The Portland Teachers Association has presented its latest contract proposal as promising savings of more than $120 million, much of it through a change in its class-size cap proposal.
Such a move would be significant, as Portland Public Schools estimated earlier this week that the difference between the two sides’ offers was more than $200 million.
But after spending much of Wednesday analysing the offer, PPS officials said the PAT proposal offered barely a quarter of the savings the union had proposed.
The class-size change, which PAT said would save $90 million, would actually save only $6 million, according to district calculations. The main reason for the cost difference, according to a summary of the analysis emailed to reporters by PPS communications director Will Howell, is that PAT only scaled back its proposal for elementary classes, leaving costs high because of caps for middle and high schools and caseload limits for staff such as counsellors and psychologists.
PPS confirmed some of the other areas of cost savings, such as $7 million from “pension stabilisation” and $5 million from eliminating $3,000 stipends for special education teachers.
District officials couldn’t confirm savings from the union’s proposed change to planning time at the middle school level, which PAT said would save $5 million.
In a statement sent to reporters, PPS communications director Will Howell acknowledged the potential for confusion about the details of PAT’s proposals.
“We are reaching out to PAT to clarify what went wrong,” Howell said. “But the difference seems to be focused primarily on their class cap proposals.”
Calls and emails to PAT officials seeking clarification on their proposal were not returned by Wednesday afternoon.
In a statement sent out by PAT after negotiations ended Wednesday, the union referred to its latest proposal in general terms as “reducing the financial gap between PPS and PAT,” without putting a dollar figure on the reduction or offering any further explanation of its Tuesday proposal.
While schools will remain closed on Thursday as the strike continues, both union and district officials sounded more hopeful and less critical of the other side coming out of the bargaining session on Wednesday night.
Speaking to reporters outside the Firefighters Association building where negotiations took place on Wednesday, Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero acknowledged “creative ideas” from the PAT that the district was considering. Guerrero echoed the district’s earlier analysis of PAT’s Tuesday offer.
“We read their proposal carefully – we had our budget and finance team give it a careful analysis,” Guerrero said. “In fact, we determined that it represented a package of about $30 million in value. So, you know, as we get into the details and our team has a chance to really look at the numbers, that was really our best estimate of the cost of what they put forward [Tuesday].”
District and union officials said the district shared a new proposal with the PAT just before negotiations ended on Wednesday. This time, neither side immediately released details or cost breakdowns of what was included. But in a text message sent to parents at 6 p.m. Wednesday, the district said it had “prepared offers to reduce educator workload & maximise planning time,” referring to two high-cost areas where the two sides remain apart.
Both PPS and PAT leaders said the two sides appeared to be making progress. Guerrero estimated that the district and the union had reached tentative agreements on up to ten “minor items”. PAT President Angela Bonilla expressed a similar sense of progress, noting “small improvements” in the district’s latest offer in a union email sent Wednesday night.
“For the first time, PPS has responded to PAT’s proposal on class size limits – a key issue for Portland educators, families and students,” Bonilla said. “While it’s far from enough, it’s a good start.”