After two years of work with our PAT Executive Board, Committees and Representative Assembly, PAT finalized a Vision Statement Resolution. On November 13th, PAT's largest democratic body, the Representative Assembly passed the Vision Resolution as stated below:

As the Portland Association of Teachers,

We believe a fully and equitably funded public educational system is crucial to a healthy and thriving society.  Raising and educating the next generation is a critical and complex human endeavor. Public education should function as an equalizing force in society so students can succeed according to their own aspirations. Students should be supported with culturally relevant curriculum and wrap-around services. Families and communities must be seen and treated as partners in our work.

We believe in the inherent value of each student and we recognize that a nourishing education does not look the same for everyone. As educators, our purpose is to guide students, who come as unique individuals with their own cultural gifts and struggles, to acquire the skills and knowledge to create the future they envision for themselves. We want our students to learn how to navigate various systems of oppression while simultaneously learning how to critique, dismantle, and rebuild these systems to be liberatory. We believe in the abolition of the school to prison nexus by ending racist and classist practices that produce statistically predictable racial disparities such as the overrepresentation of students of color in special education and exclusionary discipline. 

We believe in a public education system that supports workers, creating conditions where the labor of those workers can be performed with dignity. Educators must be provided the tools, time, and staffing in order for public education to live up to its aforementioned potential. We can be leaders in our field by using our organizing skills to support the broader labor movement by educating and moving people forward in the work for safe, sustainable and equitable working conditions. As we fight for our own fair contracts, we understand that our role as workers is to build solidarity across other trades for the dignity of all workers. Not only is a harm to one a harm to all, but a victory for one is a victory for all.

We believe in democracy and shared decision making while also centering the voices of those who are systemically underserved and discriminated against. All PAT members deserve an opportunity to engage in dialogue, both individually and collectively. Marginalized voices will be sought out and centered when making decisions because fulfilling the needs of people in systemically underserved communities benefits all members of our community.

We believe that in order for all human beings in our education system to reach their potential, we must be strategic, analytical and visionary. We commit to creating space, time, rest, and opportunity, which are essential to build systems of liberation. We will act in ways that honor the wisdom of those who came before while taking responsibility for those who follow. We will share power and demonstrate our values through action. We will embrace tension and disagreements, meeting each other where we are, not where we want them to be. We will center joy and celebrate the victories, no matter how small.

We resolve to ensure that PAT’s work aligns with the vision put forth above.

Resolution presented to the Representative Assembly on October 9th, 2024. Resolution was passed at the Representative Assembly on November 13th, 2024.