After 11 days of a teachers strike that has kept over 40,000 students out of the classrooms in Portland Public Schools since November 1st, negotiations between the school district and the teachers union are still underway. The two sides have been engaged in marathon talks since Tuesday and an update is expected to be announced around 6 p.m. today, according to Gary Hollands, the school board chair.

The uncertainty looms over whether students will be able to return to school on Monday, November 27th, or whether the strike will continue to disrupt their education. The school district proposed a reentry plan on Monday, suggesting that students could be back in the classrooms on November 27th. However, the plan is contingent on the union's agreement, which has not yet been reached.

Negotiations between the district and the union have been progressing, with 17 contract items being agreed upon between Thursday and Sunday. However, a major late-stage hurdle emerged over the weekend, with the union proposing committees to resolve class size issues. The main point of disagreement lies in the role parents would play in this process. The union wants class size committees to include two parents if the principal, affected teacher, and union representative fail to agree on a solution. This proposal is met with opposition from three school board members who believe that parents should be involved only in school-wide class size committees, not in classroom-level decision making.

The district's proposal on Tuesday suggested allowing class size committees with two parents. These committees would collaborate on potential solutions regarding class sizes and caseloads at their school more generally, without discussing specific classroom issues. In case of disagreement, the union could escalate the issue to the superintendent, but there would be no option for mediation or union grievance procedures.

Salary negotiations are also being discussed, with both the union and the district agreeing to a 3% increase in base salary for every student in a teacher's classroom or caseload that exceeds agreed upon thresholds. However, the thresholds for certain educators, including school psychologists, are still being negotiated.

While it remains unclear if other elements of the contract are currently being discussed, the fact that the parties are working through a mediator is seen as a positive sign after the negotiations reached a stalemate on Monday morning. The union accused Portland Public Schools of reneging on a finalized proposal, while school officials maintain that the deal was not finalized and that the union walked away from the process.

In the meantime, union members staged a sit-in on the Burnside bridge, calling on the school board to approve the deal made on Monday. However, a final agreement will need to be ratified by a vote of the full school board and union members once negotiations are completed.