Teachers at Portland French School considering union
By Joe Fitzgibbon, Special to The Oregonian
May 30, 2010, 5:35PM
Teachers at the Portland French School are adding a new word to their vocabulary lessons: impasse.
School administrators, the board of directors and a handful of anti-union parents have rebuffed efforts by the 35-member staff to form a collective bargaining unit and join the American Federation of Teachers.
Faculty leaders claim that they have little say in how the school is run and have been excluded from policy decisions -- including salary negotiations, so they have turned to the union for help.
About the school
* The Portland French School was founded in 1989 and accredited by the French Ministry of Education. * Enrollment stands at 240 students, from 2 1/2-year-olds to middle schoolers.
* The school operating budget this year was $2.8 million.
* Tuition ranges from $7,350 for part-time students to $13,050 for full-time middle schoolers, with financial aid available.
Board members counter that recent salary increases, a willingness to address teachers' concerns and the small size of the school make a union unnecessary.
And Elimane Mbengue, the head of the school, said he was surprised when staff presented him with a petition for a union. He also said union organizers did not represent the views of all of the staff.
"Last December, everyone received a 7 percent increase in pay -- some as much as 9 percent -- and during our anonymous survey, no one said that they had any concerns," he said. "I certainly wasn't expecting this."
Mbengue described the school as a happy family of staff, parents and students.
"I don't see any need for a union and think it would change the nature of the way we operate," he said. "But, we'll work with it, whatever shape it takes."
In January, a handful of staff from the Southwest Corbett Avenue school met with AFT-Oregon representatives to discuss organizing as a way to