State mediator asked to help reach contract between PPS and teachers

School district and PAT representatives met again on Friday, Aug. 21, the latest of many formal bargaining sessions and informal discussions, but were unable to reach agreement on key provisions of a contract for more than 3,000 PPS teachers, counselors, librarians and school psychologists.

The most recent Portland Public Schools offer for a 2008-2010 contract includes:

• A 2 percent cost-of-living pay increase for all teachers, retroactive to July 1, 2008, the beginning of the first year of the contract. No additional cost-of-living adjustment in the second year.
• Step increases of 3 to 5 percent in each year for all teachers not at the top of the salary range (about half of teachers are eligible for these experience-based pay increases).
• Continued district payment of 93 percent of employee health coverage premiums (teachers pay 7 percent of premiums).
• Five furlough days for teachers, along with all other district employees. The unpaid days would be scheduled between January and June 2010, with a provision to add back a day of work if the state budget holds at $6 billion for the 2009-11 biennium.
• Removal of the clause in the teachers' contract that limits students' school day to 6.5 hours from the first morning class to dismissal in the afternoon. This would not change the length of time any teacher is expected to teach in a day or week.
• Increased flexibility in contract language to increase the time students spend with teachers, without requiring a longer work day or week for teachers.

"Portland Public Schools was able to maintain school days for students, keep class sizes stable and save teaching jobs in the upcoming school year by making tough decisions," said Portland School Board Co-Chair Trudy Sargent. "One of those choices was to call for shared sacrifice and pay concessions from all employees. The alternative - laying off teachers and increasing class sizes - would have balanced the budget on the backs of our students. Given the struggling economy and the market realities, we believe that this is a fair and appropriate offer for our teachers, and I hope that mediation will help us come to agreement."

Portland Public Schools and union leaders started bargaining in May 2008, before the PAT contract expired on June 30, 2008. Several early sessions led to tentative agreement to work together on issues such as teacher evaluation.

Bargaining was not scheduled during the summer of 2008, when teachers are not at work, and resumed after the PAT's professional staff returned from a labor action in the fall of 2008. However, soon the economy was in freefall and the state budget far from certain. Both sides agreed early in 2009 that it would be more productive to meet informally, starting a series of informal conversations between union leadership and PPS representatives.

A flurry of meetings in June 2009 failed to bring agreement, and the two sides again took a break for the summer. On Friday, Aug. 21, after another meeting, the Portland School Board agreed that the next step would be to file for mediation. The Oregon Employment Relations Board will assign a state mediator, with the goal of helping the school district and teachers find agreement and move forward with a new contract. 

At Portland Public Schools, this is our goal: By the end of elementary, middle, and high school, every student by name will meet or exceed academic standards and will be fully prepared to make productive life decisions. For more information on Portland Public Schools, call 503-916-3304, e-mail us at pubinfo@pps.net, or visit www.pps.k12.or.us. Portland Public Schools is an equal opportunity educator and employer.