Dear Educator,

We hope you have had a chance to check out our 2023 Bargaining Platform, and all the critical improvements we’ll be fighting for this year. You can find out more on our website http://www.pdxteachers.org/bargainingvision including:

• Our 2023 Bargaining Platform (2 pages)
• PAT President Angela Bonilla’s video summary (language starts at 5:23)
• Slides highlighting key improvements
• Full text of all PAT contract proposals

Today we met with PPS administrators to hear their proposed changes for our collective bargaining agreement. You can watch the session on our PAT YouTube channel.

One big elephant in the room was the District budget. Although their team was not ready to present any specific economic proposals, there was plenty of handwringing over inadequate state education funding and how that will impact bargaining. 

Many of you got a picture of this in today’s staffing discussion, where among other things we’ve heard they’re closing one school and phasing out 50 TOSA positions.

But there’s plenty to be worried about in what they did present. 

PPS administrators want to:

• Eliminate the internal round of hiring.
• Extend the length of the school year on a school-by-school basis (adding up to 3 Professional Development days and 3 Instructional days).
• Eliminate the PAT Sick Leave Bank and force educators to rely on Oregon’s paid family leave law.
• Gut just cause protections, removing an educator’s ability to go to arbitration for dismissals and terminations.

It’s clear that if we want to make big changes in PPS, we’ve got our work cut out for us, so please make sure and sign the petition supporting our PAT Bargaining platform and start talking to your colleagues about what’s at stake in these negotiations. We really hope you’ll take time to share your story or even make a 30 second video illustrating how these issues are affecting you and how our proposals will benefit your students.

We know that if we stand together it’s possible to address the critical issues facing students, educators and our school communities.  

Tune in February 14 for our next bargaining session, where we’re fighting for smaller class sizes and hard caps, increased planning time, expanded mental health supports, additional special education services, racial equity and restorative justice.

In Solidarity,

PAT Bargaining Team
Steve Lancaster, Chair
Francisca Alvarez
Samara Bockleman
Julia Fogg
Thea Keith
Charity Powell
Portland Association of Teachers
http://www.pdxteachers.org/