As Portland Public Schools and the Portland Association of Teachers negotiate a new contact, we believe the decisions they make should benefit the students who attend Portland Public Schools. To these ends, we recommend the following priorities:

1. That Portland students should receive additional instructional hours.   The goal should be 180 days (the national average) which will help raise our graduation rates, close the achievement gap, and improve test scores. 

2. That Portland students deserve teachers who are fully qualified in both the subject matter and the grade level they are teaching.

3. That the limits on the number of student a teacher could teach remain in place and that efforts be made to lower the ratio of students to teachers in our schools.

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