A large crowd supporting the Bend Education Association (BEA) held a rally outside the Bend-La Pine School District offices Monday as teachers and staff push for a new contract.
BEA says its priorities in a new contract includes getting a fair cost of living adjustment. They also have raised concerns about improving workloads, class sizes and safety protocols.
The school district said that at the last negotiation session, it put a proposal that addressed pay, benefits and other priorities. That proposal was countered by the union.
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Now there seems to be progress by both sides.
“We saw a lot of progress and we’re really thankful to be able to have eight hours together once a week over the next five weeks rather than just two or three hours every other week. So today’s session was almost the total amount that we’ve spent at the bargaining table over the last six or seven months,” said Sarah Barclay with BEA.
According to BEA, Bend La-Pine teachers have worked without a contract since the summer.
