With only about two weeks until ballots drop, it’s time to support our PAT-PAC endorsed candidates! Let’s work together to get them into office so that they can fight for us, our students, and all Portlanders. Please keep this endorsement list handy for when it’s time to fill out your ballot, and talk to friends, family, and neighbors about the importance of electing education-friendly candidates. If you’re able, you can support these candidates further by signing up with a campaign to knock on doors, send texts, or make phone calls. We’d especially love for you to show up for Jo Ann Hardesty on October 29, when we’ll be hosting a canvass out of the PAT office!

Portland City Council Position 3: Jo Ann Hardesty

Multnomah County Chair: Jessica Vega Pederson

Oregon Governor (OEA PAC endorsement): Tina Kotek

Oregon Labor Commissioner (OEA PAC endorsement): Christina Stephenson

US House of Representatives, OR CD 5 (OEA PAC endorsement): Jamie McLeod-Skinner

Oregon Legislature: 

HD 28: Dacia Grayber

HD 33: Maxine Dexter

HD 43: Tawna Sanchez

HD 44: Travis Nelson

HD 45: Thuy Tran

HD 46: Khanh Pham

SD 17: Elizabeth Steiner Hayward

You can find more information about PAT PAC and our candidates here, and about OEA PAC and their candidates here.

We have received emails from multiple educators who have not seen their Extended Responsibility on their paychecks. Please review your pay stub.

• If you are a Site Tech Liaison (STL), please remember this is NOT an Extended Responsibility under our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please track all the hours you spend doing STL work. Call me old fashioned, but I think all your labor should be paid. If they will only pay you extended hours, you only do STL work outside of the workday.
• Folks have also wondered about the Bilingual and DLI stipend. Those will be paid in October or November once the district gets their sh--... updated list of employees together.
• For those who attend the NON WORK DAY training on October 14th, we have been informed by Payroll that you will be paid for that day in your November paycheck. Because it is on the last day of the pay period, PPS said they won’t be able to complete the payroll in time for the October paycheck. I TOTALLY understand not wanting to work outside of your work hours to get your job done 😑.

Elena Aguilar, author of Coaching for Equity, sent out a newsletter talking about the word “Overwhelm.” Often hearing that word is enough to make folks feel a lot of big feelings. Aguilar describes it as a combination of 3 emotions: anger, fear, and sadness. I don’t know about y’all, but when I feel overwhelmed at work, I’m usually angry about the lack of support for myself and my students, afraid I won’t be able to serve them, and sad that I alone can’t change this system. Aguilar shares a tool to help folks work through those emotions connected to feeling Overwhelmed: ACE. ACE stands for: 

• Acknowledge the feelings
• Cultivate compassion for yourself
• Expand the story: “What else is at play, what other perspectives might you consider, and what wisdom can you gain from your emotions?”

It may not solve the problem, but this tool can help you process your emotions and validate your experience in a way that allows you to move forward.

Are You Registered to Vote?

The deadline to register to vote in Oregon in the upcoming election is October 18, 2022. You’ll also need to update your registration if you’ve moved since you last registered. Registering is easy and can be done online.

Since it is so important that everyone participates in voting, please mention the October 18 voting registration deadline to your students, and encourage them to remind their parents.

• Need to register to vote?
• Not sure if you’re registered correctly? 
• Have you moved and need to update your registration? 

Voting is a vital part of our democracy, and your power is in your vote- but you can’t vote if you’re not registered!

Hello Folks! We didn’t forget about Advocacy Cadre here at PAT. If you are new, the Advocacy Cadre is a small group of members who will work closely with UniServ to become experts on our contract, and will provide member-to-member support. Please apply and find out more at www.pdxteachers.org/pat_advocacy_cadre.

For those who have already applied, we will host interviews at the end of October/start of November, along with training to prepare y’all to do the work!

You emailed and called, we listened. We will hold both a TOSA and a SpEd listening and organizing session. 

• SpEd: Monday, Oct 10, from 4:30-6:00 PM at PAT (RSVP for SpEd Mtg)
• TOSAs: Monday, Oct 24, from 4:30-6:00 PM at PAT (RSVP for TOSA Mtg)

The OEA Grow podcast is designed to share tools, ideas, and strategies to improve your professional and personal life. This weekly podcast interviews OEA members and community partners from across Oregon.

Catch this week's episode of OEA’s Grow Podcast.

PAT member Desmond Spann was last week’s guest on OEA's Grow podcast--talking about student motivation and engagement. Find Desmond's episode here. 

Find more Grow podcast episodes here or wherever you get your podcasts.

The PAT Instruction and Professional Development (IPD) Committee encourages you to apply for the following grant opportunities through OEA.

