Last week, more than three-quarters of Portland voters cast a ballot for the Portland Teacher Levy.
They overwhelmingly support what educators already know—our students deserve smaller class sizes.
Every time we talk to students, families, and communities, like our amazing Student Success Act community forum October 28th, this message comes through loud and clear.
PAT members have also made it clear to the District where Student Success Act dollars should be directed.
Eighty percent of all respondents to our recent survey with the District rated smaller class sizes or social emotional supports for students as their top priority for new SSA funding. (You can view the full survey results here).
Now we’re working to synthesize all the different information we’ve collected. This includes Student Success Act survey responses, the results from our SSA listening sessions with educators, as well as the insights from our community forum. Once we have a clear picture of priorities for Student Success Act funding, we’ll integrate those with the priorities that you’ve identified for our next round of contract negotiations.
Look out for our full report and complete set of recommendations later this month. We know that we’re on the brink of a big step forward in PPS.
Our priorities are in lock-step with what our communities value. And as we’ve seen from Arizona to Chicago, when educators and communities are united, we can win big.
In Solidarity,
Suzanne Cohen
PAT President