UPDATE: Teachers voted overwhelmingly on Feb. 5 to authorize a strike for the first time in school district history. Tentative date for the walkout is Feb. 20. The vote was taken at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Negotiations between the union and the district will continue on Feb. 9. Watch The Cardinal Times for details as the situation unfolds.

The Portland Association of Teachers has called for a strike vote on Feb. 5 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. “I can’t say exactly when the strike will happen,” Steve Lancaster, IB Psychology teacher and PAT negotiator  said, “but we could expect something happening in the weeks after finals.”

The PAT has conducted two pre-strike surveys throughout the negotiation process to gauge support for a strike. According to a union email sent to teachers, the latest survey results show that union members are united. “While none of us wants to strike,” the email said,  “we are resolved to do whatever it takes to halt the continued erosion of the teaching and learning conditions in our schools.”

Members of the district and union are set to meet on Friday. The most divisive issues still left on the table  include health insurance, teacher workload, teacher hiring and teaching hours. “Any and all things could be discussed [in negotiations],” said Margaret Raczek, IB Biology teacher and union representative.

Students will be expected to attend school during the strike, so substitute teachers may be called in. However, according to OregonLive, union volunteers have been calling substitute teachers to ask them to avoid crossing the picket line. According to Lancaster, substitutes would be difficult to find  because “if they cross the line, they will be severing future ties with the union. They may find that PPS teachers will not be too keen to hire them once the strike is over.”

Lancaster said that would leave the district no choice but to use secretaries and human resource agents to supervise classrooms. Superintendent Carole Smith addressed the impact of a strike on schools in an open letter to the Portland Public Schools community. “If a strike should occur, our goal would be to keep schools open,” she said. If teachers do vote to strike PPS will make a hotline available to answer parents questions.

The upcoming strike vote is deemed “the single most important vote [teachers] may ever take within [the union],” according to the PAT email. According to Lancaster, 95 percent of Portland’s 3,000 public school teachers are ready to strike. Teachers must notify the district of a strike 10 days prior to taking action. “I don’t want to strike,” Lancaster said, “but I will if I have to.”