Visit OEA’s website for more information on all the grant opportunities available to OEA members.

OEA PROMISING PRACTICE GRANTS

Every year, OEA gives Promising Practice Grants to educators to support student learning and professional development for OEA members across Oregon. This year, there is $2,000 available for grants to PAT members. Members may apply for grant funds up to $1,000. Grants can be used to fund projects or materials that support improved student achievement.

Applications are due November 4, 2022. See our website for more information, including criteria, project timelines, and the full application.

EDUCATOR EMPOWERMENT GRANT

The OEA Center for Great Public Schools is excited to offer up to $5,000 grants to support member-led efforts to increase student success, advance educator leadership, or improve teaching and learning conditions.

Grant requests should correspond with the local association’s mission/vision/goals, and must relate to engaging members on professional practice issues. Awards will be from $1,000 - $5,000.

Grant applicants must have communicated their intent to apply to their local association President. If you would like to apply, please contact PAT President Angela Bonilla ([email protected]) to set up a time to discuss your proposed application.

All applications are due by November 4, 2022 and projects must be completed by June 16, 2022. See OEA’s flyer for more information, including criteria, project timelines, and a link to the full application.

“Teaching for Joy and Justice in Dangerous Times"

Oct. 22nd, ONLINE. Tickets are $10, or $5 for students. Register here

U.S. and Canadian teachers will share stories of how they teach for joy and justice in the dangerous times we are living through. The panel will be moderated by Cierra Kaler-Jones, who is director of storytelling for the Community for Just Schools Fund, serves on the leadership team for the Zinn Education Project, and is a Rethinking Schools magazine contributor. Panelists include: Lizanne Foster, who began her teaching career in apartheid South Africa, has taught for many years in British Columbia, and now serves as the First Vice-President of the Surrey Teachers Association; Adam Sanchez, a high school social studies teacher in Philadelphia, Rethinking Schools editor and frequent contributor to the magazine; Erin Green, a 5th-grade teacher and now a doctoral student at University of Texas-Austin, who describes her social justice teaching in Rethinking Schools; and Ryan Oto, a Minneapolis-area 6th-grade teacher, who describes his work to support students and colleagues in The Critical Social Educator.

This event has more than 30 workshops scheduled across 2 workshop sessions, including:

• Patterns of Air: Pathways for Indigenous Inspiration, Literacy, and Creativity
• Black Girl Magic in School: How to Ensure Safety and Equity for Black Girls in the Classroom
• We Are Water Protectors: Climate Justice for Elementary Students
• Kūʻē: Standing Against Hawai’ian Land Dispossession
• Nothing About Us Without Us: Integrating Principles of Disability Justice into Schools and Beyond
• Does Our Library Reflect Me? Mathematizing Fairness of Children's Books
• Teaching About the Intersections of Biology, Race, and Racism
• Be Kind: How We Used Critical PBL in Response to the Uvalde School Shooting
• It's a Big Fat Deal: How Schools Teach Contempt for Fat People and What We Can Do About It
• Jewishness and Ethnic Studies: A Discussion of Intersectional Jewish Identities
• Strategies for Supporting Undocumented Students and Families
• Beyond Rescuer as Educator Identity

• SpEd Meeting: October 10th, 4:30-6:00 PM, PAT Office
• PPS School Board Meeting: October 11th, 6:00 PM, Dr. Matthew Prophet Education Service Center
• PMAE-Retired Meeting: October 13th, 9:30 AM, PAT Office
• NEO Make-Up and Substitute Meeting: October 14th, McDaniel HS
• Teaching With Purpose Conference: October 14th, Register here
• Community Drive Through Event: October 15th, PAT Office Parking Lot
• Next RA: October 19th, 4:30-6:30 PM, PAT Office
• NW Teaching for Social Justice Conference: October 22nd, Get tickets here 
• TOSA Meeting, October 24th, 4:30-6:00 PM, PAT Office
• Each One, Teach One (EOTO): RESCHEDULED TBD 4:30-5:30 PM, Zoom

PAT Committees

• IPD Committee: October 12th, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• Legislative Committee: October 12th, 4:30-6:30 PM
• PAT PAC: October 12th, 4:30-6:30 PM
• Substitute Teacher Committee: October 17th, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• Advocacy Committee: November 2nd, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• SJCO Committee: November 3rd, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• Bargaining Committee: November 9th, 4:30-6:30 PM
• Racial Equity Committee: November 9th, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• IPD Committee: November 9th, 4:30-6:30 PM 
• Membership Committee: January 4th, 4:30-6:30 PM 

For all upcoming events, please see the PAT calendar and OEA calendar.