Last Tuesday, PAT members turned out in force to let the School Board know that negotiations are headed in the wrong direction.

For years we’ve heard Board Members and District leaders talk about rebuilding trust after our last bargain and we took them at their word. For a year-and-a-half we’ve been engaged in Interest-Based Bargaining with the District, and I’m really proud of our bargaining team. We’ve offered a lot of really creative ideas, and tried to work together despite a lot of bumps in the road.

It’s time to choose your PAT Building Representatives! Each spring we hold elections in every site to choose our Building Reps. It’s how we ensure that the Reps at each site are trusted, respected leaders. Please consider stepping up to take on this crucial role in your union.

The PAT PAC is Portland Association of Teachers' Political Action Committee.  The PAT PAC Board interviews candidates running for local office and recommends those who can best support public education and union values. Endorsement decisions reflect candidates’ written materials, their in-person interview, and their record.

On April 26, the PAT PAC held elections for open seats on the PAT PAC Board.  Here is your 2017-2018 PAT PAC Board:

This is a critical moment in the Oregon legislature.  Our lawmakers are making major budget decisions over the next two weeks that will determine whether the state raises revenue to invest in schools, helps lower class size, and adds back programs, or kicks the can down the road by passing a budget that will continue the decades of disinvestment in our students. 

Here is what you can do right now to make a difference: Call your legislator about the need to invest in an $8.6 billion state school budget and a $600 million budget for Community College.  You can find your legislator here and call them directly to talk to them about the need to invest in education: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/findyourlegislator/leg-districts.html

District No-Shows Today’s Negotiations

A Message From Your Bargaining Chair:

Dear Colleagues,

While your Bargaining Team came ready to begin another attempt to collaboratively resolve our contract negotiations, we must report that the District chose not to attend bargaining today.   In addition, our team has indications that District leadership is preparing to move out of the Interest Based Bargaining (IBB) process and will call for mediation.  PAT is deeply disappointed that after nearly two years of attempting to find a collaborative way to address the issues that are critical to teachers and students, the District appears ready to walk away and return to doing business in a way that creates constant conflict.

• Slides for your 10-minute meeting
• Outstanding Bargaining Issues: Side-by-Side
• Death by a Thousand Cuts: Education Town Hall

The Advocate - May 12, 2017

• What You Can Do Right Now to Help Get PPS Back on Track
• May Election Voters Guide
• Support the Bond for Safe, Modern, and Healthy Schools
• Standing Up for Education on May Day
• Honoring Teachers During Teacher Appreciation Week
• Please Donate to the Sick Leave Bank!
• Securing Full-time Classrooms for Full-time Teachers
• PAT Members Lead Statewide Organizing

By now you’ve heard the news. 

After an extensive—and expensive—search, our School Board was unable to hire a Superintendent. At a time when our District needs stability, this is disappointing

Our recommendations for the May 2017 election are listed below. Candidates share a proven track record of leadership and commitment to strengthening our public schools so that our students can receive the education they deserve. 

On March 22, the PAT Representative Assembly voted to support the Portland Public Schools Bond. This bond is the second step in a 30-year strategic plan to modernize all our schools. Specifically, this bond will provide funds to fully rebuild or modernize four schools: Benson, Madison, Lincoln, and Kellogg. In addition, it will fund much-needed health and safety projects across the district, including removing lead, asbestos, and radon hazards, repairing roofs, seismic upgrading, and improving ADA accessibility. Learn more at www.healthyschoolspdx.com.

On May 1^st, educators across the nation stood in solidarity for strong public schools. Thank you to every school that participated in our May Day action. Together, we sent a clear message that we will welcome, protect, defend, and educate all students, no matter their ethnicity, gender identity, and/or immigration status. We also made it clear that our elected officials must invest in our future by fully funding public education, and protect it from privatization that drains resources from public school students. You can view pictures from across the District here.

On April 25^th, the School Board recognized a few of our educators for teacher appreciation week. Congratulations!

• Gloria Alonso, Teacher – Rigler Elementary School  
• Frances Ankeny, Teacher – Lane Middle School 
• Kristen Brayson, TOSA – Curriculum and Instruction 
• Alisha Chavez, Teacher – Atkinson Elementary School 
• Paula Fahey, Teacher – Stephenson Elementary School 
• Marquita Guzman, Counselor – Lincoln High School 
• Kira Jones, Teacher – Irvington K-8 
• Steve Lancaster, Teacher – Lincoln High School 
• Chrysanthius Lathan, Mentor Teacher – Professional Development 
• Susan Stone, TOSA – Integrated Curriculum Development

Recent changes to the contract increased the number of hours PAT may collect from members for the Sick Leave Bank. This helps ensure that hours will be available through the end of the school year for your colleagues who have exhausted their leave and need assistance. 

Donations of hours are still needed, as there are several pending applications for grants from the sick leave bank.

Please donate here – and thank you!

In September, the PAT Representative Assembly passed our Resolution on School Design and Utilization, expressing the belief that  “new and remodeled school buildings should be designed with the intention for all full-time teachers to have full-time classrooms.”

Thank you to all the delegates who came to the Oregon Education Association Representative Assembly on April 21^st and 22^nd:

Substitute Teachers Bargaining Update

Colleagues: 

Today, May 10, 2017, your team met with the PPS team from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM for a bargaining session.  The tone of the bargaining remains cordial, and both sides are continuing to reach agreement on some items, while clarifying issues or dropping proposals as we work toward an agreement.

May 8 & 9, 2017 Bargaining Sessions

Your bargaining team met with the PPS team for two straight days on Monday, May 8^th and Tuesday, May 9^th. As with many of the Bargaining Briefs you have received, we have to report that there were significant differences exposed as well as progress in a few areas.

The Advocate - April 26, 2017

• Making National News (for the Wrong Reasons)
• Organizing for May Day
• May Election Voter's Guide
• Support the Bond for Safe, Healthy, and Modern Schools!
• PAT Building Rep Elections
• PAT PAC Elections April 26th
• Please Donate to the Sick Leave Bank!

The proposed cuts in the state legislature are so devastating that we’ve made national news. In a recent NEA article, PAT member Sarah Spella laid out how cuts to art, music, and PE create additional workload for other classroom educators:

Since the 1800s, workers around the world have commemorated our struggles for labor rights and social justice on May 1^st. Teachers nationwide are celebrating May Day this year and we hope everyone in PAT will be able to participate. We’re coordinating our efforts through the OEA and NEA, in partnership with AROS, the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools.