After a three-week strike canceled 11 instructional days, the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) and Portland Public Schools (PPS) district finally reached an agreement on Nov. 28, 2023. Introducing significant salary increases for teachers, improved healthcare benefits and limits on class sizes, the PPS-proposed contract received overwhelming support from the PAT, with 94.7% of teachers voting to ratify. It’s been a year since the infamous PAT strike and that begs the question — how much of the contract was actually implemented?
Salary Increases for Teachers
The three-year, $175 million contract promised teachers significant salary increases stating that “The 2023-24 salary schedule shall be increased by 6.25%, the 2024-25 salary schedule shall be increased by 4.5%, and the 2025-26 salary schedule shall be increased by 3%.” This is much less than the PAT’s initial request of a 20% salary increase, but the PAT union is satisfied with this compromise, adding up to nearly 14% in the next three years. PPS has held up its end of the bargain, but other areas still lack compensation. “We still do not pay our custodians at the same rate as other school districts that surround the city,” says Ayesha Coning, Principal at Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School. “Teachers got a 14% salary increase, but I believe our classified employees and our custodians also deserve hourly pay or salary increases.”
Improved Healthcare Benefits
The infamous contract also included improved healthcare benefits for teachers, a touchy subject during the strike. On Nov. 16, 2023, PPS officials threatened PAT health insurance, stating that if teachers didn’t return to schools by Nov. 17, they would lose their healthcare benefits for December. However, the PAT ended up gaining better healthcare rights in the ratified contract, which included a commitment to maintain current levels of healthcare coverage without significantly raising costs for employees and expanded access to medical, dental and vision coverage for the duration of the contract.
Limits on Class Sizes
Oversized classes were one of the biggest concerns from the PAT, and one of the hardest aspects to negotiate in the contract. The Oregon Department of Education’s October 2023 report showed over 2,000 classes in the district had more than 26 students and 100 of those classes had anywhere from 36 to over 56 students. The ratified contract promised limits of 24 students maximum for K-5 classes and 30 students maximum for classes in grades 6-12, with additional reductions for special education classrooms. This was a massive victory for the PAT union, but it’s not going as planned for many PPS schools. “The class size cap as written by the contract is [30] students per class, but we don’t have enough teachers,” says Coning. “The district doesn’t provide us enough full-time employment, so we can’t keep every class under these caps.”
Planning Time
Planning time was one of the issues that received the best improvement – for elementary and middle school teachers, at least. The contract guaranteed an increase in minimum planning time from 320 minutes to 410 minutes weekly for elementary and middle school educators. However, Portland high school teachers seem to have gotten the short end of the stick; their only benefit being two additional grading days, something the district guaranteed for all levels of education.
Even a year after the PAT strike, the results of the negotiations will continue to affect PPS teachers and educators for years to come. While significant improvements in teacher salary and class sizes have been made, challenges remain, and the PAT will continue to advocate for even better working conditions as time goes on. “Our students’ learning experience is our number one priority, and we sometimes lose sight of that when we’re negotiating political or economical topics like this. Going forward [from the strike], let’s hope we can keep our students and teachers voices in the center.”
