Teachers from British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington are coming together to connect across borders and discuss common threats to public education and ways to challenge hate, bigotry and neoliberalism. 

Date: Saturday, April 7, 2018
Time: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Location: Sullivan Heights Secondary School, 6248 144 St., Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

The conference is seeking educators interested in leading workshops on social justice themes.  Possible topics could include immigration/border issues, privatization of schools, First Nations education and rights, Reconciliation, global climate crisis, organizing skills, rights of disabled people, women's rights, LGBTQ/ SOGI, Social Justice in our curricula, land struggles, anti-colonialism, race/ anti-racism, etc. Workshop sessions will be 90 minutes and must include active participation. Proposals due by February 17th.

To learn more, register, or submit a proposal, click here.

After five days of continuous negotiations, this morning at 3:00 AM your PAT bargaining team agreed on a settlement framework with our District counterparts.

Significant details remain to be formalized, but we hope to finalize a tentative agreement by Thursday afternoon.

Your bargaining team met with their District counterparts until 8:00 this evening. We informed the District that we were prepared to work over the next five days in order to reach an agreement, and to stick with the mediation process, no matter where it takes us over the weekend.

We were pleased to receive a similar commitment from the District team.

The Advocate - January 10, 2018

• President's Message: What Do We Stand For?
• Bargaining at a Crossroads
• Vote Yes on Measure 101
• Performance Evaluations for Probationary Teachers - Heads Up!
• Substitutes Win Again
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration – Monday January 15th
• Oregon Teacher of the Year Nominations
• Reminder:  Cast your vote in the PAT Election
• PAT PAC Endorsement Process
• Take the TELL Survey
• Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools, February 5-9, 2018
• Let's Engage!
• Member-to-Member Specials
• OEA Conflict Resolution Workshop
• Athletics Grants from OEA and California Casualty

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!

As our bargaining team prepares to work all day Thursday and Friday—and straight through the three-day weekend in the hopes of securing a fair settlement—I find myself reflecting on parallels between unionism and civil rights.

I hope you had a chance to read yesterday's message from PAT Bargaining Team Chair Steve Lancaster. As Steve discussed, your PAT Bargaining team has blocked off five days over the next week in the hopes of reaching a settlement with the District. In addition to meeting all day Thursday and Friday, we’re prepared to meet every day over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.

One thing you can do to help is change your personal social media profile to the graphic including this message “Support Portland Teachers, Settle Now!” We’re hoping educators across the District will change their profile picture for the full five days we’re slated to bargain with the District, January 11th-15th.

While we hope for the best in next week’s mediation, we’re preparing for the worst, including escalating towards a job action.

Have you received your ballot yet? Educators around the state are voting YES for Measure 101 because we see the impact of access to healthcare in our classrooms every day. Students who are sick are unable to focus and learn.

Probationary educators must be evaluated each year during their 3-year probationary period. The process is described in the contract and the Educator Handbook for Professional Growth and Evaluation.  Performance ratings must align with the PPS Performance Evaluation Rubric and ratings must be based on direct evidence included in the written evaluation. 

It felt like déjà vu, but PAT Substitutes once again prevailed in an Unfair Labor Practice case at the Oregon Employment Relations Board (ERB).  Portland Public Schools was found guilty of “pursuing an unlawful subject of bargaining during its negotiations with Portland Association of Teachers” when it made bargaining proposals that that conflicted with Oregon state law. For months PPS has refused to recognize that the state’s new sick leave law applies to Substitute teachers.

Please join us for a public celebration of the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Keep Alive the Dream.

For 33 years the World Arts Foundation has hosted this tribute Dr. King, and this year’s event will include speakers, arts and musical tributes to local artists whose contributions have put Portland on the map and will last a lifetime.

When: Monday, January 15, 2018 - 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Where: Highland Center, 7600 NE Glisan St., Portland, Oregon 97213

A $5.00 donation or five units of non-perishable foods will be collected at the door and given to local food banks.

Every day, educators across the city do amazing work despite the many challenges and obstacles we face, from old buildings with failing heat and no drinkable water to inadequate supplies or non-existent curricula. At PAT we see what you accomplish every day, which is why working with all of you is such an honor. 

Vote for PAT Officers, Executive Board Members, and PAT delegates to the OEA and NEA Representative Assemblies using our electronic voting process.  On January 24, a link will be sent to your PPS email address directing you to the Voters’ Pamphlet (which includes the Candidates’ Statements) and Ballots.  The link will also include videos of the speeches made by PAT Officer and Executive Board candidates at the January Representative Assembly.

Please remember not to vote during work time.  BALLOTS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 5:00 p.m. on February 9, 2018, to be counted.  

Our elected leaders have a huge influence on our school system—they determine our funding, the school rating system, housing and healthcare policies that impact our students’ lives, and much more. Teachers’ voices need to be elevated in politics, to ensure that we elect leaders who value public education, workers’ rights, and a more just society.

In February, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) will be asking all licensed, school-based educators to participate in the statewide TELL (Teaching, Empowering, Leading, and Learning) Survey. This is your opportunity to weigh in on topics such as the allocation of time, facilities and resources, student learning, community engagement, school leadership, professional development, and mentoring.

The Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools is designed to spark critical reflection and honest conversation in school communities around issues of racial justice. With acts of racism and xenophobia multiplying across Oregon and around the country, it’s essential that we elevate the voices, experiences, and history of those communities under attack.

PAT has a goal to have 1-on-1 conversations with at least 75% of our members. We know that these face-to-face conversations are key to maintaining union strength and solidarity.

PAT needs YOU to sign up to be a listener! OEA will pay for your sub, and training on the mechanics of how to be a listener and the technology we’re using will be provided on site.

Do you have a house you would like to rent?  Furniture you would like to sell? A side job you would like to promote?  Put an advertisement in our new Member Specials page on the PAT website.  Please fill out the form with all the necessary information. We look forward to providing these specials for you. Check back monthly for new specials. This is another benefit of being a PAT member!

Our statewide organization, the Oregon Education Association, is hosting three conflict resolution workshops around the state in 2018, and the closest one in our area will be February 3, 2018 at the OEA headquarters in Tigard.

Applications are open for athletic grants from the OEA/NEA, sponsored by California Casualty. Sign up at www.calcasathleticsgrant.com. The deadline for consideration is January 15, 2018, with 2017/2018 recipients announced in April.

Your PAT Bargaining team has blocked off five days over the next week in the hopes of reaching a settlement with the District. In addition to meeting all day Thursday and Friday, we’re prepared to meet every day over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.

We will do everything we can to facilitate a fair contract settlement this weekend.

Your PAT bargaining team met with the District until close to 8:00 PM last night.

We presented a mini-package of issues to the District in the morning, and after an exchange of proposals we were able to settle on language for several smaller articles where we’ve been previously close to agreement.