PORTLAND, Ore. — Teachers from Oregon's largest school district are just one day away from a planned strike.
With still no contract agreement in place, Portland Public Schools and the Portland Association of Teachers union will continue negotiations on Tuesday. If negotiations continue to fail, a strike is set to begin on Wednesday.
On Monday evening, teachers stopped by the PAT union headquarters in Northeast Portland to pick up bundles of picket signs and bull horns in case of a strike. They said teachers' top demands remain higher pay, smaller class sizes and more teaching prep time. Special education teacher, Alisha Chavez said her current schedule is unsustainable.
“I don't have enough planning time to plan for my students to have a quality education,” said Chavez. “I don't have enough time to eat lunch some days!”
“I don't think we're asking for anything unreasonable,” said PAT vice president, Jacque Dixon.
Dixon said, families should make childcare plans in case of a strike on Wednesday. That’s 45,000 students from 81 schools. Dixon said, it’s something teachers have been trying to avoid during months of negotiations.
“It's unfortunate that it's come to this but no, I'm not really surprised at this point,” said Dixon.
Meanwhile, district officials aired their own frustrations, Monday. They said they feel the teachers union isn't compromising enough to meet the district's budget constraints.
“We're still over $228 million apart in our proposals,” said PPS bargaining team member, Dr. Renard Adams. “We will continue to work on proposals we can counter with; we don't want to bargain against ourselves.”
Also Monday, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek addressed the looming strike, calling on both sides to work to avoid one.
"I think it would be irresponsible for Portland Public Schools to commit to an agreement that would create a gigantic cliff at the end of the biennium,” said Kotek. “I do expect them to put more money on the table and prioritize classroom resources first over administration, but I don't believe there are $200 million sitting there."
Dixon disputes the school district’s claims that they can’t afford to meet the union’s demands.
“I think we have a fundamental disagreement about those numbers and $200 million is very different than what our bargaining team is looking at,” said Dixon. “We don't believe that it's actually a $200 million difference."
As for what will finally make the difference in contract negotiations, the teachers union and school district have one more day to figure it out to avoid a strike.
“I'm ever the optimist so I believe an agreement will be reached,” said Adams. “It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when and we want the when to be as soon as possible.”
Portland Public Schools has a plan to keep families informed of next steps. On Tuesday at 1 p.m., they plan to provide a status update on negotiations. At 7 p.m., they'll text and email families to let them know if schools will be closed on Wednesday. If a strike does happen, the district said they'll text and email every night at 7 p.m. to let families know if schools will be open the following day.