Dear Educator,

At noon today, PAT members completed the process of voting on whether to ratify the Tentative Agreement with PPS on a two-year successor to our Collective Bargaining Agreement. The results were confirmed this afternoon by our Nominations and Elections Committee.  PAT members voted overwhelmingly to ratify the agreement.

In addition to keeping up with rising cost of living, this tentative agreement represents a strong step forward as we work with the District toward our shared goal of recruiting new educators of color, and retaining and better supporting educators of color who are already in the district.  

The highlights of the Tentative Agreement include:

• 3% COLA for 2020-21 with retroactive pay to July 1st, 2020 for all employed during the term of the agreement, including those that retired in the 2020-2021 school year
• 3% COLA for 2021-22 effective July 1, 2021
• All employees in the BA+0 column of the pay scale will be moved to the corresponding step in the BA+15 and the BA+0 column will be eliminated making Step One of BA+15 the new base salary.
• A package of improvements to attract, support, and retain educators of color: 
  • $1500 annual stipend for Bilingual Educators, as defined in our CBA appendix I
  • $3,000 annual stipend for DLI Educators
  • Pay for educators who lead affinity groups
  • The creation of a program of Peer Support for new educators of color
  • Professional development for all members on anti-racism, implicit bias, and culturally responsive practices.

We also agreed to a separate process to take place early next year, to talk about Article 9 in our contract (Safety) and the Student’s Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.  The goal of the discussions will be to identify and change language that may disproportionately impact traditionally underserved students.  

Next week, on Tuesday, June 29th, the PPS School Board will vote on whether to ratify the agreement in a meeting starting at 6:00 pm. PAT President, Elizabeth Thiel, will address the board prior to their vote. You can watch next week’s PPS Board Meeting here. 

You can see the complete Tentative Agreement on our website.

In Solidarity,

Elizabeth Thiel
President, Portland Association of Teachers