All reps should join us Wednesday, May 3rd from 12:30-4:30pm* for updates about PAT's Bargaining Progress, plan for our next actions, and collaboration time with your colleagues and Zone Liaisons.

Every rep at every building should plan to attend. Register today!

OEA is hosting an informational meeting for members with questions regarding the National Board Certification on May 4th. 

Please see the event's flyer and click here to RSVP.

The Labor Notes Troublemakers School is coming back to Portland! PAT is co-sponsoring this event 9:00 AM-4:00 PM Saturday, May 6th at McDaniel High School. This is FREE for PAT members! Come learn from other labor activists and members about organizing, representation, direct action, and contract campaigns. PAT will be heavily featured and we look forward to our members coming to learn and teach. Register today.

PAT will be hosting a Retirement/Financial Planning seminar on Monday, May 8 from 4:30-6:00pm, at the PAT office. This seminar is about investment options for educators, and will be led by veteran financial advisor Ed Foster. Topics for this seminar include:

• Brief overview of your PERS/OPSRP plan
• The IAP account and investment options
• How investments work generally
• What happens if (or when) the market goes down
• Setting up a 403b (how and why)
• How much money you need to retire

RSVP here. (A light dinner will be provided.)

(*This retirement seminar is a benefit of PAT membership, and only available for PAT members. Not a member yet? Join here!)

• PPS School Board Meeting, Tuesday, April 25th (MPEC)
• All PAT PAC Member Meeting, Wednesday, April 26th, 6:30-8:30 PM (Virtual, register today)
• PAT/PPS Bargaining
  • Thursday, April 27th 12:00 PM-7:00 PM (MPEC)
  • May 11th, location and time TBD 
• Internal Organizing, Monday, May 1st, 4:30-6:30 PM
• Advocacy Committee*, Wednesday, May 3rd, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• ELD Sub-Committee, Wednesday, May 3rd, 4:30-6:30 PM (register HERE for Zoom link)
• Membership Committee, Wednesday, May 3rd, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• IPD Committee, Wednesday, May 10th, 4:30-6:30 PM
• Legislative Committee & PAT PAC, Wednesday, May 10th, 4:30-6:30 PM
• External Organizing, Thursday, May 11th, 4:30-6:30 PM

*Marks closed committees

For all upcoming events, please see the PAT calendar and OEA calendar.

10 Minute Meeting Slides for Staff Meeting

• RA Material Distribution Instructions
  
• PAT Bargaining Platform, Petition Edition
• RA Agenda- April 19th
• RA Meeting Minutes- from March 15th RA
• Presentation Slides from April RA
• National Board Certification Info Session
• Financial Planning Seminar Flier
• Portland Troublemakers School Flier
• All Representative Summit Flier
• Letter to Members re: Interim PAT Election
• The Kicker and Public Education
• Organizing Model vs. Service Model
• Organizing Week of Action
  • Organizing Week of Action Commitment Sheet
  • Solidarity Poster and FAQ
  • Solidarity Poster Instructions for Reps
    
    
• The Advocate, April 21st, 2023
• PAT/OEA Membership Link
• Parliamentary Motions Form

Hello PAT Educators,

We met with District management for our 7th Bargaining Session today.  

We had a guest School Psychologist, Emilee Refvem and a guest Counselor, Amy Henry join Bargaining Team member and Counselor Samara Bockelman to discuss the crushing workloads that have been created by the mental and behavioral health crisis that our students are facing (Check out their testimony HERE).  Hearing them discuss the challenges that they and their students face on a daily basis was difficult and emotionally draining.  They made it perfectly clear that our students are best served with a full team of student services educators, including Social Workers and Qualified Mental Healthcare Professionals.  

They also helped all of us to understand how negatively an entire school community is impacted when a full team of mental and behavioral health professionals are not available to students.  This leads to our current reality; Dysregulated students, room clears, students at risk of hurting others or themselves.  We heard testimony about hundreds of suicide evaluations being performed just this year so far.  This is why our proposals calls for a Counselor, School Psychologist, Social Worker, and Qualified Mental Healthcare Professional to be available for every student. But its not enough to claim you have these supports in place, you must ensure that caseloads are kept within a range that makes it possible to serve the needs of students.  This is why our proposal not only mandates student support teams but places caseload caps on their workloads to ensure that when a student is in crisis there is a caring and qualified person who can help.

