Portland teachers union president baffled by district's reaction to new proposal, says PPS could push teachers to strike
The Portland Association of Teachers unveiled a significantly different proposal in contract negotiations on Friday, which says the district would need to hire 175 teachers to lower class sizes. (Nicole Dungca/The Oregonian)
Portland Association of Teachers President Gwen Sullivan said she is baffled by Portland Public Schools officials' resistance to the union's new proposal and believes the district could push teachers to walk out.
The union yesterday proposed a class size reduction plan within a new teachers contract during an all-day mediation session. Superintendent Carole Smith has said she believes the new proposal brought the two sides further apart.
In an interview with The Oregonian on Friday, Sullivan said that attitude could push teachers to the district’s first-ever strike.
“When the district draws a line in the sand, they are the ones pushing us close to a strike,” she said.
Sullivan urged Portland Public Schools' bargaining team to continue negotiating.
“They have some room to go, and they have the money to do it,” she said.
Sullivan said she still believes the new proposal could provide a pathway to a negotiated agreement, calling the reduction in class sizes a “good first step.”
“We’re baffled that they would characterize it as farther apart,” she said. “We’ve been clear from the beginning that class size reduction was a priority.”
The proposal, which asks district officials to add more than 175 positions to lower teacher workloads and class sizes between 5 and 10 percent, would add a fairly unusual