Portland Business Alliance gives Portland schools & teachers union an “F”

by NW Spotlight

The Portland Business Alliance, a longtime ally of Portland Public Schools, sent a letter this week to the Portland Public Schools Board and to the Portland Association of Teachers. The letter chastised them for failing to “effectively manage teachers and other personnel to ensure the best outcomes for students and prudently manage its budget,” and for the unconscionable failure that led to Portland walking away from a $40 million federal Race to the Top grant. A failure caused by a disagreement between the school district and the union’s “obstructionist behavior”, a failure that “comes at an ultimate cost to students.”

The letter, printed in the Oregonian, describes the support the Portland Business Alliance has given to the Portland schools “For years, the business community has repeatedly been asked to come to the table to provide resources for schools. Not only have we supported campaigns for local levies and bonds, including the Multnomah County i-tax, operating levies and this year’s capital bond, we also worked at the state level to provide more resources for schools.”

The letter concludes that they doubt the current leaders of the district and the teachers union can resolve their differences, and states the intent of the Portland Business Alliance to “ask Dr. Rudy Crew, the state of Oregon’s chief educational leader, to step in.”