Both teams continued to exchange proposals on less central articles, and we tentatively on Article 5- Grievance Procedure, preserving some of our rights that are unique to our contract.  We continue to be concerned that the District is proposing to remove Just Cause rights from our contract, a standard contract clause that requires the District actually have a valid reason to discipline Educators. 

We are scheduled to meet with Management again on April 27th.  It is our hope that District Management will be ready to engage with us on mental health supports, and some of the other critical issues such as class size/caseload caps for all, more planning time, compensation that keeps up with inflation and the many other pressing needs of students and educator that are a part of our bargaining platform (link to platform here).

We are going to be escalating our organizing in the field around our Contract Campaign.  We will win the best contract we have ever had by organizing ourselves internally and allying with our community.  Please watch for upcoming contract actions and see your Building Reps and Internal Organizers for more information.

In Solidarity,

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

Hello Educators,

Today your PAT Bargaining Team met with PPS management for our 6th bargaining session. 

We spent most of the session discussing our proposals for hard class size caps and additional planning time. 

It won’t be a surprise to any PAT member that, when it comes to planning time, PPS ranks near the bottom of the 14 districts in the Portland metro area. We have proposed a guaranteed minimum of 440 minutes of planning time each week at every grade level, including an additional 30 minute block of planning time within each school day for elementary educators. This would move us from 13th place to 5th place. Take a look at how PPS compares with the other districts in the Portland area. 

The District provided counter proposals for several smaller issues, but we are still waiting for the District to respond to most of our substantive proposals.

We’ve prepared a detailed side-by-side comparison of where we stand on the key issues in bargaining, which we encourage you to read and share with your colleagues.

Our PAT president Angela Bonilla summed what’s at stake today, remarking:

We cannot keep doing what we are doing because it is not working. We will continue to lose educators. I understand the educator shortage is a national trend, and we are not exempt. But educators going on strike is also a national trend… And why is that? It’s because we are done working for free. We are done being morally injured. We are done, as Special Educator Ginger Huizar always says, running ourselves ragged holding up a raggedy system. 

We have the opportunity to stitch a new garment, one that serves all students and all educators, one that allows kids to have individual attention and support. We know better, so we must do better. We need small class sizes to build Great Public Schools for our students. And like I tell my students when we are trying something that seems impossible: “I think we can do it. I believe in us”.

We will be back at the table on Thursday, April 13th, 2023. You can always watch us live on our YouTube page and catch up with the sessions from today.

In Solidarity,
Steve Lancaster, Chair
Francisca Alvarez
Samara Bockelman
Julia Fogg
Thea Keith
Charity Powell
Portland Association of Teachers
http://www.pdxteachers.org/

The Advocate, March 24th, 2023

• President’s Message: Spring has Sprung!
• Upcoming Events
  • March 26th, La Casa Comun Solidarity Event
  • March 27th, Public Hearing on HB 2895
  • March 29th, OEA Student Loan Forgiveness Seminar
  • April 4th & 13th, PAT/PPS Bargaining
  • April 15th, Professional Development by OHS and JAMO
  • April 27th, An Evening with Nichole Watson
  • May 6th, Labor Notes Troublemakers School
  • Upcoming PAT Committee Meetings/Events
    • PAT Office Closed Spring Break
• Know Your Contract
  
  • Contract Exceptions- due May 12th
  • 2nd Semester Overage Pay Determination
• Committee Updates
  • Internal Organizing
  • External Organizing
  • Racial Equity
    • Aspiring Educators of Color Scholarships
  • PAT PAC
    • School Board Candidate Endorsements
  • Substitute Committee
    • Ask Every Substitute Educator You See about Joining PAT
  • Legislative Committee
    • Postcard Action
    • Lobby Action

2023 School Board Candidate Endorsements:

The Portland Association of Teacher PAC Board is proud to endorse the following candidates for PPS School Board:

Hello Educators,

As we near the end of the year, where Spring Break is just around the corner, take a deep breath. Congratulations to everyone for making it to the last quarter of the year!

