An Oregon Education Association staffer just sent out a release saying the city’s largest teachers’ union has reached a tentative agreement with Portland Public Schools, after nearly a full day of nonstop negotiations. This is very good news for everyone involved—including students, who may still get Thursday and Friday off since PPS had cancelled them when bracing for a walkout. Here’s the release:
After more than ten months of bargaining, Portland teachers reached a conceptual agreement with Portland Public Schools. The conceptual agreement comes just two days before teachers are scheduled to go on strike.
The two teams have been at the table for more than 23 straight hours. Given the early hour, PAT and the district will reconvene later in the day to iron out the details and put it in writing in the form of a Tentative Agreement.
Once the Tentative Agreement is signed, a strike will be suspended pending ratification by PAT membership and the School Board.
Details of the agreement will not be released to the public prior to teachers considering and voting on the contract.
In a statement from PPS, Superintendent Carole Smith says: “After 10 months of difficult negotiations and hard work by both sides I am very pleased that PPS & PAT have reached a conceptual agreement. I look forward to finalizing the tentative agreement later today.”
This is a good opportunity for a pro tip reminder: for the sake of both your sanity and faith in humanity, never ever ever read the comments on Oregon Live articles.