By Trevor TenBrink
EAGnews.org

PORTLAND – Portland school administrators and teacher union officials are coming to grips with the fact that it’s going to be a long summer filled with heated contract negotiations.

Both the leaders of Portland Public Schools and the Portland Association of Teachers agree that their labor contract is in dire need of revision during the negotiation process. The two sides have exchanged initial proposals and agreed to 150 days of bargaining, according to OregonLive.com.

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Some of the main points set to be discussed are teacher salaries, benefits, workload and transfer rules. There’s nothing unusual about those topics.

But many district administrators also feel strongly that various rules and provisions written into the labor contract years ago have become liabilities and should be removed.

They shared their concerns in a recent editorial meeting with journalist from the Oregonian.
District leaders are particularly interested in dropping the contract provision that freezes teachers’ workload at 1997 – 1998 levels, according to the news report. In an era of tight budgets and teacher layoffs, it’s pretty obvious that instructors need to be more available to meet the needs of their schools and students.

Sometimes that may mean a little more work for everyone.

The principal of Roosevelt High School, Charlene Williams, is predominantly concerned about modifying the contract language concerning teacher assignments and transfers. Because of the restrictions in the current contract, the district is often late to the hiring table and misses out on qualified candidates, Williams said.

Ben Keefer, principal of George Middle School, also claimed that the contract language is out of date and needs revisions in areas such as teacher evaluations, testing, and workload. He feels that the outdated and restrictive language generates unnecessary costs for the district.

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These are issues facing many public schools around the nation. Restrictive rules in union contracts tend to discourage innovation and creativity at a time when it’s most needed in our schools. Too many teachers aren’t allowed to do this and can’t be asked to that for a lot of silly reasons.

School administrators in Portland and elsewhere need to have the ability to manage their staffs in the most productive manner possible, and contract rules that restrict that ability must go.

We hope union leaders everywhere are starting to understand this important fact.