School board approves 3-year contract
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland School Board voted unanimously Saturday to approve a three-year contract between Portland Public Schools and the Portland Association of Teachers, ending a negotiation that has stretched on for more than a year and a half.
“This agreement allows us to live within our means," said Portland School Board co-chair Trudy Sargent in a prepared statement. She said it garners two goals: It "increases instructional time for students and honors the good work of educators in Portland Public Schools,” Sargent said.
Key details of the approved contract agreement include:
Compensation
- Salary increases of 2 percent in the first year, 0 percent in the second year and 2 percent in the third year.
- "Step" increases in all three years.
- Teachers with a PhD will receive a retroactive increased supplement from $1,060 per year to $1,500 per year.
- Outdoor School payments will increase from $60 to $120, starting with the 2009 to 2010 school year.
- Payment to Athletic Directors will increase by 1 percent for the fall, 4 percent for the winter and 1 percent for the spring, starting with the 2009 to 2010 school year
Other terms
- Limits on the student school day will be eliminated, giving school districts the freedom to expand the timeframe each day for school.
- School districts now may require teachers to have assigned duties up to one-half of the 15 minute periods at the beginning and end of the workday
- The agreement commits the school district and the Portland Association of Teachers to form a joint committee to consider all issues in the contract that govern the work day, work year and school calendar year. The group is scheduled to complete its work by the end of the 2010 to 2011 school year.
The contract approval comes after more than 19 months of bargaining – nine months of formal bargaining sessions, seven months of informal sessions and six months of mediation facilitated by a state mediator.
In a prepared statement Superintendent Carole Smith responded: “In the end, cooperation and compromise brought us to this settlement. It’s in that spirit that we move forward with our teachers association – focusing our energy on our shared mission to educate students.”