Dear PAT Educator,

Please read the information below, and then take the bargaining survey that was sent to your PPS email inbox around 5:30pm on Thursday, June 3.

(The survey will close at 5:00pm next Tuesday, June 8. Only PAT members may take the survey. If you are not a member of PAT, but would like to join so that you can take this and future bargaining surveys, please email [email protected] ASAP.)

Thank you in advance for taking the survey. Your feedback is invaluable in assisting the PAT Bargaining Team.

The information below is also listed within the survey itself.

Introduction

This May, PPS and PAT began a limited bargain to cover a few key areas of importance for the Union and the District. PAT agreed to limit its proposals to COLA increases, to an adjustment to the early retirement incentive language, to clarifications and modifications of the Overage language, and to a limited set of proposals addressing the recruitment, support, and retention of educators of color working in Portland Public Schools.   

PPS agreed to limit its proposals to clarifications and modifications of the Overage language, to proposals related to Article 9 and the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, to proposals to create a differentiated approach to support underserved schools, and to clarifications and modifications to the Middle School schedules.   

Section I: The District’s Plan for “Accelerated Schools”

The District’s proposals to create a differentiated approach to support underserved schools has been presented under concepts they are calling “Accelerated Schools”. You can view the District’s proposal here. You can watch the bargaining sessions in which the District presented the proposal, and where the bargaining team asked questions about the proposal at the PAT YouTube Channel. 

The District’s Proposal includes the following elements: 

1. In recognition of the additional work time and responsibilities expected of professional educators assigned to Acceleration schools, each professional educator shall be paid a yearly stipend of $10,000. 
2. Educators who receive the $10,000 stipend will not be eligible for any other compensation for extended days and/or work hours unless such time is in excess of that set forth in this agreement. 
3. The District may involuntarily transfer educators out of an Acceleration school for any reason. 
4. Additional duties and responsibilities on the part of educators will be required. 
5. Five (5) additional contract days for purposes of district-directed professional development. 
6. Fifteen (15) district-directed professional development sessions outside of the regular contract day of up to two (2) hours in length each.
7. The educator workday will be extended for 1 hour. The student day will also be extended (probably by 30 minutes).
8. Professional educators may be required to create written lesson plans in accordance with the identified curriculum.   
9. Educators will engage in 30 minutes of coaching with either an administrator or an instructional coach every other week.   

SECTION II: The Schools Portland Students Deserve

“The Schools Portland Students Deserve” is a vision and a bargaining campaign developed by PAT in 2015 to outline a plan for improving Portland's schools. This document was created through two years of member and community engagement. Though we continue to fight for this vision, we have not yet realized the teaching and learning conditions that we envisioned as “The  Schools Portland Students Deserve”. 

In our current bargain, it is encouraging that PPS is acknowledging the need for increased support at targeted schools. We are hopeful we can partner with them on dramatically improving services for our historically underserved communities, and we see the possibility to connect this value back to what educators have identified in our vision for what our schools should be. (Watch Part 1 of the June 2nd bargaining session where the bargaining team spoke about this vision.)

In light of PPS’s recent proposals around “Accelerated Schools'', we are interested in your feedback about “The Schools Portland Students Deserve” to find out to what extent this vision addresses the goal of creating better outcomes for historically underserved students. 

“The Schools Portland Students Deserve” is based on eight guiding principles:

1. Smaller Class Sizes: The 2018 ODE Quality Education Model includes the following:  PreK-1: 20; 2nd-3rd: 23;  4-5th: 24; 6-8th: average of 22 with a cap of 29 in core classes;  9-12th: average of 21 with a cap of 29 in core class. Caseload caps and total load caps would also be implemented for all educators. 
2. Educate the Whole Child: All students have equitable access to recess, arts, library, technology, etc. across the District.
3. Educate Every Child: Improve services for ELL and Special Education, including smaller caseloads and a full spectrum of services. 
4. Wrap Around and Support Services: Prioritize historically underserved communities and provide daily access to nurses, counselors, school psychologists, QMHPs, SLPs, Social Workers, etc.
5. More Teaching, Less Testing: Prioritize culturally responsive teaching over standardized testing.
6. More Funding for Classroom Supports: Allow the school community to set budget priorities and shift funding away from top-down initiatives. 
7. Transparent, Collaborative, and Respectful Administration: Involve community and teachers in decision making.
8. Professional Autonomy and Academic Freedom: Permit teachers to draw from student experience and teach culturally relevant content, prioritize teacher planning time, and commit to fair evaluations.