PORTLAND, Ore. — A large group of demonstrators, made up of members of the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) and their allies, blocked traffic and walked across the Burnside Bridge in Portland on Tuesday morning. The group stopped in the middle of the bridge for about 15 minutes before continuing their march. At around 9 a.m., the bridge was clear and open to traffic again.
According to a post on the PAT Facebook page, the group met at the union offices on Northeast 8th Avenue in Portland Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. and started to march at 8 a.m. The march was in support of striking Portland teachers.
The Portland teachers strike began Nov. 1. On Monday morning, the PAT said school board members for Portland Public Schools (PPS) rejected a tentative agreement, a claim the district disputed during a news conference.
PPS officials said they believed a deal was "very, very close" and on Monday afternoon, submitted a counter-proposal to the PAT for review and consideration. The district told KGW that through the mediator, PAT rejected their counter-proposal Monday night. As of Tuesday afternoon, the union has not issued a counter-proposal of its own.
District officials said the main obstacle remains parent involvement in class-size committees. According to the district, PAT has not given them any kind of counter re-entry plan, and PPS said any agreement must include a resolution on how student instruction days will be made up.
KGW asked PAT about their plan for a counter-proposal, along with questions about parent involvement in class-size committees, a re-entry plan — including how to make up lost student instruction days — and cost-of-living adjustments. PAT President Angela Bonilla released the following statement in response:
"After days of nonstop bargaining sessions, PAT and PPS negotiators reached a deal that makes real investments in our students and schools. The PPS bargaining team then recommended the deal to the school board," Bonilla said. "A deal is a deal. We know this contract is transformative, and will change the trajectory of Portland Public Schools. It's now the responsibility of the PPS Board to do their jobs and pass the agreement their bargaining team recommended to them so we can get our students and educators back into classrooms."
On Tuesday evening, Gov. Tina Kotek released a statement, expressing that she wants both students and teachers back in class by next Monday.
"No deal is perfect, but a deal must be reached today," she wrote, calling the "uncertainty" for parents and students "unacceptable."
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