This year, more than ever, it feels like a huge accomplishment to reach the final week of the school year. We have been through more this year than we can account for, including: 

• Re-creating our practice to shift to online instruction.
• Shifting our union activities and supports to the virtual realm.
• Navigating constantly changing recommendations and requirements from the CDC and the state.
• Fighting for contract language to protect the health of educators, students, and the community, and to establish reasonable working conditions. 
• Recreating our practice again to shift to hybrid.
• Constantly serving as advocates for our colleagues, and our students and families, through the unprecedented challenges of this year. 

These challenges have continued to evolve, and there have been no easy answers. But throughout this year, our union continues to grow stronger. 

UPDATE: This event is on a new date -- Wednesday, June 16, 4:30-6:30 PM.

Please join us in celebrating all of the wonderful educators who have retired this school year. We recognize that this was an especially challenging year for educators, students, and families, and one that none of us would have chosen as the final year of our careers. PAT is overjoyed to take some time to reflect and celebrate the careers of all of our retired educators. 

Please join us to honor our retiring PAT members at the Virtual Celebration. RSVP here.  

Do you have unused sick-leave hours? Please consider donating up to 40 hours to support PAT members facing serious health issues. Members who are retiring can contribute unlimited hours. 

This year, it is easier than ever to donate hours: you can donate hours by filling out this online form! You will need to log in with your PPS email account and include your PPS employee ID number on the form.

The PAT Sick Leave Bank (see PAT/PPS contract Article 17.2.1.2) provides aid for colleagues who have exhausted their accumulated leave balances but are unable to work due to extended or recurring personal illness. With the help of the Sick Leave Bank, they are able to avoid the additional hardships of lost salary and lost insurance coverage during their illness. 

The Sick Leave Bank is funded completely by voluntary contributions of sick leave days from PAT educators. Thank you for considering making a donation today!

Please join the PAT Instruction and Professional Development Committee on June 12 in a Day of Action to Pledge to Teach the Truth about US history. 

Among the charges of your Instruction and Professional Development Committee (IPD) are to center racial equity and social justice in all aspects of teaching and learning and to report to you on local, state, and national issues when appropriate. We want to make sure you know about attempts in 15 US states to pass legislation denying teachers the right to be honest about the role of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and oppression throughout U.S. history. 

While there are currently no such laws being proposed in Oregon, there are colleagues in our state who have been threatened, both professionally and personally, when they have taken a stand to promote anti-racist curriculum.

To raise public awareness about the danger of these bills, the Zinn Education Project and Black Lives Matter in Schools, in conjunction with Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change, invite educators nationwide to a Day of Action on June 12th, to join in locally-organized public gatherings.  Also, please sign the pledge to teach the truth. 

July 19-23, 2021--Virtual Conference through OEA Events App

The OEA 2021 Summer Conference is virtual this year and offers a wealth of workshops and seminars covering topics most important to our members in their classrooms, community, and union organizing. 

Each morning will start with two content sessions, with opportunities for networking and office hours in the afternoons. OEA values your time, and encourages you to register for the courses that best meet your learning needs and your personal schedule. 

Download the program for the whole schedule and topics lined up for that week. 

A condensed participant agenda is also available. 

Our PAT Racial Equity Committee wanted to pass along information for some powerful equity focused PD opportunities this summer through OEA. These are great ways to learn and stay engaged in something that lights your fire! Thanks to OEA’s Center for Great Public Schools and the Union School for working to set these up and more! Visit https://grow.oregoned.org to find out more!

For the summer, your PAT officers and staff will be preparing for next year, and finding some much-needed time to recharge. We will not be publishing The Advocate during summer break. If you need support from PAT over the summer, please contact us by email at [email protected] or by phone at 503-233-5018. 

As a reminder, the PAT Facebook discussion group is not a venue for contacting PAT leaders or staff. Please reach out directly by phone or email. 

Although we will not be publishing The Advocate over the summer, we will continue to send Bargaining Briefs as long as we are negotiating with the District.