Moving Backwards on Bargaining

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.

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Be a PAT Leader: Run for Building Rep

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.

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PAT PAC Election Results

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:

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Turn Up the Heat In Salem

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

Bargaining Brief 5/24/17

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.

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What You Can Do Right Now to Help Get PPS Back on Track

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

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May Election Voters Guide

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. 

 

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Support the Bond for Safe, Modern, and Healthy Schools!

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.

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Standing Up for Education on May Day

On May 1st, 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.

Honoring Teachers During Teacher Appreciation Week

On April 25th, 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

Please Donate to the Sick Leave Bank!

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!

Securing Full-time Classrooms for Full-time Teachers

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.”

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PAT Members Lead Statewide Organizing

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

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The Substitute Newsletter 5-10-17

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.

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Bargaining Brief 5-10-17

May 8 & 9, 2017 Bargaining Sessions

Your bargaining team met with the PPS team for two straight days on Monday, May 8th and Tuesday, May 9th. 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.

 

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Metro Area OEA Endorsements

See all Metro-Area OEA Endorsements here.

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Death by a Thousand Cuts: Education Town Hall

Oregon public schools have been in a funding crisis for decades. This year, with a $1.6 billion budget shortfall, this crisis has hit its peak. Current proposed cuts to education will result in larger class sizes, fewer librarians and counselors, and further cuts to Art, Music, and PE.

How will the cuts impact your school and your students? Please come and tell your story.

Death by a Thousand Cuts: Education Town Hall
Saturday, May 20, 1-3 pm
Sunnyside Community Center, 3520 SE Yamhill Street, Portland OR 97214

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Portland School Board Elections, May 2017

No elected official impacts our schools more directly than our School Board members. This spring, PAT is supporting candidates that have a proven track record for fighting to fully fund our schools; listening to teachers; and standing up against the privatization of public schools. They also have a deep knowledge of how our district works, so they are ready to address the dysfuntion and systemic inequity, and move PPS is the right direction.

PAT enthusiastically endorses Rita Moore for Zone 4, and Scott Bailey for Zone 5.

  • Help get the word out! Sign up here to phonebank with PAT.
  • Read our full press release here.
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Portland Schools Bond 26-193

The 2017 bond is part of a long-range plan to modernize and improve all of our schools over the next 20 years. Measure 26-193 will:

  • reduce student and staff exposure to hazardous materials by replacing lead pipes and fixtures and removing or capping exposed lead paint and asbestos at every single school in the district;
  • fund necessary seismic upgrades that strengthen safety for our children and our teachers, update fire safety alarms and sprinkler systems and repairs and repair or replace leaking or deteriorating school roofs, and improve accessibility for people with disabilities;
  • rebuild or replaces three outdated high schools (Benson, Lincoln and Madison) and one middle school (Kellogg) to ensure students have access to classrooms that provide them with the modern education and technology tools they need to succeed.

Learn more at www.healthyschoolspdx.com.

Sign up here to help pass the bond!

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Making National News (for the Wrong Reasons)

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:

 

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Organizing for May Day

Since the 1800s, workers around the world have commemorated our struggles for labor rights and social justice on May 1st. 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.

 

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May Election Voter's Guide

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. 

 

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