Many of you are experiencing the difficult choice of deciding where to work next year (some by choice, others by unassignment), and I wish you all the best of luck. I know our union and bargaining team will continue to fight for the conditions that will keep you in our district serving our students. Thank you to all educators who filled out the personnel survey and spoke your truth. Thank you to all educators who wake up and come to work every day.

It is also a time for our Union advocacy work to ramp up. Shout out to all educators, union partners and community members who attended the PPS School Board meeting at McDaniel HS on Tuesday March 7th! 

We will continue to take actions to show management that the path we are going down is the wrong one. As I stated during my testimony, there are things profoundly wrong with our district and how those with power acknowledge and treat us. Unless we change our direction and culture, we will continue to fail our students, community and educators. We have said this before, but I want to make sure we make it clear: Educators want to feel like the work they do is sustainable, equitable, and stabilizing. We want to feel like the work is actually possible. Educators want to love working for PPS. 

Solidarity Forever

The beauty in our struggle is that we are not alone. Right now, we have several locals in the state and across the country going on strike or taking action in support of a strong contract and safe, equitable and sustainable public schools. We stand in solidarity with our Union Siblings in Silver Falls (SFEA) and Woodburn (WEA), who are also fighting for class size and caseload relief. We take great inspiration from their struggle and recognize their success is part of our bargaining struggle. We are appalled that the Woodburn administration would give themselves a 16 percent raise and offer teachers 3 percent. Shame on them! 

I just want to say: Don't stop until you win. When the time comes to stand with your community on the picket line for the schools your students deserve, Portland Teachers will be with you! Together, we can win the future we know is possible for our schools, students, and educators.

Keep an eye out for more PAT actions coming up, including the Bargaining Campaign Petitions we have sent to each school site. Please encourage your colleagues and non educator friends to sign on and show the district we have support behind us!

Take Care,
Angela Bonilla
PAT President

The El Rancho Residents' Committee has been fighting for their rights for a year and now several residents have received unfair eviction notices.

This Sunday, March 26th, 2:00-5:00 PM, come hear their stories, join their struggle, and put pressure on the owner to stop the evictions!

El Rancho Mobile Home Park, 7265 NE Killingsworth St, Portland, 97218.

Here is an amazing opportunity to influence state funding for special education! 

House Bill 2895 proposes to remove the cap on state funding for special education. 

What: Public Hearing on House Bill 2895

When: Monday, March 27th @ 3:00 PM

Where: Capitol Building, 900 Court St NE, Salem, OR 97301, Hearing Room D, Salem

If passed, this could be the first time special education has been fully funded in Oregon.

For years, NEA members have advocated together in favor of canceling college debt to help fix the educator shortage. Now, student loans taken out by millions of borrowers are being substantially reduced, forgiven, or even canceled outright due to recent changes in loan forgiveness programs.

However, the fight is not over, and NEA remains committed to helping you take advantage of these opportunities. Join OEA to learn more about how recent changes may impact your student debt, and resources available through your NEA Member Benefits to help you navigate the system.

Register today to reserve your place. Click the image to see our flier.

Date and Time: Wednesday, March 29 from 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Cost: Members $0, free as a benefit of membership. This is a members-only event.

Join OEA to learn more about how recent changes may impact your student debt, and resources available through your NEA Member Benefits to help you navigate the system.

Register today to reserve your place. See our flyer below.

Date and Time: Wednesday, March 29 from 4:30-6:00 p.m., on Zoom

Cost: Members $0, free as a benefit of OEA membership. This is a members-only event.

• April 4th, 2023 11am-7pm @ PAT office

• April 13th, 2023 11am-7pm @ PESC office

Set your reminders to watch and show your solidarity! Wear your buttons, Blues, and a cap with a bargaining button on it!

On Tuesday, April 4th, Take a photo with staff before or after school (or during lunch) and send to [email protected].

Wear any cap- put a bargaining button on it! Let’s show that we’re united for smaller class sizes.

Post your own photos & selfies:  Tag us @PDXteachers on Facebook, instagram, Twitter and TikTok

When posting: Use hashtags #PPSClassSizeMatters #PATbargaining #BluesdayPPS #BluesdayPAT

Join the Oregon Historical Society and the Japanese American Museum of Oregon to learn about classroom-ready curriculum and other resources to teach about the experiences of Japanese Americans in Oregon. Click here to register.

Saturday, April 15th

• Educator Workshop 12:30-2:00 PM
• Public roundtable discussion with Yasui family members and historians 2:00-4:00 PM

Columbia Center for the Arts: 215 Cascade Ave, Hood River, OR 97031

PDU credits available

OHS is offering $150 stipends to a limited number of teachers who register for and attend the entire event.

Join us at the PAT office for a discussion on where we’ve been and where we are going with racial equity.  More details to come.

The Labor Notes Troublemakers School is coming back to Portland! PAT is co-sponsoring this event 9:00 AM-4:00 PM Saturday, May 6th at McDaniel High School. This is FREE for PAT members! Come learn from other labor activists and members about organizing, representation, direct action, and contract campaigns. PAT will be heavily featured and we look forward to our members coming to learn and teach. Register today.

RSVP Today

• Substitute Committee, Tuesday, April 4th, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• Advocacy Committee*, Wednesday, April 5th, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• Internal Organizing, Monday, April 10th, 4:30-6:30 PM
• ELD Sub-Committee, Moved to April 11th!, 4:30-6:30 PM (register HERE for Zoom link) 
• Legislative Committee & PAT PAC, Tuesday, April 11th, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• Bargaining, IPD, Racial Equity+ Committees, Wednesday, April 12th, 4:30-6:30 PM
• External Organizing & SJCO Committee, RSVP (New form to include parents/guardians) Thursday, April 13th, 4:30-6:30 PM

*Marks closed committees +Marks affinity space for BIPOC educators 

For all upcoming events, please see the PAT calendar and OEA calendar.

The PAT office will be closed for Spring Break, March 27th-31st.

PAT has a process for contract exceptions to allow professional educators at a worksite to apply for an exception to the terms and conditions of the Agreement (Article 1.9).  

Contract exceptions are due Friday, May 12th, 2023 and must be approved by the PAT Advocacy Committee and the District, prior to implementation. 

A contract exception is valid only for the school year for which it was approved. 

The Contract Exception Form and FAQ’s can be found at pdxteachers.org "Know Your Contract" page.

The Advocacy Committee will host a virtual meet to offer support with the process in April, date TBA.

PAT/PPS contract states, “Student loads will be calculated on the third Monday in October and the third Monday in February.” (Article 8.3.2.1)

This year, the third Monday in February was Monday, 2/20. Since that was a non-school day, overages were calculated on Tuesday, 2/21.

PPS will make overage payments in the March check.

If any professional educator does not receive payment for an overage on their March paycheck, claims should be submitted to PPS in April. State your case in detail and include evidence on the form from PPS. Make statements, rather than asking for overage pay. 

Keep using the PPS form until you get an answer. Contact your Building Rep for help.

Our fight for safe, sustainable and equitable schools will not be silenced! That was the message educators and the coalition of workers who keep PPS schools running sent loud and clear at the PPS School Board meeting on Tuesday, March 7th. It was a joy to see so many of you at McDaniel High School. 

However, it is also evident that PPS management is not taking our vision for what strong public schools can – and should – be seriously. It’s time we show PPS Management that we are united behind a more hopeful, just, and joyful vision for our schools.

The past few weeks, educators across the District have been signing onto our Bargaining Platform Petition. Building reps or organizers should have picked up a petition to bring back to your building to sign. If not - no worries! It’s not too late. In fact, now is the time to act.

If your worksite does not yet have a bargaining petition, please write to Erika or Matt ([email protected]).

Please sign this petition in support of this vision for SAFE, SUSTAINABLE, AND EQUITABLE SCHOOLS! 

The pandemic turned our lives—and our schools—upside down. Our students, and our communities, are grappling with more urgent, unmet needs than ever before.

As classroom educators, we see these problems every day. And the past three years have made it abundantly clear that if we want safe, stable, and equitable communities, public schools are the linchpin. But we can’t simply go back to the way schools were before COVID. Our students need—and deserve—so much more. Over the past few months, thousands of teachers, parents, and Portland residents have shared their vision for great public schools with our union.

Together with our community partners, we will be fighting for this vision in our upcoming contract negotiations. Can you please take a moment to sign (and share the petition with 5 others!) in support of PPS teachers and parents advocating for safe, sustainable, equitable schools? https://chng.it/CKyqCQW5Tf