The Advocate - May 16, 2016

• Living Up to Our Agreements
• Watch Out for IP 65
• Get Out and Vote May 17th
• Reviewing School Boundaries
• PAT Members' Scholarship Awards
• No Contract Exceptions for Conferences
• Elect Your Building Representatives
• Join Us to Celebrate PAT, May 25th
• Weigh In on the PPS Budget
• Support the Gas Tax!

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Recently, Stand For Children has been trying to gain access to school buildings in order to promote a ballot measure they're sponsoring, Initiative Petition 65. The proposal promises to improve graduation rates by promoting career technical education (CTE). As educators, we all want to see Oregon's graduation rates go up, but Stand for Children's proposal will actually do more harm than good.

For over a year, the District has been reviewing school boundaries and discussing whether and how they need to change.

Two PAT members have been a part of the formal review process, known as DBRAC, the District Boundary Review Advisory Committee. While we will not take a position on the scenarios currently being considered by the District, PAT has consistently made our priorities clear.

This year, we had an amazing number of qualified candidates for the PAT Members' Scholarship. Thanks to everyone who applied, and congratulations to the recipients for 2015-16 each of whom will receive a $1,000 scholarship:

With so many serious issues facing Portland educators, it is more important than ever to have a group of committed representatives, who listen to and advocate for the teachers in your building. It's time for each building to elect their representatives!