling failed in a lot of ways at the moment.”