Your bargaining team had another mediation session at 4pm on February 3rd with the district. We presented yet another proposal regarding their interests in Article 20 (work day/year). While we were preparing a response to their health insurance proposal, they declared impasse and left at 6:30pm. More details to follow. PLEASE READ THE AT THE TABLE.

As Rebecca Levison, our PAT President said:

Portland Teachers have continually sacrificed for their students. They have taken salary freezes, they have reduced their benefits and they even worked ten days without pay to keep all students in school. No others made that sacrifice, not even the highest paid employees.

The truth is, the District's proposal would increase workload, rollback contract language and result in perhaps the lowest beginning teacher salary in the in Metro 14 school districts. At the same time, many upper level management employees received up to $15,000 this year in pay increases.

Upper management continues to demonstrate weak leadership and poor judgment from the K-8 and high school redesign to teacher negotiations and relationships.

PAT will continue to work for a fair settlement for Portland teachers.