Portland Public Schools’ own committee blasts projected pay increase, warning of ‘fragile’ public trust 

The Portland Public Schools (PPS) district is facing internal criticism for an “extremely optimistic” 2026-27 budget plan, which analysts believe will not accurately reflect costs, according to the local ABC affiliate.

“The district should consider carefully whether it has been conservative enough in its assumptions to avoid … a second consecutive mid-year budget deficit – which we believe would cause significant long-term damage to the public’s trust in PPS at a time when trust is already fragile,” warned the report from the district’s Community Budget Review Committee (CBRC).

Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong has warned the district needs to close a $56 million shortfall for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, along with an estimated $65 million deficit for the following year.

Part of this year’s projected costs stem from pay increases, which are still under negotiation with the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT), the news affiliate reported.

“Armstrong’s proposed budget includes a 1% cost-of-living adjustment for employees, according to the report, which is ‘significantly lower than any COLA the district has negotiated with its labor partners in recent memory.’”

The current contract between the teachers’ union and district expires June 30, according to journalists.

“The district is assuming the COLA under that contract will be only 1%; however, the union included an 8% pay increase in its most recent proposal.”

Already, the PAT has shown signs of dismissing the 1% increase.

“It shows a lack of compassion, and I think a sense of reality that you know we can’t do more with less,” the union’s president Angela Bonilla said, describing the offer as “demoralizing.”

Bonilla also warned further union demonstrations could happen to “get the attention of state lawmakers in Salem,” according to the affiliate.

“There are several districts across the state, several bargaining units that are in bargaining,” she observed, adding unions “will have the opportunity to continue to bargain and get into mediation, and possibly lead to a work stoppage. … No one wants a work stoppage for our students, because we want to be here doing the work. But it is up to the Legislature to look at the State School Fund and allocate what it really means to fund education.”

Critics: No ‘plausible financial strategy’

As previously reported by The Lion, the PAT has a long history of going on strike over negotiations with the district.

Previous points of contention included universal pre-K for 3-year-olds, housing subsidies for low-income families, and 21.5% pay raises over three years.

Steve Lancaster, the union’s former bargaining chair, highlighted what he called the union’s failure to present a “plausible financial strategy” when presenting its demands.

“Misestimating what they have or what ours costs by $10 or $20 million dollars is not problematic,” he wrote, “but getting it wrong by $50 or $100 million, (as happened in this negotiation) can be a disaster.”