Lydia Laythe |
After 10 months of contract negotiations, Portland Public Schools officials and union negotiators reached a tentative agreement, preventing what would have been the first strike in the school district's history. Approximately 100 education majors at UP, who are completing their field experience in Portland Public Schools, are breathing a sigh of relief.
These UP students would’ve lost valuable field experience hours had a strike occurred. Though the School of Education was prepared to alter requirements for UP students affected by the strike, this agreement prevents extra stress and complications for students and staff in the School of Education, in addition to Portland teachers, students and their parents.
Portland Public Schools officials and union negotiators reached a tentative agreement on Tuesday. This agreement must be approved by all teachers within the union and the school board, who will vote next week, before it officially ends the move to strike.
Though details of the new contract have not yet been released, the main points of debate during the negotiating process were salary, class size and teacher workload.
Sophomore Mari Stevens said the tension she once felt between administrators and teachers had shifted when she went to her field experience placement at George Middle School.
“The first couple weeks that I (knew about the strike), it was awkward between the administration and the teachers,” Stevens said. “This time it was really awkward between the students and the teachers, because the students don’t really know why their teachers are just leaving them.”
Stevens described a classroom interaction where a teacher was assigning homework to her students. When the teacher told her students the homework was due on Thursday, they protested.
“The kids were like ‘Well, you’re not even going to be here. Why would I do it? You’re leaving. You’re striking. You’re not going to be here,’” Stevens said.
In acknowledgement of this tension, UP students placed in Portland Public Schools were instructed by the School of Education not to attend their placements this week. Their absence will give the teachers and students some privacy and time to process the tension and issues around the strike.
Beyond the tension Stevens witnessed externally in the classroom, she also recognized an internal tension among several teachers she interacted with. Many teachers were wearing ribbons and pins last week that read, ‘I don’t want to, but I will if I have to.’
Many of these tensions are resolved with the new contract agreement, which is why it is such a relief to Portland Public Schools officials, teachers, students, parents and UP students completing their field experience.
